NGD - Deerhoof offset, but CME sent me the wrong guitar

Discussion of newer designs, copies and reissue offset-waist instruments.
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Fiddy
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Re: NGD - Deerhoof offset, but CME sent me the wrong guitar

Post by Fiddy » Sun Dec 09, 2018 9:09 pm

brucer wrote:
Sun Dec 09, 2018 7:46 pm
mediocreplayer wrote:
Sun Dec 09, 2018 6:30 pm
Also, aren't Eastwoods from Canada? It seems lopsided to buy a Canadian company's product from the US and have it shipped to Canada.
Eastwoods were from Canada, but moved to the US a couple of years ago, at least in terms of final assembly and shipping. I ordered a Classic 12 just before the move and CITES coming into effect.

And yeah, as someone else said, I've basically stopped buying from US sellers unless they ship via USPS (or state that all taxes and fees are included .... like Digikey and Mouser). You might get dinged a handing fee + taxes by Canada Post, but at least the fee is only $10 vs. $40 from the couriers.
Hi Brucer, the guitars were made in China and Korea, their better ones were made in Korea. I picked up an Eastwood Sidejack from Mike Robinson at his house, the owner of Eastwood guitars. somewhere around Brampton.. It was a really long time ago maybe around 2005.

He showed me a few nice Mosrites. I played one through one expensive amp he had, can't remember what it was, some sort of boutique thing.

He showed me a Wandre copy he had, i liked it bit couldn't afford it at the time so i took the Sidejack. Really down to earth guy.

But yeah, they used to ship from here.

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Re: NGD - Deerhoof offset, but CME sent me the wrong guitar

Post by Embenny » Mon Dec 10, 2018 1:57 am

Larry Mal wrote:
Sun Dec 09, 2018 8:49 pm
I did want to mention that during my dressing down of UPS I asked them if everyone gets the one delivery attempt before they dump it off at the lockers or just people like me.

They said that everyone does. I didn't really believe that. Are you all getting the three attempts? I get about half of one.
I get the three, though like I said, the last 7 or so door tickets they left had unregistered InfoNotice numbers, so I had to spend 30 minutes on the phone with them as they tried to figure out where my package actually was and how to flag it for pickup at a certain location. I've given up on trying to do that now that I live in a major city. I used to be an hour and a half drive from their nearest depot, so it was really frustrating trying to call them to arrange delivery when I'd actually be home, only to be told that my infonotice numbers didn't exist, and to have the package dumped an hour and a half away.
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Re: NGD - Deerhoof offset, but CME sent me the wrong guitar

Post by Mechanical Birds » Mon Dec 10, 2018 2:25 am

CME owns Reverb/they’re one in the same.

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Re: NGD - Deerhoof offset, but CME sent me the wrong guitar

Post by Singlebladepickup » Mon Dec 10, 2018 3:24 am

I don't have any UPS horror stories, but just last week my wife paid $13 to ship two books to our relatives and they were delivered to our home instead. She put to: (their address) from: (our address), but USPS delivered to the "from" address. The PO is crazy right now so I told her she didn't have to go back there and try to get our money back, and we could call it a loss

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Re: NGD - Deerhoof offset, but CME sent me the wrong guitar

Post by Jaguar018 » Mon Dec 10, 2018 7:37 am

I am thankful that UPS, FedEx, and the USPS in my area are all pretty reliable with few of the horror stories that pop up on forums like this all the time. I feel like the quality of their deliveries and drivers really varies from region to region. My wife works from home most of the time and my neighborhood is fairly safe, so the drivers don't really do any of that half-assed no attempt slip drop off crap.

My main headache is when the USPS lady sends the signature required international stuff right back to the post office and leaves a slip for me to have to bring in. She's been a better the past few times, so I'm a happy camper.

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Re: NGD - Deerhoof offset, but CME sent me the wrong guitar

Post by Embenny » Mon Dec 10, 2018 8:52 am

So, this case seems to have landed in the lap of someone at CME who actually cares, as my last 3 responses have been from the same person (Chris) and have been polite and helpful.

The offer is on the table to pay for return shipping as well as my initial shipping costs, but they're also now suggesting that I get a quote from a tech for fixing the wiring issues, with the insinuation that they would cover the repair as well as the retail value ($200) between the hardtail model I got and the tremolo model I ordered. That would cover the cost of a Les Trem and roller bridge if I wanted to spec it up to the original guitar I ordered.

If they end up offering sufficient compensation, I may keep the guitar. Some of the finish flaws could be fixed somewhat - and I'll have the tech put that into the repair quote. If they cover the Les Trem, the repairs, and a bit for the time and aggravation involved, I could be happy enough with this guitar. It does play well, and that would bring it back down into the "floor model on cyber monday sale" that attracted me in the first place.

Part of my motivation for making it work is that I would never, ever gamble on one of these again. So, if they'll cover the work to get it up to spec, this is probably my only chance to own one of these. It's still a quirky and cool looking guitar, but not one I'd recommend to anyone. Certainly not at full retail.
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Re: NGD - Deerhoof offset, but CME sent me the wrong guitar

Post by Embenny » Wed Dec 19, 2018 5:58 pm

Ok, so this is a pretty happy ending.

I got a quote from a local music store for the work it would take to get it up to snuff, electronics- and playability-wise. Sent the quote to CME. They refunded me the full retail difference between the two models, along with the full price of the repair quote, with zero argument.

All in all, it came out to a 60% refund of my purchase price, which itself was a Black Friday sale on a floor model.

I'll see what I can do about touching up/wet sanding the sloppy paint job inside the F holes, and I'll be replacing the pickups and electronics anyway, so this is a guitar I can live with, even if it wasn't exactly what I expected.

Would I buy another Eastwood? Never. Is this guitar worth full retail? No way. But now, I paid the equivalent of a VM Jazzmaster for the guitar with HSC, and at that price point, it's worth it for the funky aesthetics.
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Re: NGD - Deerhoof offset, but CME sent me the wrong guitar

Post by Fiddy » Wed Dec 19, 2018 6:35 pm

Right on. CME is a good place. I also got fucked over with shipping back a huge amp that came modded without any disclosure. CME/Reverb took care if it.

Im glad there is a happy ending to this.

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Re: NGD - Deerhoof offset, but CME sent me the wrong guitar

Post by astro » Wed Dec 19, 2018 6:49 pm

I have never had a good experience with UPS here in Canada. Never. They've lost or damaged stuff I've sent, or had shipped to me. A UPS employee once changed a customs declaration that I had filled out for something time-sensitive I was shipping to the UK, without my knowledge. I had to spend a lot of time on the phone with UK customs to clear it up. I've rescheduled deliveries and then they don't show up. And of course they hold your package delivery hostage until you pay the outrageous "brokerage" fee, which is never less than $50 minimum even if the item you're getting cost you $5. I have never, ever, not even once had a positive experience with UPS Canada. So I boycott them. Whenever I want to buy anything off of eBay or Reverb, my first question to the seller is, "Can you ship to me with anything other than UPS?" and if the answer is "no", I don't buy, no matter how much I want the item. I have not used UPS in almost 10 years now, and seeing that they are still the same makes me wonder why they are still in business.

My preferred shipping company is the post office. Canada Post and USPS have always been good to me. They've never lost or damaged a package, never charged me made up "brokerage" extortion fees, or caused me any problems. Not the fastest but 100% reliable in my experience.

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Re: NGD - Deerhoof offset, but CME sent me the wrong guitar

Post by Embenny » Wed Dec 19, 2018 7:34 pm

Thanks. I'm glad you got your amp refunded too!

And yes, I 100% agree. UPS sucks donkey balls and can turn any pleasant online transaction into a nightmare for Canadians. How does a company stay in business when they're routinely, universally terrible?

Years ago I swore I'd never use UPS again, and I don't know why, but recently I've made 2 or 3 online guitar purchases that I forgot to check the shipper for, and they each used UPS. Each time, I've gotten screwed.

This is definitely the last time. Like you said...if they won't ship by USPS, then it's not worth getting the item, even if you really want it.
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