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

[marqueemoon]

CME=Reverb

[Larry Mal]

I think they'll do the right thing by you in the end.

[solfege]

CME=Reverb

Oh really. I did not realize that.

[Embenny]

Yeah, they've agreed to take the guitar back and cover shipping both ways. Still no explanation of what happened to the guitar I actually paid for.

It's a different person answering each message in the Reverb message chain which is super annoying. Had a guy named Chris tell me he didn't realize it was the wrong guitar because he wasn't involved in the conversation earlier, when 3 messages prior I have a response signed by a Chris, and the entire chain is very clearly laid out as to what was wrong.

Nobody has explained what happened to my guitar. It'll be annoying but I can get my 13% HST refunded by the government by filling out some annoying paperwork. I'll just be out a $90 nonsensical brokerage fee charged by UPS for this whole ordeal.

Definitely not ordering a replacement guitar. I'll consider this Eastwood experiment over after this.

Funny that I've bought and sold so many guitars to "high risk" private sellers over the years online, including shipping off several guitars in trade to forumites on nothing more than the promise that they've actually sent a guitar in return, and the only time I've ever gotten screwed on a transaction was by CME through Reverb.

Oh well. I suppose I was due.

[Larry Mal]

I would press them to cover the UPS brokerage fee, whatever that even is- "fuck UPS" is what I am hearing.

I bought a Fender Bullet once with a bad truss rod, and I complained until Guitar Center reimbursed me every penny I was out on that transaction, including shipping, tax, and even the money I pulled out of my pocket to pay my luthier to try and fix it before I was aware that it was a lemon.

Just keep moving up the chain until someone makes you whole again, you should not have lost a penny on this transaction in the end.

[Embenny]

Well, as a Canadian I have to click on a box saying "I understand I'm responsible for any import duties bringing this into my country" on Reverb.

The brokerage fee is a bullshit fee UPS charges Canadians for the privilege of charging us Canadian tax. Seriously, being a broker means being the agent who collects the government's taxes for them.

If you ship via USPS, there's no brokerage fee. You just pay the tax and that's it. But when UPS does it, they charge a random amount (seriously - I've had $40 brokerage on a $100 item, and I've had $40 on a $1000 item, and $100 on a $500 item, etc) and won't release the package unless it's paid.

If I ever forget to ask which carrier is shipping an item, it always draws a groan to see a UPS tracking number because I know I'm getting fucked out of some money for no reason.

[marqueemoon]

That’s really poor inventory management. The fact that dude on the e-mail chain couldn’t or wouldn’t look it up and see the problem says a lot about how it happened in the first place.

[Larry Mal]

Well, as a Canadian I have to click on a box saying "I understand I'm responsible for any import duties bringing this into my country" on Reverb.

The brokerage fee is a bullshit fee UPS charges Canadians for the privilege of charging us Canadian tax. Seriously, being a broker means being the agent who collects the government's taxes for them.

If you ship via USPS, there's no brokerage fee. You just pay the tax and that's it. But when UPS does it, they charge a random amount (seriously - I've had $40 brokerage on a $100 item, and I've had $40 on a $1000 item, and $100 on a $500 item, etc) and won't release the package unless it's paid.

If I ever forget to ask which carrier is shipping an item, it always draws a groan to see a UPS tracking number because I know I'm getting fucked out of some money for no reason.

Jesus. I didn't want to turn this thread into an anti-UPS thread, but they are the fucking worst, and my heart also drops when I see that I have forgotten to arrange for alternate shipping.

I have sent a couple of messages to Amazon telling them, hey, if I ever have a choice I would never want UPS. I also went on UPS's Facebook page just last week and told them politely but clearly how awful they are, and how I will never do business with them if I have a choice.

Or, as I put it, if you order a fucking pizza, then they deliver it to you. They'll knock on the door, call you, they'll do what they have to do to get your pizza to you.

What they won't do, though, is pull up, make some half-assed attempt to see if the door is locked or what, then leave a sticker on the door and drop your pizza off in a half-broken automated locker in the parking lot of a shitty grocery store in a bad part of town six blocks away for you to pick up the next day or whatever.

UPS is literally worse than every pizza delivery service in the world.

Still: if you incurred this cost, demand that Reverb/CME reimburse you for it. Get a manager higher up and send in a scan of that documentation, after all, you would never have paid that if they hadn't shipped out the entirely wrong item, right?

[Embenny]

Yeah, you're right, I should try to get that back. I'll send it in with my receipt for shipping the guitar back, which they have offered to cover.

And yeah. UPS is literally the worst. Like how I tried to reschedule a delivery because they kept trying to come when I'm not home, but to reschedule, you need the "infonotice" number from the delivery ticket, not the tracking number.

Except the infonotice number they gave me wouldn't work, because the driver was too fucking lazy to even register the ticket. He literally just wrote "michael" under the name, left the address blank, and didn't register the notice, so all I could do was wait for them to try two more times until they gave up and left it at a depot where I could pick it up after work.

Except I couldn't, because their hours were literally 9-11, and 1-4. Yep. Closed at lunch and after work.

Fuck UPS. Fuck them so hard.

[Gonkulator]

Unfortunately I think you'll find that Eastwood's QC is very spotty. I don't think I've ever owned/played an Eastwood that didn't have horrendous finish issues.

[shoule79]

Just jumping on the f@#k UPS train. I ordered a $50 mustang bridge from a US parts site once, and they shipped via UPS. $50 part with $40 brokerage fee.

If they won't ship USPS I won't buy it.

Also, that's too bad about the Deerhoof, i've always been curious about them. Hearing that the Eastwoods haven't really gotten better quality since the last time I played one is killing my Warren Ellis tenor GAS.

[mediocreplayer]

If this is a reverb transaction, make sure the messages are going through reverb and consider involving reverb too. I had a guitar arrive from a private seller very poorly packed and damaged in ways that the pictures didn't show (not sure whether it was just busted and dude didn't know what he was selling or whether it got busted in transit, but either way, it was not what I paid for and was contrary to his description). Seller agreed to take it back, and I sent it, but he then ghosted and didn't seem to be issuing the refund. A quick message to Reverb got that moving fast. If CME is being evasive, no reason not to add that bit of leverage to the thing, b/c sending you the wrong instrument is definitely the kind of thing Reverb will not tolerate.

Reverb and CME are the same thing (same owner to be more precise). They operate as two different companies but they are the same, so it is very unlikely that Reverb can be involved as a neutral platform here.

OP: this blows. They should take it back and pay for everything, including the UPS BS fee. I can see them not paying that if it was in any way your fault, but this is ridiculous.

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.

Anyway, keep us updated!

[Embenny]

Unfortunately I think you'll find that Eastwood's QC is very spotty. I don't think I've ever owned/played an Eastwood that didn't have horrendous finish issues.

Well, the original guitar in question had a ton of detailed photos so I was able to rule out a lot of stuff that looks terrible on the one they sent me. I should take some photos, but it's easily spotted (like little balls of paint and rough wood in the f holes and the quarter inch finish defect on the back).

OP: this blows. They should take it back and pay for everything, including the UPS BS fee. I can see them not paying that if it was in any way your fault, but this is ridiculous.

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.

Anyway, keep us updated!

Wait, are they from Canada? Damnit, I was debating this CME floor model vs a hardtail one brand new from the Eastwood site at 20% off. This one had, in theory, the les trem and hardshell case for roughly the same price.

So instead of a brand new hardtail shipped from Canada, I got a floor model hardtail shipped from the states. Argh.

Just jumping on the f@#k UPS train. I ordered a $50 mustang bridge from a US parts site once, and they shipped via UPS. $50 part with $40 brokerage fee.

If they won't ship USPS I won't buy it.

Also, that's too bad about the Deerhoof, i've always been curious about them. Hearing that the Eastwoods haven't really gotten better quality since the last time I played one is killing my Warren Ellis tenor GAS.

Yeah, the Deerhoof looked so cool that I took the risk. I can say for sure now that I would never chance it on another. Especially the lovely electronic issue causing crazy hum on all settings.

[brucer]

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.

[Larry Mal]

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.