Help! Issues with G&L Dealer

[darrenj_76]

Hello, this is actually my first post on this forum. I recently placed a custom order for a G&L ASAT Classic with a US G&L dealer (I'll leave their name out for now since it is early in the game) I completed the order form online at about 1:00am this past Sunday morning. The following day, I was going back and forth in my head about whether I had made the right color and pickup choices. So I got back in touch with the dealer to ask them to cancel the order so that I could take some more time to research options. It took the dealer 3 days to get back in touch with me - I sent them several emails, left messages, with no response. They finally emailed me back, basically requesting that I not cancel the order so that they would not get "stuck" with a guitar at their shop. I didn't see how G&L could already have this thing in production the day after I placed the order, but ok - I decided to keep the order because the guy at the store told me that I can make any changes to pickups, colors, etc over the next few weeks - no problem. My fault for placing the order in the first place without being 100% certain of what I wanted.

So I decided this weekend that the only change I want to make to my order is to go with the vintage tint satin neck instead of the default. I sent the dealer an email early Saturday morning. They are open Saturdays and Sundays - no response from them, at all. I called twice over the weekend during business hours. No answer. I am planning to call over there tomorrow to see if I can find someone.

My concern is, God forbid I have any type of issue with this guitar - the dealer has made a bold statement that they do not answer emails or respond to calls within a reasonable amount of time, and you have to aggressively hunt them down to get any type of response. I am $1300 into this one, with a dealer that obviously doesn't give a sh** about customer service.

I'm not feeling good about this whole process or the order - any suggestions on what I should do? I don't want to give these people my business. Thanks

[FoamJedi]

Hello! Welcome to the forum. It sounds like a G&L dealer that I used to do business with!

Good Luck sir!

[Nubs]

Welcome! Sorry to hear about the unfortunate turn of events thus far. My experience with the dealer I ordered from was very similar. They quoted a turnaround time of 4-6 weeks. Then after I ordered, it all of a sudden became 8-10 weeks. At the 10 week mark, I asked for a status update. At the time, there was a problem with the neck on my build & they were working on correcting it. I have no problem with that, but long story short I had to threaten to cancel my order to get them to move at all. They were pretty quick to take my money, but when it came time to get the product, they just sat on their hands.

Again, sorry you're having a bad experience. I'm positive not all dealers out there are like the ones you & I went through.

[Craig]

Hello, this is actually my first post on this forum. I recently placed a custom order for a G&L ASAT Classic with a US G&L dealer (I'll leave their name out for now since it is early in the game) I completed the order form online at about 1:00am this past Sunday morning. The following day, I was going back and forth in my head about whether I had made the right color and pickup choices. So I got back in touch with the dealer to ask them to cancel the order so that I could take some more time to research options. It took the dealer 3 days to get back in touch with me - I sent them several emails, left messages, with no response. They finally emailed me back, basically requesting that I not cancel the order so that they would not get "stuck" with a guitar at their shop. I didn't see how G&L could already have this thing in production the day after I placed the order, but ok - I decided to keep the order because the guy at the store told me that I can make any changes to pickups, colors, etc over the next few weeks - no problem. My fault for placing the order in the first place without being 100% certain of what I wanted.

So I decided this weekend that the only change I want to make to my order is to go with the vintage tint satin neck instead of the default. I sent the dealer an email early Saturday morning. They are open Saturdays and Sundays - no response from them, at all. I called twice over the weekend during business hours. No answer. I am planning to call over there tomorrow to see if I can find someone.

My concern is, God forbid I have any type of issue with this guitar - the dealer has made a bold statement that they do not answer emails or respond to calls within a reasonable amount of time, and you have to aggressively hunt them down to get any type of response. I am $1300 into this one, with a dealer that obviously doesn't give a sh** about customer service.

I'm not feeling good about this whole process or the order - any suggestions on what I should do? I don't want to give these people my business. Thanks

So, did you call the dealer? Hopefully, you were able to connect with the store employee who replied back to you.
From reading through your post, you decided to cancel the order, right? What is this store's policy on cancellations or returns? (don't forget to read any fine print)

For any furture plans to order a G&L instrument, take a look at our G&L Knowledgebase posts: July 1, 2015-present G&L U.S. Specifications and Options and July 1, 2015-present Tribute Series Production Models....
This should help you determine the features and options which are currently available.

One last advice: Don't place an online order at 1:00am.

Please keep us informed about your current order.

[darrenj_76]

thanks for the replies, much appreciated. And yes, placing an order at 1am is probably not a good idea, but I promise I was in a good state of mind

So this one took an interesting turn...........I still could not get any response from the store, so I decided to send them a more direct email with my plans to contact the BBB and file a complaint with the US Consumer Protection agency if they did not refund my order. Between musicians, I really hated sending that email. But after multiple emails and phone call attempts over several days with no response, I had not other choice. This dealer did not deserve my business. I guarantee you something was going to go wrong with this order, and I was not going to be able to get in touch with them.

So an hour after I sent the email, I received an email back from the dealer stating that my money was in process of being refunded to my credit card. I cannot believe that they disregarded all of my previous communications and did not give me any response until I took this action. To me, it says that they read every single email and just decided not to respond. But, at the end they stepped up to the plate.

So I am waiting to confirm that the money is refunded back to my account, and I am looking forward to purchasing a G&L ASAT from another dealer.

Thanks to everyone for the replies, and for the links on product options - very helpful.

Lesson learned......please, please, please be careful with the dealer that you place custom orders with. Ask them the right questions, and if they have a local shop that is close to where you live, even better. After having this issue, I saw so many war stories online about similar issues with dealers. I got excited about placing my order, and didn't do my homework. Please don't go down the same path. You deserve better.

[Tooslowhand]

I'm looking to order a new G&L, so if you don't mind sharing who this dealer was AFTER you get your money back, I'd appreciate knowing who to avoid. Or perhaps if folks have recommendations of GOOD dealers for a custom order, that would be helpful.

[waywardchild]

From Belgium I made 2 orders thru Upfront guitars. No problems, help me with some options i was considering.
Dealing was thru email.
Hope this helps Tooslowhand