Bad "The Axe Palace" Experience

I have a sincere question for you, no aggression or attitude implied. What would you do in my position, if companies that you are an official dealer for, told you that if you don’t test/inspect an amp within two weeks of receiving it, that you can’t return it if it ends up being damaged or being DOA? Wouldn’t you rather someone test an amp to make sure it’s OK, rather than have your time wasted getting a defective product and then having to return it?

I respect your opinion, but try to understand where I’m coming from.
I have no horse in this game.

But from what I can read, you didn't have the original packaging. You assumed the customer would be ok with whatever packaging you did have, and you didn't communicate clearly or set expectations before shipping the amp. Then the customer paid for the return shipping due to having different expectations. Honestly, you both had a different view of what was appropriate. Neither is right or wrong or really needs so much defensive posturing.

I think it is ok for a customer to want the original packaging on a high ticket item. In the future, consider talking to the customer before you ship the item? It's only 1% of transactions. Explain the situation and decide what to do with the customer involved. Worst case you lose a sale because you can't agree on a resolution, but you avoid having to argue on the internet.

They come with spare preamp tubes, didn't get those either
Fwiw, I bought an Engl around 2002 from a different US dealer, and it didn't come with spare tubes. Come to think of it, I've never bought an amp that had extra tubes in the box. Not saying you are wrong, just saw this statement and was a bit surprised.

And not that it matters, but Engl branded tubes I had were noisy as hell. Not sure why anyone would want to keep the original ones or care about them.
 
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It's really sad to see this vitriolic nonsense is still being spewed here. We've never once in our history screwed over a single customer, not try to make things right whenever a mistake was made, refused a refund, etc. Several people posting in this thread are mentally unstable and outright lying. We have thousands of rave reviews on just about every marketplace/review site on the internet, for a good reason. Before listening to miserable trolls, do your own research.

@napalmdeath: I can't believe 5 years later you're still ranting and lying about this. One final time: We shipped you a brand new ENGL Fireball. You were enraged that we shipped the amp in a different box due to the original box incurring damage. That does not make it a used amp. Nonetheless, we promptly refunded you once you complained, so what is the issue? The level of hatred and vitriol you have for someone who sent you a brand new product, and refunded you once you complained, borders on insanity. We've been an ENGL dealer for 10 years, and no one ever had an issue with any amp we've shipped out, other than you. Seek mental help, immediately.

@njhelmet4000: You have a legitimate gripe, although I think that should be more with G&L than us. We promptly placed your order with G&L once you made it. G&L had *major* issues during the pandemic, were shut down for a while, had several orders we placed slip the cracks, I couldn't get our reps to answer emails or phone calls most of the time, etc. It sucks, we were caught in the middle. I should have communicated better during the process, but we were so in the dark that it was tough at times. That said, we have never refused any refund in the case something goes wrong. You never needed to threaten us to get a refund, a simple phone call or emailing asking for one would have sufficed.

@katsumura78: None of that story sounds familiar or remotely plausible given that every single guitar we receive, we open up, inspect, have our licensed luthier/technician set it up to the customer's specs for no charge. Every single guitar on our website specifically has a "Setup Instructions" box for this exact reason. This is something we're well known for, and just about every customer knows about. So something had to have been lost in translation here or was miscommunicated here. You're welcome to PM me with more context, as this is news to me.

To anyone reading this unfortunate thread: not everything you read on the internet is true. Do your own research. Look up review websites, Reverb reviews, eBay reviews, BBB, social media, talk to the companies we work with, whoever, and in the unlikely event you'd still have any concerns, just visit the store or contact us and it's highly unlikely you won't have a great experience.
At this point we’re talking over 7 years ago so of course it’s not going to sound familiar, sent a JPXI 7 string and I ordered juggernauts from your shop. There was nothing lost in translation because you called me when it was done and ready to ship. Telling me it was impossible to wire it up like a JP6 model. Sure man….I have no ill will towards you and your business but don’t pretend like you’re not an asshole at times. I didn’t ask for the impossible and hell your tech did a great job but not what I asked/paid for. No biggie, the guitar is long gone and I even bought an amp from you years later a JP2C. You give good deals and have some solid guitar runs but to say the experience is enjoyable would be pushing it. Not asking anyone to kiss my ass either but if I’m dropping some dough and you give me flack about a specific request you agreed to then I have a problem.
 
I have no horse in this game.

But from what I can read, you didn't have the original packaging. You assumed the customer would be ok with whatever packaging you did have, and you didn't communicate clearly or set expectations before shipping the amp. Then the customer paid for the return shipping due to having different expectations. Honestly, you both had a different view of what was appropriate. Neither is right or wrong or really needs so much defensive posturing.

I think it is ok for a customer to want the original packaging on a high ticket item. In the future, consider talking to the customer before you ship the item? It's only 1% of transactions. Explain the situation and decide what to do with the customer involved. Worst case you lose a sale because you can't agree on a resolution, but you avoid having to argue on the internet.


Fwiw, I bought an Engl around 2002 from a different US dealer, and it didn't come with spare tubes. Come to think of it, I've never bought an amp that had extra tubes in the box. Not saying you are wrong, just saw this statement and was a bit surprised.

And not that it matters, but Engl branded tubes I had were noisy as hell. Not sure why anyone would want to keep the original ones or care about them.
They used to ship with 2 spare preamp tubes. Shitty or not, it's part of what you get with a brand new Engl, (atleast back then you did).

I didn't want to beat a dead horse, but I did buy a "brand new" Laney from them, prior to this, (I know, I'm an idiot for not learning from that experience). I got a great deal, but here's how it showed up, with little to no packing..
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To boot, the head had foot imprints on top from another head being stacked on it. Tell me that wasn't out on the floor. That, it was, and chucked in a box with 2/3 of the original packing gone. He played dumb on that one too and blamed his packer..
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Footprints on a brand new head is absolutely unacceptable and you’re right - it means it was out on the demo floor for sure. It’s also piss easy to avoid - Mesa sells (and includes with their amps now) felt pads that prevent this. But it would take someone actually caring about the condition of the gear they’re selling to worry about that. Axe Palace has always seemed like what happens when a gear nerd has a bit of capital and not like a proper dealer, and this kind of stuff is why - are you a dealer or your buddies jam room?
 
They used to ship with 2 spare preamp tubes. Shitty or not, it's part of what you get with a brand new Engl, (atleast back then you did).

I didn't want to beat a dead horse, but I did buy a "brand new" Laney from them, prior to this, (I know, I'm an idiot for not learning from that experience). I got a great deal, but here's how it showed up, with little to no packing..
View attachment 91635View attachment 91638View attachment 91641View attachment 91644

To boot, the head had foot imprints on top from another head being stacked on it. Tell me that wasn't out on the floor. That, it was, and chucked in a box with 2/3 of the original packing gone. He played dumb on that one too and blamed his packer..
View attachment 91653
That’s shitty. How fucking lazy can they be to not even bother to clean it?
 
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