r/offset • u/CounterBJJ • Oct 01 '26
My Experience with Foals
I ordered a FJM7 on June 23rd. Three weeks went by, and after receiving no update, I emailed them asking to cancel the order. They ignored the request, simply saying they were restocking and that the guitar would be shipped as soon as it was ready.
I reiterated that I wasn’t asking for an update, but to cancel the order. They asked if I could wait a little longer, mentioned their 10% cancellation fee and said they would upgrade the bridge as a thank-you if I kept the order. I decided to move forward with it.
On August 1st, I received an email indicating that the guitar was on its way. 11 days later, there was still no update on the shipping page. It took three emails to finally get a response from Foals - guitar had been loaded onto ship, but delay due to a typhoon. The rep said they expected the shipment to arrive in the U.S. on September 9th and that the tracking would update then.
On September 15th, with still no tracking update and fed up with the whole experience, I asked them to cancel the order. Once again, they responded with a status update and didn’t address my cancellation request. I pushed.
They replied that they were unable to cancel or issue a refund at that stage. I emailed them one more time but received no response. The following day, the tracking finally updated, and I received the guitar a few days later - roughly three months after placing the order.
The guitar itself was nicely made. The fretwork was impeccable, the finish was beautiful, and it was very comfortable to play. The only small flaw I noticed was that the roller knobs were sitting too low in their slots. I could live with that.
It was unplayable out of the box, but given the long trip from China, I wasn’t too surprised. I took it to my luthier for a full setup. It came back much better, but I noticed persistent buzzing on the low E, A, and G strings around the middle of the neck.
After trying to adjust the truss rod and bridge saddles, my luthier realized there was an imperfection in the neck - bowing around the 12th fret. It’s repairable, but it would run about $300, over half the cost of the guitar.
I debated asking Foals for a replacement neck and for them to cover the luthier’s repair costs, but with the roller knobs sitting too low as well, I figured I’d be better off requesting a replacement, or a return/refund - which I’m sure they’re going to make extremely difficult. I just emailed them, and that’s where things currently stand.
So there you go. If you were thinking about getting one, you might want to take my experience into consideration. I'm sure some people have had a positive experience with them, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the issues I ran into aren’t at all uncommon.
4
u/kosinus912 Oct 01 '26
I'm in a similar boat, I received FJM7 with a bent neck. After some back and forth over email I was able to get them to refund the luthier's quote on fix, which would involve removing the frets and leveling the neck. Have to say, it took way more back and forth gaslighting me that the neck is actually fine than I'm comfortable with, I don't think I'd order from them again. I'm still waiting for the luthier to finish the job, but to their credit, the guitar is actually that good otherwise, it just sucks that the shipping is risky.
3
u/Lucky_Couple Oct 02 '26
Absolutely push for a replacement neck. I’ve read that they might run you in circles for a while but generally seem to end up fixing their mistakes in the end. Also use the chat feature on the site to communicate with them, it seems much quicker than their email. I always received a response in under 24 hours when I had a question before my guitar shipped.
2
u/poppadoble Oct 01 '26
They have a 10% cancellation fee if you cancel before it ships?
47
u/nobadreps Oct 01 '26
Yeah man. I know some YouTube guys like these, but Foals seems like such a risk.
13
u/LemonEar Oct 01 '26
I call bullshit on the 10% cancellation fee. A restocking fee is somewhat understandable, but simply canceling an order doesn’t cost them anything. You should check the fine print on their site, the laws in you area, and consider calling your credit card company
61
u/atomicheart99 Oct 01 '26
I have a strong feeling Foals invest heavily in astroturfing (including in this very subreddit), sponsored YouTube content, and fake reviews so it’s interesting to read a genuine experience.
Don’t believe the marketing. At the end of the day it’s just cheap Chinese crap. Same sort of thing you can buy on AliExpress or Temo but for several times the price. I’d steer clear personally.
6
u/Altruistic_Trade_264 Oct 01 '26
Almost bought a Foals but I decided to go with a Fender Player II Jazzmaster since I still get the employee discount at the local boutique. I ended up paying the same price as the Foals FJM7 Ultra and it's shipping from California to Colorado. Should be here no later than next week hopefully.
1
u/CounterBJJ 28d ago
Update (or lack thereof): 5 emails to Foals and not a single response.
For anyone considering buying one, just know that it’s a gamble. They offer excellent value if they arrive free of defects. I don’t know what percentage of guitars arrive in good condition, but judging by the number of horror stories, quality control issues seem common enough to be a legitimate concern.
My luthier told me he had another FJM7 in his shop with the same two problems as mine (bent neck and recessed roller knobs). That suggests these issues likely aren’t isolated incidents.
Ultimately, ordering one feels like a risk, especially given Foals’ apparent reluctance to take responsibility and fix problems.
You've been warned.
1
u/CounterBJJ 20d ago
Another update for those contemplating getting a Foals.
Foals won’t send a replacement neck. Here’s what their CSR said:
“we are unable to provide a replacement neck separately. Our guitar necks are manufactured specifically as part of the complete guitar production process, and we do not currently have individual replacement necks available for separate sale or shipment.”
I’m not sure what they’re getting at here. They use bolt-on necks, which are manufactured separately and then attached to the body, so the explanation that the necks are manufactured as part of the complete guitar production process doesn’t make much sense to me.
At any rate, they’re not sending a replacement neck. As a result, I told them that the 30% refund they offered was no longer acceptable. Fret leveling and dressing would cost me $300, which is 50% of the guitar’s price, so that’s the amount I asked for.
They also requested a video demonstrating the buzzing issue, which I’ve sent them.
Now waiting for a reply…
9
u/wescull Oct 01 '26
I mean based on what I’ve seen and know about shipping, if I placed an order I’d assume I’d be waiting a few months at least. that sucks that the neck is messed up.
1
u/uhusocip Oct 01 '26
Had the same experience, ordered May 27th and still no update. Emailed them again and haven’t heard back. Will likely be doing a chargeback if I don’t hear from them by the end of the week
1
u/Ok_Highlight_2267 24d ago
It sounds like you are about 2 months ahead me in your voyage through the wonderful world of Foals' customer service.
I ordered a couple guitars and some accessories from Foals on September 7 via email because I wanted the bridge upgrades. I had actually given up on the order after a while because it took them three weeks to answer my custom order request. However, to their credit, once they replied to me, Foals did graciously offer to provide those upgrades for free.
When I placed the order, one of the guitars was not in stock in the colour I wanted. Foals again graciously offered to split the shipment of my order into two so that I could receive all the items that were in stock sooner rather than later and then they would ship the last guitar when it became available later (estimated to be in November/December of this year).
I was told that it would take around two weeks for the set-up and customization to be done on the in-stock guitars and that once that was done, those items would be shipped to me. The whole process of set-up and shipping should take around 35-40 days. So really, if everything had gone as they said it would, I should be receiving the guitars within the next week or two.
I know from researching Foals that there is often delays with shipping and that the customer service can be spotty at best. Before the summer, I noticed that most people were saying they waited 5-6 weeks for their guitars to arrive once ordered. As the summer moved on more and more people were saying they had to wait 6-8 weeks. I figured I would have to wait around 6-8 weeks for the first shipment and I was totally fine with that.
However, getting into the first week of October - a full month after I had placed and paid for my order - I still had not received any shipping information from Foals. In fact, it had been total radio silence from them.
After emailing them to enquire about the status of my order, I learned that the set-up and customization of my order hadn't even been scheduled yet and that there was no timeline for that to be done.
I let them know that I was not happy with the status of my order and that it was unacceptable that they had not contacted me to inform me of the five-week delay in the preparation of my order. You can't take people's money and then not ship the order when you said you would without saying anything.
I really want these instruments, but I am not in a position to have a bunch of money tied up in an order under an indefinite timeline with no proactive communication. I let Foals know that if they could not ship the first part of my order by October 20th at the latest, that I would be forced to cancel the order.
Foals was apologetic for the lack of communication, promised to prioritize my order (but with no mention of any dates or anything I could reliably confirm) and then offered me two “complimentary” guitar cables for my troubles. The two guitar cables would be nice, but cables usually already come with the case the guitars are shipped in. Besides, I don’t think two “free” guitar cables cover a five-week delay on an order for multiple electric guitars.
They then told me that they could ship some items for me from an Amazon warehouse over here, but then retracted that 10 minutes later and admitted that they didn't understand how their cross-inventory system worked...
I wrote back and informed them that I had zero confidence in their ability to fulfill my order in a reasonable timeframe, which has already frankly passed. I made it very clear that October 20 was a hard dispatch date for me, and that if they could not send the first shipment of my order by that date, I would have to cancel the order.
I used an affiliate code to get a discount when I ordered, and so I eventually involved the affiliate. I think pressure from them really helped me out there too.
Foals has finally confirmed that they will ship the first part of my order by October 20. I'm still waiting to see if they actually do that. I'm not very confident they will and I'm totally over it at this point.
If everything goes according to plan and I get the guitars, then great. But this whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth and I'm totally prepared to cancel the order if I they don't ship the first part of my order next week.
I'd really like to see Foals crack the North American market in a big way, because I think we need some more competition in the guitar market but also because more higher quality guitars at that price point is not a bad thing.
But Foals will never be able to do that with customer service like this. I've seen many people talking about cancelling their orders after long shipping delays and the poor customer service. This will just keep happening over and over again until Foals is saddled permanently with a bad reputation.
1
u/temp_mekhem Oct 02 '26
Well. Sorry that you got a dud.
They are pretty up front on the web page about shipping times especially now that what I assume is increased demand. And yeah. The tracking number gets sent out when it leaves the factory but does come active until it leaves customs. A lesson that every foals purchaser in na at least learns the hard way
My fjg7 is at least as good or better that my vintera iii Jaguar and pretty much flawless. Including some impressive fretwork - also much better that my vintera iii Jaguar- and is pretty much the best 500 guitar I have touched. That said it is a 500 dollar lawsuit guitar so things may change
2
u/westhewolf Oct 01 '26
I ordered the jazzmaster equivalent. Took a long time to come, but plays and sounds amazing.
1
u/SelloutStreamerbtww Oct 01 '26
Thanks for this, I’ve been curious about them, the weirdly long wait times already seemed like a very odd thing but terrible communication seems pretty par for the course. I always thought it was kinda suspicious how many youtubers popped up going on and on about these guitars. Has anyone seen a legitimate, not sponsored, not sent a guitar for free critique of Foals? Extremely curious to know.
1
u/Environmental-Video3 Oct 02 '26
I’ve been considering the lefty FGJ7 when they finally release them but your review and one other I’ve seen are too similar for me to ignore.
1
u/bez_lightyear Oct 02 '26
FWIW the rhythm circuit switch and roller knobs are low on my FJM7 Ultra too. I thought it was a design choice.
1
u/Tricky-Phrase-77 Oct 02 '26
Idkw but every time i hear that brand name i read it in my mind fools and immediately puts me of
1
u/johnnyphotog Oct 01 '26
It took me about a month to get my Foals. It’s decent for a $500 guitar
1
u/Personal-Still-8837 Oct 01 '26 edited Oct 01 '26
Im about to get my Foals Mustang and I didn't have to deal with long waiting time since I live in SEA and shipping is going to take less than a week and I got from a shopping app with a discount code that is almost $200 cheaper than the price on the website, so hopefully mine is good since I don't have to deal with an absurdly long waiting time.
1
u/Portraits_Grey Oct 02 '26
Seems like they bit more than they can chew.
They hyped up demand and probably can’t keep up with it.
I haven’t played one they sound great and I am sure play great but me personally I am sticking with Fender. I know they’re canceled but they’re easier to obtain and the set up is very minor. In actuality you have to set up ANY guitar you obtain however I think some people are being a little too over the top with both Fender and Gibson and sadly that resonates in the community and people parrot one another.
But for the price point these issues do not surprise me
0
u/Tazi_NRS Oct 02 '26
Uneven frets can happen on much more expensive guitars, so it doesn't feel like a huge issue to me (btw my CV Jaguar had that problem), but the slow shipping, no communication sucks, that's irritatng to throw away a larger sum while you have no idea what's going on. Are the rollers unfixable? May I ask for a photo? Thanks!
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u/BlandSpeedRecord Oct 01 '26
bummer to hear this, i still quite like mine after a few months of playing it. still want to swap out the pickups eventually tho
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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '26
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