Wanted to touch a bit more on what our experience has been as a Martin certified warranty center.
of course we receive referrals from Martin who come our way. But the real prize in our experience is that many Martin AND other high-end acoustic guitar owners see the Martin certification as what it is a credential that is earned and to some degree may.... may... translate into confidence in the work of that provider/repair center.
Don't know exactly how often this comes into play with people coming to us but I am sure that we receive more business that is not Martin warranty because we speak and do Martin warranty. All in all a good thing.
A word about Martin. Dave and I have very high standards at times too high to be profitable but that's who we are so we lose money at times going the extra mile. Who resets a Lemon Grove Taylor signed by Bob Taylor for free because they thought the prior work was substandard for a historic guitar so we set it straight.
. But I digress.Martin has very high standards too particularly with how well they want their clients treated. We are all over and all about this. As long as one is not an a...hole we are happy to help. I have turned away Martin warranty work several times because the client lied to me, I caught them in the lie, they admitted the lie and I called Martin and asked that they be sent somewhere else and let them know that the claim is not a valid warranty claim.
We have been told that we are the eyes and ears of Martin in our neck of the wood (community) and they appreciate our due diligence in keeping our mutual clients happy, doing great work and when need be calling out fraud and attempts to get something for nothing.
One guy came in with a D-15 with eight loose braces..... and the bridge peeling off. He wanted it fixed under warranty. I proceeded to notice what looked like a ladies nylon stocking in the sound hole. I tugged on the stocking and it came out and out and out until 4' of it came out of the guitar and in the toe was a sopping wet, dripping sponge that smelled to high heaven. I told the guy he ***** ** his own guitar and there would be no warranty service here. I have a way with people ya know...
He pushed back and I asked him to leave if he was going to be a liar with me. He apologized and we agreed to do the repairs but not under warranty. Stuff happens.
I personally was involved in a man with a D-35 that needed a neck reset. The guitar was 50 years old. He was the original owner and it was a gift to him when he was a little kid, nine IIRC. Of course a kid will not have sale receipts of documentation from when he was nine.
So we worked with the client and Martin to get this repaired AND covered under warranty. The BIG point here is that all three parties wanted to help and all three parties worked together to a common goal, getting it covered under warranty.
In the end Martin accepted a black and white photo of this man who was nine years old and missing a front tooth while holding his beloved D-35. It made all of our days to be a part of this and the guitar and customer are doing great today (I think....it's been a year since we heard from him). Point being that where some companies do not advocate for the client when it comes to covering something under warranty Martin does.
Also Martin staff are wonderful in all respects to work with they are smart, efficient, customer centric and knowledgable. Great company and I could not recommend their products and Martin as a company, organization, group of great folks more.
So here's our certificate that hang's right next to our Linda MacCartney photo of Jimi Hendrix when you climb the stairs to our Ann Arbor shop.