Ordering from www.bassguitarstrings.us

[AdamRuckus]

Hi all,

Just seeking feedback (positive or negative) from anybody who has ordered from www.bassguitarstrings.us, the sponsor of this forum, with particular regard to international orders & delivery time. Their prices seem quite reasonable, especially with the poor US dollar not doing too well lately

[Joe Nerve]

I never heard of them before. Just checked out the site real quickly. I think www.juststrings.com is cheaper, and their site is a lot easier (for me at least) to navigate. I've bought strings from them several times and I'm incredibly happy. I usually get the strings 2 or 3 days later, and if something is out of stock they send it like a week later. Extremely efficient, good prices and great variety of strings.

[christle]

I ordered a Comfort Strapp from them last week and so far the customer service seems fines. Plenty of communication from them regarding the order. It's supposed to arrive this week. I'll let you know how it goes.

Dan

[Yaw]

I just received a shipment of three sets of strings from them. I took about 10 days from the date of shipment (I live in the Netherlands, so there's your international order-experience ). The costumer service-guy will keep you informed during the process. Good experience.

[tplyons]

Living in the US, I can vouch that not only are their prices good, but their customer service is great as well. Delivery times are spectacular, and I can't say a bad thing about them.

[Microbass]

another A+ from me, as well!

friendly guys, from the US to Scotland I only had about 10'ish day wait, too! so it's all good!

strings were packed nicely in a small box filled with polyestyerine (sp) chips!

[Yaw]

AND you get a nice pen too!

[Asaf]

another A+ from me.

[vanselus]

www.bassguitarstrings.us is the ONLY place I order strings from anymore. great service, great prices, and I think the buying process is easier than juststrings.com. Plus, if you email them, they'll try to get any string you would like, even if they don't normally carry it! That's great service - fast shipping too. Highly recommended!

[Bruce Lindfield]

I ordered two sets of strings - but they were delayed and opened in customs and a charge of £8 was added on - I had to go into the Post Office and pay it.

I used to always get my strings from www.sheetmusicplus.com and this never happened in about 4 or 5 years - but they have stopped selling them!!

So the strings were more expensive, took longer and had a customs
surcharge slapped on ....

[vanselus]

You should blame your government, not the retailer. It's not like the shop charged you customs. Evading customs is not legal.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by vanselus

You should blame your government, not the retailer. It's not like the shop charged you customs. Evading customs is not legal.

Well - in many years of buying all sorts of stuff from sheetmusicplus, I never got a customs charge - tuner, strings, books etc.
I have also bought strings from Thomastik Infeld, Zon, Pirastro etc etc, with no customs charges


First time I go to this retailer and it does - so how did all the others manage to avoid it?

Anyway - I am just outlining my experience - the original poster asked for :

"feedback (positive or negative) from anybody who has ordered from www.bassguitarstrings.us, the sponsor of this forum, with particular regard to international orders & delivery time."

That is exactly what I gave!!

[vanselus]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

That is exactly what I gave!!

and then some, as always

[pshift]

The Ken Smiths are on sale at musiciansfriend.com ranging in prices up to $19 (US) for a 5-string bass.

[tappel]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

"feedback (positive or negative) from anybody who has ordered from www.bassguitarstrings.us, the sponsor of this forum, with particular regard to international orders & delivery time."

That is exactly what I gave!!

Bruce, I'm sorry you were unhappy with your purchase. You can't imagine how frustrating is is for me to ship out an (international) order within 24 hours only to have a customer complain about a delay caused by his home country's customs. There's a reason why JustStrings.com doesn't do Airmail shipments. Unfortunately, I may have to reconsider my international shipping methods as well.

As for the stating the contents and value on the customs form, I am simply abiding by the laws of my country and yours. I hope you understand.

Tom

[carl-anton]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

Well - in many years of buying all sorts of stuff from sheetmusicplus, I never got a customs charge - tuner, strings, books etc.
I have also bought strings from Thomastik Infeld, Zon, Pirastro etc etc, with no customs charges


First time I go to this retailer and it does - so how did all the others manage to avoid it?

Well, the two times I've bought from www.sheetsmusicplus.com I got charged for customs by my local postoffice. The one time I have bought strings from www.bassguitarstings.us I didn't get charged (they where actually sent to the UK, to a friend of mine to avoid danish customs because I heard you never got charged )

For me www.bassguitarstrings.us were the fastest (under one week US > UK) and they were nice too

No shop in the US can do anything to avoid local taxes and customs. You've just been lucky... most times

Unfortunately, I may have to reconsider my international shipping methods as well.

...In what way? Please don't skip international sales

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by Microbass

strings were packed nicely in a small box filled with polyestyerine (sp) chips!

As Carl Anton says - it must just be a question of luck, whether your package gets stopped or not.

But ...I wondered about the fact that the strings were in a box, which was quite bulky, whereas sheetmusicplus just used to send flat(tish) packets with strings, which never got opened?

If I was a customs officer I think I would be more inclined (if there is any logic in this) to open a box rather than a flat packet ?

And what can happened to strings anyway? If they were that delicate, they wouldn't last long on the bass!!

I'm not blaming anybody or complaining about bad service - just saying what happened to me and making suggestions.....?

I'm not that bothered personally now, as I probably have enough strings to keep me going for a few years and I'll be looking for cheap sources of DB strings more than BG!!

[Bruce Lindfield]

PS - I got one of the quickest-ever international turnarounds/deliveries this morning - my new Cow T-shirt from our very own TalkBass!!!

Ordered from the US on 17th and here in Britain within a week - including a weekend!!

[tappel]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

As Carl Anton says - it must just be a question of luck, whether your package gets stopped or not.

But ...I wondered about the fact that the strings were in a box, which was quite bulky, whereas sheetmusicplus just used to send flat(tish) packets with strings, which never got opened?
[...]
And what can happened to strings anyway? If they were that delicate, they wouldn't last long on the bass!!
[...]

Ask forum member Asaf what happened when he received a strings order from me that shipped in a padded mailer. I've been using boxes ever since. Again, I can't control what customs agents do or think; I can only play by the rules. And... I've discussed the customs issue with my local postmaster. It seems that there's a wide disparity in customs efficiency; my Australian customers get their orders faster than Canadian customers do.

I appreciate your feedback, Bruce. Don't think that I dismiss it for a second.

Tom

[vanselus]

See? This is exactly the kind of KILLER customer service i'm talking about. Thanks Tom!