Experiences with the Line 6 online shop?

[caelrie]

I'm thinking about buying a Variax shuriken listed on the shop here, but I've never bought anything directly from Line 6 nor do I know anyone who has.  $1400 is a lot to spend on blind faith.  Does anyone have good or bad experiences to share to (hopefully) give me the push to do it?  Are returns handled fairly?  Are guitars packed properly, shipped promptly?  How is support when there's no line 6 certified tech near me?

[cruisinon2]

16 hours ago, caelrie said:

Does anyone have good or bad experiences to share to (hopefully) give me the push to do it?

 

Can't say I do...

 

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Are returns handled fairly?

 

Not a clue... though I'd assume that a return policy is spelled out somewhere.

 

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Are guitars packed properly, shipped promptly?

 

Can't say, as I've never purchased directly from L6 either, but given the propensity for folks to complain around here, I suspect that if the answer were "no", then we'd all have heard about it by now.... again, and again, and again. ;)

 

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How is support when there's no line 6 certified tech near me?

 

Probably lengthy and perhaps expensive, as you'll likely be paying for freight charges to and from The Mothership...unless you manage to convince customer service that you shouldn't have to. If it's still under warranty perhaps they'd pick up the tab...I honestly don't know. But either way, you'll be without your fiddle for a while, whether they pay for the cab fare or not. 

[caelrie]

Thanks for the answers there.  If I need replacement parts like electronics for a shuriken, will parts from any Variax do? Like the PCB or piezo from a standard?  That would certainly make things easier, since after looking around, it seems you really can't buy Shuriken-specific parts anywhere.

[cruisinon2]

9 hours ago, caelrie said:

Thanks for the answers there.  If I need replacement parts like electronics for a shuriken, will parts from any Variax do? Like the PCB or piezo from a standard?

 

Some things may be the same, but honestly I don't know... never been in the same room with a Shuriken. Like everything else in life, never assume... it's a later design, and a different aesthetic than the others. The bridges are obviously different, so there's no guarantee that the saddles/ piezos are interchangeable. They might be, but you'd have to confirm that with the powers that be.

 

 

[caelrie]

Going to post my experience here in case anyone else ever has this question and comes to it after a google search.

 

I ordered an antique ash Shuriken through the online store.  It arrived in 4 days, packed extremely well.  Free shipping.  Unfortunately, the B string piezo doesn't work, so I opened a ticket.  3 days later, I got a return pre-paid shipping label and I'm sending it back to them to be exchanged.  Bummer about the piezo, but Line 6 is handling it admirably.

 

I'll update more later as it goes on.

[caelrie]

Well, this was certainly an adventure!  UPS returned the guitar to me because they said they wouldn't ship a lithium battery "ground" from where I live.  Contacted Line 6 and they put their heads together, got me the appropriate battery warning labels and sent me a 2nd day air UPS label.  Got the guitar back to them finally.

 

Few days later I checked in asking about the return, and got a tracking # for my replacement Shuriken.  Just unboxed it last night and it seems great.

 

Lots of pain and bother on this purchase, but I can't fault Line 6's customer service.  They did everything they could to get me a new guitar.  Kudos and thanks.