Custom Made Guitar, Extra Expenses?

[matt397]

BULLSHIT ! this makes me mad just reading this and Im not even the one getting fucked in the ass for assembly. either way the emails you send back an forth should be considered as legally binding and if fails to uphold his end of the deal then thats a breach of contract that he should be aware. it looks like everything he's asking extra cash for has already been outlined in the, in his words, FINAL QOUTE. what a dick.

 

[MorbidAddiction]

Look, I'm not here to destroy his rep guys. I'm here to ask if its normal/acceptable to ask for more money within the last stages of completion.

Seriously, so far its been quite good! And he does have a great rep, which is why I went with him. That's why this has been so confusing for me. I think people have also misunderstood my intention of this thread.

I am willing to pay the extra fees -- and its still cheap for a custom! Don't get me wrong, its just I'm not happy that they've been brought up at the end of the process, as they should have been on the 'total' price for a custom guitar to begin with. And I'm on here to see if I have the right to be a little annoyed.

From what I gather Ernie does great work, and he may be very busy -- as to why there has been no reply. Also, I think we're in the middle of arranging a price drop -- as I might be able to recreate his website for him: of which I will also bring up this issue, so it shouldn't happen again in future.

From everyone's input I am putting this down to a case of confusion. Where I thought I was getting a custom guitar - and maybe he thought that I was just ordering parts for a custom guitar.

I'm going to give him a call tomorrow; both email and phone have been unsuccessful in contacting him, but I'll keep trying. And I'll keep you informed if you'd like.

Thanks,

-- EDIT: Just to clarify I haven't been able to reach Ernie about this matter; so don't take this as an attempt to screw over his rep, this is a guitar forum first and foremost, which has many members who have had custom guitars made and are aware of the going ons within the guitar industry. I have just tried to utilise this resource as I find SS.org to be a great community of which I have a level of trust in the overall/average opinions held here.

This is why I posted on this forum, for opinions, or information as to know if it is common practise to conduct business in this manner.

For anyone who is under the impression that I am here to bash Ernie's reputation, you are mistaken.

 

[yacker]

No worries man, I can't really vouch for others but I understand your intentions.

As far as whether it's acceptable to ask for more money at the end....well I guess that's generally circumstantial. There are a few instances where I would deem it acceptable and a few instances where it probably wouldn't be. This is just my opinion of course.

If something comes up with the build that's unforeseen and leads to an added expense that just can't be justified as paid by the builder and the builder subsequently approaches you and say "hey...we have an issue." I'd consider that acceptable within reason. (This would generally be a rare occurrence and doesn't look like what's going on here). My example: "Oh wow, the stock market just tanked everywhere except the UK and now those Bare Knuckle Pickups you requested are going to cost an extra $500 to get."

Another possibility is if this is how his business is setup, which could be somewhat of what's going on......possibly. I'd be willing to bet the bulk of the work he does or at least half it is probably in replacement Ibanez parts. The website doesn't seem to illustrate it, but maybe his business model is setup similar to what is going on. (Buy the parts then you assemble it to save money, or he charges a bit extra to assemble himself) Seems odd to me, but there's also the possibility that he just misunderstood what you were asking for too.

What would be unacceptable is intentionally "baiting and switching" as in luring in customers with promises of a very cheap custom and then jacking up the price when it's too late for them to get their money back...or for them to want to go through the hassle of waiting for another builder to build something for them, so they just end up paying.

I kinda doubt that's what's going on here based on his reputation, but I don't know for sure.

What I do know is there is quite the mob mentality here whenever somebody even so much as smells somebody getting "ripped off" or something, so people get pissed off, cause of course nobody wants to be ripped off, and it can lead to unintentional defamation of a perfectly legit builder. I'm not saying creating this thread is wrong or anything, but it just has to be done with delicate hands because people jump off the deep end way too soon on this subject.

 

[Ironberry]

I don't understand, why does he charge you $15 for a set of EB slinkies? Part of the reason I buy them is because I can get a set for $6, $8 for the 7 string sets. The best you can really do is voice your discontent and pay for it.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

The thing with ET is that it seems they mainly make parts, necks and bodies, opposed to full guitars.

Did you say in the first email with Ernie that you were ordering a FULL BUILT CUSTOM?

It seems in that first email that you posted you were buying a body and neck.

 

[yacker]

I don't understand, why does he charge you $15 for a set of EB slinkies? Part of the reason I buy them is because I can get a set for $6, $8 for the 7 string sets. The best you can really do is voice your discontent and pay for it.

Australia dude.

 

[MorbidAddiction]

Yeah in Aus everything is expensive -- import costs etc.

But everything is sorted now, He got back to me and all is well. As I said I put it down to confusion, thanks for the input people.

 

[Chickenhawk]

EDIT

What I was going to ask, was answered two posts above mine. Nevermind. lol