Why ishibashi won't deal tokais

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bruno

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I asked, and the answer is:

===ISHIBASHI WEB SHOP===

Dear Bruno,

Thank you for your e-mail. This is Hiroaki from Ishibashi WEB SHOP.

Actually, we will stop to handle the Tokai guitar from this July.
The reason we will stop to handle the Tokai guitar is poor "availability" of Tokai guitar.
How can I say... They manufacture very short lot anytime.
It means it is difficult to stock the guitar,
so we can not supply for our customers if we received order from our customer.
That is why we will stop.
If they can manufacture much more guitars, we will continue to handle.

I am sorry such inconvenience.

If you have question, please feel free to ask me.
Thank you very much!

Best regards

-------------------------------------------------


No quality issues, it's all about tokai making a small number of guitars a year, lot's of stores go for them, it's difficult for all of them to get a stock.
 
which e-mail is true? there have been several posted lately. whatever the reason...Ishibashi no longer stocks Tokais... OK, got it.
 
well the thing is I don't really care wether people believe this mail is true or not, I saw all these false acusations in the forum (from people who are having a good laugh), and I decided to ask... wether you believe or not is up to you... Then again ishibashi do have an email, so you can always find out for yourself.

The main point here is I specifically asked wether it was about quality issues and they said it was due to availability...

All I'm doing here is posting the conclusion I got for myself, other people believe whatever suits them better


best regards to everyone :wink:
 
Bruno-

Thanks for getting an alternative view here. Please notice that the other posts were all from people new to the forum, not saying the lying but they may have had alterior motives - ie Trolls.
 
yes ned I agree, I have talked with other members about it, and the conclusions are all the same, someone with lots of time on the hands decided to have a good laugh...

like many people have adviced lately, we should not feed the trolls, I decided to make this last topic about the issue (which never really was an issue), just to set the record straight.


once again thanks ned and all the other members for making the forum what it is...
 
as I said earlier the manager of the local Rock Inn said today they have never had to return a Tokai nor does he know of any branch in the chain doing so due to QC problems. Theres been a lot of bad blood here recently and I did notice it was newbies causing most of the trouble. The web is a reflection of real life...some folks you want to be around and others well.... the point of the entire ishibashi thing is...they no longer carry Tokai, for whatever reason...and theres really no telling which reason is the absolute truth.
 
so....got the 2006 Fender Japan catalog today... and there are some really nice [ Tokai ] guitars in it. New colors and models.
 
How can I say... They manufacture very short lot anytime.
It means it is difficult to stock the guitar,
Click to expand...

This rings true with me (and I don't think I'm just indulging in wishful thinking, as if there were quality issues I'd naturally not wish to inflict them on myself). Availability has been a recurring problem for a while, as reflected in posts here on the forum, whilst QC - with one notable exception - has not.

Of course, we could speculate endlessly on this matter but as Sneaky says the bottomline is that for the time being Ishibashi will not be a Tokai dealer. Maybe this turn of events will encourage Apollon Music to answer e-mails from potential international customers!
 
bruno said:
yes ned I agree, I have talked with other members about it, and the conclusions are all the same, someone with lots of time on the hands decided to have a good laugh...

like many people have adviced lately, we should not feed the trolls, I decided to make this last topic about the issue (which never really was an issue), just to set the record straight.


once again thanks ned and all the other members for making the forum what it is...
Click to expand...

Hi, sorry to ask probably a bit of a dumb question but are people now in the belief that there never was an issue with Supreme's guitar at all?? I've been away for a week and had a lot to catch up on so might have missed something somewhere......
 
i do not think in general anybody has an issue with supreme or the fact that he has had a rough ride with what should be a killer axe.
 
sscanlan, to answer your question, I think everybody here agree's supreme's guitar came with unacceptable issues...



My own personal opinion: the guitar did not leave the factory with a chunk of paint missing from the strap buttons that's for sure, the dealer obviously sold a damaged guitar that was either damaged in the store, by a previous owner or during transportation, however there is no denying supreme's guitar had several other issues and he should get a full refund...
 
bruno said:
Actually, we will stop to handle the Tokai guitar from this July.
The reason we will stop to handle the Tokai guitar is poor "availability" of Tokai guitar.
Click to expand...

This one makes more sense to me. When I ordered my Tokai I was told by Hiroaki that he had to contact the factory to check the availability of the model I wanted. After he contacted, I was told I had to wait 3-4 months.

3-4 months or undefined delivery terms make it quite difficult to deal with customers.
 
bruno said:
No quality issues, it's all about tokai making a small number of guitars a year, lot's of stores go for them, it's difficult for all of them to get a stock.
Click to expand...

ned said:
Bruno-

Thanks for getting an alternative view here. Please notice that the other posts were all from people new to the forum, not saying the lying but they may have had alterior motives - ie Trolls.
Click to expand...

No troll here even though I'm new ;) I allready quoted a part of the mail Ace over at Ishibashi sent, but here's the whole mail for you guys. Exactly as I received it:

Dear Mathias,

This is Ace Shirai of Ishibashi Music. Thank you for your inquiry.

First of all, please understand our situation. We do not sell any Tokai
guitar at our stores. We have carried it only in case a customer wants.
We will quit to handle any Tokai guitar in the end of this month because
of chronic shortage of their products and quality problems.

Tokai does not have any LS85 in stock. An order in advance is always
required for it. Excepted arrival date is unknown. Possibly, you will
have to wait for 2-3 months after you place your order. Our best price
is 68,000 Yen. It comes with a soft case.
Shipping cost of them is 16,000 Yen.
Anyway, this month is the last chance for an order of Tokai. If you
purchase a Tokai guitar from us, please place your order soon and complete
payment by the end of June.
Also, we have often seen finish problems for current Tokai products,
including a scratch or a dent or a rough paint work. We cannot accept
returning for reason of such problems.

Regarding shipment, we use EMS(Express Mail Service) provided by the
International Postal Service if your choice of carrier is not specified.
EMS is safety, fast, economy and insured. It is door to door service of
course.

Regarding payment, we accept a credit card (VISA, MASTER and AMEX) or
bank wire (then, bank wire fee 3,000 Yen will be required additionally).
If you use your credit card, please send us your credit card detail
(credit card company, card number, expiry, holder's name) to our SSL
server.
https://www.ishibashi.co.jp/webshop/card/card.htm
Of course, we can accept it by phone or fax.
Also, billing address and phone number will be required if billing
address is different from shipping address.

Please advise us of your address and phone number if your order is firm.
If you need further information, please do not hesitate to ask us.
We are looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards,
Ace Shirai
Assistant Internet Sales Manager

=====================================

ISHIBASHI MUSIC CORPORATION WEB SHOP
Daini-Kizu BLDG 1F, 2F, 2-10, Kanda-Ogawamachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0052
Phone: 81-3-3291-7090(available for 11:00a.m-8:00p.m.)
Fax: 81-3-3291-7099
Click to expand...

So according to Ace it's both QC issues and shortage of products. Seems like the main reason that they'll stop though is what they wrote to you as well... Poor availability.
 
I specifically asked about the quality issues, and Hiroaki even highlighted the word availability with ""

other than finish issues (because they ship the guitar to fast without letting the new finishes settle) tokai doesn't appear to have many craftsmenship quality problems, certainly not more than any of the other brands that ishinashi deals with, therefore it is my opinion the problems come only from availability, as explained to me by Hiroaki itself...


but like I said each person is quite free to take their own conclusions...

by the ersseraca cool job on the tokai, you have bought the long shaft switchcraft toggle switch though... are you thinking about relicing the hardware too?
 
Why ishibashi won't deal tokais
Click to expand...

Probably somebody get not aware my posting some days ago in another thread.
Here once again:

I get from an official following info:

Ishibashi was buying Tokai guitars from the Japanese Tokai distributor not from Tokai itsself.
Ishibashi was cancelled by Japanes Tokai distributor.
Due bad dealer job: They did not carry and stock any Tokai guitar.
They only order from the distributor on behalf of customers order.

Probably a revanche foul of Ishibashi !
Click to expand...

There are no QC issues and shortage of products.

It is not ok for an Tokai dealer to have no stock even of some Tokai guitars.
Ishibashi was only waiting for custom orders, let them paying in advance, and at last he ordered by the Tokai distributor.
Some forum member made this bad experience. This is not a good dealer job and dealer behaviour.

Re shortage of products.

There is only a huge delay in high end guitars, equipped with Honduras Mahogany. But Tokai will be delivered with this rare wood soon.
 
yes togps once again you are right, I also find it to be a bad policy, not to order a complete stock, and instead just place the order whenever the customer needs a guitar, once again I see no fault on tokais side, but rather one ishibashi's policy's
 

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