Emerald Customer Support

[JackDaniel]

Anyone have a bad experience with Davy? I recall when Kevin was my rep and he was awesome! Then I got switched to Davy and found him not the nicest. I recently talked to another Emerald enthusiast and he said the same thing! This other person actually stopped buying Emeralds all together because of that and while I havent been that extreme as I still plan to own Emeralds in the future, I havent gotten one for a quite some time now.
Anyone else have some bad experiences with their customer support?

[tbeltrans]

Davey packed my Kestrel and shipped it during the 25% off sale on stock items, letting me know along the way what was happening. I asked a question or two after receiving it and he responded quickly. All this was via email, so I didn't talk to him but there wasn't any problem in my own experience.

Tony

[David Eastwood]

I’ve had great responses from Davy in the past - and to be fair, Kevin also. It sometimes takes a day or two, but I don’t recall ever being left hanging.

Don’t write them off based on one unfortunate experience, and the say-so of someone else. Everybody has a bad day now and again.

[RP]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

...Don’t write them off based on one unfortunate experience, and the say-so of someone else. Everybody has a bad day now and again.

Exactly. Despite having purchased several Emeralds over the years, I've had little occasion to require Customer Support. The times that I have used Customer Support went just fine. I get the impression that various Emerald employees wear multiple hats and so replies may be slower than we'd like. In terms of an individual being "not nice", I'd have to wonder if it's a difference in cultures thing or just catching that person on a difficult day. I certainly would recommend against avoiding Emerald instruments for this reason alone...

[Captain Jim]

Attitude matters. The problem with airing it in a forum like this becomes interpretation. As a former business owner, it is a fact that every staff person (and their actions) represents the company.

I'm 4 Emeralds in, and other than one short discussion with Alistair a few years ago, my dealings have been with "the Emerald Sales Team." I exchanged a few e-mails 5 years ago when I custom ordered an X10 (when they had just been re-released).

As an outsider looking in, I see on Emerald's site that Davy may be a bit gruff (see the FAQ about "How long is Davy's beard?"... with a wink and a nod). But, he knows the product and is a good musician. That said, I am fluent in sarcasm and gruff.

For full disclosure, I sold a couple nice guitars because they reminded me of the dealer who turned out to be beyond "not nice." It would take more than that to make me give up any of my Emeralds.

My dealings with Emerald's customer support have been: order (or buy the stock) the guitar, they package and ship it, I check tracking about a thousand times, the guitar shows up, it's great, I play it a lot. It's a good system.

[dgaemc2]

Davy has been my sales guy on all of my Emerald purchases and has been very responsive to all questions prior to purchasing. He even responded to a question while the entire production team was on a 2 week hiatus after the 25th anniversary stock sale!!

He does gig frequently so isn't always there to respond at the drop of a hat. But otherwise he responds very quickly...

[JackDaniel]

I suppose I find Davy not that helpful. When you're buying something as expensive as an emerald guitar, the service should be 5 stars and not just passable.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by JackDaniel

I suppose I find Davy not that helpful. When you're buying something as expensive as an emerald guitar, the service should be 5 stars and not just passable.

There’s a lot of collective experience with Emerald here on this forum. Maybe there’s someone here who could answer your questions.

I’m not for a minute suggesting that this forum is a substitute for the company’s own support, but it is an alternative to consider.

[RP]

Originally Posted by JackDaniel

...When you're buying something as expensive as an emerald guitar, the service should be 5 stars and not just passable.

And the binding on Martin guitars should not separate. At the age of 73 I've learned that personal satisfaction and perfection are not the same thing. Keep in mind that we can't possibly know how bothersome your interactions were and are not taking sides by any means...

[Batmitestar]

I’ve bought a total of one Emerald. Seems like it quite depends on which way the wind blows, how many other things are going on, maybe the mood of Vishnu what sort of response one receives.


Their guitars are great enough to tolerate some minor rubbish.

[seannx]

Last month I sent an email request followed up with a phone message for warranty support for issues with my special order short scale X20. I never really bonded with the guitar, and posted it here on the AGF for sale. A prospective buyer found issues with the anthem pickup plus the setup, and I wanted Emerald’s perspective plus options if warranty work was necessary. Never heard anything back, and the sale didn’t go through. I’m still waiting, and it’s disappointing to say the least to get no response about a $3,000 guitar.
I took it to my local tech who made sure the saddle and the bottom of the slot were perfectly flat, frets were level, and fixed the problem with the anthem. The nut slots could have been done better but were acceptable.
In retrospect I could have plugged the guitar in on receipt to test the anthem, but didn’t. As it was a custom order a simple return wouldn’t have been possible without a 20% restocking fee within the 10 day window.
If considering a custom (3D) build Emerald, make sure to include taking a 20% hit if you don’t like it, and based on my experience, don’t count on hearing back from their customer service if you discover any problems or have concerns.

Apparently the warranty info on their website:

“Emerald Guitars warrants solely to the original retail purchaser of this Emerald musical instrument that the instrument purchased shall be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use for a period of three years from the date of purchase, or until the ownership of the instrument is transferred to another.”

doesn’t include getting a timely response to email or phone support requests.

[DAVY K]

Hey guys

Davy K here

Thank you all for your comments, both nice and otherwise.

I am sorry some of you feel this way but please get in touch with me and let me know how I have made you feel this way and I would be glad to talk to you further.

I certainly don't want anyone to feel let down by my communication etc?

Customer satisfaction is really important to me and the team

Get in touch (I'm really not gruff at all )

[email protected]

Davy.

[jdinco]

Originally Posted by Batmitestar

Their guitars are great enough to tolerate some minor rubbish.

I wonder if the Emerald fan club would feel that way if it were any other brand guitar ? I doubt it. I know it's a big turn off for me when I have any negative experience with a company and I shy away from them.

[DAVY K]

[QUOTE=seannx;7323293]Last month I sent an email request followed up with a phone message for warranty support for issues with my special order short scale X20. I never really bonded with the guitar, and posted it here on the AGF for sale. A prospective buyer found issues with the anthem pickup plus the setup, and I wanted Emerald’s perspective plus options if warranty work was necessary. Never heard anything back, and the sale didn’t go through. I’m still waiting, and it’s disappointing to say the least to get no response about a $3,000 guitar.
I took it to my local tech who made sure the saddle and the bottom of the slot were perfectly flat, frets were level, and fixed the problem with the anthem. The nut slots could have been done better but were acceptable.
In retrospect I could have plugged the guitar in on receipt to test the anthem, but didn’t. As it was a custom order a simple return wouldn’t have been possible without a 20% restocking fee within the 10 day window.
If considering a custom (3D) build Emerald, make sure to include taking a 20% hit if you don’t like it, and based on my experience, don’t count on hearing back from their customer service if you discover any problems or have concerns.


Seann
Please send me your initial message again as I have checked the system and cant find nothing unfortunately

Send it to either [email protected] or [email protected] and I can help you further

Look forward to hearing from you

Davy

[RP]

Thanks for getting into the discussion, Davy......