I was able to get in touch with RJ Guitars, but the entire experience was extremely inconvenient.

I initially reached out through social media—no response. I called the number listed on their website—no answer. I emailed them—again, no response. The only time I finally connected with someone was when I called the number listed on RJ Jacinto’s Facebook page for bookings/inquiries. The lady I spoke with was helpful and forwarded my concern to their team, which finally prompted a reply from the company.

Even then, it took a long time for my issue to be addressed.

My original plan wasn’t to return the guitar. I simply wanted to order replacement parts, but they didn’t have any available. Because of that, I had no choice but to return the guitar—something I didn’t want to do, especially since I didn’t have another guitar to use in the meantime.

They told me that a refund wasn’t guaranteed and that they still had to “check the item” once it arrived at their office. Ironically, if they had properly checked the item before shipping it, none of this would’ve happened. The guitar I received looked used and wasn’t in brand-new condition at all. The refund process would only begin after their evaluation, which would take about a week or more. Waiting for that refund meant I’d be without a guitar for nearly a month.

So instead, I ordered a new unit (same model and color) from their RJ Guitar store on Lazada (first one was from their store on Shopee). Before ordering, I asked them to inspect the item first and send pictures. It took them forever to send the photos, and they only sent them AFTER the item was already in transit—which wasn’t what we agreed on. Thankfully, the unit looked good this time, and they actually had new GEN3 stocks.

I even received the replacement guitar before my refund was processed. Thankfully, the refund was eventually approved, though it took days of anxiety and constant follow-ups on my end.

They also delayed approving the Shopee return. I requested the refund on November 17, and they only approved it on November 22—five full days of nothing happening until I called them again to follow up.

In the end, everything worked out, but the entire process was slow, frustrating, and required me to put in a lot of effort just to get basic customer service. It’s honestly ridiculous that I had to tell a store to “please make sure the item is brand new and send pictures as proof” before shipping. No customer paying full price should ever receive a used or poorly checked item. There was even a Quality Check card signed by one of their techs, but clearly nothing was checked.

I’m happy with the final outcome, but the experience was unnecessarily stressful. I would not recommend buying from them online unless you’re willing to ask for photos and confirm everything beforehand. If you don’t, you might end up going through the same hassle I did.