Pearl "Lifetime Warranty"..

[Tuttfan]

I am posting to let you know about the extremely frustrating experience I'm having trying to get stands fixed or replaced under the supposed Lifetime Warranty. I live in NW Illinois and have had not one but TWO major music retailers (West Music and Guitar Center) attempt to fix my problem but neither of them can get the job done, and sadly it has nothing to do with them, but with Pearl.

I have an H-2000 Eliminator Hi-Hat Stand, and (2) 900 series boom cymbal stands that have all had the nylon collar under the tripod wing nut either crack, break or otherwise slip out of position making it either very difficult or impossible to fold the legs up for packing and transportation. I've been dealing with this issue for the better part of 6 months to no avail.

On all 3 stands, that collar does not seem to be a separately available part - it's part of the entire lower base unit on all three so it would seem the best option would be to replace all 3 stands. I've studied the stands and even if you COULD get the part, I don't see any way that area comes apart to replace it as the legs are riveted where they come together.

First, West Music in Moline, IL said his 'Pearl guy' was going to 'go on the floor where they make the stands' and try to get a few of those collars. Weeks went by. The West Music guy never heard from Pearl. More time went by - I never heard from West Music again.

Giving up on them, I turned to Guitar Center because I know the person behind the drum counter there. She told me they were actually a Pearl corporate dealer and had more 'muscle' to flex to get things done and she'd get it taken care of. I had her look at the stands, agree there was a problem and she'd get in touch with her Pearl rep, a woman named 'Cathy' (or Kathy). This Cathy said by email to email her pictures of the damaged areas, and that 'new stands would go out as soon as the pics hit her inbox'. I got pics taken and sent immediately and my GC contact forwarded them to Cathy. To date (and this was over a month ago) - Cathy has never been heard from again. She does not answer emails, return phone calls, nothing. The GC contact has even been on the phone with Pearl Corporate and no one there can tell her what's happened to Cathy - no one seems to know where she is. She's even asked for a different rep as this one appears to be worthless, but they won't give her one. She now flat out tells customers who want to order Pearl stuff that she has no idea when or even IF what they order will ever show up based on the service she gets from her rep. Is this what Pearl has sank to now? If so, I'm jumping ship.

I've done everything that I've been expected to do by TWO major music retailers to get my stands replaced and I am still not taken care of. I've used Pearl Drums and Hardware for well over 20 years and have proudly displayed my loyalty and support for Pearl by wearing that $240 leather jacket with Pearl's name emblazoned on my back in proud free advertising. Yet when I actually need help with something, this is what I run into. I am not impressed. What good is a 'Lifetime Warranty" you can't get service on? It's not worth the paper it's written on.

I don't know who else to turn to, email or call to get this fixed, and I only hope the right person sees it here and passes it on. If not, a couple grand worth of hardware is going in the trash and I'll be switching to all DW hardware ASAP.

Frustrated, but hopeful something will be done soon,

Mike in NW IL

[MattFace]

Lifetime Warranty issue

PM Al Percival, he'll get you in the right direction.

[DarkNostril]

While I was at GC I dealt with Cathy for years and it's been my understanding she has been in and out for medical reasons. So there's that. Plus she knew more about the gear than any of the other reps I ever spoke to. I don't think she's the issue at all, but that's just my experience.

Anyway, the parts you're looking for are the PL-09 Nylon Bushing for the middle tube joint and the PL-08 Nylon Bushing for the tripod joint. The H2000 bushing is the NP-365. You should not have to pay for these parts and they've always been covered under the warranty as long as I've been helping people with this problem. The 900 series bushings in particular are a very well-documented known issue. I honestly can't imagine how you managed to crack the bushing in the H2000, but it should still be covered.

I agree that you've done everything that you reasonably need to in order to get this taken care of, and I think the real problem is that you've been dealing with incompetent people who aren't interested in helping. Pearl should absolutely step in here because clearly their dealers aren't interested in doing their job. Feel free to PM me if you have any issues. I can get you the parts if those dealers (or Pearl) can't be bothered.

[Tuttfan]

Dark -
Thanks for your quick reply. However it's not the PL-08 and 09 I need. I know what those are, as I've bought a few to replace cracked ones already in these 900 stands. What I need is the collar at the actual tripod top - the part that slides up and down when you fold the stands up...the PL-08, 9 are for the middle and upper tube sections - that's not where I have a problem.
I'll see if I can get some pics to post - these are the same pics that were sent to Cathy back at the beginning of February.
While I can certainly be sympathetic to her medical issues as a person, as a customer, that's simply not my problem..that's Pearl's issue to deal with. They should have someone covering for her at the very least and let their dealers know what's going on instead of leaving them in the dark and not answering calls or emails. When the people who are supposed to be selling your products feel they need to warn their clients away because they're not getting any support from the company, there's a problem that needs addressed and fast!

Anyway, as you can see from the pics (if they post), the collar appears to be split right down the middle. I don't know if it's SUPPOSED to be that way and has come dislodged from it's 'home' or if it actually cracked and broke. I don't have another stand to compare it to. As I stated before though, even if I had the part, I don't see how it could be replaced as the legs are riveted together right there, unless that whole tube comes out.

[DarkNostril]

Brutal.

And yes I was mistaken about which section of the stands you were referring to. I believe you are correct in your assessment that the bushing in the tripod itself is not serviceable, especially on the cymbal stands since the tripod assembly is indeed riveted into place. I don't have my H2000 handy but I believe it is possible to remove the legs without modifying the stand. However even in that situation, the issue still remains about getting a replacement bushing for it. Like you concluded I don't believe any of those particular bushings are available as parts.

Which of course basically brings us back to square one. Frankly, now that I see the pictures, those bushings in particular shouldn't fail under normal use. In the case of the 900 stands failing I'd just chalk it up to another faulty design, but because it also happened in your H2000 my question becomes how tight do you keep your tripods tightened down? Cranking the **** out of them isn't necessary to make sure they stay put. Looking at how they've malfunctioned it really seems like they've been deformed somehow, which caused them to maintain their grip even when the wingnut is loosened. That deformation could very well have been caused by the extreme pressure from over-tightening those wingnuts.

In my experience Pearl has honored their warranty outside the letter of the law, which is great on the customer's end of things. But after seeing the pictures I'm a little on the fence. On the one hand, your stands failed and that sucks, and Pearl should be motivated to try and keep you using their hardware. But on the other hand the fact that the same bushing failed on two different kinds of stand points more towards user error.

At the end of the day it's pretty clear that the stands need to be completely replaced since it's highly unlikely that those bushings are going to be accessible without destroying the stand. It's just a matter of who's going to end up footing the bill. :/

[quicksticks]

Dark -
Thanks for your quick reply. However it's not the PL-08 and 09 I need. I know what those are, as I've bought a few to replace cracked ones already in these 900 stands. .

I have an H2000 and nine other Pearl cymbal stands. Some are 16 years old. I've never broken a plastic collar on any of them. The fact that you've broken several leads me to believe that you are severely over tightening your stands. You're holding up a cymbal, not a bridge. Snug is good. Too tight is broken. After breaking the first one, you should have realized that.

[drummaman1]

I have an H2000 and nine other Pearl cymbal stands. Some are 16 years old. I've never broken a plastic collar on any of them. The fact that you've broken several leads me to believe that you are severely over tightening your stands. You're holding up a cymbal, not a bridge. Snug is good. Too tight is broken. After breaking the first one, you should have realized that.

Sucks that this is so blunt, but it's true. It happened to me with my Tama gear in the 90's. Stripped screws left and right, because past experience told me you have to overtighten to secure. Nope. You just get a mess. And I tried to fix it with a tap and die set...more waste...cause of inexperience...

[quicksticks]

Sucks that this is so blunt, but it's true. It happened to me with my Tama gear in the 90's. Stripped screws left and right, because past experience told me you have to overtighten to secure. Nope. You just get a mess. And I tried to fix it with a tap and die set...more waste...cause of inexperience...

Back in the early 60's when I started playing, stands incorporated a wing bolt that tightened directly against the tubing. It was barbaric compared to what's available today. The size of the wing bolt dictates the amount of torque that should be applied, hence a 6mm bolt should not be as tight as an 8mm bolt. Also, knowing that there is a plastic collar inside of the fitting should make it obvious that over tightening is not necessary.

[wsgnst]

I also worked with Kathy when I worked at a music store and she was generally helpful and on top of things. Mistakes happen. I'm sure Al will see this and see if things can get back on track. Pearl is best in the biz!

[Derek Wolfford]

I am posting to let you know about the extremely frustrating experience I'm having trying to get stands fixed or replaced under the supposed Lifetime Warranty. I live in NW Illinois and have had not one but TWO major music retailers (West Music and Guitar Center) attempt to fix my problem but neither of them can get the job done, and sadly it has nothing to do with them, but with Pearl.

I have an H-2000 Eliminator Hi-Hat Stand, and (2) 900 series boom cymbal stands that have all had the nylon collar under the tripod wing nut either crack, break or otherwise slip out of position making it either very difficult or impossible to fold the legs up for packing and transportation. I've been dealing with this issue for the better part of 6 months to no avail.

On all 3 stands, that collar does not seem to be a separately available part - it's part of the entire lower base unit on all three so it would seem the best option would be to replace all 3 stands. I've studied the stands and even if you COULD get the part, I don't see any way that area comes apart to replace it as the legs are riveted where they come together.

First, West Music in Moline, IL said his 'Pearl guy' was going to 'go on the floor where they make the stands' and try to get a few of those collars. Weeks went by. The West Music guy never heard from Pearl. More time went by - I never heard from West Music again.

Giving up on them, I turned to Guitar Center because I know the person behind the drum counter there. She told me they were actually a Pearl corporate dealer and had more 'muscle' to flex to get things done and she'd get it taken care of. I had her look at the stands, agree there was a problem and she'd get in touch with her Pearl rep, a woman named 'Cathy' (or Kathy). This Cathy said by email to email her pictures of the damaged areas, and that 'new stands would go out as soon as the pics hit her inbox'. I got pics taken and sent immediately and my GC contact forwarded them to Cathy. To date (and this was over a month ago) - Cathy has never been heard from again. She does not answer emails, return phone calls, nothing. The GC contact has even been on the phone with Pearl Corporate and no one there can tell her what's happened to Cathy - no one seems to know where she is. She's even asked for a different rep as this one appears to be worthless, but they won't give her one. She now flat out tells customers who want to order Pearl stuff that she has no idea when or even IF what they order will ever show up based on the service she gets from her rep. Is this what Pearl has sank to now? If so, I'm jumping ship.

I've done everything that I've been expected to do by TWO major music retailers to get my stands replaced and I am still not taken care of. I've used Pearl Drums and Hardware for well over 20 years and have proudly displayed my loyalty and support for Pearl by wearing that $240 leather jacket with Pearl's name emblazoned on my back in proud free advertising. Yet when I actually need help with something, this is what I run into. I am not impressed. What good is a 'Lifetime Warranty" you can't get service on? It's not worth the paper it's written on.

I don't know who else to turn to, email or call to get this fixed, and I only hope the right person sees it here and passes it on. If not, a couple grand worth of hardware is going in the trash and I'll be switching to all DW hardware ASAP.

Frustrated, but hopeful something will be done soon,

Mike in NW IL

Mike,

Please private message me your contact information as I'm forwarding your message to our Sales Department and they'll want to communicate with you directly.

Thanks for your patience.