# Terrible Experience with Dubaldo Music. (Long Story)



## Jonathan20022

First off, let me just say that I've spoken with a mod prior to this and asked for permission to post this and will refrain from getting riled up about this as much as I possibly can throughout.

The dealer I ordered from is Pete Dubaldo at Dubaldo Music. I placed an order for 2 instruments in November. Paid the deposit with him back in November, and from that moment onward he became a very hard to reach man. Understandable, he runs Dubaldo Music and Bellar Music, he's a busy man I completely understand. But close to one month of no contact after I pay? That's a bit shady, but I still took it easy. I also shot him periodic emails every week or so with the same question hoping it would get answered in regards to him setting the guitars up when they arrived. I eventually heard back from him randomly about the setups where we had a brief conversation lasting a few emails. And then he went MIA again until it was time to pay up of course. 

He personally had me reach out to him by phone to pay him for the guitars, I was more than happy too. Blind with my excitement for my new guitars I gladly paid up. Pleasant guy over the phone, of course anyone would be expecting income, but looking past that. I paid the second I was supposed to and was never late on anything. He can vouch for this and I have account statements to prove everything I did. Fast forward to me receiving the guitars.

Thank God my first the JP6 was perfect. Albeit it came with pretty absurdly high action and I had to set the thing up myself, the guitar is fantastic. 

The same cannot be said for the BFR I received, I listed the number of things wrong with it in the NGD thread which caused me to return it. But to reiterate, absurdly high action with intense buzz when lowered to decent action. Trem is non functioning, Truss Rod is hard to turn to the point where a professional tech that has a great reputation was afraid to adjust it himself. And to top it off, ding on the top and scratches, polishing and more noticeable ones.

The guitar was so badly setup and unplayable that I had to block the trem with wood to record a clip of it. Sounds beautiful, sadly it doesn't match the rest all because of the dealer's "Pro-Setup" and neglect for terrible issues. I wouldn't have minded waiting longer for a working one, he could have sent it back I would have understood, but he sent it out like that. He didn't even test the Trem since the bar was sealed in an envelope, even if he did he would have noticed the absurd binding on ALL. SEVEN. STRINGS.

Not to mention the ....ed case that won't even close properly. 
JP Packaging - a set on Flickr

Would any of you feel comfortable accepting that for the price range these things go for? I don't, and I certainly don't stand for it.

Once I emailed him about these issues, he did the usual and took days to respond. Using the excuse that he felt like he should have called Musicman for counsel before he do anything or call me. Yeah, great customer service right there.

So he does, and he pulls me through the guitar trouble shooting that anyone would have the owner do. After a few emails back and forth, I decide to let him know I plan on returning this since a rebuild is out of the cards for me. I don't want to wait months again, and I preferred a refund. I even contacted him to buy a guitar from his stock using that refund or trading in one of my at the time JP's. Instead I'm met with this.







When's the last time you received something damaged, or screwed up. And the person/place you bought it from told you to ship it back on your own dime and that you were SOL from your deposit, because the order is considered "Cancelled/Refused"? He's trying to save his own ass obviously, but well, the guitar wasn't refused I received it. And the guitar was built, so it wasn't cancelled.

As far as I know, this is bullshit. And I URGE anyone to not buy this guitar until it's sent back to EBMM, and completely repaired or has it's parts replaced. I think very highly of these guitars, but I am being 100% honest in that the guitar is faulty. I'm just looking out for whoever is looking to get that guitar from him. Be wary of all of this.

Moving on, because it doesn't quite end there. I call him at his store and I get no answer, so I figure I should call his other store that he owns. I don't know if he does or not, but I call him and apparently I *JUST* caught him finishing his lessons over at his other shop. I confront him about it over the phone, and he says he's going to talk to his booker and see if he can or cannot refund me my deposit. I said fine, I'll hear from you soon. I also sent him this email before the call with him.






Needless to say, he doesn't respond and I randomly get a shipping label from UPS in my email telling me that I have one for a package to Pete.

Remember how he asked me to fully insure the guitar?






He declares it for 1/3 of the value that he asks me to. Ridiculous. This is a print out that came with the label he sent me to send him back the instrument.

I drop off the guitar packed as it came with everything it came with on the 7th. And he gets the guitar on the 12th and does the same crap with laggy responses. I get a reply that he's VERY busy and cannot get to my guitar and refund, he will get to me either on friday or monday (Today, 3/17/14).

I'm patient with him, and I send him one last email just so I can make sure he's refunding the full amount instead of that partial refund. No reply to that until today.

Knowing full well that his shop closes at 6pm, I waited. I had my classes and lectures today until 5pm or so, we got let out early. I refresh my emails and not a response, call my banks that I used for the transactions and no dice on a processing refund. So at this point I write a calm email stating that I'm on the phone with my banks and starting a chargeback and that I am tired of waiting for his convenience to get to me. It is in fact the polar opposite reaction from when he has funds coming in from customers.

I was in fact on the phone with my banks, and after initiating both refunds. And might I add, CONFIRM that no refunds were processed today at all which is nice to have because I caught Pete in a lie. He emails me a few minutes afterwards like anyone would once threatened with a Chargeback saying that he issued a refund, THIS MORNING  funny because my bank says otherwise. And processing refunds should be shown within 2-3 hours as processing. Confirming once again that he will NOT be refunding me my full refund after all the terrible service so far.

Needless to say, I have started a dispute with all charges. As far as Pete goes, I have a really good case considering I documented everything really well. The fact that Pete doesn't even have a return policy on his website or anywhere is also going to work for me.

I do NOT recommend Pete Dubaldo for anything, the entire transaction was not worth the slightly cheaper price from the competitors. And if I could have gone back, I would have gone with a better and more responsive dealer, every single one I have spoken to in regards to this (Not naming any names) has stated that this is absurd and that he should be handling this a million times better.

Funnily enough, the "Premier Dealer" is easily the worst transaction I've had thus far anywhere. I should say I'm lucky I haven't fallen the same fate as other people who have been stuck with or without orders.

Also, just to add onto the pile of reasons why not to go with him. A friend who ordered an instrument has paid for his guitar, Pete has it, and he hasn't heard back nor received anything in 2 weeks. That should say enough.


----------



## MaxOfMetal

I don't know what I find scuzzier this guy [DuBaldo] or EBMM as of late. I've seen a couple JPs, new ones, that were pretty rough. When talking to the shops they tell me how difficult EBMM can be with dealers who have issues, especially ones who don't move a lot of product. 

I still love my JP7, and have another incoming if that shows how much I dig these. 

I'm sorry this didn't go well for you man, but from the looks of it I can't see a reason why your bank won't side with you. Good on you for not getting taken for a ride, if only more were like yourself.


----------



## Svava

I will add that Pete, while ignoring e-mails from Johnathan, responded to an e-mail I sent to him inquiring about a guitar within 16 hours of me sending it. 

I didn't do that on purpose and I didn't know that Johnathan was having trouble with the guy until I casually mentioned to him that I was asking about a guitar.

So there's more evidence- the guy simply gives zero craps.

I'm at least glad our amigo here has a solid case to get his dues back from this guy.


May his halls be ravaged by sexually frustrated tone-wood-eating beavers for the rest of time.


----------



## Svava

MaxOfMetal said:


> I don't know what I find scuzzier this guy [DuBaldo] or EBMM as of late. I've seen a couple JPs, new ones, that were pretty rough. When talking to the shops they tell me how difficult EBMM can be with dealers who have issues, especially ones who don't move a lot of product.
> 
> I still love my JP7, and have another incoming if that shows how much I dig these.
> 
> I'm sorry this didn't go well for you man, but from the looks of it I can't see a reason why your bank won't side with you. Good on you for not getting taken for a ride, if only more were like yourself.



I've noticed an increase in the # of "wtf EBMM"'s going around.

I have one ordered and I love them too but I hope what I'm noticing is a result of me being active in very EBMM-dense populations and not a decline in customer service.

I've loved EBMM as a company for a while and I don't want to see harm come to their reputation...


----------



## MaxOfMetal

Svava said:


> I've noticed an increase in the # of "wtf EBMM"'s going around.
> 
> I have one ordered and I love them too but I hope what I'm noticing is a result of me being active in very EBMM-dense populations and not a decline in customer service.
> 
> I've loved EBMM as a company for a while and I don't want to see harm come to their reputation...



From what I've seen, and heard, EBMM customer service is some of the best in the industry.......if you have good things to say.

They still make amazing instruments, but there is a pretty visible track record of BFRs being less than "reserve quality". 

That said, this is quite off topic as DuBaldo, and not EBMM, is the one being a putz here. 

I will say, and I will apologize for how obscene a plug this is given the nature of this thread, but Bass Central will always go down as my favorite dealer that just so happens to sell tons of EBMMs. They're "old school" in that your best bet is to *gasp* get on the phone with them, but they're pricing, service, and selection is impossible to beat, and if you can beat it, buy three.


----------



## JoeyBTL

You should post this on the Music Man forum. Pete posts there pretty frequently doesn't he? Maybe he'll actually do something if knows anything about it looking bad for business...not that he really cares about that, clearly. Sorry for your luck man. Its so shitty.


----------



## Jonathan20022

They do make incredible instruments, I would have jumped ship long ago if they hadn't. This is the first bad experience I've had, and as far as I'm concerned it might have been caused by the temperature differences, and Pete handling it once it arrived at his shop.

I never actually knew the dealer aspect of it, but that's hard. My local Guitar Center stopped stocking actually, they still are an official dealer but they only sell once ordered. Which is tough for players to get a feel for what they're buying. And thanks Max, I wish people were more assertive as well, my gear fund is all I use for guitars since I don't like dipping into my regular funds or savings. So I take it seriously when my money is being just taken advantage of to cover someone's ass.

EBMM Customer Service is pretty awesome, Billy has been my go to guy and he always takes care of any issues I have super swiftly and with no hassle. I honestly have nothing bad to say about the company, this is focused on the dealer and him acting out like this.

I will say that Bass Central is such a great shop, and I want to say that the ONLY reason I went with Pete was because of the price he offered. He offered a considerably lower price than the competition and it was the only way I could afford both Rosewood Guitars at the time. I wholeheartedly regret that at this point.

I will post it on their forums, but I will ask BP via message first. I don't want to step on any toes and get banned there, it's an honest reaction to a bad situation so I hope they'll accept it for what it is.


----------



## Santuzzo

holy crap!
I'm sorry to hear you have to go through all of this BS. As if receiving a faulty guitar wasn't already enough of a disappointment...


----------



## Jonathan20022

Thanks dude, if anything I hope this is just a fair warning to anyone looking to order from Pete Dubaldo. Go with another dealer, most if not all of them don't have this nonrefundable deposit crap.

And a quick update on the deposit chargeback specifically, I'm getting the amount I paid without the deposit. I'm fighting it as much as I can, but apparently Pete simply saying "Deposits are non-refundable" are grounds for me to lose my rights to them. Luckily, I caught him in his bullshit, because the last email he sent me says that he made an exception for me and he would consider refunding me my total amount paid + deposit(s), IF I sent back my first Rosewood Guitar as well.

So I sent this in as proof that he is able to do so, but he's trying to bait me into doing what he wants. AFAIK, he probably wants them both back so he can charge retail for them and get as much money as he can out of it.

If anyone is familiar with chargebacks and what I should be doing to make this work for me that'd be greatly appreciated. I've never charged back anything in my life.


----------



## ADevilsDaydream817

im a so glad you brought this to light jonathan, I'm sitting here reading the thread while drinking my coffee and this is ringing a bell in my brain for some reason and after about 20min it just hit me look at this. (assuming its safe to post since you have discussed this thread with a mod) I'm glad i didn't take this guitar cause i didn't want the solar finish. this email was sent 24-48hrs after your NGD thread and would of been sent right after your return complaint. so he was going to keep your deposit and try to dump it straight on me full price. i ended up accepting a order for my JP 13 from Bass Central which are great to work with. i had a minor chroming problem on the bridge cover so i simply called EBMM and had the part in the mail by the end of that day. Never spoke to bass central about it though since i just decided to call ebmm and they fully handled it. After getting my first RW i shot a few emails out to EBMM dealers to see what kind of incoming stock they had and thats where this email came from. My original email to him was sent back on 2/27 so it was probably going to go unanswered until your issue arose.


----------



## Jonathan20022

Ridiculous, he was going to try and sell you the guitar without even having it in his possession. That and the guitar being far from what you'd expect on something new. I'm glad you went with your 13, it looks awesome with the Rosewood neck.

This should be more than enough proof of what kind of person he is.


----------



## ADevilsDaydream817

Jonathan20022 said:


> Ridiculous, he was going to try and sell you the guitar without even having it in his possession. That and the guitar being far from what you'd expect on something new. I'm glad you went with your 13, it looks awesome with the Rosewood neck.
> 
> This should be more than enough proof of what kind of person he is.



I could of even got over the solar finish i just didn't want to spend the 3K on the BFR guitar, and his emails were rocky at best so i just opted out. I think EBMM has been having trouble with him probably for quite some time. When i contacted them over the phone they drilled me a bit on knowing what dealer i got it from. Next time i order a EBMM I'm just gonna do it though GC, they will price match if need be and when the guitar comes in if i don't like it they will refund it on the spot. Ive owned 4 BFR models and the one unloaded and the only problem I've ever had was that cosmetic blem on the bridge. i don't think bass central even opened the box, i think they just slapped a label on it as soon as it came in and sent it my way or that would of never of happened. DCGL has sold me 3 of these guitars flawlessly and GC has sold me one problem free. Not bashing BC cause I'm sure ill be using them more in the future now knowing $500 despot to start a 3 mo layaway thats hard to beat!!


----------



## TheShreddinHand

Wow, sorry to hear that! Pete did help me out on a couple trade-ins and transfers of deposits for JP guitars in the past without a hitch. I do remember him being very slow through email though and it was like pulling a tooth to get a receipt showing my deposit on the first JP I ever bought from him...but it came on a handwritten invoice via snail mail eventually. Seriously, who doesn't have electronic invoicing?! There's a free template in Microsoft Word for pete's sake!


----------



## Jonathan20022

TheShreddinHand said:


> Wow, sorry to hear that! Pete did help me out on a couple trade-ins and transfers of deposits for JP guitars in the past without a hitch. I do remember him being very slow through email though and it was like pulling a tooth to get a receipt showing my deposit on the first JP I ever bought from him...but it came on a handwritten invoice via snail mail eventually. Seriously, who doesn't have electronic invoicing?! There's a free template in Microsoft Word for pete's sake!



That too! I remember him saying he was sending me the invoice for the transactions, and the invoice arrived literally a full month after he said he sent it out. He's not an older guy, and he owns a business, he has to catch up with the times. A lot of the dealers I'm working with now told me that it's ridiculous how long he's taking for simple questions and replies, it really does not take that long to handle that stuff at the end of the day. Even if it's to set 30 minutes a day for that exclusively.



ADevilsDaydream817 said:


> I could of even got over the solar finish i just didn't want to spend the 3K on the BFR guitar, and his emails were rocky at best so i just opted out. I think EBMM has been having trouble with him probably for quite some time. When i contacted them over the phone they drilled me a bit on knowing what dealer i got it from. Next time i order a EBMM I'm just gonna do it though GC, they will price match if need be and when the guitar comes in if i don't like it they will refund it on the spot. Ive owned 4 BFR models and the one unloaded and the only problem I've ever had was that cosmetic blem on the bridge. i don't think bass central even opened the box, i think they just slapped a label on it as soon as it came in and sent it my way or that would of never of happened. DCGL has sold me 3 of these guitars flawlessly and GC has sold me one problem free. Not bashing BC cause I'm sure ill be using them more in the future now knowing $500 despot to start a 3 mo layaway thats hard to beat!!



That is hard to beat, the most Pete offered me was financing but I'll be damned if I got stuck in that cluster.... with him. And that's interesting, I'm going to call EBMM and see if they can provide any kind of help for me. I'll give GC a shot as well, you pay taxes and everything but it's a corporation and they can't just do this to you.


----------



## ADevilsDaydream817

Jonathan20022 said:


> That too! I remember him saying he was sending me the invoice for the transactions, and the invoice arrived literally a full month after he said he sent it out. He's not an older guy, and he owns a business, he has to catch up with the times. A lot of the dealers I'm working with now told me that it's ridiculous how long he's taking for simple questions and replies, it really does not take that long to handle that stuff at the end of the day. Even if it's to set 30 minutes a day for that exclusively.
> 
> 
> 
> That is hard to beat, the most Pete offered me was financing but I'll be damned if I got stuck in that cluster.... with him. And that's interesting, I'm going to call EBMM and see if they can provide any kind of help for me. I'll give GC a shot as well, you pay taxes and everything but it's a corporation and they can't just do this to you.



Well going the bass central route you can secure the guitar and pay it in full by 3 months and avoid using any kind of credit altogether. i used to roll stupid good deals out of GC all the time but they changed it to where employees can dish out at max a 10% discount. if anyone at your local GC won't cut you that 10% at time of purchase start calling other GC. most those sales guys want that ring credit and will do what they can to get it. if you know the right GC employee you can get those 10-15% off every purchase instead of waiting for coupons. But working with GC you should be able to work around the shipping and tax if your spending good money and if the salesperson isn't an idiot.


----------



## Jonathan20022

I'll have to check that out, I have a couple friends working at the one nearest me. Next PDN or special orders they offer, if I have the cash to I'll definitely consider what they can offer me.


----------



## Xaios

The grief he gave you, especially when he tried to screw you out of your deposit, was certainly bad enough. But when he tried to keep the deposit and resell the faulty guitar...

Goddamn. I shake my head at that.


----------



## TheShreddinHand

I've also had dealings with BassCentral and DrumCityGuitarLand and have had no issues. Another option is musiciansfriend. No tax, no shipping, and they'll haggle. Got a JP7 from them with no issues as well.


----------



## Jonathan20022

Xaios said:


> The grief he gave you, especially when he tried to screw you out of your deposit, was certainly bad enough. But when he tried to keep the deposit and resell the faulty guitar...
> 
> Goddamn. I shake my head at that.



Yeah that just opens it up to a whole new level, I would have thought he'd take the time to at least receive and check the flaws himself before listing it and offering it to his other customers. To anyone paying that much for one and received that guitar in that condition, I seriously hope it's not the same guitar.



TheShreddinHand said:


> I've also had dealings with BassCentral and DrumCityGuitarLand and have had no issues. Another option is musiciansfriend. No tax, no shipping, and they'll haggle. Got a JP7 from them with no issues as well.



I've heard great things from those guys, and Musician's Friend I've dealt with before! They cut me a sick deal on my JPXI7 from awhile ago, I'll definitely ask around every dealer before I make my next purchase.

-------

Also figured I should update you all, he's completely cut off contact with me. My bank has no processing refunds on anything, so I think the Chargeback will be valid. However the Deposit they denied at first simply because Pete said they were non-refundable. Then after talking to a supervisor we changed the case to Not As Described/Not Received, simply because it is faulty and the Rosewood Neck run is over. I'm sure EBMM would honor it and rebuild it for me, but technically getting another Rosewood Neck'd BFR shouldn't be possible. 

Pete, in what I think is a shitty thing to offer, has emailed me saying that if I send back my first Rosewood Neck'd JP he would refund me my deposit.

"Send me something completely unrelated to the faulty instrument so you can get a full refund!" Is basically what he's saying. So my bank is investigating right now, I hope to hell it works 300 isn't something to kill myself and my time over, but I'm not going to give up and let him walk away with my deposit while he makes another 3k off of that thing.


----------



## Jonathan20022

Hopefully the final update. He sent me an apology and a PDF showing the full refunds that were processed today. 

I did messsage AJ at EBMM about it, and spoke to quite a few people about it. So I guess he just decided to do it and drop the case, I'm glad he did but it doesn't change the whole experience. I'll update it once the refunds actually hit.


----------

