Amazon Warehouse

I've gotten quite a few sets from Amazon Warehouse, and they have always come in a thrashed box, but the strings unused. Well, I ordered some NYXLs and I'll be darned if they didn't come in worse condition than any string I've ever taken off a bass. The E string is basically broken. I may have a tough time taking a chance on the Warehouse again, even though can just return them. Doesn't help that they've just added all the new marketing (inspected, renewed, etc.). Clearly it's just words.

Btw, I don't know where this thread belongs. Hopefully it can be moved if it's in the wrong place.

 

Oh, definitely. They were all wrapped together in a "round", no paper sleeves or plastic. Note that they are supposed to be returns, but I've literally bought a couple hundred $ worth of returned strings through amazon warehouse, and never gotten ones that had been on a bass. They've always been like new other than the external packaging.
Actually, if someone had just put them on, noodled, then sent them back to amazon, I would probably keep them, but if you look at the E string, it wouldn't even tune up since it's broken, and the other strings are very worn.

 

That's a good idea. I wonder if amazon passes that loss off to D'Addario? Actually, I bet they do.

 

I actually think anyone who looked at them would have been able to tell they were in very used condition/broken. I was never too worried about Bezos, but it does irritate me that people are returning their very used merchandise, and that amazon doesn't even take a quick look at the returned merch to see if it is obviously flawed, especially when they plaster "renewed" and "inspected" all over everything.
At any rate, I now hesitate to buy strings from the warehouse, and I especially wouldn't get them if I needed them soon. Ymmv.

 

Apparently I am a masochist, so I ordered some more returned strings from Amazon warehouse, and again, an interesting result. The E-string was snapped (not cut) short and the A string bent to a right angle toward the tuner end.

So I asked for a return and replacement, and received another package of Elixirs with a tattered box, but undamaged, uncut strings. Hopefully they don't send the ones I'm returning out again!

Oh, and someone was clearly trying to use long-scale strings on a short-scale bass with skinny tuning pegs. Don't do that!

 

Well der. But masochists aren't looking for the pain-free route. Plus I saved 12 bucks.

 

Yes, they often are. I never had a problem until recently. I think people are increasingly gaming the good return policy, which will be why we can't have nice return policies.