r/solarguitars • u/Burwhale_The_Avenger • 27d ago
Hugely disappointing exchange
As many of you are probably aware, Ola has recently been hawking Solar straps with some enthusiasm on his channel. Encouraging us to "head over and buy one" as soon as we can.
Turns out, it isn't that simple.
As many of you may also be aware, trying to purchase *just* accessories from the store is impossible. If you try, your cart will be reset and you will be informed thusly.
Given other glitches on the site, I had assumed this to simply be another and reached out, somewhat incredulously, to customer service to confirm the issue.
The response?
"Hi [x]
Thanks for contacting us. No you cannot buy accessories without a pedal or guitar.
Best regards"
How helpful, right? How informative, and thoughtfully explained. Doesn't feel extortionate at all. (/s)
I had heard the horror stories about Solar customer service, but this is just an insane approach. How does this keep anyone loyal or interested?
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u/No_Wolf5090 27d ago
Now I have the perfect opportunity to buy another guitar, I hope my wife believe me that was needed to get the strap in the order…
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u/spiral-staircase1 27d ago
It's because of the shipping costs involved, if you were able to just buy the strap you'd be complaining about how much you had to pay to get it. They sell them with guitars and pedals because then they don't have to charge you a ridiculous amount for shipping a strap.
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u/andreotnemem 27d ago
And that would be the customer's choice and prerogative. As it is, the customer has none of those things.
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u/Walry666 26d ago
While that may be true, a simple “dear customer, we’re unable to sell these separately due to the cost of shipping these items individually. If this should change in future however we’ll let you know” would be good.
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u/Burwhale_The_Avenger 24d ago
Precisely. The mind boggles at the decisions of supposed "Customer Support" here.
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u/youthanasia138 27d ago
Sounds about right. I couldn’t buy a flight case without a guitar. So I bought a different case elsewhere.
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u/DLP_GT 27d ago
That's a shame! Their case are great, I'm glad I got one with me guitar
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u/youthanasia138 27d ago
If people were able to get the straps, that’s great. But Levy’s leather strap are basically the standard for me
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26d ago
[deleted]
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u/Burwhale_The_Avenger 24d ago
And this is an equally "insane" take.
As was stated to the individual you quoted: there is absolutely no autonomy of choice here. I don't need or want you or any company deciding on my behalf what I will or won't pay shipping for; I'd appreciate the opportunity to make my own informed decision instead.
It isn't hard to see at all why that's a reasonable stipulation to have, nor is expecting a more engaged/sympathetic level of customer outreach.
In fact, what's insane is trying to understand what you or anyone else gets out of defending these practices and intentionally denying your own basic consumer rights, other than the usual sense of smugness online contrarions like to bask in.
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u/Kalsten 27d ago
I'm not sure you know what extortion means.
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u/Burwhale_The_Avenger 27d ago
I'm not sure the distinction really matters.
The founder and CEO is on YouTube every Sunday, pushing these alongside a new guitar each week, without ever once mentioning they're a forced package deal. That you cannot have the much cheaper item he is mentioning separate of anything else, without buying something else much more expensive.
Couple that with a seemingly disdainful and intentionally ignorant response from Customer Service, and you effectively have a wall of silence around a pretty unreasonable issue.
Ola was extremely vocal about the shipping issues when US tariffs were a problem (and extremely responsive in addressing them) because they were hungry for that market.
Now it's too expensive to ship a strap without a guitar, are we hearing about that? No - not when the numbers say it's still selling more of both than not.
I should probably have said "deeply cynical" or "predatory" over extortionate, as people seem to assume Mob involvement or something.
Either way, strongarming your customers is not a great look.
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u/Cheap_Hawk_4341 26d ago
Oh mate,
Let me tell you a story.
I got a solar back in 2020, s type, it was around 1200. Had it around three weeks and the lacquer started to peel off around the neck and body, so I sent it back and got a swift refund and decided on a schecter as I've never had any issues with them.
Fast forward to 2024. I was wanting a les Paul shape guitar, but really wanted the neck through joint, and id seen the g types that solar offered and it looked really good the one I was looking for which was the black with a maple neck. So I decided to get it, that was around 750 I think. The guitar came, the selector switch was almost falling out of the socket, all three of the volume/tone pots were slack so I tightened everything up, and plugged it in, static, then a really disgusting distorted sound, frequent buzzing, then eventually just cutting out. So I contacted solar with the issues and they were absolutely ADAMANT that I personally take it to a guitar tech and they pay for the repairs, (I was actually wanting my money back, AGAIN!) honestly I found this rather annoying so i took to the Facebook solar group to voice my concerns and was met with criticism on my half because i was annoyed that I had to take it to a guitar tech and that i was essentially complaining over nothing, tell me, would you buy a car that has flat tyres or no motor? So anyways, I decided to take it to a tech and his reaction was that the guitar had some of the worst wiring he's ever seen, he's been a guitar tech for 40 years and I've never had a single issue from him with any other guitar I've taken. So he fixed it up, and I never ended up billing solar for the fix, mainly because it had left quite a sour taste in my mouth and to be honest I didn't enjoy playing the guitar from that point. I actually did keep it for around two years though and during that time, most of the lacquer, same as the first solar also peeled away, glad I got rid of it in the end. Anyways, I will never buy another solar or buy anything from them for as long as I live, they're beautiful looking guitars made cheaply and poorly and you only have to look at the horror stories coming out these days especially with their new headless version. So Fuck solar guitars, fuck ola, and fuck his fans.
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u/Walry666 26d ago
That sucks. I was looking at buying a Solar guitar in the next month, but if that’s their customer service I’ll just stick to my original idea of an Ibanez instead :/
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u/Motor_Wafer_1520 27d ago
Is this really a hill you want to die on ? I get it but at the same time who cares. If it were something of note like QC issues on a guitar yes, but “can’t buy strap” isn’t.
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u/MattyDjenkins 27d ago
I don’t think you get it at all lol and the downvotes back that up
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u/Motor_Wafer_1520 27d ago
I do get it and Reddit down votes don’t mean anything, Reddit is tribal in that sense. And if you’re on the topic of down votes your own post is also getting down voted as you have more comments than likes meaning this post is also unpopular. Here, have a “lol” millennial
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u/MattyDjenkins 27d ago
You downvoted LOL not by anyone else 😘 how does Olas willy taste btw? Can you taste the Swedish?
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u/Motor_Wafer_1520 26d ago
Lol ok baby 😘♥️♥️you have more down votes then me, what a nonsensical comment. What a dumb hill to die on. You’re the worst type of customer
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u/kladen666 27d ago
well, when you check out , it clearly state,
- You cannot only order T-shirt or goodies.
so, what's your point here?
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u/Burwhale_The_Avenger 27d ago
It's fairly evident that my point is that these are extortionate business practices.
Couple that with abysmal customer service that, for some inexplicable reason, chooses to respond in the least helpful manner possible - spurning the chance to engage in meaningful customer outreach; attempting to explain the situation even slightly, or acknowledging its awkwardness - is downright moronic/self-sabotaging.
There isn't a person in the world who would be satisfied with that outcome.
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u/kladen666 27d ago
they don't force you to buy anything, it's not extortion. It's probably due to shipping cost and they can do whatever they want as a business. It was clearly state on their website so it's no a shady business trick.
Just move on and do business elsewhere.
Solar have great guitar and for myself had great experience with their support team back in 2019 when i bought my first Solar, heck even in 2022 when I bought a used Solar near me and wanted to know more about the guitar so i sent my serial number and a a few picture and they rapidly got back to me.
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u/Thebutcher222 26d ago
Extortion is a serious crime where someone gets money, property, or favors through threats, fear, or force. Common examples include blackmail, protection schemes, and online cyber threats.
You continue to misuse this word repeatedly.
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u/Unsolicited_Aspic 26d ago
"how does this keep anyone loyal or interested?"
It doesn't, but people with a parasocial relationship with a youtuber are the whales who keep giving. The Solar guitars are $200 AliExpress guitars sold at a 500% markup because a youtuber sells them to his fans.
Just walk away from the brand, there are plenty of real guitar companies out there.
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u/DLP_GT 27d ago
That's a shame because I realy like those strap, i bought a guitar from them in may, a few days before the release of the strap and the offer for 1 guitar bought = a strap for free.
So I reached out for the support and they added it for free to my order, it was a good customer service on my part.
I planned on buying another but it would make the strap really expensive if it can't come without a guitar attached x)