The BRJ Black Friday Thread (Only for updates for/by customers.)[Ad Free]

[Locrian]

I think the whole idea of "they should just let us have our incomplete guitars" is a total pipe dream, and would never happen. That's just not the way these things happen. It would be great if I could just go down there and grab my guitar that I payed a deposit on, but there's almost 0 chance something like that would happen. If you want "something" out of this, try to get a refund, because that's about the only option.

My student, who is a judge here in California, is skeptical that I'll get even that, sadly. He says there are a number of laws in place that would protect an individual in the case of being admitted to a psychiatric center and dealing with mental illness, and protect his assets as well. He said the best that I could probably hope for would be a partial refund, and when I asked how "partial" we're talking, he said it more than likely would not be something that would satisfy me with this whole situation. Wasn't very encouraging stuff, honestly.

 

[Rap Hat]

For those of us that paid in full I'd hope the situation would be better. We own the guitars, there's no more debt to Bernie, and in some cases the guitars are supposedly complete, just waiting on cases. If those get liquidated to pay off loans or debts I'm gonna be furious.
I feel for you guys who sent guitars back for wrong woods or whatever. You had a finished instrument and if this goes poorly it'll be used to pay off the banks.

 

[Lirtle]

fuck! mine was done. "Just needed a case"

 

[leonardo7]

If those get liquidated to pay off loans or debts I'm gonna be furious.

Oh man, could you imagine! The company dissolves and everything gets liquidated to a third party who legally buys everything then you see your finished guitar that you paid in full sell on ebay and there's nothing you can do!

Unlikely, but Damn!

 

[mikernaut]

Well my "redo" guitar looked to be painted and ready for assembly so I sent him a case and BKP's to install back in December. So bare minimum I should get the case and Pups back if the guitar is never finished, sigh.

 

[watson503]

.

My student, who is a judge here in California, is skeptical that I'll get even that, sadly. He says there are a number of laws in place that would protect an individual in the case of being admitted to a psychiatric center and dealing with mental illness, and protect his assets as well. He said the best that I could probably hope for would be a partial refund, and when I asked how "partial" we're talking, he said it more than likely would not be something that would satisfy me with this whole situation. Wasn't very encouraging stuff, honestly.

I wonder if him being placed in a psychiatric center then wasn't just part of the plan to screw everybody over. Whatever the case may be, just reading about how this all went down really pisses me off, to rip good people off like this - especially as bad as things are right now - that is pretty god damn low.

 

[Hollowway]

Being put in the psych ward will not nullify any claims people have against him for things that occurred before. If you just paid the guy, then found out he went in, then maybe the court would give him the benefit of the doubt. But not for guitars that are 2 years overdue. I think there would be enough evidence to suggest that his being in the hospital is just a coincidence.
The issue of liquidating his assets to pay off loans only occurs for business loans, as he would be unlikely to declare personal bankruptcy if its just the business that is hurting. And we also don't know if there are any loans in the name of the business. At any rate, I personally would not recommend people throw in the towel because they're assuming they can't get their money back. Doing nothing is the only way to guarantee failure.

 

[paddy]

I wonder if him being placed in a psychiatric center then wasn't just part of the plan to screw everybody over. Whatever the case may be, just reading about how this all went down really pisses me off, to rip good people off like this - especially as bad as things are right now - that is pretty god damn low.

True.
You people with outstanding guitars and stuff need to "be sure" that he's "really ill".

 

[leonardo7]

This just in:

Bernie Rico Jr has officially stopped taking orders. You can buy mine for 10K

 

[AndyLunt]

I'm curious as to how many people there are outside of this forum and facebook who have an order with BRJ, and just have absolutely no idea as to what's going on as they rely solely on either having phone contact with Bernie, or emailing him/use his website etc. Totally left in the dark! =\

 

[SpaceDock]

He had to have 200+ orders and 100 in final assembly. The pictures of his shop show that much for sure.

 

[leonardo7]

He personally told me in Oct '11 when I was there that he had around 300 guitars in his shop. I saw around that many for sure.

I'm curious as to how many people there are outside of this forum and facebook who have an order with BRJ, and just have absolutely no idea as to what's going on as they rely solely on either having phone contact with Bernie, or emailing him/use his website etc. Totally left in the dark! =\

Also remember that Bernie got permanently banned from here just a few months into the run. If he wouldn't have been perma banned then he may have popped up once in a while along the way to inform us all. Or not. Just sayin

 

[DDDorian]

On another note, remember that Bernie got banned from here. If he wouldn't have been perma banned then he may have popped up once in a while along the way to inform us all. Or not. Just sayin

Bernie wasn't permabanned, his absence is entirely self-imposed.

 

[leonardo7]

Bernie wasn't permabanned, his absence is entirely self-imposed.

I remember he threw a fit and posted that he was never coming onto this site again. Then he got banned for the things he said. But that doesn't matter. Its irrelevant to whats going on right now. I shouldn't have even mentioned it.

 

[MetalThrasher]

I really hate following this thread anymore. I wish we could get an answer in the next few weeks about what's going on. I'm not sure how many people paid in full but I'm one of them. Regardless, as a paying customer we should at least get some news as to what's happening to our guitars and or refunds.

 

[Khoi]

Just got a reply from BBB


"We have closed our file and we appreciate your using Business Consumer Alliance. This complaint will remain in our file on this company and will be a part of the report we issue to the public.

If we can assist you in the future, please contact us.

Thank you."



And the response:


Company's Final Response - Posted 03/27/2013
"To all of Bernie's customer's, we first want to express our gratefulness for your support regarding Bernie Rico Jr. guitars. We first want to apologize for the lack of communication during the past several months and CERTAINLY understand your concerns and frustrations. These past several months have been extremely difficult times for the Rico family regarding Bernie's health issues. We seem to take our "well being" for granted, and when suddenly faced with a challenge, are not prepared for the burden it creates. It was never our intention to keep you, the customer, out of the loop in regards to Bernie's status and the status of your order(s), and in retrospect, wish we could have handled the situation differently. However, with the challenges that we, the Rico family, faced during the past several months, our primary focus was for Bernie to simply recover, so that he could come back to his family. Bernie's intentions are to resume working soon, so that he can finish your orders that you have waited so patiently for. We will keep you posted on when Bernie will be back in the shop. He is getting better every day and we are hopeful he will be back with his family soon."

 

[spawnsc]

I was coming to post the same thing ^ got kinda pissed that BBB closed my case...

 

[Ben.Last]

Yeah, there's no legal council allowed IN small claims, but I believe CA provides free legal council to go over the process and such.

As for where that goes: it's hard to say, assuming the company ends up getting liquidated, filing claims earlier rather than later MAY actually matter. As has been stated, who knows if he owes money to suppliers, creditors, etc. that are going to come calling with lawyers of their own.

I'm also not sure exactly how an unfinished product would be handled in a liquidation process. I don't know if it would get matched up to the customer that had originally purchased it (in full or part) or not. So, there's the potential for whatever finances the company has to get drained before everyone gets a refund. Then... what? You have someone that a court has declared owes you money that they don't have in the first place, and you're pretty much where you're all at now anyway.

 

[Speculum Speculorum]

Company's Final Response - Posted 03/27/2013
"To all of Bernie's customer's, we first want to express our gratefulness for your support regarding Bernie Rico Jr. guitars. We first want to apologize for the lack of communication during the past several months and CERTAINLY understand your concerns and frustrations. These past several months have been extremely difficult times for the Rico family regarding Bernie's health issues. We seem to take our "well being" for granted, and when suddenly faced with a challenge, are not prepared for the burden it creates. It was never our intention to keep you, the customer, out of the loop in regards to Bernie's status and the status of your order(s), and in retrospect, wish we could have handled the situation differently. However, with the challenges that we, the Rico family, faced during the past several months, our primary focus was for Bernie to simply recover, so that he could come back to his family. Bernie's intentions are to resume working soon, so that he can finish your orders that you have waited so patiently for. We will keep you posted on when Bernie will be back in the shop. He is getting better every day and we are hopeful he will be back with his family soon."

Read: Dear Customers,

 

[Ben.Last]

That sounds like an utterly horrible idea.