I still hadn't heard back about this, so went down to the shop again and asked if it would be possible to get a different colour. The guy was very apologetic and said that would be no problem. They had a red one with a black scratch plate, so I asked if I could try it. He lifted it down and I had a quick look over it. Big chunk out of the body work in more or less the same spot as the black one. Like most guitar shops, they get a lot of kids going in at the weekend and lifting the guitars down to try. Obviously, they are less than careful when putting them back up again. Very unfair on the shop. I ended up trying a pale blue one and took it home. Her birthday is next week, so fingers crossed she likes it.