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Ibanez, why do you willingly ignore potential business opportunities?

3K views 16 replies 5 participants last post by  choubix 
#1 ·
Case in point, I am looking for a new guitar at the moment (have been playing an Ibanez EX370 for nearly 15 years now, still happy with it), and the problem is: the only two or three models which would interest me are not available where I live (Germany)! I fell in love with the S2170 SE, or possibly one of the transparent blue or black normal S's, but you don't offer these in Germany! So, I will either not buy a guitar at all for now, or I'll have to import one from the states... still undecided. Why do I have to have this problem at all???

Btw, I have a colleague who also was interested in one of the US-only models as soon as I showed it to him, so I'd guess I'm not the only customer Ibanez is losing with this policy.
It would be nice if there was some support from the country's distributor at least, I would be prepared to pay a bit extra to get one of these guitar's and have access to the normal warranty process - if I import one and have a warranty case, this is really going to hurt.
 
#7 ·
Hm, you sure about that? I've exchanged a few mails with our distributor over the last few weeks, and they told me they could only get their hands on what Ibanez was shipping them, and apparently they have no influence on that. I was a bit irritated at that, because if even a country-wide distributor doesn't have a way to tell Ibanez what customers want, then who can? Well... as I said, if nothing else turns up I'll probably import one of the 2170SE's myself.
 
#8 ·
we'll never know. sounds like half truths. i'm not going to outright call your distributor a liar since i'm not in their office nor ibanez japan but it's a convenient excuse isn't it passing blame on some larger office overses.

that said just import it... might be cheaper than if your dealer sold it anyways (sad huh)... glen
 
#10 ·
that said just import it... might be cheaper than if your dealer sold it anyways (sad huh)... glen
Yes, the dollar is in my favor at the moment, I would end up a few Euros cheaper even including customs and added taxes. But, handling warranty issues would be a real pain, and I've been reading all over the place that it is important to actually see and handle any S prestiges before buying, as the quality seems to vary quite a bit. Which is difficult when ordering over the internet. Well, I'll see what turns up...
 
#9 ·
sounds weird that the distributor cannot order something that is carried by the brand he sells...

when you want a car with some options and that the car dealer doesnt have the model, you can order it... and the price is "usually" the catalog price...

I would say (but i might be wrong) that they just dont want to bother ordering one guitar when they ship a few hundreds a month.


Importing the guitar yourself: you'll be facing the customs and the delays without a decent warranty...

if you really want to import: check with Ishibashi in Japan. they may have more choice as they are big. they ship abroad.
 
#11 ·
by the way: Ishibashi and Ibanez in Japan seem to have a top notch service

I wanted to check some info on my second hand Ibanez.
They will check the serial number with Ibanez and get back to me this week.

sure you can get info directly from Ibanez also.
ask them if your local distributor can order a guitar for you that is not sold in Germany.
 
#12 ·
sure you can get info directly from Ibanez also.
ask them if your local distributor can order a guitar for you that is not sold in Germany.
Thanks for the info, I just wrote an email to Ishibashi.
Any idea how I can contact Ibanez directly? I have been looking for a way to do that, but the japanese page only has japanese links (which I can't read), and refers non-domestic customers to their local distributors.
 
#14 ·
well, technically Ibanez don't actually exist, so you can't contact them.

Ibanez is a brand name operated by Hoshino-Gakki. The closest real representative would be Hoshino Benelux http://www.hoshinobenelux.eu/NL/home.html,

(in Germany they are represented by Roland Meinl http://db.musik-meinl.de/ )

Unfortunately the S2170ES is not in the Dutch pricelist either:

S4170FA € 1,929.00 RVK Burl Ash top/Mahogany Neck Through
S2170FB € 1,599.00 NTF Figured Bubinga top/ Mahogany
S2170FW € 1,599.00 NTF Figured Poplar top/ Mahogany

MSRP is similar to US (once you include tax).
 
#15 ·
I guess Ibanez has got a very particular marketing and sales phylosophy and strategy. Not that I quite understand it either. But sounds familiar to the situation with J-Customs only being available in Japan. Or some models only being made available to european markets. I can't really recall other few good examples but this one:
http://machinehead.co.uk/product_in...d/977?osCsid=f787c7b9a37e9e8c031e9fc5f59aa060
not available in the US as far as I know. And I know there are several others.

So you're not alone in that boat Panther.

Gus.
 
#16 ·
Hey, and not available in Germany either - but that was to be expected, as I could very well get used to that guitar, too. Nice... :)
Well, either my taste in guitars is completely the opposite of the rest of all guitarists in Germany, or Ibanez really should revisit their sales strategy... *sigh*
 
#17 ·
Ask the distributor to do its job and order the guitar for you.

you can still try to "lie" a bit: tell them the distributors in France can do that...

by the way: in a different european country you would have no custom tax I think... which is not the case if you order from japan or any non EU country.
 
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