Larrivee Warranty. My Parlor is back !!!

[Daysailer]

^_^

Larrivée 's  Customer Service can't be beat  !

I Purchased a P03 used from a forum member last November.  Briefly checked it out.  Not a mark anywhere and zero fret wear. As advertised, MINT.  I then let it 'rest' under the Christmas tree, until Santa officially delivered it..  Everything seemed ok to my non - expert eyes.   Did  notice that the saddle was leaning toward the fretboard quite a bit, and that there was nearly 1/4" of saddle above the bridge.  Didn't  know I should be concerned.  A couple of strings just didn't sound right, so I changed the strings to JP meds, as recommended here.  Found a 1mm ebony shim under the saddle.  Hmmmmm. ? The action wasn't what I prefer, but no too far off.  I made sure the saddle was all the way in the bridge w/shim, and strung it up.  No real improvement in the odd muted tone on the the B and A strings.  The saddle was still leaning about 15-20 degrees toward the sound hole.   hmmmm.?   

"I went down to the sacred store, where I'd heard the music, years before.  And the man there said......"     

At Mckenzie River Music, I described the symptoms,  and they suggested I check the neck alignment with a straight edge to make sure it lined up with the top edge of the bridge.   They also said that the leaning saddle might crack or other wise damage the bridge slot from the uneven pressure.  Sure enough, the straight edge was about 2mm above the bridge.  Also found that only about 1/8" of saddle was actually in the slot, not enough to hold it up straight.  Futher checking the slot, I found that the slot was warped. That is, the ends were normal width, but the middle of the slot was bowed out about .012" wider.    :EM>

"Helter Skelter, in a summer swelter......."   I called unclrob and discussed these symptoms.  His advice....   Trust Larrivee and get the guitar to them.    I called Brian T. and got the Return Authorization on 1-9-06.  Shipped  off the Parlor with a note describing the symptoms. I took the honest path, and told them I was not the original owner.  ( BTW, the original owner offered to take the Parlor back, no blame toward him).

Got an email from Larrivee, Brian T. on 2-1, saying that they were going to fix the guitar as a "0$ warranty repair"   I thought I might be misunderstanding that phrase with 'wishful' thinking, so I called Brian, and he confirmed that they were fixing the guitar under their warranty.   ^_^   Hooray....  !!!!

Received the Parlor back yesterday, 2-7.  They replaced the bridge, fixing the neck/bridge alignment and slot problem.   And then......... went WAY beyond any expectations.    Frets leveled and beveled. Fret ends filed and polished. Bone nut installed.  Bone saddle installed and set up for 6/64 action.   And then......(yes more)... another saddle was included and set up for 5/64 if I wanted lower action..         WOW         ^_^

" The three men I admire most..."   (at least today)   unclrob.    Brian T.     and Matthew Larrivée.            in no particular order. 

THANK - YOU   LARRIVEE   !!!!

Thanks for letting me tell  my story.   

phill      :mellow:

[unclrob]

Nothing like a happy ending,with bonuses. :GRN>I'm glad it all worked out.

[HangFire]

What a great stroy, thanks for sharing Phill! :GRN>

[didymus21]

What a great stroy, thanks for sharing Phill! :GRN>

yay Phill!

[whiskeyjack]

"I went down to the sacred store, where I'd heard the music, years before.  And the man there said......"  "Helter Skelter, in a summer swelter......."  " The three men I admire most..."     

^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ 

Twenty-nine days.  I'll just state the obvious in case it needs to be put in black and white: that is truly an amazing turn-around time for all that was done.

Maybe it's because they're a relatively small company still. .  . .I sure hope the Larrivee Guitar Company doesn't lose their sense of responsiveness.

So far, it's been sixteen days for a custom case, twenty-nine days for your new bridge, saddle, nut and setup-PLUS. . . .I wonder how CF's guitars are doing!?   

I can confidently say that, in all my years of playing and buying guitars, I've never seen such responsiveness in a customer service department.  Good job, Larrivee!!

Edit:  Oops!   'Almost forgot.   

[ronmac]

Phil,

Thanks for coming back to us with the positive news. It helps everyone to feel comfortable with their decision to support a company that goes way beyond what it is obligated to do for the customer.

[mikerides]

That's spectacular!  If my OM isn't sold in the next few weeks, I may send it back for another go round.

[inspector13]

It is very nice to hear of a company that does not have a broken "give-a damn". Phil, thanks for the feedback

[rwnyc]

These stories almost make you WANT to have a warranty problem.   :POL>


Almost. 


Glad to hear the good news.

[charliep]

Glad everything worked out so great for you Phil. Just one more reason to buy Larrivee!!!! :WNK>
charliep

[unclrob]

Remember folk's that not all repairs are done no charge.Not trying to bring everyone down,just the fact's..I recommended Phil ship it to them because they built,who better to fix it.I'm happy that they did at no cost,I'm even happier that Phil is doing the dance of joy,Phil close the curtains the naked dance of joy in public is illegal.Do remember that it is up to Larrivee to charge or not charge.





This warning is a public sevice notice.



Phil put your cloths back on. :POL>

[gsm2699]

"...the naked dance of joy.."

Playing your guitar while doing this dance eliminates the "swoosh."

[Randy_R]

"...the naked dance of joy.."

Playing your guitar while doing this dance eliminates the "swoosh."

particularly if you jump in some jello first    ^_^

[Daysailer]

(( blushing  )))     :rolleyes:         quietly slipping back into my robe  ...

Unclrob is right,  How our repair problems are handled is entirely up to the Larrivée folks.  I am glad to be a loyal and satisfied owner of 2 fine guitars made by them.  Their reputation for being customer oriented was a big reason I ended up seeking out Larrivées instead of others. 

Anyone needing Larrivée service, please understand they will honestly deal with us.  But many problems are often created after our instruments leave their factory.  To be respected by them,  we must first show respect to them.

phill   

[aboss]

I've been toying with (playing over and over and over) several different manufacturers and models for my new axe... i love the sound and the feel of larrivees, and i've heard enough stories like this that i think the decision may have been made for me. I think i'll be picking up a larrivee in about 2 weeks from today! (my reading week) ...thanks for sharing the story, its helped me to remove what little doubt i had left.  -_-

aboss

[ark]

About a year or so ago I ordered ebony tuning buttons from Larrivee for my OM-O5. Somehow the order got misplaced for awhile, so when they realized what had happen, they sent me the buttons at no charge. How classy!

But as much as I appreciated that, what is really important to me is that Larrivee has a track record of helping folks get their guitars fixed when needed. Their customers count. I don't mind, I don't think anyone would mind,  paying a fair price for repair of a problem that was not Larrivee's fault.  And if there is some type of manufacturing defect, they step up and fix it. They act in good faith with a sense of caring and responsibility. If I'm going to spend what for me is a significant amount of money for a guitar, it is a huge comfort to know Larrivee is very willing to do what they can if I need help. That is why I bought a Larrivee, although I suppose the fact that they make a great guitar had a little to do with it.......

Al

[Steve]

Larrivée has my new L-05MT and L19CA right now, both in for repair.  I hope I end up with such a wonderful experience as Daysailer.


Steve :GRN>

[HangFire]

Phil put your cloths back on. :POL>

MY EYES!!!

[didymus21]

MY EYES!!!

When I bought my new case they shipped the wrong size....then when confronted, they shipped the right size.  But, I didn't get anything cool out of their mess-up.  Not a thing.  Darn.