Our favourite luthier has done it

[TheRealShifter]

I think our favourite luthier, x, has stooped to a new low. We all new his work was shoddy and that he was ripping people off with high promises and sub-par results, but I can't say I've heard of him doing this before...

I was just talking to a guy over myspace who'd paid x a deposit to make him a guitar back in July last year. This guy buys some hardware from ebay to be put on the guitar, which is yet to be made, including a (real) Floyd Rose speedloader trem (at x's recommendation). He sends his hardware to the 'luthier' including a new set of speedloader strings which he purchased from the Floyd Rose office. Our favourite luthier then tells this guy that the strings are not precisely measured and won't fit the trem, so he should use one of the luthier's own fake speedloader trems. The guy agreed to swap his FR speedloader trem for the fake speedloader trem (which might not have been the smartest thing to do).

And that's not all, x contacts the guy (in Jan I think) and asks, as a favour, if he can pay the rest of the money as he needs it to pay off his mortgage, and he'll have the guitar finished the following week. The guy agrees (this also was not a particularly smart thing to do) and pays x the money. As you might be expecting the guy hasn't heard from x since nor seen his guitar, harware or money back. He's been trying to contact him but phone calls are not answered and emails and not replied to. Though this guy made a couple of dumb mistakes, I really feel sorry for him. He's fallen victim to this "luthier" who doesn't even send this guy a stick.

Just thought I'd share.

[noob_pwn]

buyer beware

[haooomaru]

Can't legal action be taken?

[Guy in Latvia]

in this case im pretty sure it can.

[chrisvp]

Thats piss poor, I am not completely sure which "luthier" you are referring to , yet judging by your avatar I can only guess.
From what I have read then your mate has a pretty good chance of taking legal action, if it was me who had no reply via email or phone then I would be knocking on his door, but thats me , sometimes you have to take no shit from characters like this supposed "luthier" .

[Fikealox]

I'm not going to give any legal advice, but even if your friend is reluctant to litigate (and I can understand why he would be), he could take other action: report the scam to the ACCC (federal agency), Consumer Affairs Victoria on 1300 558 181 (state agency), report the fraud to police (this would be less onerous than civil litigation but damages wouldn't be a possibility), etc. I'm betting there's a very good chance this luthier is on Centrelink benefits and fails to report any of his income from his scams, so reporting him to them might be an idea (google "centrelink dob in line" for links).

Contacting any of the above agencies should yield more information about his options and avenues, and there are also hotlines he can call to obtain free legal advice and referrals. If he likes I can ask my friend, who works at one in NSW, if she knows a Victorian number.

[ShockMe.au]

[KH Guitar Freak]

Well, which luthier???

[M2k]

i think i seen our old mate shama lama ding dong's latest guitar in zoo magazine, its called the dragon guitar or somethine like that i could be wrong

[TheRealShifter]

It seems my writing of a word rhyming with 'debree', has been substituted with 'x'. I'm guessing the mods are trying to cover their bums a bit just in case. Anyway, I've recommended that the guy take it to VCAT. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

i think i seen our old mate shama lama ding dong's latest guitar in zoo magazine, its called the dragon guitar or somethine like that i could be wrong

How the hell did he manage that?

[lolomgwtfbbq!!!]

This is related to the message left on said luthier's myspace page right?

[TheRealShifter]

This is related to the message left on said luthier's myspace page right?

Correct

[M2k]

.

i think i seen our old mate shama lama ding dong's latest guitar in zoo magazine, its called the dragon guitar or somethine like that i could be wrong

How the hell did he manage that?

im not sure if its a Shama fiddle, but Zoo gave a bad review for it and it looks like the kind of shape that he would think of