I was setting the table out for dinner and my phone was pinging, I checked the notifications in case it was the wean or the folks, the one that said “You’ve won a prize!” I would normally ignore, but it was from GuitarGearGiveaway, and I had some raffle tickets. I had a wee look…
Facebook in particular is awash in guitar raffle pages now, they’re mostly chancers set up in their spare room with their badly lit faces up against their webcam trying to prise some cash out of casual clickers. GGG though is different, flashy looking, slickly presented, well set up and with a few different folk working on it so it looks like a proper company.
My first interaction with them ages back was a mathematical one after a comment on a Facebook post where one of them said to a hopeful ticket buyer complaining about an expensive ticket price on a fancy guitar that: “Buying more tickets doesn’t give you better odds, you have the same chance with your one ticket as the guy who buys a hundred”.
To me this was one of two things, the words of a moron who can’t count and should never have been given a gambling license or a cynical attempt to keep the single ticket buyers buying single tickets buy giving them false hope and hoping they’re too stupid to work it out. I took exception to either truth and commented on it.
It was a brief exchange and I left with the feeling that they’re a bunch of shady bastards and best avoided.
However, they returned frequently to my feed and as winners became more visible it seemed like however incompetent and/or crooked they were, guitars were definitely being won.
So when a nice Flying V came up, it was worth a literal gamble, I bought a bunch of 86p tickets using PayPal in case I had to try and get my money back.
“You’ve won a prize!” An Epiphone Flying V 70’s in Maui Blue worth £649.00. A happy day indeed, I did yelp, I clapped my hands etc. I got an email through asking me to confirm my details, leave a Trustpilot review and send them a photie of me holding the guitar. That was the last I heard from them.
A couple of days later I got an Invoice from Peach Guitars – a legit and well regarded guitar shop I’ve dealt with in the past – thanking me for the purchase of the Flying V with GGG’s account.
The invoice was dated two days after I’d won the guitar, so GGG didn’t ever actually have the guitar, but they’d listed it on their website as being on display in their studio. In the small print it says that new gear might be shipped from a “trusted supplier” which is fine, but why fake studio shots to make it look like you have possession of the guitar?
That doesn’t sit right with me, only buying the guitar after I’ve won it? Is that arrangement in case their random number generator does pick a real ticket holder instead of a fake number meaning they wouldn’t have to actually buy the guitar? You can see how that could work. Even it’s legit, the lack of transparency makes it look really shady.
I waited another couple of days without word and then messaged Peach who were quick to respond and said they V would be sent out after a setup. The week after I got a DPD message that the V would be the next day. I was still pleased, but a little disquieted.
The guitar arrived, well packed by Peach with all the case candy present and in a nice soft Epiphone deluxe gigbag. The set-up I had to wait a week for was non-existent, I had to get my screwdrivers out before I could even play it, but maybe that’s a personal needs thing, not a “don’t spend time on that V, it’s just a prize winner” thing. But still, it added to my now somewhat melancholy view of the whole affair.
A week on I’ve now played the V a bunch, it sounds pretty good and has a lovely neck carve, I really quite like it now it’s been tweaked and fettled. Down the road I can see some fretwork needed, it’s just not the best, but playable for now.
I won a guitar that I like, I mean it’s a Flying V, woop woop! But there’s nothing about the experience has lessened my lingering doubts about GGG. If they’re shady they need to hide it better, if they’re legit, they need to be more transparent and communicative.
But still, Flying V!
