If you live outside the EU do not buy an instrument by mail order from Fanatic. You may receive a defective instrument that you cannot return.
The first guitar I ordered from Fanatic arrived fine with no problems.
But:
A year later I ordered another Alhambra classical guitar from Fanatic that was shipped to the USA. There were indications that this guitar may have been previously returned to Fanatic from a customer in Germany. In any case the guitar had neck issues and I needed to return it. In accord with Fanatic's policy the return cost was at my expense.
Fanatic provided me with the address to ship it to and it was sent insured, clearly marked as a merchandise return. Tracking showed that the guitar was held at Customs in Madrid for 18 days then returned to me in the USA without explanation.
When I asked my shipper why it was returned they left me a voicemail saying that Spanish Customs "requested documentation from the recipient that they didn't receive." However Fanatic told me that they had had no communication from Customs, they were unable to help me arrange reliable shipping and that I should just try again with a different shipper. I already lost 275 nonrefundable Euros on shipping charges (plus 700 Euros for the guitar) and don't want to lose hundreds more. So I'm stuck with a defective instrument that I can't return and am out around 1000 Euros.
There are plenty of articles online about big problems with Spanish Customs holding and returning packages from outside the EU.
By the way I contacted Alhambra, they said they were sorry, but since the guitar was purchased in Spain it did not have an American warranty and could only be sent back to them through Fanatic.
If you are going to buy an instrument from Fanatic and live outside the EU you should go to Barcelona and check it out first. If you can't, buy it from somewhere else. read more