Quote:
Originally Posted by Wild Fiddler
What do you think would be fair to both a dealer and player in this situation?
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"Trial periods" are an "unfair" situation. In theory, they sound great. In practice, they can go "south" in a wide variety of ways. Both the buyer and the seller is hoping that none of those things happen. If they do, one, or the other, gets the short end of the stick. It's the luck of the draw. If you are comfortable with the gamble, buy on-line, sight unseen. If not, don't buy on-line.
What can go "south"? Someone buys a guitar for a trial period, during which he or she sands the saddle lower, adjusts the nut slots, adjusts the truss rod, then returns it. If the buyer didn't really know what he or she was doing in those adjustments, the guitar, at best, needs a setup - maybe a new nut and saddle. (Hopefully, they didn't strip or break the truss rod.) If that guitar is then sent out to the next "trial period" buyer, "as new", the guitar might well be a "mess" playing wise. It'll get sent back and forth between the seller and subsequent buyers until, likely, an unsuspecting, less experienced buyer can't tell the difference and keeps it.
Other reports chronicle someone buying a high-end guitar, then swaping it for a cheap one, then returning the cheap one. The seller has little recourse, little protection, particularly if it is a private sale.
Someone buys a guitar, damages or scratches it, then returns it. As in your case, its a he-said, she-said, as to what condition it was when first sent to the buyer and whether or not the condition had changed when it was returned. As Fazool suggested, complete inspection immediately upon receiving the instrument, followed by immediate reporting to the seller of any findings, might mitigate some of that.
Shipping guitars around in extreme weather conditions - very hot and dry or very cold - there is an elevated chance that damage will occur during shipping. When that happens, there's the hassle of who is at fault and compensation, if there is any to be had.
In this day and age of an expectation of perfection, the chances are good that what one receives won't be. Particularly if the "new" instrument has been bounced back and forth a few times between the seller and a number of prospective buyers.
If you honestly believe you returned it in exactly the condition you received it, you can try to cancel payment on it via credit card/PayPal or however you paid for it. If that isn't an option, you could try to negotiate with the seller for half of the reduction in value/selling price they estimate. After that, perhaps your only other options are legal action or that you own a second new guitar.
Had you planned on buying two guitars, or did you order two knowing you'd send at least one back?
If one knows that no two instruments are identical, and that one often needs to pick through a bunch of the same make and model to find the one that one likes, why not just order half a dozen, chose one and then send the other five back? (Or order two at a time, repeatedly returning the rejects, until one finds the one one wants?) Or is that what folks are effectively already doing?
Everyone wants a brand new instrument, but no one wants one that has been "tried out" and altered, worn or damaged in the process. With the many people who buy guitars, try them out, then return them, the numbers don't add up.