Asking here because I don't know the norm

Bought new acoustic guitar online since the store didn't have in stock and only on order basis.
The guitar arrived this week. On inspection I found 2nd fret and 14th fret bit higher than the rest causing a bit of buzzing.
Asked the store about it, they just recommend me to put saddle shim underneath saddle to raise everything - it doesn't quite solve it.

Is this something that I have to get it fixed or should be covered by the store since its new?

what is the price range of the guitar?

about 3.5k

this is my second choice guitar, the 1st one was almost double than that from another store and they offer complimentary setup. I wonder if I made a mistake.

for that amount of price it should be ready to play out of the box, not sure how much the delivery effected the playability.

To fully setup the frets for lower action and no buzzing, my area charged me around RM400 with 1 year workmanship warranty last time.

If the seller is really a good seller he would assist you with the guitar. The worst-case scenario is to bear the loss and send it to a local guitar tech to fix.

yea, already sent to a technician. guy confirmed my novice diagnosis: 2 uneven frets solution is to raise the action a bit since out of the box it came with quite low action - which I like 2.2mm on low E but the high E is bit too low at 1.6mm. Normal should be 1.7mm? 2nd solution is to do spot leveling, but they don't recommend it because apparently the fret is already small, shaving bit of the top would affect the playability. we'll see in a week how it goes. they quoted me something under RM200.

guitar seller shop doesn't seem all that excited to offer service to fix it. by the look of their shop, I think they more focused on online sale, so I don't expect much.

maybe next time I'll just stick to yamaha and cort.

Care to share guitar brand and shop name? 3.5k is no small amount..

Can PM me if you want.

all the best bro. sayang ley for that price the setup should be almost 99% out of the box.

welp.. it turns out even worse than expected. the 1st fret was lower than the rest.

I don't exactly understand the how - but it makes the rest of the fretboard problematic because now the neck can't be set straight or else there will be buzzing somewhere else.
technician did his best, shim on the high E to make the action bit taller and leave the neck with lot of relief. it doesn't play nice in hand as the action feels higher at higher fret.

only suggested solution was to re-fret everything.

omg. lesson is buying online is quite the gamble for a guitar of that price.

You think there might be a chance shop will return back this problematic unit? I think I made a mistake thinking I can get this guitar fixed when I should just send back to shop.

"If you feel it's 'the' guitar from the first play, I don't think it’s a waste to fix it.
However, if it’s clearly shipping damage, then of course you should have returned it."

even expensive guitar like Gibson's have it's quirks.

Forgot to mention, the battery that comes with the guitar is already badly swollen and started to leak - the last straw that makes me just give up with the "new" guitar. I just cant accept this. No QC was done before they handed the guitar to buyer.

Went back to the store, returned it. They said they'll see what they can do.

definitely no QC.

I dont understand.. is QC something optional? I thought all store will do check before handing the product to buyer.

Now they said they will return the unit to supplier and reorder, but this time they ask supplier do QC. Isnt that like the store job to do?? Reading store reviews, it seems that I am not an isolated case.

it depends, long time ago i bought a locally made acoustic guitar at a music store, got discount.

when i bring it back home i realize the bridge saddle was installed incorrectly, after rotate it the guitar intonation was fixed. should be an easy fix for the shop, but heck they put it on sale.

Try to avoid buying a guitar online.. I learn the hard way.. bought a brand new gibson LP online but the quality was not that good..

No choice... all the guitar that I want is on order only basis. Nobody have it in stock. But my order is also smells bit fishy because originally it's expected to arrive in like, 2 weeks? But I'm told to come get the guitar after 3 days.

And I actually tried other guitars from other few stores... the experience also not nice: the display guitar was setup badly, it only makes me not want to buy from them. Makes me wonder how do people actually buy guitar? The only one shop I can recommend is a small 2nd hand shop because they keep all their guitar in excellent playable condition, but they don't have the stuff that I want.

hmm guitar I will only test and buy on the spot :X

sorry to hear what you experience.

Good news. Shop offered replacement unit. This time they thoroughly check the guitar (the fretboard at least). Tuner gear was visibly oxidized, but I don't care about that too much. Need minor setup to bring down the action, now it feels like a proper guitar.