Ibanez HAS a customer service department and considering all they have to do, they do it very well! Customer service is in reality 'Dealer Service', and 9 - 5 they take care of all the dealers, reps, vendors, etc. BUT they also happily answer questions from ANYBODY that calls them. They may not have time to check to see if they have pickup bezel screws from a 78' Artist, so the answer you'll get may be 'probably not'. But if you called to ask the specs on any models they'll crack open the spec book and read them off to you.
Now if you call to ask why your trem won't stay in tune and if they know a good place you could get to change your strings, you'll probably be told to talk to your dealer. Unfortunately Guitar Center AND Musicians Friend AND
Sam Ash AND EVEN CHESBRO all give Hoshino's # to call with any questions, so these are typically the type questions they'll get all day. It's a wonder they get the internal work they HAVE to get done done. Typical mega dealer salesmens attitude twords their customers! (sorry Mike, I know some of you are atypical of the norm)
Add to that the amount of overseas calls they get because their distributors tell them to call Hoshino for the 7VWH neck that they won't order from Japan for you, and..... See where I'm going here?
They are the US distributor (and only half the US at that!!) and they are basically the Ibanez presence for the whole world. Overworked and underpaid (but they do have a nice air conditioned office
) I have a great deal of respect for how much they do. (of course some are better than others, your milage may vary, reason? half are drum specialists!! Remember, half the place is Tama!!)
