updated dialogue..building bridges/mending fences

roch@rochlockyer.com

Hi Django Friends,
I am new to this forum, and the genre in general but may have met some of you at Django in june last year and am so looking forward to this year as well now that I am more familiar with your repertoire...

I feel compelled to share my experience this past month as I searched for a new gypsy guitar to purchase (I ended up buying the MD50b from Michael and can't say enough positive things about the guitar and about my dealings with Michael as well). I Initially I tried a guitar from Michael, and while it was a nice instrument it wasn't a fit for me so without any problems, or negative vibe from Michael I sent it back and continued my search.

A couple of days later I became aware of a guitar shop in Chicago that specializes in these instruments...Although I had a couple of brief and positive experiences with Michael I am also aware of commerce and accepting that we all coexist so I called the number in Chicago and got my first taste of Rude...I am from a blue collar family and born in New York so I am not easily surprised by rude, but even the initial phone experience should have made me run....Until I said I would like to try and possibly purchase an instrument the guy was a crass, arrogant prick. I decided to try a Michael Collings guitar (actually my sister was buying me a guitar as a thank you gift...prtty sweet). I knew nothing about Collings as a builder but the owner of the shop told me it was the best guitar in the shop and he would choose it any day over the Hahl or selmer he had in stock. He said the build quality was at the highest level, and that Collings was one of the few best builders in the world and not to forget he wrote the book on selmer building. Short version of this is when the guitar arrived a week later I opened the case (thankfully in the presence of 6 people the moment the ups arrived). Also fortunately I recorded the process...When I took the guitar out it was packed with a tailpiece that I had also bought...the tailpiece was placed loosely in the top part of the case. When the case was closed we think it was forced and the tailpiece was wedged between the neck and the accessory compartment. The neck was chewed up and there were golf like divits and scratches all over the neck. I immediately called and the guitarshop owner asked me "what the hell I was talking about..there is no tail piece in there" After i reminded him I had a separate receipt for the tailpiece and that i had pics and video of me opening the case in the presence of witness he said, "oh yea, sorry I sold like a dozen tailpieces this week I forgot" Then he asked if the neck was broke in half...At this point I knew this guy was over the top...I said no nothing like that and sent him pics from my I-phone. He said OK no worries...just play the guitar and tell me if you like it and we'll fix it....Wanting to be pc and follow due process I said sure I'll play a few tunes and call you back. By now it was 10pm (the guitar arrived at 745pm). I played a couple of tunes all while we were shaking our heads about the damage to the neck. Upon closer inspection I found the neck to be a bolt on neck (fine for the nomads but not on a $4200 guitar). The guitar was also about 5lbs. The neck was carved to nothing and while it had some volume, it didn't play as well as my brother in laws $600 selmer copy. After he looked at the pics he sent me a text and said, "No problem, just use wood filler..I'll give you a couple of hundred bucks off or you can have my luthier do it" After the few tunes I repacked the guitar and sent it back in the morning. When we spoke that next morning he went off on me when I asked if he had another instruments I could try...I asked about the JWC and the Hahl he had in stock...He basically said he didn't know how I could be appeased if I didn't like that guitar in spite of the neck damage. When he kept asking me what I thought of the guitar aside from the damage I told him that It wasn't my favourite and that I didn't like the playability compared to other guitars in it's price range. He then said he didn't want me to try another guitar and that this is the only problem he has had in 2 years of business.
I have kept all text messages, e-mails, and pictures if anyone wants to communicate personally and directly off forum about this.
I am not much of a forum guy in general but felt compelled to put this out there regardless of who's friends may get upset. In addition to being a good dude, I am grateful that Michael is professional and so well versed in all things Django. I am glad I didn't listen to Chicago when she said that the Collins is far superior to a dupont, and that all events led to me ultimately purchasing my axe from michael.
PS...Michael, after 10days of back and fourth I finally got a refund from this clown.
I would urge anyone to think twice before dealing with this guy and his pseudo business.

All the best to my fellow djangophiles.
Roch
http://www.rochlockyer.com

Michael Bauer

Although I have refrained from airing the specifics of my issues with the same owner/business, I can assure everyone that I have had three horrible experiences with the same person (Call me an optimist, I know...), but there will never be a fourth. Rudeness and dishonesty are a bad combination in a business. I generally consider myself pretty easy to do business with. I wish it weren't so, but Roch is not the first to have issues with the above-mentioned dealer.

fillegitane

I know exactly who you are talking about. I made the mistake of buying a book from this guy because it was a few dollars cheaper than anywhere else. As it turned out, the shipping costs were over the top and he billed me the 2% for the Paypal transaction so I actually paid more. The GJ community is pretty small and we talk to each other on forums like this so word will get around.

Jim Kaznosky

I'm glad I spent my money with Michael. I'm aware of Chicago and when I was on my hunt, it was a bit of a challenging experience speaking with those folks. Rather than go into specifics about that place, I'd rather say how great my experiences in working to get a guitar in my price range it was to work with Michael. He will clearly lay out what he believes is the best guitar in your price range, lays out the strengths and weaknesses, and answers all his questions honestly.

andmer

good to know.

Elliot

I had the same experience, he was a total, complete ass on the phone...

Craig Bumgarner

Sounds like a bad experience, sad really. Glad you were able to get it resolved in the end. It would have been so much easier, not to mention profitable, for the seller to have done it right for you from the beginning.

I wanted to comment on your concern about bolt on necks, but as my comment is fairly lengthy, I started a separate thread so as not to hijack this one.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10465

Heretic

Here's another endorsement for Michael Horowitz's excellent service, prices and guidance. I bought my guitar and supplies from this site as well. Caveat emptor.

MinorBlues

+1 for Michael, who has made the process of buying & selling guitars as smooth as possible.

MichaelHorowitz

Thanks for all the kind words! I truly appreciate everyone's support of my site. Without all of you this business and the community that formed around it would never have gotten off the ground.

Michael

Caravan

To all of those who are disappointed in my service. I wanted to reply about the gentleman who purchased the Michael Collins. We offered a full refund, an exchange, or a repair at our cost to his liking. We apologized for the miss hap with the shipping, and tried to fix the problem. As far as the exchange I did not have another guitar with a really flat neck like he asked for. Therefore, I sold him the only one that I had with a really flat neck. and apparently this was still not good enough even after retuning a guitar from djangobooks . so once again we apologize to anyone who is disappointed in our service.
thanks to michael for letting us post this