If Gibson hadn't bought wood smuggled out of India illegally, they wouldn't have to spend the $350,000 dollars just to get to slink away to a presser that emphasizes that the charges were dropped.

I'll bet the spin doctor tab far exceeded the discount they realized when they initially took part in smuggling wood out of India illegally.

There is a paper trail of evidence that they were looking for a broker to do the same thing for them in Madagascar.

It was time for them to pay to have the charges dropped.

All the romance I have for the Gibsons in my guitar collection doesn't change my opinion that they should have done this more quietly.

If you get caught stealing... you shouldn't try to convince everyone around you that you need them to tell you it's not your fault... that's just a sign of bad character.

This whole incident leaves me with the impression that Gibson isn't a company I want to do business with.



They have no compunction asking $5-$6k for a guitar and they don't even bother doing a good job building it until it hits half that price. Learning about how they were eager to smuggle wood out of India (and Madagascar) at discounted tariff so as to increase their margin at those exorbitant price points leaves me thinking that they must simply think they are above the law.

I hope the propaganda machine bled them dry.

At any point after the crime was identified they could have offered to pay the correct tariff and this would have all disappeared. Gibson thought it could get away with it so they mounted a campaign to influence public opinion. This was another case of misguided management... public opinion wasn't going to change the facts. That's why they coughed up the $350,000 cash in the end.

I'll bet the total cost of getting caught stealing was a lot more than any benefit they would have ever realized as increased margin.



best regards,
mike



 

slartabartfast


Yes, just a business decision. Totally without honor or integrity. Just as the decision to source materials illegally, rather than finding legitimate more expensive sources in order to increase profits was a business decision. One reason we suffer under an immense mass of laws and regulations, is that the business community seems to see no reason to do the right (good not correct) thing, or avoid doing the wrong (evil not erroneous) thing, and malignantly justifies (excuses not makes just) all action based on whether the company prospers, and the executives receive bonuses. When the basis of your ethics is anything that is not against the law is good, you can expect your neighbors to start passing a lot of laws to keep you from pissing all over them.

I disrespect Gibson for caving under pressure if they believe they were in the right. But they never were, and they never thought they were. This was not principled civil disobedience to protest an application of extraterratorial law, it was just a cheap sleazy unethical (does that even apply to a business decision?) cheat. This is the same kind of business decision that justifies a pimp beating up a prostitute because it would cost too much to pay her, or a restaurant cooking stolen meat into the stew. Of course Gibson was in the wrong. They certainly thought that they were committing a crime, and they admitted as much. Now they want us to believe that they were good people, they just can't afford to prove it in our expensive courts. There is no injustice here, unless you believe that individuals who use their companies to commit crimes, or commit crimes in furtherance of their business, should personally suffer consequences.

Excellent post!

Then why did Michelle Obama buy a Gibson guitar to give as a present to that French person, and did she have the necessary papers to ship it internationally. Your slant about what happened with Gibson seems highly prejudiced and bias. If manufacturers in the USA have to rely on not trusting sources who are suppose to be shipping them wood that does meet the requirements then it is another added expense by the USA company to confirm that all people in a foreign Country supplying anything meet the requirements set down by some law that clearly allows the foreign people and sources not to be honest in the first place. Run away, for you may find yourself in the same boat buying anything because you did not check the paperwork discriminately enough to know that you can't trust anyone in this World anymore.

"why did Michelle Obama buy a Gibson guitar to give as a present"

There is no better way to patronize labor than to buy domestic.

And I have a rosewood fingerboard on my cheap Gibson guitar (which works fine by the way - maybe not all of them will work as good as to quality) and do individuals have to know where the wood came from if they move it from State to State due to commerce laws in this Country. I do not know where the rosewood came from, nor do I have any paperwork to move it anywhere I guess to prove anything. ?? There is even more perhaps to all of this in the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf61M3lBraY Not an endorsement of anything but just some of what went on further afterwards~!

Are you planning on selling your guitar to yourself any time soon?



If so, I suggest you go read the "act"... you'll be relieved to see that the fear mongers are just making stuff up.





all the best,
mike

 If Gibson was willingly involved in illegal actions then being left off the hook with no recourse is not a good idea. 

 There are two sides to the cat and mouse between govt. and companies. There are greedy unyielding companies but the govt' also has a choke hold on anyone who is making money and therefore helping our economy through gross over regulation. Read Atlas Shrugged.

I'm always amazed at the abundance of dense planks that can be sourced from our very own shores.

Well, it seems my ignorance is deeper than first thought. I had no idea Gibson was having problems with its wood. I hear there are ways to fix that with minimal side effects these days. I of course would not know, as my wood is fine. Maple is always good and... errr.... I'll get me coat.