W
whyachi
Guest
This is a fun game I invented. You pre-pay for a paint job, then mail your body to Patrick Sims in Nashville, TN. Then, you wait 8-10 weeks, and try to get it back. Its super fun.
[/sarcasm][objective write up]
In December when I was first gassing up for my P bass, I picked a paint job and contacted several shops. I wanted an exact match for EBMM's Lava Pearl. Tonar was my first choice but he doesn't do pearl jobs, so he pointed me to another shop, which wanted $450. About this time I found out about Sims since he posts some custom paint jobs on the forum from time to time. The paint jobs he posted here and on his website were amazing, plus he quoted me $295 - paid in advance - and 8 to 10 weeks. I pre-paid happily since it was an unusual color request and he needed a few weeks to order the paints. Payment was sent on 12/19/09, after I read a few reviews on his website and saw a few vague, "Yeah Sims does great work," posts on here and Talkbass.
Prior to sending the body to him, communication was on par with Nordstrand pickups. I could email this guy a question and hear back in a few hours and he was very patient while we worked out exactly what I wanted done to my bass. I literally emailed him at 3AM once and got a response in less than an hour. Pretty impressed so far.
I mailed him the body on 1/15 - had to allow time for Warmoth to actually make the thing - and UPS says he received it 1/18. Communication stopped. I emailed him once that week and once the next, to which he responded finally that he was working and it hadn't been long enough. Essentially, "Stop bothering me."
I waited seven weeks then emailed him again asking for a ballpark ETA, and heard nothing. At eight weeks I started looking for a phone number but also found nothing, so I emailed him again at week nine. During #11 he responds that he had lost all of his emails "weeks ago," and asked what kind of body I sent him and what paint job I had wanted done. He did mention he had my address and name, so even if he lost my phone number and email address, he could have dropped a post card any time and let me know to contact him. Or, he knows I'm on this forum and could have reached me here.
Now I'm back in another communication black hole. I responded with what I had ordered and said that if he hadn't started yet, I wanted my body and money back. No response. Paypal won't let me dispute the charges since they're over 45 days old, and I paid with a debit card instead of credit so I can't get my CC company to go after him. About this time, our intrepid young Max pointed these out to me:
http://simswarning.com/
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/dealers-and-group-buys/100196-sims-custom-shop-a-warning.html
There are many more where those came from, people saying it took a year and a half to get their parts back or had to get lawyers or whatever. I am still attempting to get my body and at least part of my money back from Patrick Sims before I go this route, as I really don't have the time or money to get involved in small claims court.
Sharing this for your consideration before you buy from him.
[/sarcasm][objective write up]
In December when I was first gassing up for my P bass, I picked a paint job and contacted several shops. I wanted an exact match for EBMM's Lava Pearl. Tonar was my first choice but he doesn't do pearl jobs, so he pointed me to another shop, which wanted $450. About this time I found out about Sims since he posts some custom paint jobs on the forum from time to time. The paint jobs he posted here and on his website were amazing, plus he quoted me $295 - paid in advance - and 8 to 10 weeks. I pre-paid happily since it was an unusual color request and he needed a few weeks to order the paints. Payment was sent on 12/19/09, after I read a few reviews on his website and saw a few vague, "Yeah Sims does great work," posts on here and Talkbass.
Prior to sending the body to him, communication was on par with Nordstrand pickups. I could email this guy a question and hear back in a few hours and he was very patient while we worked out exactly what I wanted done to my bass. I literally emailed him at 3AM once and got a response in less than an hour. Pretty impressed so far.
I mailed him the body on 1/15 - had to allow time for Warmoth to actually make the thing - and UPS says he received it 1/18. Communication stopped. I emailed him once that week and once the next, to which he responded finally that he was working and it hadn't been long enough. Essentially, "Stop bothering me."
I waited seven weeks then emailed him again asking for a ballpark ETA, and heard nothing. At eight weeks I started looking for a phone number but also found nothing, so I emailed him again at week nine. During #11 he responds that he had lost all of his emails "weeks ago," and asked what kind of body I sent him and what paint job I had wanted done. He did mention he had my address and name, so even if he lost my phone number and email address, he could have dropped a post card any time and let me know to contact him. Or, he knows I'm on this forum and could have reached me here.
Now I'm back in another communication black hole. I responded with what I had ordered and said that if he hadn't started yet, I wanted my body and money back. No response. Paypal won't let me dispute the charges since they're over 45 days old, and I paid with a debit card instead of credit so I can't get my CC company to go after him. About this time, our intrepid young Max pointed these out to me:
http://simswarning.com/
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/dealers-and-group-buys/100196-sims-custom-shop-a-warning.html
There are many more where those came from, people saying it took a year and a half to get their parts back or had to get lawyers or whatever. I am still attempting to get my body and at least part of my money back from Patrick Sims before I go this route, as I really don't have the time or money to get involved in small claims court.
Sharing this for your consideration before you buy from him.
