Shady guitar tech...gah.

[erogenousjones17]

Just got back from the "luthier" (my quotation marks), where I had taken my Godin archtop for a free (as in covered-by-warranty) setup. The guy sets the guitar case on the counter, then prints out the invoice and proceeds to tell me that the guitar is no longer under warranty and that the setup would therefore cost me $54.17. Apparently, I voided the warranty by changing the original strings from .013 acoustic strings (on an electric guitar with a P90, I might add) to .011 electric strings and tuning down from E to Eb.

What the fricking bloody hell? It's my guitar and I'm not allowed to change the strings over the course of a year or decide what tuning I want to play in? What's the deal? Is this common practice that I was just not aware of? Anyone else have a similar experience?

Gah. I'm so done with these guys.* From now on I'm doing all my own guitar work.


*This is the place where they ridiculed my seafoam partscaster and referred to my Warmoth as an "El Cheapo" model.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

That is BS.  Did you tell them that you plugged into an amp and did string bending.  Ask them if you should have brought it in for string replacement under the warranty?

 

[hachikid]

burn it to da gwound...

 

[Mor Paul]

burn it to da gwound...

 

[line6man]

That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard.

Changing string gauges and tunings, cause to void a warranty? You've got to be shitting me. :tard:

 

[Paul-less]

well, that Godin SHOUD have acoustic strings, but whatever.

I can see why the warranty was voided, changing strings is a very difficult process, and you should have given it to the to have the work done in the first place...


In all seriousness, I would have been done with the as soon as they called one of my belongings "el cheapo". Even if it was, that is not acceptable...

 

[bbl4ck]

I would be contacting Godin customer service.  I read the warranty that is posted online for that guitar and it says nothing about voiding the warranty by means of what you described. 
I cannot imagine the Godin powers that be would condone such actions, nor would they want a "luthier" such as this providing authorized service for their products.
That is just wrong in so many ways...  ???

 

[TBurst Std]

I would be contacting Godin customer service.  I read the warranty that is posted online for that guitar and it says nothing about voiding the warranty by means of what you described. 
I cannot imagine the Godin powers that be would condone such actions, nor would they want a "luthier" such as this providing authorized service for their products.
That is just wrong in so many ways...  ???

+1

 

[elfro89]

Just got back from the "luthier" (my quotation marks), where I had taken my Godin archtop for a free (as in covered-by-warranty) setup. The guy sets the guitar case on the counter, then prints out the invoice and proceeds to tell me that the guitar is no longer under warranty and that the setup would therefore cost me $54.17. Apparently, I voided the warranty by changing the original strings from .013 acoustic strings (on an electric guitar with a P90, I might add) to .011 electric strings and tuning down from E to Eb.

What the fricking bloody hell? It's my guitar and I'm not allowed to change the strings over the course of a year or decide what tuning I want to play in? What's the deal? Is this common practice that I was just not aware of? Anyone else have a similar experience?

Gah. I'm so done with these guys.* From now on I'm doing all my own guitar work.


*This is the place where they ridiculed my seafoam partscaster and referred to my Warmoth as an "El Cheapo" model.

I'd be getting my lawyer to sent a nice letter to them. we have a thing called the musicians union on Britain, they have a blacklist for fraudsters and people who take the piss. The MU phone them to get them to give you a refund, and if they don't they go straight on the blacklist. Amazing.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Most owner's manuals come with instruction on how to do truss rod adjustments and intonation (if applicable on an adjustable bridge).  The very nature and existence of that suggests the owner can change or modify things.  Changing the oil or tires of a car doesn't void a warranty, this shouldn't either.

 

[hachikid]

burn it to da gwound...

awesome!

 

[OzziePete]

I would be contacting Godin customer service.  I read the warranty that is posted online for that guitar and it says nothing about voiding the warranty by means of what you described.  
I cannot imagine the Godin powers that be would condone such actions, nor would they want a "luthier" such as this providing authorized service for their products.
That is just wrong in so many ways...  ???

+1. Give them a ring and tell them that someone representing you will be contacting them later for an official response. Then go to a consumer affairs agency (govt or consumer's advocate agency or whatever the set up is in your state) and make an official complaint.

You were there to get the guitar set up, having electric as opposed to acoustic strings is not the issue here - unless the electric strings somehow mess up the piezo system and you are claiming warranty for repairs to the piezo (if such damage can actually occur, I dunno  :dontknow: ).

If this guy does warranty work for Godin, would he be obliged to report his voiding to Godin? This guy's actions may jeopardise any future issue that may indeed be a genuine warranty claim.

 

[pabloman]

Why would you expect somebody to set up your guitar under warranty when you changed string type and guage? Its not their fault your guitar is out of adjustment. Now that being said that's pretty stupid for somebody to say a string change voids a warranty. I've never heard of that. Then again I'm not a warrantyologist either. I just don't see how godin would pay this guy for setting up your guitar.

 

[B3Guy]

Contact Godin +1.  :icon_thumright: Also, Go to the Better Business Bureau website, or something similar, (or go to all of them like I do when I get BS), and fill out their form to report Mr. "Luthier".

 

[AutoBat]

Why would you expect somebody to set up your guitar under warranty when you changed string type and guage? Its not their fault your guitar is out of adjustment. Now that being said that's pretty stupid for somebody to say a string change voids a warranty. I've never heard of that. Then again I'm not a warrantyologist either. I just don't see how godin would pay this guy for setting up your guitar.

Why would you want your guitar setup for a string size/type you aren't going to use?

 

[Cagey]

Why would you expect somebody to set up your guitar under warranty when you changed string type and guage? Its not their fault your guitar is out of adjustment. Now that being said that's pretty stupid for somebody to say a string change voids a warranty. I've never heard of that. Then again I'm not a warrantyologist either. I just don't see how godin would pay this guy for setting up your guitar.

Why would you want your guitar setup for a string size/type you aren't going to use?

You wouldn't want it setup for a string size/type you're not going to use. But, what it was going to be set up for should have been decided at sale time. One you take delivery, it is what it is.

The guy probably isn't saying the warranty is "void", so much as he's saying the work isn't covered under warranty. Nobody covers that sort of thing. Otherwise, their techs or luthiers would be inundated with work they couldn't be compensated for. I doubt anyone said you can't change strings; that's normal maintenance. But, he changed his string size dramatically, so now (surprise!) the setup is wrong. What if you changed your frets or the nut and the neck ended up all buzzy? Should that be covered under warranty? Of course not. It's the same thing.

I guess I'd expect the store to be a little more accommodating as instrument markups are pretty good. They should cover a little service after the sale. An explanation about why that sort of thing isn't done, then an offer to do it "just this once" for a reduced price would probably have been the more politic way to handle it.

 

[pabloman]

Who said anything about wanting that? That's just stupid. The guitar came that way so ya it would need to be adjusted since something was changed.

 

[jay4321]

I think if someone referred to one of my Warmoths as an "el cheapo" I think I'd take that as a sign that robably don't respect others' instruments enough to trust them with repairs. Or that they just don't have the expertise needed to identify quality guitars without going by the brand name. Either way. I mean that's like going to the vet and someone referring to your pet as a dumb mutt - what the hell I'm not leaving him with you.

I once had a guy tell me it was stupid to wire my LP bridge volume control up top on MY guitars. (I prefer it closer as I rarely use the neck pickup, let alone the volume for it). Imagine my surprise when I picked it up and found that he had not only switched them anyway, but he'd also blown the $40 Earvana nut and the low E string was dead on frets 1-5. Fortunately it was discovered while I was in-store (GC) and and the manager made it right after he checked it out.

 

[jay4321]

Another place is the Music Boutique right down the street from me, pretty lol work on a couple simple jobs. Apparently everyone else calls them the "Music Bodega" and I didn't know - it's pretty bare in there. That advertise as being an authorize Orange amp retailer and have no Orange Amps. Should have been a sign.

 

[jmohil]

I gotta say I sort of agree with Cagey...when you buy a guitar off the shelf, it should play well and have the correct setup.  After that, setup is really more of a maintenance issue unless it is caused by something structurally/mechanically wrong with the guitar.  Expecting lifetime of free setups whenever I decide to change string gauges (which I do periodically) doesn't seem like a reasonable request...to me, at least.    It would be nice though!