Look out for damaged goods--you never know if the damaged guitars I refused might be shipped out to you! I bought a "new" natural finish Alvarez AC60SC acoustic guitar from SDM because they had the lowest price at $440. New guitars should have only been in the guitar store, so why were there sticky fingerprings all over the headstock and fretboard of the first guitar I recieved from SDM? What's more, it was damaged with a two inch long row of chips on the small strip of black lacquer along the edge of the guitar face, AND a gouge with visibly bare wood on the point of the headstock (like it was raked across a textured wall!) The sticky fingerprints had me wondering who had returned it before I bought it?! When I complained, they exchanged it readily and rapidly, but packaged the second for shipping with much less care than the first. Thus although the second one didn't have proof of someone's sticky fingers on it, it also arrived damaged! Again with some lacquer chips, as well as large gouges on the inner aspect of both slots in the headstock. Further, the shady packaging resulted in breaking off of a piece of wood from the fretboard, as well as another broken off wood peg whose identity I never determined, both of which were rattling inside the guitar body! I contacted Alvarez service in STL who said their new guitars should have no blemishes. I asked SDM via email, "Can your company deliver an unflawed, undamaged, perfect-condition new Alvarez AC60SC guitar to my door in St. Louis, Missouri?" The next day, a reply email stated,
"Here's what I can't guarantee: Black finish guitars are beyond unforgiving. Lacquer is, by nature, a very soft material. Regardless of how well it is packed, the very velour in the guitar's case can create minor scratches in the soft lacquer during shipping; because the finish is black, these minor scratches (if you can call them that) are very visible. So, while we can do everything in our power to prevent actual ship damage as you have experienced, and make sure you get a "pick of the litter" from Alvarez, I want to set up realistic expectations regarding the finish on a black guitar that is shipped across the country." This was a tough pill to swallow from a mail order-only music company...who wants to buy a "new" guitar that has flaws all over it?
This response was different than the apparent promise on their "Product Condition" page in the "Guarantees and Benefits" section of their website. They say if you'll only be satisfied with a 100% cosmetically perfect guitar, you should buy new instead of B stock. Yet this response gave me an explanation of why I could not expect a 100% cosmetically perfect guitar in this instance. Not to mention that this response did not even address the larger issue of damage not attributable to shipping on both of the guitars that I was shipped. When I requested that they compensate this inconvenience by paying the difference between their advertised price and that of the local store where I planned to buy my AC60SC, I was finally offered an exchange with the assurrance that they would "...have a unit hand-inspected, and packaging reinforced to prevent ship damage."
Based on my experience with SDM (observing how the guitars were packaged, and the fact that both of them arrived with shipping damage AND damage not explicable to me by shipping trauma,) combined with their email response, I interpret this data to indicate that, although they ship guitars for a living, their routine quality control processes does not prevent customers from getting imperfect items (damaged before shipping,) and their shipping practices do not routinely protect fragile instruments from further damage en route to you!
More suspicious is that they have subsequently added "Factory Sealed" to their AC60SC listings, and raised their price...the "Factory Sealed" now costs $430, and the "New" now costs $520! If you're trying to get this guitar for the lowest price, use a google search to find the authorized Alvarez dealer who is still selling it new for $439! I wonder whether the "Factory Sealed" ones are the two damaged ones that they sent me!
To me, part of buying a new guitar (instead of used one) is knowing that it will be perfect, and if it winds up scratched, it was because of my own carelessness (rather than that of the person selling it to me!) Their website says "No Hassle," but that is clearly a lie because Same Day Music has been nothing but a hassle and a headache for me since I placed this order! Look out, or they might try to push of damaged goods to you instead of new, too! My advise is that if you want a guitar without flaws, DO NOT BUY THEM FROM THESE GUYS!
This review was modified by its author, honest_mike, on
1/9/09 9:34 PM.
