Regards financing a larger purchase; I've always paid up front or in case of a PRS SE A60E a couple years ago, chose financing for 6 months no fees. Within 2-½ months time, that loan was paid for. Have seldom if ever taken out a bank loan, asked for a credit increase.
A good credit score is a fleeting thing that can vanish with one or two ill-timed luxury expenses. That being said, I don't buy because of a seemingly too good opportunity, or just because the item in question is uber-desirable.
Yet, regards Sweetwater, there is something I can say in defense of a large corporation regards its customer service policy. This past April 2024, I purchased a D'Angelico Premier Mini DC XT VS and submitted my warranty registration. From about mid-April, the Premier hung on a guitar hanger, untouched until the end of October this year.
Desiring some practice time with the Premier, one Monday late afternoon, I plugged the Mini into my Fractal FM9. Everything felt just the way one might expect. Yet, about 45 minutes into practice, the bridge pickup began cutting out intermittently. Although unable to diagnose the issue myself, it sounded like a cold solder joint. A quick call to my Sweetwater got the ball rolling. Since the guitar was still less than a year old and less than a year from Sweetwater, my rep emailed me a UPS RMA at no charge. Packing the guitar up tight in a gig bag with one layer of carton, the guitar was brought to the UPS Store locally for shipment.
The guitar arrived at Sweetwater Oct 30th, Wednesday. My sales rep said he'd contact me once they'd inspected the guitar. October 31st, with about 30 minutes before leaving for work remaining, my sales rep apologized, but there was irreparable lower left quadrant body damage that occurred likely during shipping. My sales rep provided documentation of the damage, and suggested one of the comparable D'Angelico models as a replacement. It took less that 10 minutes to choose, and although the option for Seymour Duncan was not part of this, a D'Angelico Premier Mini DC BrownBurst 7.6 lbs. was delivered this past Monday.
As part of their 55-point inspection, Sweetwater's tech crew performed fret leveling and cold solder joint inspection at no added charge prior to shipment. Here is a Pixelmator photo editing rendition of 2 images taken this evening.
While Sweetwater typically doesn't respond to criticism from social media, that does not mean it doesn't take notice of it. I prefer to be thankful for a corporation that stands behind its product to the extent of replacing its product no questions asked.
