It also could be that they are screening the used basses they take in and prefer to pass on instruments that come in which don't meet some minimum standards for tone and playability.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Bass Northwest
- Thread starter UnfortunateTony
- Start date
I had the exact opposite experience with them. I went there for years, since they first opened, spent thousands, and in the end, they treated me like ****, like they didn't even know me, even though they ALL knew me by name, and my final deal there cost me LITERALLY THOUSANDS of dollars in two consignment deals gone bad, and they sold an MTD custom order I had been waiting on for nearly two years because they couldn't wait a day or two for the insurance claim to be settled on one of my basses they had crushed in shipping.
In the 12 years I dealt with them, I brought them MANY customers, a luthier who had sold dozens of basses through them, students bought stuff, I spent over $15,000.00 over the years...bought a $7,000.00 MTD off them, then ordered ANOTHER ONE...you'd THINK they'd treat me like a good customer...they put the boots to me like NO STORE EVER HAS. My worst retail experience EVER.
Will NEVER go there again...will warn EVERYBODY about my experiences.
Bass Northwest -:scowl:
Awful place.
Sincerely,
Cameron
Well, you must have liked them for a while if you referred that many customers and spent that much money there. I'd sure like to hear what they have to say about you.
This is true. I've been there when someone brings a bass to trade or sell. They give it a good work over. Play it for about 15-20 minutes, ask a ton of questions, inspect it all over, open up the electronics cavity, etc..
- Jun 24, 2006
- 2,560
- 90
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: MTD basses and strings; Bergantino Amps & Cabs
No doubt Bass Northwest has their own side of the story to tell.
M. M.
Who cares - they're a bunch of jerks. I'm telling the truth here. I'm just a bass player who was REALLY mistreated by them - they cost me THOUSANDS. And if they'll do that to a good customer like me, they'll do it to ANYBODY given half a chance. And here's a quote from a private message I received - I won't reveal the name of the person unless he wants to jump in here; "I'll start by apologizing for arguing with you about BassNW. My last deal with them was my LAST deal with them. They are truly douche bags. You were right to be warning people. Next time I'll be backing you up instead of bitching you out."
No lie.
And the best low B in the history of mankind. That should tell you something.
I did like them for MANY years. When I was a high school teacher, I took 120 kids (three busloads) down to the EMP when it first opened up (a LOT of work because we had to cross a border). I took all the bass players (we had about 10 with us) on a little side trip to Bass Northwest to show them the only bass only store in our part of the world.
You've been warned; that's ALL I can do. And I didn't personally attack ANY of you; just trying to warn fellow musicians about a business with some really NASTY business practices. They'll put the boots to you one day and you'll see.
Never again...:scowl::scowl::scowl:
Sincerely,
Cameron
- Jun 24, 2006
- 2,560
- 90
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: MTD basses and strings; Bergantino Amps & Cabs
the looked at my Hexabuzz for about 15 seconds, offered me about $1,000.00 less than it should have gone for, and the thing sold in about an hour. I was extremely pissed.
Sincerely,
Cameron
I was there this past August. I looked over a cheaper grade Gretsch and that thing was a piece of junk. The neck pocket was loose as heck, sharp fret ends etc etc.
IMO they dont screen basses very well from what I saw.
I am currently in a battle to get my deposit back from Bass Northwest. I will support the comments that they are only interested in getting your money. I ordered a Dingwall on May 15th that was to be delivered no later than July 15th. I had to call them constantly to try to find out when it was to be delivered, and they kept telling me a bunch of lies about how Dingwall was selecting only the absolute best materials for my bass and it was taking time and so on and so on. So Friday they email me a picture of "my" bass and it's nothing like what I ordered. I have repeatedly asked for my $2000 deposit back as they are over 90 days behind schedule and Eddy won't even discuss it. They have laid the sales talk on thick about how wonderful the bass will be and so far nothing but air.
Now they tell me they will have Sheldon Dingwall rush the order. Rush the order now? No! They had 7 months to get it right! I don't want a custom built bass to be rushed! I would like to think they were sitting there taking their time to make a perfect bass.
Why any business, in this economy, much less this one who had such a good rep in the biz, would force someone to accept a $4000 + custom order that isn't even close to what the customer wanted, is unfathomable to me.
Of course they offer a "solution" They would be happy to consignment sell the bass and keep over $1300 of the sale ON A BASS THAT ISN'T EVEN BUILT YET !!! On top of the profit they will make off me!!!
Why create the bad publicity? Why risk even one unhappy customer? It's clear they could care less about basses and are all about making money. Ironically, I sell cars, and if I tried to do what they are doing, I'd be out of job in a minute.
Now they tell me they will have Sheldon Dingwall rush the order. Rush the order now? No! They had 7 months to get it right! I don't want a custom built bass to be rushed! I would like to think they were sitting there taking their time to make a perfect bass.
Why any business, in this economy, much less this one who had such a good rep in the biz, would force someone to accept a $4000 + custom order that isn't even close to what the customer wanted, is unfathomable to me.
Of course they offer a "solution" They would be happy to consignment sell the bass and keep over $1300 of the sale ON A BASS THAT ISN'T EVEN BUILT YET !!! On top of the profit they will make off me!!!
Why create the bad publicity? Why risk even one unhappy customer? It's clear they could care less about basses and are all about making money. Ironically, I sell cars, and if I tried to do what they are doing, I'd be out of job in a minute.
- Dec 12, 2007
- 2,268
- 43
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Zon Guitars, Tsunami Cables, DR Strings, GK
HA! just checked in on this thread and didn't realize I said I bought asses from them
Just spoke to Evan this week about a potential purchase. We couldn't come to terms on the bass, but he was a great guy as always. I'd buy from them anytime if they had something I was interested in.
I don't feel they gave me a killer set-up on the basses I've purchased, but I set my own basses up when I get them anyhow.
Sorry to hear about the bad dealings some people have had. It's not my experience there. I hope you can resolve your issue with them.
Just spoke to Evan this week about a potential purchase. We couldn't come to terms on the bass, but he was a great guy as always. I'd buy from them anytime if they had something I was interested in.
I don't feel they gave me a killer set-up on the basses I've purchased, but I set my own basses up when I get them anyhow.
Sorry to hear about the bad dealings some people have had. It's not my experience there. I hope you can resolve your issue with them.
It's one thing if the bass takes longer than anticipated. It's annoying but it does happen. But to give you something that isn't what you ordered is inexcusable. What exactly is different about the one BNW showed you?
I highly doubt that Sheldon would complete a bass in a hurry just to get it out the door. Probably what they meant is that he would give yours priority.
I've had bad and good experiences here. They do have pretty good prices on used stuff, and they have an excellent selection of stuff to try out and they will let you play without bothering you too much. It's a little car salesman-ish sometimes.
I called BNW a few years ago to inquire about a bass they had listed on their website. When I told them I was interested and asked for a few more pictures, the response was "well, you can take as many pictures as you'd like once it gets to your house." I don't know if that was a joke or serious, but I just hung up the phone and spent my money elsewhere.
And if they don't put the boots to me, will I not see?
Look, I understand that you had some sort of horrible, earth-rending situation with them after you were a loyal customer for eons, but that hasn't been my experience, or everybody else's for that matter. Are they 100% perfect, can-do-no-wrong guys? No. But nasty business practices? Personally, I haven't seen any.
So, is this Dingwall's fault, or BNW's?
I would guess BNW sent the wrong order info to Dingwall. But that is just a guess based on your guys experience with BNW. Dingwall has a stellar reputation for their customer service. Also i'm pretty sure rushing and order for them would simply mean placing it in the next run that they make.
Sorry to hear about people's bad experiences.
I was just in Seattle for the first time and had to stop by the shop, having perused their website for years. Eddy was very cool, took time out from stringing and setting up a bass to talk with me, even though I pretty much told him I just wanted to check the place out in person and wasn't in the market for a new bass. I only played a couple of basses, but he was very helpful as far as explaining the controls and making sure the bass was tuned up. On the way out the door, he gave me the pitch on buying something from their site -- 3-day trial, no sales tax, etc. -- but that didn't bother me at all. He's a businessman, right?
I was just in Seattle for the first time and had to stop by the shop, having perused their website for years. Eddy was very cool, took time out from stringing and setting up a bass to talk with me, even though I pretty much told him I just wanted to check the place out in person and wasn't in the market for a new bass. I only played a couple of basses, but he was very helpful as far as explaining the controls and making sure the bass was tuned up. On the way out the door, he gave me the pitch on buying something from their site -- 3-day trial, no sales tax, etc. -- but that didn't bother me at all. He's a businessman, right?
I'd like to clarify a few things here regarding the Dingwall bass that was ordered from BNW. Normally I'd prefer to keep conversations like this between us and the customer but I feel that BNW is getting slagged unfairly.
1. BNW did not send us the wrong order. I made a judgement call when spraying the color to go lighter in the center rather than bury the figure. I make a judgement call on every bass I spray trying to find the perfect balance between too light and too dark. Usually this works out best. In this case the difference between the reference photo and the end result was greater than usual so I sent a photo for the customer to check out before we went any further. The customer didn't like it so I made a bad call and am prepared to fix it at my expense. Let me underline that for us fast-tracking does not mean rushing. It means interrupting production, working later, working weekends and screwing up our cash flow to get the customer back on track as soon as possible. It's a VERY expensive way to do business.
2. Timing of the order: Somewhere in the communication chain there was a mixup. We have no records of any promises made for a July delivery date (which would have been impossible to do anyway). BNW can only quote what we tell them so I'll take the burden of responsibility on that.
3. Deposits: I can't speak for BNW but it's my experience that stores have strict deposit policies for a reason. They've either been screwed in the past or they are trying to prevent being screwed.
Lastly "big smile with a stone cold heart" Did I read that right? OUCH!
1. BNW did not send us the wrong order. I made a judgement call when spraying the color to go lighter in the center rather than bury the figure. I make a judgement call on every bass I spray trying to find the perfect balance between too light and too dark. Usually this works out best. In this case the difference between the reference photo and the end result was greater than usual so I sent a photo for the customer to check out before we went any further. The customer didn't like it so I made a bad call and am prepared to fix it at my expense. Let me underline that for us fast-tracking does not mean rushing. It means interrupting production, working later, working weekends and screwing up our cash flow to get the customer back on track as soon as possible. It's a VERY expensive way to do business.
2. Timing of the order: Somewhere in the communication chain there was a mixup. We have no records of any promises made for a July delivery date (which would have been impossible to do anyway). BNW can only quote what we tell them so I'll take the burden of responsibility on that.
3. Deposits: I can't speak for BNW but it's my experience that stores have strict deposit policies for a reason. They've either been screwed in the past or they are trying to prevent being screwed.
Lastly "big smile with a stone cold heart" Did I read that right? OUCH!
I've had mixed experiences with that shop. Overall I'd say it's been positive but I was treated a lot better when Chad was still a part of the business and it's unlikely they'll get much business from me going forward. For BG American Music in Fremont has or can get what I'd be looking for.
I sincerely hope you'll pardon the interruption here....I know NOTHING about any of this thread, but I was casually reading it and I read the quote above...and I hope that you'll forgive me in advance, but that's the most bizarre way of doing business that I have ever heard.......
Would it not make far greater sense to give the customer what he is paying for and be done with it?
I dunno...seems like one hell of a waste of resources.....
Again...Sorry
Wasn't there just a HUUGGEE thread on this from JOE?
Edit. Ah Yes. Here it is. Feel free to read amongst yourselves.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f30/bass-northwest-beware-800290/
Edit. Ah Yes. Here it is. Feel free to read amongst yourselves.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f30/bass-northwest-beware-800290/
