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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 970
Location: Atlanta,Ga. | I know that lately myself and a few other Ovation players and collectors have vented on the quality and sound of recent Ovation guitars.I know there have been different views on the subject and i myself have been very critical of the recent ovation offerings.
I would now like to comment on Ovations customer service dept...
The ovation customer service dept. is the "best in the industry" by far! The guys there(Kim and John and maybe someone else?)do the best,most professional job ,period!! They are always willing to help,freindly and very knowledgeable about the product.They always call back quickly and here is something more impressive,most of the time they pick up the phone and you get right thru.No message machine.
I have other guitars in my collection besides ovation and have had to deal with customer service at Martin,Gibson,Fender,Larrivee,Yamaha,etc..
This is one thing Ovation does the best.Customer service.I want to thank Kim and John and anyone else involved with Ovation customer service......Thanks,Great job!!! |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | Without a doubt John and Kim are the best in the industry. Other companies should use their example as their standards and believe me they have a hard standard to live up to. I am sure they get their share of unreasonable customers but I have never heard any negative about the quality of customer relations and service. Gene and Kevin in the repair department are top notch too. (sorry I don't remember everyone's names or I would mention them all!!!!!)
I spent 30 minutes on hold with Neumann/sennheiser and still could not get a live person and after leaving 4 messages and 3 e mails I still have not got a reply.
This is what really sold me on OVation service I had one of he aluminum neck guitars back in the mid 80's the neck warped. I called the service department they told me for 35 bucks they would straighten it. I got a RA number and returned the guitar. after a month I called they said they straightened the neck but wanted to put on a new rosette. the old one was cracked and I did not ask for it. a month or so later I called and asked where my guitar was they said they were very sorry but it was in finishing. I hung up the phone and realized I had no finish issue that I wanted fixed but the guitar did have some deep scatches on it. Well a couple of weeks later I got the guitar... neck straight new rosette and top scratches buffed out and fixed all for my 35 bucks. Now I am sure that is not always the case but I was so impressed by the attention to detail that they did not want a guitar going back to a customer looking like crap that they did what they could to make it right again. This so impressed me I called and thanked them and always knew that if I EVER had an issue with ovation that I would be treated in a professional manner. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 48
Location: CT | Absolutely true. Back around 1990 I walked into the factory unannounced complaining about a rattle in my Elite, and somebody walked me into his office and fixed it on the spot!
Years later I'm mixed up with these Hamer USA cats and they're every bit as capable and personable. Everybody else in the industry just ships product, and if they had their way that would be their only interface with the buying public. The people in New Hartford seem to have a unique understanding that that model is not realistic. |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 970
Location: Atlanta,Ga. | Al, your story reminded me of a story about Kim Keller and ovation customer service around 3 years ago that i had almost forgotten..There was a big artist from Europe here in the US for a North American tour(about 10 cities).The artist is a long time Ovation player"George Dalaras".Anyway, Dalaras was touring north America and he owned one of the first weavetop adamases(probably the first).He was having some problems with popping noises from the electronics while playing the guitar.While playing the guitar it would begin making strange,loud popping noises.He was set to play two sold out nights in a hotel in Atlantic city.I contacted Kim at the factory and told him the problem as i was involved in helping promoting the concerts.I asked Kim if we could ship the guitar overnight to the factory and have them repair it and if he could ship it back before the show saturday night.That left us with three days before the show..Well here is what kim did.He drove from Ct. to N.J. on saturday and personally repaired the guitar in the theater during sound check.He brought tool box and some extra parts..He personally took care of the problem and took his weekend time away to make sure it was handled.Dalaras was very impressed by this and thanked kim many times .The fact that someone would drive hours away to take care of his guitar on their own time.After the tour he asked me to thank Kim and Ovation again for him and how impressed he was by the service. Im not sure if ovation ever found out about Kims extra special service but i hope now they will know....I doubt many other companys would take the time and care like Kim did that weekend..Kim even stayed and watched the concert.I hope he enjoyed it....Thanks again Kim... |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Keeping the customer happy is always important, especially the one you already have. A small thing really but so often overlooked |
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Ovation Customer Service
