Musical Instruments

[LakerCaptain]

I used to play guitar all the time until my kids were born then I stopped for a long time.  I'm just getting back into it now and decided to buy a new guitar at Best Buy while I was in Duluth, Minnesota last month.  I saw an Epiphone Hummingbird and liked the look of it, so I got one.  The guy in the store unpacked a new one for me and tuned it and said it was good to go.  I was in a rush so I didn't really have a chance to try it too much in the store (my first mistake, I know).  When I had a chance to play it, I found that the neck was so out of shape that it was basically unplayable.  The next time I was in town I took it back to the store and asked if they could do something with it for me and they said no - I could either have a refund or pick out another guitar.

I looked around and found a decent looking Dean acoustic for the same price and the guy in the store got a new one from the back for me.  He tuned it up again and looked a the neck saying it was ok.  I tried it out this time with some basic chords and a few tunes I know.  It sounded ok so I took it.  Later, when I had a chance to really sit down with it I found all the strings from the 11th to 14th fret were buzzing.  I took it to another guitar shop and they said it needed a fret dressing, set up and new strings and would cost me about 1/2 of what I paid for the guitar.

I haven't been back to Duluth for a couple weeks to go back to the store, but I hope to be next week.  Shouldn't the store be responsible for making sure the guitar is 100% playable and properly set-up before it leaves with the customer?  I'm sorry, but I doubt that the kids that work in the musical instruments section of Best Buy have the required technical training required.

When I do get back there, should I just get a refund and move on or should I press them to do the fret dressing, set up, etc?  Thanks.

[Jesus-BBY Community Connector]

Hey thank you for visiting our Community Forums! I am so sorry to hear that you were not satisfied with your first guitar and still not with the new guitar. As long as you are within the 30 day return/exchange period you should be able to visit so the store can take a look at it to see if the guitar is defective. If so they can exchange it for you or if it’s an easy fix, they can fix it for you. I hope you are able to leave the store with a piece that you are truly satisfied with. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

Thanks,

[LakerCaptain]

Thanks for replying to my message. One question for you: I made the orginal purchase of the 1st guitar on April 18, and did the exchange for the 2nd guitar on April 26.  I haven't had the opportunity to return to the store since then.  Does the 30 day return/exchange period begin on the date of the original purchase or does it begin again for the 2nd guitar on the 26th when I did the exchange?  Thanks.

[CrystalWoW Valued Expert]

Original purchase.

[Jesus-BBY Community Connector]

CrystalWoW is correct. The original purchase date.

Thanks,