Concertine Italia. Bad experience

[miklakt]

Let me share my experience with Concertina Italia, before you decided to buy from them I advice you to read this.

TLDR they are unresponsive and can ignore you for weeks, the concertina they send me was unfinished with no straps to hold it tightly closed. There were no leather on the bellows, plane cardboard!

I ordered from Concertine Italia web site in March, 2024

I will just drop here my e-mail conversation after the payment.

Quote

4Apr, Concertine Italia
>Payment arrived in our bank account
>Then, we will write for the Shipment when the concertina Will be ready.

4Apr, Me
>Dear Mrs Simona,
>Thank you for the update. I am glad that everything went well with the payment. 
>Have a nice evening
>Best regards,

16Apr, Me
>Dear Mrs Simona,
>Is there any update? What are the delivery times?
>Thank you!
>Best regards,

16Apr, Concertine Italia
>DEAR MR ...,
>YOUR CONCERTINA HAYDEN HAS BEEN PLACED ON OUR PRODUCTION LIST.
>OUR CONCERTINAS ARE ALL ARTISAN MADE ONE BY ONE. THEY ARE NOT INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIONS LIKE THE CHINESE.
>PRODUCTION TIME APPROXIMATELY = 2-3 MONTHS.
>WHEN YOU ARE READY, YOU WILL BE SENT AN E-MAIL NOTICE.
>BEST REGARDS, 
>CONCERTINE ITALIA

16Apr, Me
>Dear Mrs Simona,
>Thank you for your prompt email! I am asking to know a timeframe. 
>Have a nice day
>Best regards,

16Apr, Concertine Italia
>AS WE WROTE, PRODUCTION TIME APPROXIMATELY = 2-3 MONTHS.
>THANK YOU , BEST REGARDS.

5Jun, Me
>Dear Mrs Simona,
>Could you kindly update me on the progress? 
>I will probably change my address in a month, do you think I can receive my order before that?
>Best  regards,

14Jun, Me
>Dear Mrs Simona,
>Please, update me on the progress. 
>I will change my address soon, I need to know when to expect the delivery.
>Best  regards,

23Jun, Me
>URGENT
>I hope this message finds you well.
>I haven't received any response to my previous messages in the past two weeks. It's been almost three months since the payment was made, and I would appreciate an update on the delivery time. 
>I need to know that everything is proceeding as planned. Otherwise, I may need to consider disputing the transaction. 
>Thank you for your attention to this matter.
>Best regards,

Jul4, Concertine Italia
>Attached Tracking Number for the shipment.
>Regards. 
>[photo of some paperwork attached]

Jul5, Me
>I wrote to you two times that I am changing my address. Moreover, you wrote to me you would notify me when it was ready. But you just sent me this tracking number. There is no one to collect it from this address.
>You have to change the delivery address

Jul5, Concertine Italia
>The address that was written us by you is this attached from your email.
>We have not received any email with change of your address. 
>You have to call the courier to tell them your new address.
>Our Company changed administrator. The new administrator is Mr. Stagi. 
>Regards.

Jul5, Me
>You wrote me you would notify me when it is ready, and I wrote that I am about to change the address. 
>You have not been answering for a month and then just sent the parcel.
>I cannot change the address for FedEx because I did not send it.

Jul5, Concertine Italia
>The management of the company changed in June and there is now a new manager.
>In the order confirmation there was the address you indicated by email.
>We have not received any email from you to change shipping with the new address.
>You have to call the Fedex courier for your new address. 
>FedEx also wrote you shipping notification emails.

Jul5, Me
>I am not in France anymore, I can not just call FedEx. I got only one letter from FedEx, exactly when you wrote to me you have shipped it.
>The change in the management doesn't wipe out the emails from your account nor is it a reason to change the agreements.
>Again you wrote to me you would notify me when it is ready.
>I am extremely dissatisfied to see that you do not care

Jul5, Concertine Italia
>1- The change of your residence had to be communicated by you via email.  Which he absolutely didn't do. We only have your address given at the order confirmation 
>2- The order confirmation was made with transport costs for  France and not in another country. 
>You have not communicated new address to us. 
>It was you who had to communicate the new address. 
>We communicated the departure of the shipment, as is done for all shipments.
>Mr. Stagi

Jul8, Me
>Dear Mr. Stagi,
>I do not need to change the delivery to the other country. 
>I explicitly wrote that I would change the address, but I could not know by the time my new address. 
>There is a three-month interval from the order to delivery, so it is natural, that delivery details might change. If you answered my messages, finding the solution would be much easier. You explicitly wrote you would notify me when it is ready, not when it is shipped.
>I searched for the FedEx options to change the address, but the option to change the recipient address is managed by the seller. 
>Please, look for that and change it to 
[Address of my friend nearby, in the same city]
if you can not do it, please change the delivery to the FedEx location in Pau, they have one.
>I do not mind paying extra costs for this.
>That is a pity we have this miscommunication, I hope we can straighten this out.
>Best regards,

Jul8, Concertine Italia
>1- The change of your residence had to be communicated by you via email.  Which he absolutely didn't do. We only have your address given at the order confirmation 
>2- The order confirmation was made with transport costs for  France and not in another country. 
>You have not communicated new address to us. 
>It was you who had to communicate the new address. 
>We communicated the departure of the shipment, as is done for all shipments.
>Mr. Stagi

After all I manage to receive it but it was unfinished! No straps to hold it closed, and the leatherwork is unfinished as you can see from the photo.

I have just wrote them an email, let us see what they will answer. 

Quote

Sep9, Me
>Dear Concertina Italia,
>I received my concertina, and it is in unfinished state!
>There is no leather on the bellows and no straps to keep it closed!
>I request a partial refund
>Best regards,

 

I invite Concertine Italia comment this issue. I believe there could be miscomunication, but you can still make it right.

[Tiposx]

It looks to me like the bellows are complete. Unfortunately it also looks like that might be their first attempt to make a set. It is clearly not acceptable.

Good luck!

[Oberon]

Those bellows don't look particularly great, but the strap thing you're mentioning is not always a common install. Most concertinas do not have straps to keep them closed, they rely on a blocked case to hold the concertina in a closed position. Some cheaper model stagis, maybe 2 models in particular like a 2 row/20 button, may have a strap but again, it's unusual to have straps holding concertinas closed.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

I have not dealt with the company except I know, from what I understand, I have seen that they took over from a previous long established company and use some of their surviving equipment. 

Actually you do not need the straps to hold the instrument closed ( I never have any in mine.  Which was made by that previous company I mention forerunner to the Italian one ..the leather on my one ( from 1999 period, is covered in leather, and beneath, is a card base.

Best of luck with your attempt ..keep your fight to rectify your dissatisfaction polite, and direct.. and you may get what you want🌝. 

 

 

[miklakt]

There are youtube videos where people play it, the bellow looks different and there are straps. I do not know maybe people install them themselves. On the one I got the leather covers only the folds, the space between the folds feels like a fabric glued to the cardboard.

Indeed, maybe now the finished product looks like that, I had higher expectations

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

If you disatisfied with the product  fight on for your cause.

Rules on consumer laws may different here in UK where I am based to Europe. But any bad press being heard about a companies manufacturing to others now.  Could help you long term🌝 as many companies do not want to be seen as not caring 🌝

[miklakt]

That is what I expected to see, according to 

 https://www.concertineitalia.it/en/hayden-duet-46-concertina/hayden-duet-46-concertina-concertine-italia/

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

Then I would assume you should have got close to how it is shown here.  With straps and all🌝

Probably some miscommunication as to product specs 🤔

Sometimes makers are not always best business people. .they just like making things ( I know myself)! 

I hope you will get it all resolved to your satisfaction🌝

[RAc]

10 hours ago, miklakt said:

That is what I expected to see, according to 

 https://www.concertineitalia.it/en/hayden-duet-46-concertina/hayden-duet-46-concertina-concertine-italia/

That is a hexagonal concertina, but the one you received appears to be square (or is it simply a distorted picture)?

[miklakt]

No it is hexagonal

[David Colpitts]

I don't know anyone who has bought directly from them.  Rather, dealers here sell the products, which gives one another layer of support, but I suppose may also increase the cost.  I have seen quite a few of the "new" Stagis, and none looked like yours.  It's as if someone just grabbed from the wrong (unfinished, as you said) bin, and shipped it.  My guess is they'll make good.  Good luck!

[miklakt]

You are right I should have bought it from a dealer.

I have little believe they will make it right, judging by our previous interactions. I wish they prove me wrong.

[Tiposx]

This is my Stagi miniature that I bought from a dealer quite recently. The bellows are similar perhaps to yours, i.e. pretty poor, but they work. I bought this at a very substantial discount, so I was quite happy with the deal. I intend to replace the bellows anyway.

Perhaps the same person made your bellows?

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

When I got my Hohner branded ( Italian made Brunna muisca style) instrument way back in 1999.. It was a long wait and the only one left in stock.. so I opted for that one. I have been lucky with that choice, and bellows in leather are thick strong well made, or must be to be still in near perfect order over 2 and half decades of constant use. I did get it sent through Banks Music shop in York ( now long gone a reputable musical instrument dealer) so maybe it does help to get them through dealer rather than direct?

All my own musical performances are on that one same  instrument of concertina recording (on my own channel .)  So maybe you will get it right soon I hope🌝