A lot of thought goes into buying a big ticket item online – so when it doesn’t show up after almost six years, it’s rather disappointing.
That’s been American musician Bruce Kaphan’s reality, after he ordered a custom made Weissenborn guitar from Kiwi guitar maker Tony Francis.
Bruce ordered the guitar in 2015, after Tony Francis previously restored another guitar for him.
“[Tony] asked me to wire him 1900 US dollars to him as a deposit. A few months into my having wired the money I contacted him and inquired as to how things were going and he replied back saying yeah this takes a while, it’s going to be at least a few months,” Bruce told Fair Go.
That was almost six years ago. Between then and now, things have hit a sour note.
“No money, no instrument, 5.5 years later. and you know, its a little frustrating… I’ve asked him repeatedly, just give me a snapshot.”
But Bruce tells us he’s never had a single work-in-progress photo of his guitar, So in March this year, he asked for a refund, Tony Francis agreed, but no refund came.
Tony Francis told Fair Go that his customers understand how he works.
“I have a long waitlist for my guitars, my client list is very well known and I do not believe I deserve to be a part of what is looking to be throwing someone to the dogs,” Tony said.
But Fair Go’s spoken to other unhappy customers.
Jonathan and Jean-Francois are French musos who didn’t want their last names shared.
They both waited over two years after their initial orders and both threatened legal action to finally get their guitars. Jonathan’s was unfinished and had to be completed by another luthier in France.
Tony Francis though, says he reached “happy” settlements with both men. He said his waitlist is communicated with clients, which some accept, and others - like Bruce- don’t.
“When people order a guitar I charge a deposit to cover the build process and if people cancel then I have guitars that are half built for people, don’t I?” Tony Francis told Fair Go.
“Bruce no longer wants his guitar.”
But Bruce did want the guitar, he just didn’t’ want to wait five or six years for it. He told us:
“(Tony) may be within inches of finishing it. But he hasn’t made any effort whatsoever to prove that to me.”
In a further statement, Tony Francis added he is a “perfectionist” and doesn’t “compromise the quality of work for speed”.
“This can sometimes mean that the work takes longer than expected – in some cases much longer.
"Unfortunately, on top of this, I have experienced major health problems in recent years that left me unable to work for an extended period of time.
"I have reached out this week to all of those who have orders in, I’ve confirmed to them that I do have the capacity to fill all of my current orders and I’m really excited to continue this work."
And not long after Fair Go got involved, and after almost six years of waiting, Bruce Kaphan finally got his refund, describing the move as “very surprising and amazing”.
Fair Go will keep an eye on any developments with the other customers.
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