There are some cases where it'd be nice--or smart--for the manufacturer to cover shipping costs. (I'm in a niche of the instrument industry, and occasionally cover shipping for warranty claims: failure in the first year, or for a longtime repeat customer, or other case-by-case circumstances.)
But in my experience in several industries, it's entirely commonplace that warranty claimers are responsible for postage.
Blackbird offering you a free finish upgrade (normally $425)--in addition to fixing the issue at no cost--seems to be going above and beyond to fix it and satisfy their customer.
Fully refunding an instrument purchase after 4 years is absolutely unheard of...even to refund 80% of your purchase price! Had you decided to sell it after having it fixed, I think you'd have been very lucky to get that much in the used market! (Then again, with the $425 finish upgrade, maybe.)
I've owned 5 Blackbirds, and had two experiences with Blackbird warranty claims (a minor issue in 2011, one in 2018). In both cases, I got fast replies from Joe, including a personal phone call; in both cases, they returned the instruments better than ever with the issues not since recurring.
Last edited by tommyld; 05-02-2019 at 06:10 PM.
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