Beware of buying from Dr Gear online!
Beware of buying from Dr Gear online!! Back in May (2024) my son bought what was, for him, a relatively expensive second-hand electric guitar - the sellers' photos were of a beautiful, pristine guitar.
Dr Gear used a less than reputable courier company to ship it. As soon as my son unpacked the guitar, we could see the damage - a huge chunk out of the back of the guitar, with the bubble wrap still embedded in it! He and his dad contacted Dr Gear straight away. Photos were sent and Dr Gear said that they would place a claim with the courier company…and that’s when things got difficult.
After that correspondence, Dr Gear decide that the box wasn’t damaged enough for them and blamed us for damaging the guitar on receipt of it, even though we got in contact immediately, sending pictures showing the damage. Since then, we've been completely ghosted by Dr Gear – no contact despite trying with phone calls, emails and even a letter (we live in a different state, so difficult to go to the store). We eventually got NSW Fair Trading involved who stated they couldn’t make Dr Gear reimburse my son, but they would attempt to “educate” management on their responsibilities to customers. Dr Gear eventually sent NSW Fair Trading a letter stating they would pay my son 20% of the purchase price as it was a "cosmetic issue" – a guitar restorer quoted me well and truly more than the guitar was worth to fix the damage.
It doesn’t end there though. I have since tried to contact Dr Gear to claim the 20% reimbursement from them – only to continue being ignored. I’m at the point now that my only option is to warn others, wherever I can, not to buy online from this music store. I have been absolutely stunned at the disgusting customer service from these people!
PS. I got in touch with the courier company to see whether Dr Gear had ever been in touch with them and/or made a claim. The answer was no, they had never had any contact from Dr Gear. The reason we didn’t go straight to the Courier company was because we were told it’s the sellers responsibility.
PPS. It turns out that Dr Gear used a courier service (Interparcel - CouriersPlease) where there is no warranty for guitars and other stringed instruments. This was not stated on the website, and we had no choice of courier. This might explain why he didn't ever make a claim for us in the first place??