Almost NBD - warning online retailer content

[jd56hawk]

Erm, Reverb is just a marketplace. It's literally a specialized ebay (for musical instruments).
And lately, prices on Reverb are absolutely awful, and always higher than going directly with vendors. Which is to be expected, they charge their service. Used gear prices are even worse on Reverb now.

Yes, I know exactly what Reverb is, I bought eight of my ten basses there.
Every single one was priced right.
Two were absolute steals.
Several were basses you just don't see hanging up at your local Guitar Center or Sam Ash and simply don't see at Sweetwater, Zzounds, AMC either.
Not to mention I would've had to travel all over the country to find them.
I can go there right now and find half a dozen great basses for good prices.

 

[SLO Surfer]

I get it. But things are different and expectations should be tempered to be realistic in today’s situation. Ordering online has no guarantees, regardless of any promise an online vendor intends to keep.

I made an order on Amazon this week, no update that items had even shipped for 4 days. Then yesterday, “your items are arriving earlier than expected, tomorrow!” I’m not actually counting on them arriving today, because Amazon doesn’t know who’s working at USPS that day or who called in sick. They don’t even have enough people to update the updates.

My recommendation, when you order ANYTHING online expect it to arrive by next year and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how early it showed up!

As far as not getting an answer over the phone, just know that the normal people who update the system or can find those answers may be out. They may be using brand new, barely trained staff to cover certain positions, or the book keeper may be answering phones because all customer reps are out.

Have grace, have patience, and temper expectations when buying online regardless of advertised shipping times.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Erm, Reverb is just a marketplace. It's literally a specialized ebay (for musical instruments).
And lately, prices on Reverb are absolutely awful, and always higher than going directly with vendors. Which is to be expected, they charge their service. Used gear prices are even worse on Reverb now.

But when you see an item listed on Reverb, it usually exists. Usually.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Patience is a virtue!! Everyone everywhere across all industries is experiencing delays due to supply chain issues. Heck, I was at grocery store last week and they were out of eggs as well as whole bean coffee. Just be grateful you’re not waiting for life saving medical equipment or medications.

My usual grocery store was really wiped out due to back to back snow storms and COVID staffing issues at the warehouses and transportation network. Produce was wiped out, Half of the meat, no milk, a lot of the bread, etc. It was far worse than the early shortages when COVID first hit. I found that this store had outsourced their distribution a few years ago and the main distribution point is now in another state. It seemed like a good, cost-saving measure at the time but I'll bet they wish they hadn't now.

 

[Sid the Kid]

Premium Ibanez Basses are dynamite. If I recall correctly the B at the end of your model number means you will have wider string spacing. For that alone I’d wait a week of Wednesdays. Be patient, then be happy!

 

[LBS-bass]

With all due respect, ordering something you need instantly with expectations of quick delivery in the middle of current conditions is unrealistic. I'm sorry that you haven't gotten what you ordered, but this is how it is right now. If I were you I'd cancel the order and shift my expectations so something more in line with our current reality.

 

[skycruiser]

This is a very weird situation if this was a Sweetwater purchase, though I never purchase through the website. When I buy a bass from Sweetwater, I get a price from my rep and tell him specifically which serial number bass I want to buy. He usually knocks off 15% or so and I place the order for that specific instrument. If you bought by clicking a button on the site, it may be that a rep was already working on a sale with another customer. I'm not sure why they couldn't immediately tell you the bass was sold though. I suggest you connect with a rep and work directly with that person since it will make things go smoothly and might save you some money.

As for the stock problem - yeah it's crazy. I looked up Yamaha bass stock at Sweetwater the other day and was shocked that only 3 models are in stock, all super high-end models. G&L is similar, almost no Tributes available. The other day they got in 4 shell pink SB2 Tributes and they sold out within 3 or 4 days. Crazy, but a global pandemic will do that.

 

[BarqsBitMe]

Hi all,

My enthusiasm for my new bass, an Ibanez SR1345b, is getting replaced with frustration. Maybe I'm being impatient but the web site specifically said in stock, same day shipping on most orders placed before 3pm and if not guaranteed to ship within 24 hours. I placed the order at 5am Wednesday morning.

Its my fault for waiting until the last minute but I was counting on using it Tuesday evening. I am going on day 3 with no change in the order status, "processing". I called, the lady was nice, apologized for the delay but couldn't tell me anything definitive about it.

Tomorrow I am calling and canceling the order.

I don't know what's up with Sweetwater but they are out of stock of just about everything.

Niether local GC or SA have one in stock.

Zzsounds supposedly has it in stock and guarantees 2 day free delivery. I think I'll try to go that way. Tough luck MF, I was looking at a Mesa rig too.

Maybe I am being too impatient but I feel lied to. That's the part that bothers me. Don't make promises you can't keep and if something happens, tell me, I shouldn't have to come looking for you for an explanation.

I think you are being a little impatient, but I also fully agree that it is incredibly frustrating when companies do this. We all understand there are supply chain and staffing issues affecting every industry across the planet. But even then, retailers understand that too... yet they continue to advertise as if it won't be a problem. They continue to advertise things being in stock and quick shipping when they know that is unlikely to happen. And I don't accept the excuse of being short staffed. They know what they have in stock and what they do not have in stock. They also know if they don't know what they have in stock. But that doesn't stop them from advertising an item as in stock and ready to ship... because why be honest with your customers?

Somehow I would imagine if I bought an item from one of these retailers, received said item, and then my payment didn't go through, they would not accept me blaming covid for it. They would send me to collections and/or maybe even sue me if I said "Oh I thought I had the money but turns out I don't because of covid... estimated time that I will have the money is September 2022. If you have a problem with it, call my customer service department which is of course going to be some random call center employee on the other side of the planet." They probably also wouldn't be too thrilled if I told them I would charge them shipping for me to return the item I failed to pay for, and add a 15% restocking fee because my "policies" say I can.

Granted, I am being intentionally sarcastic to make a point but I think that point is legitimate. I am willing to give companies who actually care about the service they provide some leeway. I have little patience for companies who adopt the "We got your money, F you" business model and then make it impossible to contact anyone actually responsible for it. It is not hard for a company to be honest with their customers and most customers would be understanding and patient if they did. I would be irritated if I was promised something and it didn't happen. I would be much less irritated if I could easily contact a customer service rep who was honest and said they made a mistake, especially if they offered some sort of token discount or other small compensation for the mixup. When customer service is dismissive or gives me the run around, it makes me want to never do business with that company again.

 

[Michael Vee]

@Ash Jazz - Here's a thought if you have the time to do it. GMaps says Sweetwater is around a 3 hour drive from your town. (Link) Six hours on the road or so, and you can try out the bass in person (assuming, of course, that they have one in stock) and then take it home with no further delays or shipping hazards. Also you could take a quick tour of Sweetwater - it's quite a place!

As others suggested, ask for a "sales engineer" to be assigned to you, talk to the SE and tell him or her that you want to come pick up the bass. They will make sure it's found before you make the trip. They may also make it worth your while for coming in person to get the bass.

This was just a thought, but you are reasonably close enough to do this if you like, for a special bass. I would consider doing it, if I lived closer to Ft. Wayne than I do.

 

[Sixgunn]

EVERYONE is out of stock on everything!

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

I was heading into town this morning (I live in a rural town in upstate NY). It's cold, so when I saw this guy hitching, I picked him up. Turns out he works near me but was heading home (to town) because his shop couldn't get the materials they need. He said it's a mess - they can't get materials and when they do, they can't get the drivers to deliver the goods. He was pretty bummed out. weird times.

 

[subtlestew]

One reason I buy from the best...Reverb.
I'm betting there are a few on there right now.
Just bought this yesterday and it arrives tomorrow.
BOSS WAZA-AIR-B Wireless Personal Bass Amplification System
View attachment 4541688

I bought one of these from Sweetwater last month, and it arrived in a timely manner.

BTW, it is AWESOME!

 

[BobDeRosa]

Okay, call me Boomer (again!), but I remember a time when orders were placed by phone or -- believe it or not -- by letter, that you typed, addressed, stamped, and sent through the US Mail. We were taught how to write those letters in grammar school. Average delivery time might have been two weeks to a month, sometimes more. Then comes the Internet and Google and Amazon and look what happens to our culture and our expectations! Everyone is so spoiled by immediate response that no one can wait for anything anymore, and anger ensues. Wow, the things I've seen in my lifetime!

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

I will say, with this "new normal", it encourages me to shop with Sweetwater even more.
While they may be out of stock of a great many things, they're honest about it. So if they say they have an item, they actually have it.
That, and Reverb is my retailer of choice.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Musicians Friend is Guitar Center and GC is shipping stock from stores for some sales. So the bass may be listed in stock in their system and is sitting on the floor at Osh Kosh but it may not really be there.

 

[BarqsBitMe]

Everyone is so spoiled by immediate response that no one can wait for anything anymore, and anger ensues. Wow, the things I've seen in my lifetime!

I don't think it is a matter of people being spoiled. It is a matter of a company knowingly advertising things they cannot deliver on. People have a right to get angry when a company tells them one thing to get their money and then once they have their money tells them something else. How things worked in the past isn't all that relevant. No one is expecting companies to just magically make things happen when a global pandemic is messing everything up. But they have every right to expect a company to deliver what it promised and in the condition and time frame they promised. No one is forcing these companies to misrepresent their inventories and shipping times.

 

[LBS-bass]

I don't think it is a matter of people being spoiled. It is a matter of a company knowingly advertising things they cannot deliver on.

I am seeing this a lot in this thread, but I want to point out that it also takes personnel and planning to make changes to a website, and there other other things to consider when making changes like this (legal people need to maks sure the verbiage is right, etc. etc.)

Having done this kind of work myself, I can tell you that it's not always the first thing on the priority list to deal with when a company is in crisis mode.

What you see on their website is their usual policy, which is reasonable to expect during normal times. I would not be too hasty to hold anyone to a standard where any kind of special work needs to be done - including web updates - under these circumstances.

 

[Kevin Hailey]

Hi all,

My enthusiasm for my new bass, an Ibanez SR1345b, is getting replaced with frustration. Maybe I'm being impatient but the web site specifically said in stock, same day shipping on most orders placed before 3pm and if not guaranteed to ship within 24 hours. I placed the order at 5am Wednesday morning.

Its my fault for waiting until the last minute but I was counting on using it Tuesday evening. I am going on day 3 with no change in the order status, "processing". I called, the lady was nice, apologized for the delay but couldn't tell me anything definitive about it.

Tomorrow I am calling and canceling the order.

I don't know what's up with Sweetwater but they are out of stock of just about everything.

Niether local GC or SA have one in stock.

Zzsounds supposedly has it in stock and guarantees 2 day free delivery. I think I'll try to go that way. Tough luck MF, I was looking at a Mesa rig too.

Maybe I am being too impatient but I feel lied to. That's the part that bothers me. Don't make promises you can't keep and if something happens, tell me, I shouldn't have to come looking for you for an explanation.

I own the 6 string version of that bass, it’s great and worth a little waiting for

 

[arbiterusa]

Maybe I am being too impatient but I feel lied to. That's the part that bothers me. Don't make promises you can't keep and if something happens, tell me, I shouldn't have to come looking for you for an explanation.

While I agree with the general sentiment, right now most retailers are fighting just to stay open in the face of overwhelming absenteeism. My local GC has drastically cut their hours as they cannot muster anything like a full crew (I was in there a few days ago and the manager told me "one more guy out and we wouldn't be open today"). I'd wait a week before pulling the plug on this; Sweetwater likely DOES have it, nobody is going to perform any better, and you might miss out on what is likely the last one in the country for a while.

ETA: now listed on SW as "out of stock", so they either shipped your order or gave it to someone else if you canceled. MF/GC has them in stock.

 

[BarqsBitMe]

Musicians Friend is Guitar Center and GC is shipping stock from stores for some sales. So the bass may be listed in stock in their system and is sitting on the floor at Osh Kosh but it may not really be there.

And there are a lot of online complaints about MF sending people used or floor-model instruments from GC when they purchased new ones. When people complain MF acts like they can't do anything about it and have no way to communicate with GC.

I am seeing this a lot in this thread, but I want to point out that it also takes personnel and planning to make changes to a website, and there other other things to consider when making changes like this (legal people need to maks sure the verbiage is right, etc. etc.)

Having done this kind of work myself, I can tell you that it's not always the first thing on the priority list to deal with when a company is in crisis mode.

What you see on their website is their usual policy, which is reasonable to expect during normal times. I would not be too hasty to hold anyone to a standard where any kind of special work needs to be done - including web updates - under these circumstances.

I see what you are saying and I agree to an extent. However, the key thing that will cause me to judge a company is their customer service. If their customer service is responsive and I don't have to waste time trying to get answers, I will be far more sympathetic than I will if a company basically tells me to go F myself via making it extremely difficult to even speak to someone or has rude and/or unknowledgeable call center employees. When the tables are turned companies tend to get litigious against consumers because they have the means to do so.