View Full Version : warranties -Who actually had to use theirs?
Who ever had to use their warrenty? Usually builders stand by their mandos no matter who owns them. Gibson has gone out of their way for fellow members here on the cafe. I would not think twice about buying a mando I liked used because it has no warrenty. Not too much seems to go wrong with mandos as they are not as delicate as they appear. Plus it would have to be some sort of defect.
I don't know about small builders, I do know that the major instrument manufacturers only stand by their warranty if you are the original purchaser. I'd be surprised if Gibson was any different.
keymandoplyr
May-09-2006, 1:36pm
Bought a pacrim mando made in china from Banjo Barn in Tennessee. It was unplayable sent it back with list of all the problems. They promptly sent me one back made in Korea I think they went all over it to make sure it was a good one . Very happy with the replacement and even though the first one was a close out they took very good care of me. I would definitely buy from them again. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif
otterly2k
May-09-2006, 1:52pm
some small builders also only extend the warranty to the original owner... but in my experience, many will go out of their way to provide service, support and information to later owners of their instruments just because.
Jerry Byers
May-09-2006, 2:02pm
I've never understood why warranties only covered the original owner. If it's a money thing, I certainly would pay $10 to have the warranty transferred to my name. I think it's a hold-over from days yonder with Gibson. I understand that most builders can't afford the expense to maintain a mandolin for the life of the mandolin, as opposed to the original owner. However, I would think that most structural defects would occur early in the life of the mando.
otterly2k
May-09-2006, 2:05pm
Jerry- my assumption is that it has to do with knowing what has happened to the instrument in its life... how has it been stored? what has it been exposed to? how has it been cared for? Most of the time, if an instrument has been passed on even once, that info disappears.
I dunno... any other explanations?
I the past 6 months, I used the factory warranty twice for broken instruments. #The first was a Michael Kelly mandolin, which they replaced at no charge with a newer more expensive model. #They replaced a Legacy-O with a new Dragonfly III.
Gibson replaced my Epiphone Masterbilt guitar with a new one because of a brace that had come unglued. #
I've been very satisfied with my warranty experiences. #So much so, that I'm willing to pay a little extra now and buy from a dealer, rather than purchase a 2nd or used off of Ebay.
jefflester
May-09-2006, 3:59pm
I had the lacquer cracking at the fingerboard to neck joint on my maple Weber Bitterroot. Sent it back (Paula was great to work with) and they refinished the mandolin. I had to pay for shipping, but that was it.
Though now it's doing it again. :-(
atetone
May-09-2006, 8:49pm
As much as it seems to be good sport to slam Gibson, I can tell you from personal experience that they went way past their reasonable responsibilities when it came to repairing one of my mandolins.
Unbelievable service! These guys stand behind their stuff.
I guess you just have to decide whether or not paying "new" price is worth the insurance of knowing that they stand behing their product.
Stephen Perry
May-10-2006, 6:53am
A warranty other than the undisclaimable ones is a contract between the buyer & the seller, here with the dealer often as an intermediary. Why would a maker or seller give things away to people without a contract? Goodwill? I suppose. That would make the MI quite different from other industries.
Big Joe
May-10-2006, 9:13am
One of my jobs is to oversee the repair facilities at Gibson. We do handle warranties for the products from each division. While the returns for warranty claims are quite small, it is not inconsequential if it is YOUR instrument that needs warranty work. I can repair most anything that needs working on, but that does not mean I always have the time or desire to do that. Most people don't even have the right tools for the jobs and even if they did the experience of doing enough of those jobs to do a good repair is missing. A warranty is a pretty good thing to have and for those who have used it, they become a believer very quick!
Warranties are not only for recently built instruments either. You would be amazed at how many old instruments that have been in the owners possession for thirty plus years that develop problems and need attention. That is when the warranty is also a real bargain. If you have to pay for a neck set on an instrument you know what I mean. That is often a warranty issue if you are the original buyer.
Jerry Byers
May-10-2006, 9:22am
What seems to be the most common issue for warranty work?
mandopete
May-10-2006, 10:23am
My guess is that it would be repairing finish problems with Distressed Master Models!
(sorry)
GTison
May-10-2006, 10:54am
my went back to gibson after about 9 months. The fret board looked to me like it had too much curve. I was gonna let someone look at it. We went to the Bean Blossom festival and I discovered Danny Roberts was there. I asked him to look at it. He said he could adjust it. I borrowed a truss rod adj. wrench from Janet Deering ( nice lady) and let Danny try it. He couldn't do it. He was afraid it might be broken. So he took it back to Nashville. It was NOT broken, but they soon sent it back to me I've had no problems. I was sure nice to let someone who KNOWS mandolins handle the problem. Good warranty. I like it.
Stephen Perry
May-10-2006, 12:34pm
Places differ in their in-house capabilities as well. I know of a manufacturer that has excellent in house capabilities as far as skills, but can't handle the volume of warranty work, so encourages authorized repair people to do the work. I'd put more effort into avoiding warranty issues!
Another moderate size producer I know has virtually no in house repair capability. Tends to simply replace things that aren't that hard to fix. I'd either find a good outside contractor to do the bigger jobs or build a better in house system.
An example of where figuring out what the warranty covers ahead of time is useful. And figuring out how one goes about getting warranty claims evaluated. And who actually does the work. Once something breaks it is too late. Do the research first.
I'm impressed with Gibson's capabilities.
mounmon
May-10-2006, 1:11pm
My Collings developed some finish problems this last winter and had to go back. I took it back to the store where I purchased it and they shipped it for me. I think it took about 6-8 weeks all told and I got it back. Though it seemed like forever, they were pretty prompt considering, and the end result was very happy. I even lost some "non-warranty" scratches in the deal.
jmkatcher
May-10-2006, 7:44pm
Major kudos to Weber and Collings. I had a mandolin finish problem as well and it wasn't considered as being covered under warranty. The maker did do a perfect job of fixing it though at a discount rate.