ALMOST a New Guitar Day....

[sleigh]

So I called Dave's Guitar Shop this morning and told them what had happened. They very quickly emailed me a return label; I've put it on the box (which now that I look at it more closely does show signs of mishandling). I've sent Dave's a new email, apologizing for the tone of my first one—written in the heat of having discovered that the new guitar was broken and unplayable; yeah, I know: one should always calm down a bit before writing a complaint letter, and I didn't do that.

So we'll see how quickly they get the refund to me. I'm fairly sure that won't happen until they have the guitar back in their hands.

[pszy22]

Looks like the guitar was dropped during shipping.  The drop wouldn't necessarily cause any damage to the box or case.  It's the equivalent to a whiplash injury you might suffer from a fairly minor car collision.

[AlanSam]

Steve - only those who play and revere guitars will understand your rage.

[sleigh]

Alan -- It wasn't really rage, just severe disappointment. I regret not waiting a bit until the emotions dissipated somewhat and I could think more clearly, but...

[Winfielder]

That sure takes the fun out of a new guitar day.  I'm sorry Steve!

I think it definitely looks like shipping damage.  That's exactly the sort of damage that comes from dropping boxes or standing them up and letting them fall over.  I've seen workers drop/knock over boxes quite a few times when I've been dropping items off, and it's unnerving to see.  Even with cases/padding/etc, I'm surprised that guitars don't get broken more often during shipping.

BTW, the E20D I got from you arrived yesterday.  I opened it up and it looks to be okay with no shipping damage, and just as you described.  (thank you again!)

I had thought of you when I saw that AC522ce listed on Dave's site last week, and then saw it listed as 'sold'   I'm glad Dave's is on it and going to make it right.

I predict this will have a happy ending

[sleigh]

A happy ending is my hope also!    I gotta say that the guitar itself was gorgeous, aside from the headstock crack that rendered it unplayable.

[vashondan]

A happy ending is my hope also!    I gotta say that the guitar itself was gorgeous, aside from the headstock crack that rendered it unplayable.

Sorry for the experience Steve.  What a bummer.  And being human we all have moments we'd like to get back. I'm guessing they understood.

[pszy22]

THe possible good news, hard to tell from the picture but it looks it could be damage that would be fairly easy, cheap and successful to fix.

Hopefully it doesn't get scrapped without someone evaluating it.

[DonO]

Man, that sure sucks the air out of your NGD experience Steve. Hope things turn out for your good and you end up with an even better AC522.

Don

[sleigh]

Just to follow-up: Dave's Guitar Shop has refunded me for the purchase of the guitar that was broken in transit. Thanks to Dave's for the good customer service! (Though honestly I would rather have the AC522CE-GB here than get a refund... It really was a fine-looking guitar if you ignored the cracked headstock.)