Reasonable time to wait for a setup job?

bobthecockroach · 06-22-2011, 03:06 PM

I dropped my guitar off a week before last Saturday (in other words, on the 11th). Still no word. Am I being unreasonable in thinking it should have been done by now?

**thesteve** · 06-22-2011, 03:16 PM

It really depends on the shop and the volume they handle. Some shops will have a low enough volume that a guitar turned in for a setup should be done the next day. The more popular shops around here seem to operate on a two week minimum turnaround.

bobthecockroach · 06-22-2011, 03:16 PM

So the moral of the story is that I should learn to do my own setups.

**thesteve** · 06-22-2011, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobthecockroach

So the moral of the story is that I should learn to do my own setups.

Haha...it's definitely a valuable skill, especially when you want a fast turnaround. I've found that I can get 80-90% of the way there with my own setups, but sometimes I'll fork out a little money to get it perfect.

Have you tried contacting the shop at all? Remember that most of these techs are also musicians, which means it might've been done a week ago and they just haven't called you.

bobthecockroach · 06-22-2011, 03:24 PM

Yeah, the problem is the shop doesn't do the work in house. (Which one way or another means I'd probably pick a different place next time.)

**thesteve** · 06-22-2011, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobthecockroach

Yeah, the problem is the shop doesn't do the work in house.

Ah...that is a problem, because now you're at the mercy of the shop you dropped it off and the actually repair shop. In that case, no surprises you're still waiting. It probably will take 11 days just for the shipping back and forth (if they mail them).

pooleman0 · 06-22-2011, 03:40 PM

Learn to do your own set-ups. I do my own now and it sure beats having to wait. I dropped off my main ax to get some warranty work done at a local shop. It took 4 months. I called three times during that time and on the third call the owner told me to "stop calling, it'll be done when it's done". He added "it isn't costing you anything so just be grateful."

When you are at someone else's mercy you really have no recourse. When I did get my strat back I noticed that the "fender" headstock label was chipped. I sent an email asking about it. I complimented the work he did and asked if something happened to the neck, or if there was something I was doing that may have caused the damage. He flipped out and banned me from the store. He said I was acusing him of damaging it, which I wasn't, I was just inquiring. He said "you didn't even want to do a fret job, so why do you care about the headstock decal?". I didn't get the fret job because I couldn't drop another $99 on a guitar I already spent $1300 on.

To top it off he called te other local shops in the area to "warn" them about me. It was cool because I do a lot of business with those shops, both for myself and on behalf of the church, but it was embarrassing to have to explain the whole situation to them.

I guess the moral here is be careful where you do business. But try calling. I'm sure your experience won't be as bad as mine.

Reuben · 06-22-2011, 04:15 PM

I'd see no problem calling. Usually I've only had to wait about a week at most. Once was maybe closer to two weeks and I called several times to see if it was ready yet. They never gave me attitude for checking on it.

**Rainer.** · 06-22-2011, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pooleman0

Learn to do your own set-ups. I do my own now and it sure beats having to wait. I dropped off my main ax to get some warranty work done at a local shop. It took 4 months. I called three times during that time and on the third call the owner told me to "stop calling, it'll be done when it's done". He added "it isn't costing you anything so just be grateful."

When you are at someone else's mercy you really have no recourse. When I did get my strat back I noticed that the "fender" headstock label was chipped. I sent an email asking about it. I complimented the work he did and asked if something happened to the neck, or if there was something I was doing that may have caused the damage. He flipped out and banned me from the store. He said I was acusing him of damaging it, which I wasn't, I was just inquiring. He said "you didn't even want to do a fret job, so why do you care about the headstock decal?". I didn't get the fret job because I couldn't drop another $99 on a guitar I already spent $1300 on.

To top it off he called te other local shops in the area to "warn" them about me. It was cool because I do a lot of business with those shops, both for myself and on behalf of the church, but it was embarrassing to have to explain the whole situation to them.

I guess the moral here is be careful where you do business. But try calling. I'm sure your experience won't be as bad as mine.

Wow, that's insane. I definitely would just avoid doing business with that shop again.

pooleman0 · 06-22-2011, 05:40 PM

I don't have a choice, I was banned. What stinks is that the guy is a really good tech, he's just anti-social and not good with people. I tried to sandwich my concern about the decal with praise and he still wigged out.

1/2-Fast Player · 06-22-2011, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobthecockroach

Yeah, the problem is the shop doesn't do the work in house.

It'll be a while, then. The kid who's supposed to be doing the job isn't finished gigging with your guitar yet.

ibanez_dude · 06-22-2011, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobthecockroach

Yeah, the problem is the shop doesn't do the work in house. (Which one way or another means I'd probably pick a different place next time.)

Yeh, that's definitely the problem. That happened at the last shop I did a setup from. It was worth the 2 week wait for me, cause the guy they outsource to is a world-renowned Martin tech, and the setup was fantastic, but it was a long wait. Not always worth the wait.

MJ_Avalanche · 06-23-2011, 08:45 PM

Our tech does everything from his workshop and we usually tell people to expect a week turnaround time. That's usually a fair estimate since he usually has a lot of guitars at any given time between what we take in and what he gets from other people.

Like everyone says, though, it totally depends on how much volume is done, etc, etc. Going on two weeks, though is a little crazy, I think.

WideAwake · 08-10-2011, 06:55 AM

The shop I use takes about a week. And it's totally worth the wait. YMMV where you are, but it's worth waiting a bit for it to be done right, I think.

It's not like you are getting it setup every other week. I usually take mine in once a year, so waiting isn't a big deal for me.

CheshireCat · 08-18-2011, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pooleman0

To top it off he called te other local shops in the area to "warn" them about me. It was cool because I do a lot of business with those shops, both for myself and on behalf of the church, but it was embarrassing to have to explain the whole situation to them.

I guess the moral here is be careful where you do business. But try calling. I'm sure your experience won't be as bad as mine.

If your reputation serves you well, he probably did more damage to his own name than he did to yours.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pooleman0

I don't have a choice, I was banned.

No, you do have a choice. You are choosing not to chase the snake that bit you, thus driving the poison in deeper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pooleman0

What stinks is that the guy is a really good tech, he's just anti-social and not good with people.

His antisocial behavior will catch up with him soon enough. He's "warned" other shops about you? Well, just warn others about him . . . like all the musicians you work with at church, for instance. In his case, that is providing terrible customer service. In your case, you are being responsible in warning your friends about him.

Also, you could lodge a complaint with whatever company holds the warranty on your guitar (Fender?). I'm sure they would be concerned about how their customers are being mistreated. The happiness of their customers, who may buy several guitars and encourage others to do the same, is much more important to them than the rantings of a headcase. Again, that's just being a responsible consumer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobthecockroach

Yeah, the problem is the shop doesn't do the work in house.

Was this a repair shop, or a guitar shop?

Chesh