LeftyBassist.com

Roman's EMS was correct for me - that's how I knew it had been delivered, even if the post office forgot to give me a notice. I was able to look up the tracking online, print it out and bring it to the post office which basically forced the guy behind the counter to look for it. Roman's an honest businessman, if a bit archaic in his methods. Maybe he gave you the wrong number by a digit? Don't trust the USPS either; it could be held up in customs (although that would show up on the online tracking). I'm sure you've tried all this already but good luck and let us know what happens.

Anyone else have this issue?

Problem solved! Comparing our EMS numbers was the key. It appears that Bach mistakenly added the letter S to the prefix in the tracking number they sent me; now that I removed the S the number tracks just fine. Kudos to Agent for his help! I'll be back in touch once the bird has landed....

Well, we got the tracking number issue sorted... but unfortunately things have continued to go badly with this purchase. The bird shipped from Bach on 7/3, arrived in New York on 7/8- then spent the next 7 days sitting in customs with no explanation. Departed customs on 7/15, processed and delivered to my local suburban Chicago post office on 7/16, at which point I promptly picked it up, so all total 13 days en route. The packing was no where near what I would have considered adequate for a trip halfway around the globe- the bass was wrapped in one layer of small bubble wrap, packed in a standard thin wedge- shaped cardboard guitar box (the kind that would typically be the inner packing box), with one layer of small bubble wrap on the outside of the box. There was no obvious outward evidence of trauma, but the lack of protection immediately made me apprehensive about what I would find upon opening the box.

My fears were realized; a major chunk out of the finish on the back of the neck just below the volute, surrounded by all kinds of massive cracking. Looked like the neck wood was cracked, but on closer examination all the damage appears to be to the finish (this is some thick poly on here). I immediately noticed that the strings were fully tightened and the truss rod was exerting enough pressure to cause significant forward bowing, all of which was putting additional tension on that notoriously sensitive area of the neck design. It took several cranks loosening the truss rod to get to a playable amount of relief, but it appears that the neck is still functioning properly. It could have been worse- but this is plenty bad enough.

I now have to write to Roman and let him know what I received, but what are my options for recourse here? I suspect that the marginal packing protection by Bach has a lot to do with why this happened. I'm sure Bach will accept a return if I cover the shipping, but that's taking a $140 loss. Is there any insurance on EMS shipping that I can recover on, even though there is no external damage to the packaging? Anyone have any suggestions- or am I just stuck with the situation as is?

Whoa - that's awful!

First of all write to Roman, i'm pretty sure you can work things out.

Yikes. That is one awful finish. Super thick. Sorry this happened to you man. Hope they can work something out with you.

I've asked a guy who resells Bach stuff in EU. He say it's a problem between Bach and the transport company, the bass was obviously not well packed, and it didn't survive the transportation form Czech republic to the USA.
The customer never received the bass in the condition that it should have arrived.
Demand a new one. Let Bach take care of the insurance battle with the transporter. Take pic of the box. To have proof of the poor packaging.

Wow, if all else fails can they send you a new neck an option?

Owww!
Sorry to see that Carmine. At the worst, if you are absolutely sure that only the finish is damaged you could get it refinished for not much more than what you would be out for shipping.

But this would not have happened if it had been properly packaged and so should be replaced by the manufacturer. He should also deal with the shipping costs involved with the replacement IMO.

Good luck, I hope it all turns out well.

These are set neck basses.

Just sent off an email to Roman, basically recapping everything I've covered here, and asking him what Bach can/ will do to help resolve this situation. Also included some pics of the packing (see attached). If you look closely at the top of the last pic you can see the thin sheet of bubble wrap underneath the black plastic shrink wrap around the outside of the flimsy box. There was another thin sheet of bubble wrap like that wrapped around the bass, and that was it for padding. Because of the way it was shrink wrapped in black plastic, you couldn't see how bad the condition of the box underneath was until you opened it.

It's amazing looking at the damage that the neck didn't break! Definitely a sub-par packing job. BachBird needs to re-think their packaging if they want to continue to sell basses... just not well thought out on their part.

Earlier in this thread, Agent00Soul bought one, and apparently his arrived in good condition. I wonder if his was packed the same as yours Carmine, or better? Agent00soul, what are your thoughts on Carmine's packaging, as compared to how yours was wrapped?

Good luck getting this sorted out Carmine. Please keep us informed on how Bach takes care of you.

The packaging looks exactly the same as mine and yes, mine arrived with no issues to the box or instrument. Some of that might have to do that it spent a week less time in the hands of the post office, but that's no excuse for substandard packaging by the shipper. Now I feel a bit guilty.

Geez! I've never seen a package/bass look that awful.

Good luck, Carmine. Let us know how it turns out.

Back when I ordered my Jaguar bass from Japan, it came similarly boxed, but luckily the box looked brand new. Was still a bit of a shocker to see. I think that's a really shitty way to pack an instrument, especially for international travel.

I ordered a caseless flying v from the u.s once, showed up like that with a brand new box (which had the brand name on it).
inside it was bubble wrapped and had allot of styrofoam chunks in the box.
the guitar arrived in perfect shape.
the box showed some distortion from being under pressure but the inside was unaffected.
so that triangular box is pretty common I guess. especially for budget instruments.

Most every bass I've ordered, including cheapos, had the triangle box inside an outer carton.

Just the one box is unacceptable.

Carmine did anything ever happen with this?

My Ibanez 206L came boxed the same way... and arrived in fine condition, and i think it came from New York/East Coast... here's how the box looked: