experience with AJL: Trying to Resolve through comms delays

billyshakes · May 1

Has the blue remained stable? Know it is still relatively young, but I think some of the Chinery guitars started changing immediately. Nice instrument!

richter4208 · May 1

Sad to see AJL in such decline. I tried to buy something from him, I messaged him in a friendly way thru all the channels including messenger. He responded once then ghosted.

JSanta · May 1

https://djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/122163#Comment_122163

Or in my case, was just another medium that he could ignore me. I don't know AJ at all other than my transaction, but communication was horrendous. And when I had an issue with the bigtone, he completely ignored me. I'm glad you got your guitar, truly. But the guy not communicating is like missing the bare minimum, even if he does eventually deliver. Too many horror stories out there about luthiers taking off with people's money. I understand not sharing daily progress pics or whatever, but asking about the status of a long delayed delivery is not.

ghelbig · May 1

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/125223#Comment_125223

we shall see, honestly with the drama going on here in US and the timing of when he cut off communication I just figured he had no respect for Americans. I never pushed him and showed him the upmost respect but this is not cool. I gave up some guitars I was really attached to fund this one because I really wanted to spend some time at some of the Django festivals but now I’m sour on that, it’s been an emotional blow. He was totally responsive in sales mode, then dropped me once he got funds.

flaco · May 1

I’ve already replied in the thread, but I’ll just reiterate it. I had very similar experiences. Very spotty communication and missed deadlines. I never got the impression anything malicious was going on. I truly think he’s a great artist and communication isn’t his strong point. I also think Americans have different expectations on timeline commitments and communication than other countries do, so there may be a little cultural difference there. I’m not saying it’s right, and it’s definitely good that people get an idea of what to expect before they choose to spend their money with him.

Buco · May 2

Only, 18 months beyond ETA is well beyond any cultural differences. I don't know the guy, AJ, but there's no other outcome than that in the end he'll deliver. You never know what's going on in someone's life but 18 months behind, without communicating what's going on just isn't ok. You could ask someone you know, "hey, I can't be dealing with this stuff, please send out these emails, assure them I'm working on their guitars", or whatever, do something. His reputation as a craftsman is hard earned and well deserved. This kind of stuff can be very damaging for future orders and business. I've heard several times from business owners that Google maps reviews absolutely make a difference. So can positive or negative forum posts. AJ actually used to post here occasionally, he might even be reading this stuff.

@jsparr1983 did your situation get resolved?

ghelbig · May 2

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/125231#Comment_125231

I don’t sense any malicious intent either, this is the first time I’ve commented on my frustration, trying to give him a break. My dilemma is that when he does finally come up with a delivery I cannot go thru this again, once I make that final payment I cannot go into another hole of no action nor communication, that’s more than I could stand. We will see :)

flaco · May 2

Just going through my communication thread with him now to get specifics on timing. In my case I sent the final payment for my guitar on October 1, 2023. He replied the next day that he received the payment. I contacted him on October 18, November 1, and November 14 asking for updates. He finally replied on November 14 saying the guitar was finished, but there was a delay with the person who makes the cases for him. He proactively gave me an update on November 24 saying the case would be ready the following week. On Jan 16 and Feb 12 I contacted him asking for another update, because I hadn't heard anything. He finally responded on March 5 asking about contact details for shipping. He shipped the guitar about a week later. So 151 days from final payment to the guitar actually shipping.

voutoreenie · May 2

I wasn't going to post in this thread again but has AJL ever actually failed to deliver an instrument? Either way, he should probably change this from his website:

Usually waiting time is about six months, but it varies, so you need to confirm by e-mail or by phone.

Based upon the comments in this thread referencing 12-18+ month delivery times, that's uhm...wildly misleading.