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Author Topic: ACCORDEONS MELODIE  (Read 23979 times)

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squeezy

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #80 on: October 29, 2010, 11:02:24 PM »

I suspect your work here is done Jeff, at least for the protection of others who might encounter this company.

I had no plans to deal with Melodie before reading this thread, but now that I have it would take the most incredible assurances and desire for an instrument to do so.  For people who read here, they have well and truly shot themselves in the foot with regards to PR.  If indeed they do have cash-flow problems, and many companies will at the moment, their approach to your order will ultimately prove more costly to them in terms of reputation than they can possibly have saved by not sorting your problem out in an honourable fashion.

It's sad for them, because they are either desperate or have been massively short-sighted to have dealt with you in this way - and obviously I'm sorry you have had to deal with this really stressful situation.

Cheers

Squeezy
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Squeezy

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melodeon

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #81 on: October 29, 2010, 11:34:40 PM »

Thanks,

Almost  (tongue in cheek)  makes me wish I had ordered a Saltarelle : )

I broke a rule and sorry for it.

What is even worse, I was teetering between ordering another Castagnari, one of Rees's boxes, or the Melodie.
The idiotic reason I finally I decided to go with Melodie was the promise of 5 months.

Sorry Rees.


If anyone wants to see a Melodie accordeon in natural maple (the one that Mr Vezina says they do not make)
send me an e-mail at

jefe46   at   earthlink   dot  net

and I'll send it off to you. I am not expecting a reply or any support... I just want folks to see what I ordered ,and what they insist they do not make. Anonimity guaranteed.  





« Last Edit: October 30, 2010, 12:24:24 AM by melodeon »
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melodeon

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #82 on: October 30, 2010, 09:32:05 PM »

This is a close approximation of the last paragraphs of the letter I sent to Mr Ouellet and Mr Vezina/Accordeon Melodie:

"This is simple. You made and sent me the wrong accordeon. The right thing to do, the honorable thing to do, is refund my money and I will send your accordeon back; an accordeon I did not order.

Please do not respond, again, with the history of your company and its satisfied customers. Please do not respond, again, with more excuses and false statements. Please do not evade or avoid. I want a single word reply:  Yes or No.  

Will you refund my payment ?  Yes or No.  Please, just one word.

Waiting for your prompt, and simple, reply. "
« Last Edit: October 30, 2010, 09:56:39 PM by melodeon »
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Québécois

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #83 on: October 30, 2010, 11:39:59 PM »

So much easier to buy a Hohner...
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Hohner Erica A/D, Roland FR-18

melodeon

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #84 on: October 30, 2010, 11:46:33 PM »

Sadly, you are right.

And I like them. No surprises.

Light, fast, cheap, fun, easy to repair, good resale, and Hohner has excellent customer service in the US.
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Clive Williams

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #85 on: October 31, 2010, 12:30:42 AM »

3 photos posted on behalf of Jeff - his comments follow:

Quote
1) Here is a photo of the accordeon I was sent that Melodie says is "naturel"  next to my
Bart Reiter banjo in natural maple.

2) Here is a photo of a Melodie in natural maple which Mr Vezina says they do not make.

3) This is the accordeon I was sent..,compare it  to the photo of the natural maple Melodie
which Mr Vezina says they do not make. He  has said that the accordeon I got is the lightest they make, and that they call it "naturel"

melodeon

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #86 on: October 31, 2010, 12:47:57 AM »

Thanks Clive.
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Stiamh

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #87 on: October 31, 2010, 06:18:12 PM »

Jeff, playing devil's advocate here, and trying to imagine how the case might appear to the other side (correct me if my assumptions are mistaken):

They have offered to cut you a thumb groove
They have offered to change the buttons for you

That leaves the question of stain and delivery time.

The late delivery is unfortunate, I agree, but not unusual in the world of custom-built instruments, as you must surely know.

They say they don't make an unstained model. You have evidence that they have made one in the past. These two statements are not mutually exclusive. Sylvain Vézina has apparently taken over the actual making from Raynald Ouellet. What tells you that they still produce such a model? Do you have anything in writing that specifies they undertook to make you an "unstained" model rather than a "natural" one? 

If you haven't, then, it seems to me, you are down to a dispute as to what is meant by "natural" and by whom.

Steve C.

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #88 on: October 31, 2010, 06:26:29 PM »

Steve--

It is awfully nice, I agree.

It is not what he wanted.

They should take it back.

--Steve
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blafleur

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #89 on: October 31, 2010, 06:56:08 PM »

Always good to have someone play devils advocate, but...

Going over on time with hand made products is definitely understandable, but from 5 months to 12+ months isn't, at least to me. 

"Natural" is definitely up for translation, but the commonly accepted (assuming here) translation is no stain.  So he should have communicated his opinion that he thought it needed some stain to highlight the grain, which most woodworkers I think would disagree with.

Just forgetting the thumb groove, or mistaking the tuning, etc, is not too unforgivable, but this was a whole list of "not rights".  At that point it begins to look like just plain the wrong accordion, like Jeff suspects.

And I think its terrible business to gaff off a customer that just had a product they are so completely unhappy with, with so many good reasons to not be happy.

Just my opinion.

melodeon

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #90 on: October 31, 2010, 08:34:37 PM »

I understand the devil's advocate position

Expain:

White buttons
Wrong tuning
No thumbgroove
And wrong color accordeon

All 4 , not just one...  all 4

Also understand when I ( and my "friend" ) spoke with Mr Vezina about the color,
he said that he stained it because it would show the grain better;
That his choice of wood would not allow him to leave it unstained.   S T A I  N.  Tache   T A C H E.  Brune.. B R U N E. His words.

Tne nonsense about the brown on this accordeon was first referred to only in his letter.
That was the first time he referred to a stained accordeon as brown.

Mr Vezina has been there from the start, he did not "take over" from Mr Ouellet.
Mr. Ouellet (after I had been dealing with him for a year) said he has not been associated with
Melodie for 6  years.

Does anyone here define a brown stain as "naturel" ?

As much as I appreciate another point of view,  stretching to do it is defying the obvious and conventional
knowlege... brown stain is brown stain.   No stain is natural.
Melodie will be the ONLY departure from that norm I have ever heard. Natural meanms , no stain.

Mr Vezina, and I believe Mr Ouellet, are furniture makers of some lengthy experience. I would assume they are
familiar with stain ,and natural.


Is it then suggested I should say when ordering an accordeon I should say

Natural,
No yellow
No purple
No Black
No Orange
No Blue
No red
No puce
No Beige
No Vermillion
No Green
ETC

That is absurd

Natural universally means natural.  So it is therefore ok for Melodie to send me ANY color accordeon they choose to
call natural becuase I did not run down a list  of the exceptions.  And they, Melodie, will be allowed to define "natiurel"
Ergo, in future a brown stain will be known as "naturel" because Melodie has set a precedent. I told Mr Ouellet, NO STAIN.
He rresponded by saying they would nned to sellect just the right wood to do this. Should I have recorded that conversation.

Likewise because Mr Ouellet/Mr Vezina /Melodie  forgot to write black buttons on the invocie  that they now can use any color,  because I don't have that in writing.  This is ok, ? in spite of three phone calls and several e mails to Mr Ouellet ( not saved) specifying black,
they are now allowed to use white or any other color... becuase I did not specifiy
No Yellow
No white
No metal
No green etc
And keep in mind I have never seen a Melodie without black buttons.. other than the one they sent me..

Likewise, because I did not define thumbgroove, they can now define thumbgroove as convex, or flat.
A thumbgroove is a thumb groove.

And because  and again  my fault entirely   I did not save the e mails or record the conversations with Mr Vezina and MR Ouellet with rerspect to tuning.. and Mr Ouellet specifically saying 5-7 cents.. they are now allowed to tune it any way they see fit...12 cents or otherwise.

Their offer to cut a groove... my opinion as a professional furniture maker, in all certainty cannot be done without and obvious re-do,
And they want to tune it.... 5-7 cents...why was it delivered 12 when I specific,very little tremolo...they said 5-7  not me, I agreed
And they will change the buttons..
NO... That does not make the accordeon naturel as ordered... a color that is universally agreed is without stain..
Then there is the time element.  We are now up to 13 months and I still do not have the accordeon I ordered.

We will then add,  they have proved that they are unreliable.  They have not done what they said they would do when they said they wold do it.
I have no confidence it them, I will wait no longer.

The reasonable and honorable and right thing to do is to stop splitting hairs, stop picking the fly specs out of the pepper, stop with the delays and excuses, and redefining terms in order to avoid taken a professional attitude,and refund my money.

They did not make one mistake, they made four.
They  took 12 1/2 months not 5-6-8... but 12 1/2.
They never contacted me without a prompt and often did not reply.
They have redefined terms.
They have said that this brown accordeon is the lightest they make.
They have refused to reimburse me and take this accordeon back because.. it has strap brackets and my name in it.

Go on, play devil's advocate and offer apologies for them and allow them to conduct business this way

If it were your money, and your time,   would you still be playing devil's advocate.

I appreciate and understand differing opinions but providing them with a way to slide out the back door seems to be  
agreeing with their position because it is my fault .

I had no hand in the lateness, or the wrong configuration of this accordeon, completely out of my control.

And explain this away when I called Mr Vezina after the missed July 20 promise date

"What order, I have no order.  Long pause and shuffling and walking into another room and back.. you could hear the phone being put down, the footsteps out and back... then saying I can have "AN "   accordeon ready by sept 25.

I still suspect they either completly forgot my order, or sold mine at the Carrefour. My guees, nothing else makes sense.

There is no other plausible explanation for
Wrong color
No thumbgroove
Wrong color buttons
Wrong tuning
12 1/2 months

It is one thing to present an opposing position, but with that might also come with :
what do you think is reasonable at this point?
Your time and your money at stake,and no,I mean zero confidence in Melodie or Mr Vezina or Mr Ouellet. ?

I am sincerely asking  what would you do?  What would you expect. ?

You think they should get away with this because they redefined the universal understanding of the word "naturel" ?
Is that your position ?

"Late delivery is unfortuate"  Nsd so there fore I should accept that they misswed their own promise times not once but 3 times to my count..

Unfortunate for them that they broke a written contract and a promiseof delivery on a specific date.
That is not my problem, and at this point I think I am done being patient with their broken promises and breach of a written contract.

It comes down to a definition of natural.. No .. it does not.

It comes down to what is reasonable, ethical, honorable and professional.





« Last Edit: October 31, 2010, 08:41:22 PM by melodeon »
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Stiamh

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #91 on: October 31, 2010, 08:52:48 PM »

It's not my position that they should get away with anything, Jeff, and nor am I trying to give them a way to slide out of the back door. I don't think they need any help, btw - just now they seem quite content to slam the front door in your face.

But it's a pity you don't have written records of everything.  Obviously you didn't expect that they would screw up like this, but still, esp. with the language barrier, documentation would make it much easier for a lawyer to put the screws on them, in or out of court.

I feel for you. As you know, I had a disappointment with the tuning of my Gaillard when it arrived. Everything about the order was in writing - BG makes sure that is so, to protect _himself_ (from the customer). But the disappointment came down to the interpretation of "strong swing" tuning (swing fort), his (and his tuner's) idea of which turned out to be very different from what I assumed. In hindsight, we should both have insisted on the tuning being specified, in writing, in cents, or beats per second, at specific points in the scale. This would have prevented my disappointment and hurt feelings on all three sides.

"Swing fort" - seemed obvious to me, but not so. "Naturel" might not be so obvious either... that was my point.

BTW, nobody would use the word "tâche" for "stain" - that's a stain, as in a big blob of ketchup on your shirt. The usual word would be "teinture."

melodeon

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #92 on: October 31, 2010, 09:12:35 PM »

Tache it is , a big blob.. I am so opposed to stained wood, at least the way it is done in this new age. This color to my eye is fakery and looks dirty. 

No way did I think when I ordered natural that I would get a brown stained accordeon.
If you ordered a natural accordeon, would you expect a brown accordeon'Was it not Meldoies responsibility to define "naturel" as brown stain at the time of order and not mine as I had absolutley no definition of natural except that which is universally accepted as >. no artificial color.  Their responsibility  nto mine.

Steve I sincerely appreciate your viewpoint, but hanging this on their right to redefine the term "natruel" and making it my ( or any other customers) responsibility to define universally accepted terms is unreasonable.

In my case the tuning was described by me and put into numbers by Mr Ouellete. 5-7 cents.

Is it therefore the responsibility of the customer to specifiy every detail of a transaction.. again,  by way of exclusion.


Does anyone think the accordeon I got was "naturel" ?

Does anyone think it is reasonable for Mr Vezina to redefine "naturel" ?

Does anyone think I should accept their offer of retuning and black buttons and a thumbgroove and accept this brown accordeon ?

Or

Is it more reasonable to expect that MELODIE  would refund my money and I return their accordeon.

It is that simple.

Steve,

In earlier contacts with Mr Ouellet and Mr Vezina I suggested that I would accept the accordeon as is, and I would make all the necessary changes and corrections and excuse their delays and avoidance  and refusal to refund my money by:
Compensating me for all the above.. I suggested $1000  USD or they could make a counter offer.. no offer, no counter offer
just  nothing.

I spoke with Mr Vezina after I had sent an e mail to that effect... he would not discuss it and would send a letter.
He did not adrees this in his letter. He avoided it, just as he avoided responding to my request to take back the box and refund all my money.

After that , I sent another e mail saying that I had made a decision I would  not accept a partial refund   that based on Mr Vezina's conversation by phone.. I want all of my money back and they get their accordeon.. he did not respond to this in his letter, in spite of my specific request.

Keep in mind  I have been contacting them since I got the wrong accordeon.. I did not start this thread until well after they
declined any reasonable solution,  aside from their unacceptable offer of black buttons, grooving and tuning.


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Andrew Wigglesworth

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #93 on: October 31, 2010, 09:19:52 PM »

It's not my position that they should get away with anything, Jeff, and nor am I trying to give them a way to slide out of the back door. I don't think they need any help, btw - just now they seem quite content to slam the front door in your face.

But it's a pity you don't have written records of everything.  Obviously you didn't expect that they would screw up like this, but still, esp. with the language barrier, documentation would make it much easier for a lawyer to put the screws on them, in or out of court.

I feel for you. As you know, I had a disappointment with the tuning of my Gaillard when it arrived. Everything about the order was in writing - BG makes sure that is so, to protect _himself_ (from the customer). But the disappointment came down to the interpretation of "strong swing" tuning (swing fort), his (and his tuner's) idea of which turned out to be very different from what I assumed. In hindsight, we should both have insisted on the tuning being specified, in writing, in cents, or beats per second, at specific points in the scale. This would have prevented my disappointment and hurt feelings on all three sides.

"Swing fort" - seemed obvious to me, but not so. "Naturel" might not be so obvious either... that was my point.

BTW, nobody would use the word "tâche" for "stain" - that's a stain, as in a big blob of ketchup on your shirt. The usual word would be "teinture."

Except, according to Jeff (if I can be so familiar), they have already conceded that the buttons should have been black, there should have been a thumb groove and that the tuning is wrong.

As for the colour, they've conceded "natural" but seem to be changing the goal posts but admitted that they've stained the wood.

At this stage, in Britain, I'd be visiting trading standards and threatening a visit to the small claims court.

Theo

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Re: ACCORDEONS MELODIE
« Reply #94 on: October 31, 2010, 09:22:22 PM »

This topic has been thoroughly aired,  and Jeff, I sympathise with your position, but it seems to me that recent posts are just restating what has already been clearly presented, so this topic is now closed.

Jeff, if there are significant developments please feel free to start a new topic.
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