Musician's friend strikes again.

[bass10bfb]

Man, that situation sucks. I hate it for you. I always believe the customer should come first but sad to say that does not happen all the time.
I have been fortunate; I have went thru MF and Music123 an uncountable amount of times and never had the first issue. Fast shipping, good service; I have used promo codes and made Internet orders and phone orders. Again, it just plain sucks that you had to go thru this crap.
I must say, since I joined Talkbass, I have not ordered anything from them. It is not that I don't trust them; it is just the fact that when I found out about Talkbass less than a year ago, it is now my first choice for anything I need or want. I am sure that I will still order from them in the future if necessary, but all the great guys on here to deal with make it a no brainer for me. I have gotten great deals and made great friends, right here on TB. Thanks Talkbass, and our great Bass Playing Community!!!
P.S. But I must say, I never knew what G.A.S. was before, but now it lives with me almost daily!!!! Too much great gear!!! Thanks again TB!!!

[bassclef216]

I try to buy as much as I can through Sweetwater. Free shipping, no tax, price matching, and amazing customer service. I bought a bass from them over a year ago. At the time I bought it I called and told them I was not sure if I was happyu with the color and he said just let him know if I wanted to send it back and he wouldf authorize a return shipping label and send out whatever else I wanted. They called me twice after that just to say hey and see how I liked it. They called again the other day (over a year later) just to see if I was still happy with it.

[Tom Cileski]

+1...Sweetwater is very good. I've bought more from Musiciansfriend and they've been great. Americanmusical is real good too. They will even give you an RA# on line. All three have free shipping and no sales tax. Musicians friend has been having 15% off sales a lot lately too!

[Barcode31]

Update: I got a email from MF today saying the Bass and Coffin Case were shipped which means its waiting to be picked up by UPS, the shipping method is overnight so I may get it Tuesday. But my account on the MF website is showing the case shipped the bass processing...Bet I get an empty case.

[pflash4001]

I've dealt with MF since before there WAS online. I've never had an issue with them. I ordered a Squier VM fretless bass a couple of years ago. It got delayed and they said it was something about reorganization or relocation of the warehouse and there was a batch of orders that got loused up. They sent me a gig bag and an awesome Levy's leather strap (about $90 total retail value) because my bass was delayed a few days. I was pretty happy.
Sweetwater is an excellent company. Their customer service is top notch. I referred another local musician who had headphone monitoring questions to them. He gave my name and a few hours later got a call from MY service rep. He got all the help he needed and was happy.
AMS is also great, but what I love about them is their payment plan. That plan allowed me to buy Mackie mixer and some other necessories for about $2000 and spread it over 5 months, even with less than stellar credit. Without that pmt plan I could never have made that purchase. All in all, good companies all.

[Laurent]

In general I relly like their stores and staff. Without them where would we try instruments without pressure?


That being said I have been dealing with the Roseville, CA store and their follow-up is terrible. I've been trying to buy this bass that interests me. Talked to a floor sales person last Monday and he never returned my phone call. Called the manager on Friday and I have yet to hear back from him. I know it's probably a busy week-end but still, it's a bit weak. Particularly when I'm trying to buy something.

[jondog]

I used to like Musician's Friend, until my last order. They confirmed my address w/me on the phone. When the confirmation email came in minutes later it had an old shipping address on it, so I called back right away. I was told it was too late, they couldn't stop it from going out. I told them I wanted to cancel the order, they said ok but they couldn't refund my money until they got it back. Just a few minutes right? It hadn't even had time to leave the warehouse, right? No. It went all the way to the old address. I had to watch the tracking number updates and keep calling to get them to ship it back to MF each time it hit a new hub and didn't turn around. Since I wanted the item on time, the solution I was offered was to buy another one, even though I still didn't have my money back from the first one. No way! They didn't seem to understand why I didn't trust them to send the second one to the correct address. When the unit finally made it back to them, I still had to wait a day or two for refund processing. The last guy I spoke to was confused and asked why I had canceled - it was the correct item at the correct price, what was the problem? You guys seriously have no record keeping on this account? I've called at least 5 times!

I ended up buying it at Sam Ash. They sent me a $15 thank you coupon the other day. $15 toward anything I want, even if it's a $15 item. Big big difference in customer service. I'm sticking w/ Sam Ash.

[kevinmoore73]

I've had nothing but top-notch service from MF.

[PastorofMuppets]

It sounds like they screwed this up royally.
I never understood why a bad order cant just get killed and fixed.

on that note I have ordered quite a bit and never had a issue.
I can only say not to totally wipe out a company because of one issue.

[satwater]

I was kinda hesitant to order online for one of my two basses and amps I've purchased. Zzounds.com has always come thru with timely shipping and quick responses to my questions. Also, nice selection and price points.

[Downlowd]

I have been ordering from MF for as long as I can remember. Not a single problem. I returned a Lakland with absolutely no hassle.
To the OP... your situation stinks. I hope it works out.

[Marley's Ghost]

Every company messes up occasionally. It's the nature of the beast. I have had 100% success with MF over the past 10 years. And the fact that a rep jumped into this thread offering help elevates them.

[ksandvik]

I once ordered guitar picks for $3.60 from MF, free shipping, no taxes. Got them within two days. Alas they now have a distribution center in California so we have to pay sales taxes but otherwise excellent service so far.

[NortyFiner]

I have one bad thing to say about the MF/GC/etc. conglomerate. What the HECK is the point of a 15% off President's Day sale, when so much is on back order and won't be available until sometime between March and June? Seemed like everything I was thinking of buying was out of stock, including almost the whole Music Man inventory. If you don't have the stuff to sell, don't have a sale!

[NortyFiner]

Originally Posted by ChBaker801

Hello,

My name is Chris and I work for Musician's Friend. This is completely unacceptable, and I would like to see how this happened so we can make sure it doesn't again in the future. Will you please email me so I can follow up? I will make it worth your time.

forums@musiciansfriend.com

MF 1, complainers 0.

[1954bassman]

I have been dealing with Musicians Friend for years, and I have not had a singular bad exprience, that they have not taken care of in spades. I have bought a ton of stuff from them. I usually order online, but when I do have to call in for some small problem or question, most times I get a real musician. Seriously.

Plus, their prices, with the 15% discount, are quite good.

I still buy from the local guy also, but I lose the 45 day return policy, and one year same as cash. and the selection.

[curbowkid]

Honestly I have no sympathy, not to sound like an a$$. We live in a country where we have the money to do these things. A few hassles and late shipping happens. It doesn't make the company a bad company. My mom got a tmobile card for Xmas, went too use it, and come to find out there was nothing on it. After 4 visits to the store we are still working on it. I guess the best thing for this is $hit happens. The store where the card was purchased didn't scan the card a second time to activate it. It's the 2 in the afternoon syndrome. I've had my hassles with stores and stuff. But I have come to realize there's much more important things to worry about than this stuff.

[Skaught]

Originally Posted by jondog

I used to like Musician's Friend, until my last order. They confirmed my address w/me on the phone. When the confirmation email came in minutes later it had an old shipping address on it, so I called back right away. I was told it was too late, they couldn't stop it from going out. I told them I wanted to cancel the order, they said ok but they couldn't refund my money until they got it back. Just a few minutes right? It hadn't even had time to leave the warehouse, right? No. It went all the way to the old address. I had to watch the tracking number updates and keep calling to get them to ship it back to MF each time it hit a new hub and didn't turn around. Since I wanted the item on time, the solution I was offered was to buy another one, even though I still didn't have my money back from the first one. No way! They didn't seem to understand why I didn't trust them to send the second one to the correct address. When the unit finally made it back to them, I still had to wait a day or two for refund processing. The last guy I spoke to was confused and asked why I had canceled - it was the correct item at the correct price, what was the problem? You guys seriously have no record keeping on this account? I've called at least 5 times!

I ended up buying it at Sam Ash. They sent me a $15 thank you coupon the other day. $15 toward anything I want, even if it's a $15 item. Big big difference in customer service. I'm sticking w/ Sam Ash.

I'm very sorry to hear this. I work for Musician's Friend. Would you mind emailing me at forums@musiciansfriend.com? I'll make it worth your time. We appreciate the opportunity to hear from you and hope to make this right.

Thanks!
Skaught

[Skaught]

Originally Posted by NortyFiner

I have one bad thing to say about the MF/GC/etc. conglomerate. What the HECK is the point of a 15% off President's Day sale, when so much is on back order and won't be available until sometime between March and June? Seemed like everything I was thinking of buying was out of stock, including almost the whole Music Man inventory. If you don't have the stuff to sell, don't have a sale!

I'm sorry to hear that! Most of what we offer does reflect a positive count. However, if you are interested in waiting for what you want you can lock in the president sale price now by placing a backorder. We will honor the price as long as you keep the item on order. Please let me know if I can help you with anything. I can be reached at forums@musiciansfriend.com. Thanks!

[Joe Nerve]

The situation in the OP sucks, yet anytime MF or any of the big online companies have screwed up, they've always bent over backwards to make sure I was a satisfied customer. I feel much much safer dealing with Musiciansfriend, Americanmusical, and all the other companies that are the same as these 2, than any others. I've some not so good experiences with other places, and I won't go to them anymore. Oh yeah, feel safe with Sweetwater also, who don't call themselves by any other name.