Yes, you guessed it, he's on about his TE90FLT again! Well, less about the actual guitar and more about Thomann. An update......
I spoke with Thomann customer services team and explained the disastrous degradation of the frets and they asked me send them photos with an email quoting the order number, which I did. They told me they would send me a returns label and once I'd returned the instrument to them they'd have their technicians have a look and they'd get back to me.
I explained in my email that after 4 months or so of normal use, I would not have expected the frets to have failed so drastically and that I considered the problem to be that the metal used for fret material was not fit-for-purpose; frets on a brand new guitar, even if it is a budget model, should not disintegrate within four months of playing. As I considered this to be a quality control issue, it should be covered by the Thomann warranty.
Six weeks after having returned the instrument, I received an email from Thomann telling me that their technicians assessed the fret degradation was due to normal wear and tear and therefore not covered by the 3-year warranty. They offered to give me a quote for the repair which they could do at their factory or they could return the instrument to me unrepaired.
I wrote an additional email to them refuting their findings and explaining that the logical and cost effective thing to do would be for them to bolt on a new neck and return the guitar to me. I also reminded them of their responsibilities under the law, both the EU Consumer Rights directive and the UK Consumer Rights Act 2015. I also laid it on thick about how much I'd spent on purchases with them over the years.
A few days later I received their reply basically stonewalling my claim and sticking to their original assertion of normal wear and tear.
So it on to the Citizen's Advice Bureau to see if there is a legal way to get them to carry out the repair. Their refusal is probably by way of a poorly though out company policy; refuse, refuse, refuse and they complainers will go away. If so this is utterly stupid as in this case, the guitar cost me £158. Surely the aggravation I'd cause them if they don't repair will be worth the cost. Or maybe they don't care.
Either way, I will not be buying anything from Thomann again. And I'd advise anyone who reads this not to put any business Thomann's way.
Let's see what the Citizens Advice Bureau comes up with. I'll keep you posted.
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