Terms and Conditions of Purchase, Building Notes, and Warranty

This page has been added to the website so that all parties are on the same track as we go through the build process. Please review the information and contact me with any questions you may have. I look forward working with every customer to build his or her dream guitar. It’s a fun process and I enjoy meeting each and every one of you.

Delivery Times

As of April 2007, I will begin taking new orders. Please see my home page for a detailed announcement.

Payment Options

Mauel Guitars accepts Cash, Personal Checks, Money Orders, Cashiers Checks, or PayPal. Wire transfers are available for international orders not able to use credit cards. A $30 per-item fee will be charged for any check returned.

Instruments Available Without Waiting

Occasionally we do have guitars available for sale without a waiting period. Please see our Available Guitars page on this website for any that are currently available directly from the shop or our dealers.

Ordering Terms and Conditions

Upon placing an order, a non-refundable deposit payment equal to 1/3rd of the total instrument price secures your position on my building list and secures your price. If you select certain specialty wood sets from our stock, or supplies that will require a special purchase from an outside supplier, an additional non-refundable amount will be due at this time.

When it is time to commence construction of your guitar, I will contact you and request the next 1/3rd payment. Upon receipt of the payment, construction will begin, with a projected delivery date 3-4 months out. That date is subject to change for a variety of reasons such as weather delays in finish work, supply shortages, changes you may request during building, etc. Every effort will be made to effect an On-time delivery, but please realize these are custom built, not assembly line, products and the quality of the final instrument is of paramount concern to me.

Upon completion of your guitar and prior to delivery, final payment will be requested to include all outstanding amounts due. Guitar will ship immediately after final payment funds clear. Payment by PayPal, Cashier’s Check, or Money Order ships immediately. All guitars personally picked up at our shop are subject to California Sales Tax in the amount of 7.25%, even if you reside in another state or country. Exceptions would be dealers with approved resale certificates.

Shipping

All orders are shipped from Mauel Guitars fully insured via Federal Express, unless other arrangements have been made. Normal ship time is 2-day delivery, but may be upgraded to overnight at my discretion, especially during times of extreme weather conditions. I require that all items shipped to, and from the shop, regardless of carrier, be fully insured during transit. Mauel Guitars does not accept liability for items that are sent to the shop uninsured. All guitars shipped from my shop to California addresses are subject to California Sales Tax in the amount of 7.25%. Exceptions are to dealers with approved resale certificate.

Satisfaction with Your New Guitar

If you receive your guitar and feel that it does not meet your expectations, you may return the guitar to Mauel Guitars. Approval period is 48 hours and the guitar must be returned (shipped fully insured) in exactly the same condition that it left my shop. Depending upon why you are returning the guitar, I will either build you another guitar, putting you forward on the build list into the next starting batch, or I will sell the guitar and upon its sale, refund your money, less shipping charges. If you have added inlay or other accessories that I determine must be removed in order to make the guitar saleable to the general public, a charge will be deducted from your refund to cover costs of bringing the guitar to a more standard condition. If there is damage to the guitar that did not occur during shipping, repair charges will be deducted from the refund amount. Loss and/or shipping damage will be referred back to the carrier.

Cancellation Policy

If you decide to cancel your order prior to build start there are three options available:

1) Cancel the order and forfeit the non-refundable payments.

2) Sell your building position to another buyer and recoup your prior payments from that party, notifying me immediately of any transfer of ownership of the building position with the new buyers name, address, and phone number.

3) Retain your payments by requesting that your build position be rolled over to the end of the list, thereby giving you additional time before the guitar build begins. Build position may be rolled twice, after which payments will be forfeited if build does not proceed. The first roll will retain original order pricing. Second roll will change the order to the pricing in effect at that time.

Warranty

Mauel Guitars are warranted to be free of defects in materials and workmanship from the date of purchase. Mauel Guitars will repair or replace, at my option, any Mauel guitar or part thereof which is found to be defective. This warranty is extended to the original purchaser only and is not transferable to any subsequent owners and is subject to the limitations set forth below:

Warranty Limitations:

1) Instruments that have been modified after shipping from the place of manufacture;

2) Instruments whose serial numbers have been altered or removed;

3) Instruments that have been subjected to extremes of humidity or temperature;

4) Normal wear or natural cracking of wood or shrinkage of finish;

5) Instruments that have been damaged due to misuse, neglect, or accident;

6) Normal wear and tear to serviceable parts such as strings, tuning gears, frets;

7) Claims from or by anyone other than the original purchaser.

Mauel Guitars reserves the right to use materials regularly utilized or available at the time of repair in the event that original materials are no longer available.

This is the sole warranty of Mauel Guitars. No other written, oral, express or implied warranties including the merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose apply.

Repair Notes

If you are having a problem with your guitar, or have damaged it, please contact me immediately (and first!). We will discuss whatever is going on with the guitar and make a decision on the best way to resolve the problem. I have a number of qualified repair technicians across the country, so there may be no need to send the guitar back to the shop.

A Special Note About Humidity and Temperature and How They Affect Guitars

If you live in an area that is extremely humid or very arid, or one that is often changing from very wet to very dry, or hot to cold, you will need to take special measures to insure the well being of your guitar.

I am happy to discuss with you at length, the care and feeding of your guitar. Please contact me for more information.

References

Buying a handmade guitar sight unseen, sound unheard, can be quite intimidating and a 'leap of faith'. What if it doesn't 'float your boat' after waiting all that time for it to be built? If you would like to talk to other Mauel customers that have been there, done that, please contact me for referral information. There are also several reference websites that owners have developed. Please refer to my 'Testimonials' or 'News' pages for their web addresses.

P.O. Box 3014, Auburn, CA 95604

Phone/Fax 530/885-1265

whmauel@inreach.com http://www.mauelguitars.com

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