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Location: closely held secret | ouchie |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Serge was very careful to stipulate that the opinions expressed were those of his wife. I believe the statement was "my wife told me to ..." Glad to know I'm not the only one living with Sybil Fawlty re-incarnate. Dave
Btw, for any Towers fans: Did you know that the twit that played Manuel later stared as Albert Einstein in a documentry film? How's THAT for extreme opposite roles - Manual the dim-witted waiter from Barcelona to Albert Friggin Einstein! |
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Location: closely held secret | qué? |
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Location: boulder | not to be flippant or disrespectful or excitable, but country artist himself raises good points, as does stephen,
If I buy anything brand new, I have higher expectations, and when i spend $1750 I expect someone cares about what they are selling me. And I think Ovations employees do care.This seems like the first quality problem i can remember reading ever about Ovations/Adamii.....Overall I love, love ,love this guitar, honestly the finish work could be a pinch better...(.but try and pry this pup out of my hands, it ain't happening...
I already preordered the ad-II 30th anniversary reissue if that tells you anything...keep on,keeping on mike |
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Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | All of this just firms my resolve to not buy an instrument without seeing and playing it first.
That said, I firmly believe that Ovation will make good on the issues. Should they have happened in the first place? NO, but please remember that these guitars are made by PEOPLE, with the attendant inadequacies and frailties. Perfection is a goal rarely acheived.
Roger |
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| Allowing it to happen when they must have known full well who the likely buyers were was idiotic enough, but not contacting the buyers direct or via al and putting a stop to this thread just beggars belief. There is a link to this board from their site (which I guess is how most of us found it) - is this really what they want people reading?
When you're in a hole - stop digging. Their silence is a shovel. |
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Location: SoCal | Originally posted by Country Artist:
And my wife just told me to add:
That whoever is in charge of Quality Control for these particular limited edition Adamas model needs to be fired, immediately! Serge, If our wives got together for lunch, they would have the Company restructured by the end of the day. Lady Noah was very outspoken (to say the least) when she came home and I was taking pictures of it and not playing it. Presenting #21139 to us created a hell of a “public relations” issue for me here at home. When I acquire a new guitar, it is paid for with our money.
I would not want the person(s) in charge of Quality Control to get fired. This is just a wake-up call. Mistakes in direction and judgment happen. I do not know the reporting structure, but I have seen disastrous conflicts created when Quality Control, Production, and Sales all report up to the same Executive VP.
Silence… I would not expect anyone from the Mothership to post any comments on the Board regarding the U681T issue. There are other ways that the Mothership could have spoken. I would have rather read nine posts from members saying, “talked to aLeX, they want to see it, it is on its way back…”. So far, #21139 is the only one on its way back. aLeX got that going immediately.
The OFC has a relationship with the Mothership. Once there were mumblings about fit and finish problems, I feel that the Mothership could have defused the situation and instilled confidence by directing the Dealer to get the guitars back. An active response goes a long way in perceived acknowledgement and accountability. |
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Location: Converse, Texas | Geesh this is a long thread! Probably more posts here than all of moody's! |
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Location: Anchorage, Alaska | I don't like the idea (because I love the sound and feel of this guitar) but I think mine will be on it's way back in the next couple days to have the few issues taken care of. I have been told that if the strings are rubbing the truss rod cover, that in itself is enough to warrent the return. I have both the D and G strings already starting to "carve" a little spot on the TRC. Thank god I have a few other Ovations that are absolutly SPOT ON PERFECT in my collection to play while they take care of the 12 fret. I have a pretty nice collection of Ovations that have been perfect from day one, so I'm not going to loose my confidence in the Mothership for this one. I'm sure they will make good on it and it will be back in the rotation in a few weeks or so. In fact if I didn't already have these other "perfect" ones to compare the 12 fret to, I'm not sure I would have found some of these items of issue! |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | You've heard about the extrovert engineer? He'd look at your shoes when he was talking to you. |
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Location: SoCal | I wouldn't let this one release sour feelings for Ovations. I've got Ovations from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. And the quality on all is excellent. They'll get this worked out.
Bill, you've got a spot on your shoe. |
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Location: Tampa, FL | Nah...that's just some ice cream... |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | More likely goose poop from the fairways of Florida's finest! |
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| He started this and now he's disappeared ... do you figure the mothership took out a contract? (Remember - cliff "knows" people..) |
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Location: Atlanta GA | This thread just goes to show me my grandfather was right when he used to tell me, "there's a thousand bad things you can say about a good horse, but just one thing you can say about bad horse. It's just bad" |
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Location: SoCal | I think it is appropriate to give accolades to the engineering dept. Haven't heard anyone say anything negative about the design - superb is more likely to be said.
Al, my dealer, has been very supportive to resolve my minor but frustrating problems. I will be sending mine back...with full confidence that this will be resolved positively. |
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Location: Anchorage, Alaska | Tony-I agree 100%. I'm not worried about it in the least, as I know there are some good people out there taking care of it. And you are right. There has not been one word said in a negative manner about the design, feel, or that sound. Wow! What a voice these have... |
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| agree with standingO's comment that it's ridiculous for the owner to send a new guitar back for repair.
it is more wise to return & get a full refund or get a new one instead of sending it back & waiting for a repaired guitar. though it will be flawless after repair, it's still a reconditioned or repaired "lemon" guitar.
you should work with your dealers & ask them to pay for return shipping $. internet dealers make easy $ nowaday. they just send email or fax to the factory. no overhead cost, no inventory cost. paying for your return shipping $ is the least they should do.
if it happpened to ebay deal, you would ask the seller to give $500 partial refund for the blemishes or return for full refund. you wouldn't send it back & let the seller repairs it ... |
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Location: SoCal | I don't agree...this is a very limited run. Only reason we have these to play now is that Al went 120% to pre-pre-order them - taking our word that we would buy them. He was at risk. Then, in our excitement, he did a cursory inspection and got them out to us the same day...not bad. Lot better than the eBay/internet sellers who don't even open the box.
When Hizzoner had his 2005 Collector's damaged by UPS, Al took the one he had just received and sent it to Craig. This is out of his pocket, delay in having a guitar to sell after repair was his burden, not the customer. It is an appropriate example because at the time, internet sellers didn't even have stock - again, Al looked after us and pre-pre-ordered.
In this case, we have a problem with guitars that only in the last few days are in stock with internet sellers. And, I haven't heard any of the lucky few with this guitar want their money back. What is the dealer supposed to do? Best he can do is notify the company of the problem, listen to our concerns, and facilitate the return of the guitar. It is the company's decision to effect repair or replacement.
In my case, it would be rediculous to replace my guitar. It needs a little TLC. If repaired, it isn't tainted. All I will be asking for is the touchup it should have had before shipment. It is a new guitar that I bought. Little delay but what is that? We've been waiting for this since we heard about the prototype.
I will continue to support Al by voting with my wallet. As in the past, he has his heart in providing the support for us.
I have posted on this thread but primarily about the fact that the guitars are not to the standard that we have seen by Adamas/Ovation. That has been well discussed. I am confident that whatever happened is in the past. Now, a short wait.
Heck, Witko is the lucky one...after this, they will probably plate his with gold leaf.
Down the road, the few that are owners of this amazing instrument will be envied. One time opportunity. Soon, the production line on this one will be closed.
So, I don't see the problem... |
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| a couple of internet sellers had it for sale ~$1700 few weeks ago. some of you mentioned you got the guitars from these stores.
wait a minute, you said al opened the box & inspected the guitar before shipping. he's the 4th QC & still didn't see the blemishes on 9 out of 10?? |
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Location: SoCal | With unrelenting pressure from the ? six that purchased the guitars, Al got them in about 1pm and shipped them that afternoon.
In defense of Al, it was only after Noah's problems that I did such a minute, detailed inspection. Prior to that, I was a "happy camper" - especially after playing it.
Doubt if Al would have seen my problems. It wasn't until yesterday that I found another item. I showed it to a good guitar player - had to point out my concerns. I would say my guitar is about 9.2 of 10. Yes, we should expect 10 of 10.
I don't fault Al on this. Most dealers don't even open the box or look at the guitar before throwing on a shipping label.
I know that when he got in my 30th Anniv CL last January (probably the 1st or 2nd other than the NAMM guitar), I was joking on the OFC that I would have to replace the strings because Al was playing it so much. Now he had six anxious guys clamoring for immediate delivery.
At this point, he is the only authorized dealer that I know of that has the concern of us as primary. Sure, anyone can buy anyplace else. However, I have gotten better prices, service, and support from him.
Obviously, the company had a problem...now, time to relax while the dealer (Al) and the company works with their customers (and, to avoid this problem in the future.) As I understand it, although Noah's is in transit, the factory hasn't rec'd any back yet.
Problems happen...the strengh of an individual or company is how they correct the problem. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | I can see all sides of this. We want our guitars to be perfect and not sent back in to do what should have been done in the first place.
However....go and buy a car..after a week or so there are always minor niggles. Do we expect the dealer or factory to replace the car? Hell no....we take it in to the maintenance group and they fix it just like it should have been in the beginning.
Why do we expect different things from different sources for similiar circumstances.
Once I send mine back in, I will expect it to be repaired, fine tuned and returned to me in a 10/10 condition. If it comes back in any other condition, I will inform Al that it is being returned....and this time for a full refund. |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | I'm not in the market for one of these guitars (sorry to say), but I've been reading these posts with a little bit of discomfort. One of the axioms I live by is "PEOPLE are more important than THINGS." We on this board have a RELATIONSHIP with the folks at Ovation...you wont find THAT with any other guitar company. That relationship is valuable. We also have a relationship with Al and some of our local dealers. I always treat these kind of relationships carefully when there is a problem with a THING between us. As s sort of "outside" observer I've seen some on this thread who are being carefull with people, and some who are "thing concious". Be careful here. Your guitars will all work out. Relationships are harder to repair. John <>{ |
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Location: SoCal | John,
Thank you very much.
bruce |
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Location: Fayetteville, NC | What John Says is very True. I was not in the market for oneofthese guitars either. But if I had been, I would have been a little concerned about problrms with a new Guitar that I just forked over a big chunk of change on.Howver, It is still just "Thing" and relationships are more important.Al always goes the extra mile for his customers and the folks at Ovation have always gone to bat for their customers. I have no doubt that all problems willbe resolved to everyones satisfaction. |
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UPS JUST DELIVERED...
