I saw an ad on Ebay for a TLH D80 guitar, who's only defect, according to the accompanying text, was a crack on the back, which had been repaired. (I have a copy of that ad and text, and all the subsequent emails in the exchange). When the guitar didn't sell on Ebay, Terry Heilig, the owner/builder, offered it to me at a discount: $1100. Assured that the guitar was perfectly sound, built like a Martin D28 and worth $2500 new, I went ahead and bought it. However, when I received the instrument, on June 7, I noticed right away that it wouldn't play properly. Upon further examination, I soon discovered that the guitar was, in fact, an unfinished, seriously defective mess. The neck had been reset badly, throwing off the neck angle - the single WORST defect a guitar can have, outside of a total collapse. Much of the finish work had not been done: the fret ends were sticking out, the neck hadn't been properly radiased to fit the fretboard, the soundhole hadn't been rounded and the bridge was coming off the top! All of these defects were pointed out to me by a professional guitar repairman in New York City, who I took the guitar to for a thorough examination and assessment. When I relayed that information to Mr. Heilig and demanded my money back, he denied anything was wrong, that the repairman's assessment wasn't "accurate, " that he didn't use glue on the neck, and finally that he would only pay me $200 - for a neck reset! I refused, as the guitar was so vastly inferior to his description and the price I had been duped into paying that I no longer wanted to have anything to do with it. He steadfastly refuses to give me a full refund or admit how bad the guitar is. Is he guilty of fraud (deceit being one of the legal definitions)? He's certainly guilty of a "bad-faith negotiation." How can I get my money back? He lives in Truckee, CA and I'm in NY, NY. As this happened on the internet, there an internet equivalent of Small Claims Court I can take him to? Thanks.
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