26th February 2014 - Me and my big mouth.....

When you have a frustrating day of waiting and finish a blog with "What could possibly go wrong?"  the gods of chance and the Norns get out their spare knitting needles just for a few extras....   I should have known better!!

The delays in delivery might have been a good indication that all was not as it should have been. The Lute Guitar that I had ordered for my birthday was meant to be dispatched within a working day, that was the claim. The listing said 5 available - three sold - suggesting that they were in stock - now seems unlikely..

So the German Lute Guitar was the thing that was being purchased. It has the look of a lute but the tuning and playability of a guitar - a bit of a cheat but  looks good for the re-enactment market.

The back of the guitar is round - which makes it a little tricky to handle - but with a decent strap I thought it would be rather effective ...  this one was made of rosewood and looked to be rather good..

The sound hole of the lute guitar is finely crafted and changes the look of the whole instrument ...

The sad part though is that though the advertisement stated clearly that the old Lute Guitars had violin style tuning pegs - that is a wooden peg put into the hole through friction - the new lute guitar had machine style tuners - the same on a normal guitar ... 

When the guitar finally arrived with Mr UPS man  I eagerly unpacked and looked at the instrument. It was rather light but looked good. The strings were in place but looked as thought hey had been added by someone who knew little about stringing an instrument. The pegs were wood and the strings were loose for travel... So I attached my tuner and started to get the strings up to concert....  Nylon strings will stretch - I know that - so was not too concerned as the tuning failed to hold to start...  The "A" string was the first to go - as I turned it - the top of the tuning peg came off in my hand ...   not a good start ..

Worse, the strings were so tight that it soon got to the stage where it was not possible to turn the pegs form a normal holding position.. instead having to turn the guitar vertically to use both hands - and later pliers !!!

Examination of the box started to explain why there had been a delay.  The main UPS label was prominent - but underneath there was the label from Pakistan to Hayes...  Clearly, my order was received, and the guitar was shipped from Pakistan and re-shipped to me - in that case two weeks delivery was not too bad really!!!

But all in all it was not what I was wanting. So then we start the "phone is not being answered", "email not being responded to" - though delivery receipt received though not read receipt, no response on Ebay messaging...   Facebook was responded to before - so a few threats to escalate to complaint again  may work....   

Meanwhile, UPS advertise special offers at £7.99 if you sign up for an account..  Signed up alright but they still want £32 to send.. Celtic Couriers will do it for £14.50 if I lie about the value - or £19.50 if I insure properly...  My Hermes looks very good and cheap - but they do not compensate for musical instruments...  Ho Hum - what to do !!!

Glass of Chateau 41 it is then !!!  Tomorrow is another day...
But - I do not think I will use that expression again - I know better !!!