Hi forum people. Richard here from Richards Guitars.
OK - So me and forums.... I have to put my hands up - they dont mix well. Basically - its because I am not the greatest fan of lies - especially when they are aimed directly at me
I think what is really important is every person should take me on their own very personal experience.
IF you read something about me from a third party, please do me a favor? Please consider that nobody EVER talks THEMSELVES down! So no matter how in the wrong they are - if they feel they have been hard done by - they certainly wont come on to a forum and say..... "Oh Richards Guitars! Oh yeh - I remember them! I behaved like a complete pr*ck and really wound them up good and proper. So.... what I can tell you is that I treat every single person with complete and utter respect. My pleasure in life comes from making people happy.
Our dear friend who posted above about the guitar he cancelled.... Well... Hes added a few embellishments for theatrical effect - but also omitted some incredibly important details which I find really sad.
The chap in question can pull me up if my memory serves me incorrectly but here goes on my best attempt to recall events!
Lets just put one thing to bed. I HAVE NEVER in TWENTY SEVEN YEARS of selling guitars EVER "Sold someone up" or "pressured" someone to buy something they dont need or havent asked for. EVER - Lets just get that straight. It would completely - totally - go against every single principal I have in life. So where this chap gets this from is beyond me. So thats the first pointer - Did I ask if he wanted electronics? I would be incompetent if I didnt ask the question. Regarding the rosewood however? Here is the bit he decided to ommit....
I dont think the customer has given the timeline of events correctly - I believe I was his first contact - from there he contacted Dowina directly (which is fine but that does then complicate communication - but its fine as long as we know). Erika would have only "suggested" buying from me because she knew damned well I was the catalyst of his interest in the brand.
Here is the nugget, though! To this day we do a model called the "rosewood deluxe". It utilisies the very finest graded rosewood chosen by Stan. Stan has chosen the rosewood specifically for its tonal properties but also when you look at it - the grain is super tight - So visually very striking too. Now here is the funny (or ironic) part of the story. The customer whose posted above went to SUCH lengths to explain that for him - it was ALL about the tone. He wanted soething that was a TONE machine. So for this reason - and this reason alone I went to great lengths to say to him - "If you want the "tone machine" that you so pressed upon me that you needed and that for you - its all about the tone - then you need this very specially selected rosewood that Stan has picked out specifically for this purpose. This is ME following my passion - pressing the point to the customer that Stan knows his stuff - Stan has decades of experience - travels the World selecting tonewoods and you now have this incredible opportunity benefit from it.
So I now read on a forum - all this time later - The same customer for whom I tried to give what I felt was the World - is slagging me off for being some kind of pushy salesman? As I say - every 1 star review I get on Trustpilolt - which I urge people to browse through - says more about the customer than it does about me personally.
So - back to the story..... This chap makes a right song and dance about the specification - There never was an issue over the specification but he wanted it written very specifically on his order because he was worried that there would be a mistake - no problem - and I appreciate we probably didnt give it the focus as we didnt realise just how anxious he was about it. Nothing was delayed - the order was already in - agreed - but he wanted his invoice to show the exact specs - ok so..... I believe he got upset about it.
What I love about the story though - is this customer - after putting us through the hoops - Telling me how important it was that he has this "perfect tone machine" (my words - but you know what I mean - massive emphasis on the tone of the guitar) this customer then cancels his order entirely because its taking too long.
So the hand made Dowina - that had woods selected from Stans personal collection of his favorite pieces - was cancelled out of hand - because this customer was quotiing all sorts of BS about his contractual rights and how we had broken our contract based on our estimated production time.
As I said to the customer at the time - It was a wonderful example of Karma in action. This chaps jaded view on life - His cynical and demanding attitude (which he has continued to show on this forum) has only effected one person. Himself. He lost the opportunity to experience the exact guitar that he had so craved. He was never able to experience the joy of having the guitar made for him - by Stan and knowing and appreciating the love and care that went into the guitar. It was his loss - and his loss only.
We however - went on to produce a range totally inspired by this customer - because thats what I do - I take negatives - I take the worst moments - and I use them to fuel positivity within my life. This customer didnt value the time and effort - the skill - the care - that everyone had invested in his new guitar - but the experience I had with this customer - opened the door to this beautiful new rosewood deluxe series of guitars so I remain truly grateful for the opportunity this customer gave me - and Dowina - to do what we love - to provide the most special of guitars to our customers.
For what its worth - here are Erikas comments on me - direct from her website.
https://www.dowina.com/richards-invaluable-contribution/
Like I say - my experience with forums isnt great - I cant help but great drawn to the negatives and sadly the most sour of people are always the loudest voices on forums. I am obviously really grateful for the other people who have commented on their positive experiences. So thank you to them
With regard to the chap who said he was going to visit soon - I have no doubt he would have been treated as we treat all our customers - with kindness, consideration, care and attention.
For what its worth I will also mention I suffer with anxiety caused by ADHD which thankfully I had officially diagnosed this year - and its been quite life changing. I now realise a common trait of ADHD is "people pleasing" - which is driven by a total fear of being disliked. I hate the thought of someone disliking me - If I think someone does dislike me I try and "put it right" like some how I can "fix" the problem. All I am saying is that I cant stop people disliking me - and someone generally disliking me is actually "ok" - but its when I read total crap about me - I find it really difficult to understand why / how people can sleep at night knowing they have written something that is a total contradiction to the experience we shared.
Oh the legal action? LMAO..... omg - first of all the thought of me ever saying that to someone just makes me laugh? Legal action? For what? Cancelling your order? lol .... omg.... (thats what I have named their new OM models btw!!! OMG!!!!) But I DO remember you going on about legal stuff - solicitors - god knows why but I remember all sorts of nonsense over breaching contracts and the like. So once again it looks like you are simply mirroring your own actions - and implying they were mine! Do let me know if I have mis remembered anything but one thing I can tell you is I know ME and I know how I respond to "normal" people and I dont yell and scream - I dont threaten legal action - I dont push people into buying things they dont need. You are painting the picture of a total stranger - I dont know this person and it certainly isnt me!!!
Tea anyone?
