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Would you consider this unfair?


johnuk

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Hello!

My second parcel came thru from the US today with some other parts I'd ordered in. I had bought the parts from a guy on ebay who seemed really helpful. They included, a set of chrome pickup surrounds, an original Floyd Rose in it's box and a set of in line tuners.

The pickup surrounds are of questionable quality; they do not look as though they've been machined square in anyway. But they're not too bad.

However! I really liked how firm and positive the action was on the Gotoh tuners I have on the Chome Chick JS10th. So I figured I'd also get some Gotoh SG38's. I found the same guy selling the bridge was also selling SG3805's.

I am unsure whether or not I took it for granted these would actually be genuine Gotoh tuners. He used the words "Gotoh style six-in-line tuning keys, chrome finish, model SG3805(almost identical to the Grover tuners)".

And then since he included the Gotoh label I thought they must be Gotoh tuners. I was fairly saddened by the pickup surrounds, but even more so to discover the 'Gotoh' tuners were in fact vacuum sealed in a WD Music package.

What makes me sad is that I am going to be putting a huge amount of effort into this guitar (Which is my first hand built one), and I don't want that effort off-set by using horrible parts from the start, the same reason I spent a lot more buying the original Floyd Rose bridge than I could have done on a licensed bridge.

It would appear that WD Music have labeled these tuners as SG3805CL's. In comparison to the genuine Gotoh tuners, they are pretty bad! The chroming is not bright, but instead a dull steely colour. Around the winding post itself I can easily see deep, visible machining marks. The casting isn't too bad, but the surface is covered in deep scratches and pits that are just not present on the Gotoh's. The action of the tuner is relatively positive, but seems to run over bumps as it goes, so the gears are likely not aligned.

I am just wondering if it is unfair of me to not expect this since he used the word 'style' in his description? These tuners are nothing like Gotoh's except in their bodies are roughly the same shape, the handles aren't.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...%3AEOT%3AUS%3A3

More to the point, it states there are 6, and for some totally unknown reason there are 5 in the pack from WD Music vacuum sealed in place? I have opened the pack to check for any identifying marks, Gotoh is definitly no where to be seen on them. It says 'Made in by Jin-Ho R2' on them (That is worded correctly).

Am I unfair to ask for these to be exchanged? For a start I'm one tuner short! :D

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that's actually false advertising putting the gotoh logo on there when they're infact a completely different product, can't he get in alot of **** for that? I'd ask for a total refund on the price and shipping, but the taxes you have to fill out a form for your countries customs agency and you'll get the money back from them next time you do taxes

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I just found the other tuner, there are 6 there, it had fallen out the pack and to the bottom of the bag. But still... I've probably been waaay too polite! If he refuses to refund them (I don't want them exchanged) I'll see if ebay are willing to cover them.

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Hi Sean,

I got the parcel through this morning. The bridge and pickup surrounds are fine, but I think there may have been a mistake with the tuners. Since the Gotoh logo was in the description, I took the word style as a figure of speach. The tuners I recieved are those by Jin Ho, sold by WD Music, which a friend of mine buys for $9 a set.

I am very against complaining but the quality of these tuners is in no way comparable to Gotoh's. The Jin Ho tuners already have scratches on them and have a questionable action. The parts were packed so well they would have been bullet proof! So I am wondering if these are the actual tuners I was bidding on? As the Gotoh logo was in the description I would question if it's unfair to expect them to be at least similar.

Regards,

John

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John,

You've been screwed. Sorry to hear that though.

I buy the Gotoh SG38's for 21.95 Euro excl. VAT. $50 sounds outragous to me and if that **** sends you cheap ****, I'd take action.

I'm not sure if the tuners on universalJems.com are Gotoh;s, but they're only $35.50

Good luck and let us know what that ebay prick has to say

Coen

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I imagine that the presence of the Gotoh logo was a msitake, given that he seems to sell gotoh tuners fairly regularly, and many traders like him use templates to create their adds. That said, the text left me in NO doubt whatsoever that these were not gotoh tuners. In eBay land you have to read carefully, caveat emptor etc....

You can take the matter up with eBay, but I don't think your case is particularly strong. Apart from the logo you had no reason to believe they were Gotohs, and he never explicitly stated that they were. Your best bet is that he helps you out because it was his mistake which misled you, but I doubt he wants to swallow the expense of shipping and import duty just to foster goodwill...

Finally, not wanting to rub salt in the wound, but Stew Mac sell genuine Gotoh's for $30.55 - $20 less than you payed, assuming you paid the 'buy it now' price. I can't help but think it was an ill advised transaction from the start, unless his shipping was extremely competative!

:D

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What is particularly odd about this is that the genuine Gotoh tuners he sells, he does so for $10 less. He does sell a number of tuners, some of which are genuine Gotoh tuners, but he has included the Gotoh logo on a number of other auctions for Gotoh style tuners. The Gotoh style tuners are the ones that he sells for $10 extra, the kind I bought. He has been quick in replying and sent me this email.... I have asked to return the tuners and exchange them for genuine Gotoh tuners. I will be reclaiming the import duty from the post office when I send them back and I'll have to see what else happens.

Thanks for your opinions on this!

John

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John,

hi, how are you? you know, I checked on this tuner issue & you're right, they're different than the Gotohs, however they're NOT suppose to be! the distributer we deal with changed brands, which they're done on other items, but the thing is they don't tell the dealers, which is annoying for us, becuz we're very reputeable & honest, especially with the Ebay customers. I'm going to check the other tuners we stock to make sure they're Gotoh or not, so someone else doesn't have this problem!

we always go out of our way to please a customer, so you can return them or whatever you feel is fair, it's your call!

sorry about the tuner mishap!

-Sean

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Plus he is genuinely trying to help you out.

Not neccesarrily so...

I know a local retailer that has a newspaper on the counter at all times, placed in such a way that your food (its takeaway) is placed onto the newspaper when you come to pick it up. He chrges the $1.50 for the newspaper, and if anyone questions it: "Oh, sorry, i thought you wanted the newspaper because its sitting right there".

I bet this guy on ebay knew EXACTLY what he was doing.

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I'm not sure which to believe, but anyway, I recieved another reply so I'll get them back in the post this Monday hopefully. My normal opinion would be to believe him but the sentence "so someone else doesn't get cheap ones" worries me slightly. I am over 3000 miles away so there's no chance I'll be able to see him in person, but then again he has sold nearly 1000 items so it's quite likely he is an actual store I guess.... who knows! But thanks again for your help!

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hi,

totally unacceptable on this, sometimes a distbuter will change brands, they don't tell the dealers & this happens! best thing is to send them back to the P.O. Box address, you can even send them postage due if you want, make sure you ship them by Airmail, not economy, cuz packages shipped econony usually don't get delivered!!!! *laugh*

when I get the tuners back, I'll refund you promplty, we're very busy right now, but I'll definitely make sure about the other tuners & make sure they're Gotoh, so someone else doesn't get cheap ones. if I have the same model in Gotoh in stock, I'll just ship ya the correct set!

anything else, just ask! sorry for the hassle on this! usually the shipping dept. inspects everything before it's packaged, but when it's busy, they don't always do that!

-Sean

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i think he probably gets away with it 90% of the time...and when he gets called on it he just fixes it

thats kinda what i was thinking

pretty smart considering he's selling a 9$ set of tuners for 50$, he only has to sell one more set of knock off tuners to cover his losses in this instance..

Johnuk, why did you pay 50$ in the first place? Real Gotoh SG381's shouldn't retail for more then 30-35$ not trying to make fun here or anything i'm actually curious, cause it doesn't say that they're locking tuners or have any of the cool features like magnum lock, HAP, or lubri coat..

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