My Crappy Experience with Kiesel Guitars

JeffKiesel

New member
I hope this post saves some of you from the terrible experience I had with Jeff Kiesel and Kiesel Guitars!

I have been a client of Kiesel Guitars (Carvin) for many years. I have bought 9 guitars from them. 3 over the past year and a half. I was on Facebook and saw a live video of Jeff Kiesel announcing a special guitar run. It was for a new model called Vanquish. I liked what I heard and saw and decided to order one. I spoke with Mike Jones, went through the specifics, gave him my credit card and placed the order. They were only supposed to take a 300 deposit as per Mike Jones. They banged my card for over $600. The very next day (less than 13 hours since I placed the order), I called back and spoke to Mike. I wanted to make a few changes on the guitar. I have done this in the past when ordering from Kiesel. Mike told me NO. He said it was against the rules. I was like what rules? Mike said, the rules that were posted on Facebook. No one ever told me about any rules or conditions. When I ordered the guitar there was nothing disclosed to me. On top of all that, they never sent me a receipt or anything about rules / policy. I got no email, nothing, zero!! So when Mike refused to change my order, I told him to please just cancel the order. He told me NO! He told me according to the rules, I can not cancel the order. So, I went back and forth with some of the supervisors. Joe Stone emailed me that he has to follow Jeff Kiesel’s orders! I told them I would dispute the credit card charges. I Called my CC company, but so far I have not gotten my money back. It’s been 3 months and now I get an email the guitar is done and they want the balance. I told the person I cancelled the guitar. Now I get an email from another supervisor Anthony San Agustin. He tells me in the email that because I am cancelling I can no longer do future business with Kiesel. LOL!! Like I would ever want to again!! I mean their guitars are ok, but the customer service and the way they treat their long term, loyal clients is a joke! Joe Stone called me today. You could hear in his voice when I spoke to him, that he was basically stumbling on his words and he was quite embarrassed with the situation. He kept putting the blame on Jeff Kiesel. He said this is Jeff’s decision and that he has to follow protocol. I actually recorded the conversation.
You can listen hear:
https://hearthis.at/kieselguitars/kieseldick/C6W/
So to sum it up, I ordered a guitar, gave them a deposit.
I was not told about any rules or conditions when I ordered my guitar.
I also was unaware of a Facebook Page that displayed these rules. How would I know this!?!?
I also did not receive any paperwork. No receipt, no rules or terms.
Now they wont give me back my deposit! So Jeff Kiesel basically has stolen my money!!
He obviously has some kind of Napoleon complex, and all his employee puppets follow his dictatorship! I just can’t understand why the guy can’t realize how wrong he is in this instance and either give me back my money, or make the changes that I requested. Again, these so called rules where never told to me. I only knew about them after I made the purchase, and that is totally unfair! Jeff Kiesel of Kiesel guitars is a thief!!
 
What were the changes you wanted to make to the original order? I'm guessing the guitar only comes standard spec?
 
I learned a loooooooong time ago when ordering a custom guitar, NEVER change specs after you place the order. I mean most manufacturers have a hard enough time getting the original specs correct.

Either way the OP sounds like a good customer of Kiesel and they should just refund the OP especially if I understand the situation that this is a limited run not a one off custom order.

I can also understand the manufacturer not wanting to deviate from specs on a limited run. That's why it's a limited run so they keep costs down by compromising specs so more customers can get a truly custom guitar.
 
because I am cancelling I can no longer do future business with Kiesel. LOL!!

Well there was something positive in the scenario afterall.

sleewell2":1p94pti6 said:
Mediocre guitars, shit customer service. Sadly nothing new here.
/thread
 
I don't blame you for being pissed. Those rules need to be disclosed upfront to their customers. They tout themselves as a company where you can purchase a fully customized guitar. If the guitar is not in the build process, there is no reason you should not be allowed to change a few specs, like paint color, etc..
I ordered a custom guitar and changed a few of my specs, like descending fretboard markers in flamed Hawaiian koa. Then I made another change for a translucent brown back. The builder is swamped and way off schedule, yet he had zero issue making my changes. I could have changed anything I wanted, even the model.
Shame on Kiesel. He sounds like a foolish businessman. I will never buy a Kiesel from seeing too many negative reviews, regardless of how many satisfied customers there are. Those odds aren't good enough. One pissed off customer in a hundred is fine, not 20;at least that is what it seems like. His business won't last with that kind of service. He should go have a talk with the likes of a John Suhr. :thumbsup:
 
So basically:
1) Stated $300 deposit, charged $600
2) No receipt or order confirmation
3) Did not disclose conditions/rules during the sale
4) Would not cancel the order within 24 hours

They can go fuck themselves....
 
Too bad they cannot compromise a bit with you and keep you happy. They had an opportunity to keep a customer for life instead of losing one forever and also the negativity and damage to their reputation. If the guitar has not been started yet they should just refund your cash and be good to you.
 
I ordered a custom guitar from them in October and it was made clear to me that there could be no changes after agreeing to the specs. Received an email with specs listed that I had to ok.

Guitar turned out better than I had hoped for...
 
Wow.

One thing, I don't understand why you can't get your money back through your CC company? Unauthorized Transaction. End of story.
Good luck, this is the 3rd time I've read about issues with them.
 
neuroop":wm3p79nx said:
I ordered a custom guitar from them in October and it was made clear to me that there could be no changes after agreeing to the specs. Received an email with specs listed that I had to ok.

Guitar turned out better than I had hoped for...

And did they raid your bank account for double the agreed amount on the deposit too? This isn't the first bad experience I've heard about involving this company and I'm sure it won't be the last. My wife saw a beautiful ad in Vintage Guitar Magazine for Kiesel guitars and she asked whether I'd like something like the guitar pictured. I told her "Fuck no. Never do business with that company. They have a reputation for ass fucking their customers." And even if that's not the case in the majority of their customer's experiences, you still hear about enough cases of it to warrant at the very least some serious reservation to doing business with them.

dumpsterfirerands.png
 
They took the amount i agreed with them up front which was 50%

I was definitely concerned that the experience might be a bad one though based on a lot of reports

I also had a custom Suhr build that I was told no changes could be made once specs were done
 
Sucks to see man sorry.

Pretty odd that your CC company won’t do a charge back.

I’ve heard so many bad things about these guys, more so than any company ever. I’d never order one under any circumstances and tbh I can’t see how people still give them money and praise with all of these issues.

Maybe I’d buy one used if it was really nice but idk. Can’t really speak on them since I’ve necer played one.

Curious how many of your 9 guitars were Kiesel and not Carvin? I’ve seen a few build issues but it’s mostly been service issues I’ve seen.
 
I think your play with the CC is to explain to them you were told $300 deposit, and Kiesel charged double that. Right there (before you tried to change specs or anything) Kiesel broke the contract, as they did not act as expected according to whatever was said on the phone. In the new developments, just tell your CC company that the money taken from your account is for a guitar which you will not see, as they didn’t produce the guitar you ordered (since you changed the specs).

FWIW, I bought a special order guitar (I chose one of many finishes and a few feature sets, but not “custom”) and even though the company was known for having 5-6 month lead times, I wanted to change the color a week later. They said no, unless my dealer was willing to take the guitar I ordered, then special order me a imported new one. Since then I’ve stuck to buying used from fine folks on forums and reverb.

For every “check out my cool new kiesel”, I see a thread like this one. Also, I think mike was at the center of one of the last negative kiesel threads, wasn’t he? Didn’t management pop in there and disown his actions?
 
Is there any representation from Kiesel on this forum or TGP? Business aside, Jeff seems like a pretty decent guy.
 
JimmyBlind":3g41yqpm said:
Is there any representation from Kiesel on this forum or TGP? Business aside, Jeff seems like a pretty decent guy.

I believe they answered in another thread which also was negative towards them
 
JimmyBlind":2m3gtnc2 said:
Is there any representation from Kiesel on this forum or TGP? Business aside, Jeff seems like a pretty decent guy.


There was in the last thread when someone had an issue with their new guitar that couldn't be fixed.

Wtf is up with OPs username?!
 
Metlupass2":78yxh5wz said:
JimmyBlind":78yxh5wz said:
Is there any representation from Kiesel on this forum or TGP? Business aside, Jeff seems like a pretty decent guy.


There was in the last thread when someone had an issue with their new guitar that couldn't be fixed.

Wtf is up with OPs username?!

Yeap... I remember that shit show. I actually just went back to re-read it. What a joke.


See page 3 viewtopic.php?f=3&t=187387&hilit=kiesel&start=100
 
The fact that they would not refund your deposit on a non custom order 24 hrs later is completely ludicrous since the guitars are being built to the limited run specs they can resell it to anyone. They must be hurting for orders and trying to lock people in.

You should call your CC company got through the entire scenario like you did here, send them the audio and they should side with you and chargeback your $600.00 to Kiesel because this is almost fraud.

Haven't people learned over all the debacles in the past? Unless you know exactly who you are dealing with... NO DEPOSITS if there is no product to sell. If you do it could go south just like this guy. :doh:
 
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