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Bass Strings Online

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#121
I deal with half a dozen small owner-operated businesses catering to musicians. In a world of retail/delivery defined by the (nearly) complete online automation of fulfillment processes (web ordering, automatic tracking, shipping updates etc), it's easy to misjudge these small businesses.

The ones who last (like BSO) do their best to compete without investing in expensive systems or being absorbed by the bigger, more efficient but soulless Amazons of the world. Personally, when it comes to supporting my musical instruments I'll take the small operator's expertise and personalized service any day over mass-market data collection agencies like Amazon, where the operators think a bass is a fish(!). Just need to accept them operating like human beings instead of automatic dispensing machines. My experience is that if I contact them directly (like, by phone or personal email) with a positive attitude, they do their damnedest to make me happy.

@SLaPiNFuNK - Best wishes... btw, I need a set of TI shortscales for my recently modded Mustang PJ - will stop by later today to get em...
 
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#122
This thread reminds me I need to order some Chromes for my Beagle. BSO here I come.

That said, I know it's been a lovefest for BSO and @workinthecorner genuinely felt slighted enough to start the thread. One thing never seemed to be fully laid out, though: Work said he sent X number of messages; Jason says no such messages ever came through, prior to Work's text message by phone. That got glossed over I think - BSO definitely doesn't want to have ignored a customer but their system may have been acting up. I feel the OP's concern about contact time *and* I feel Jason's concern about the implication of nonresponse.

Glad that it sort of worked out, but there may have been a genuine issue underneath the communication bit!
 
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#123
I echo those who say Jason is a stand up guy. I received a pack of strings last year and one of the strings had an issue. I contacted Jason and he shipped a new string out that day. BSO is my go to place for string because of that type of customer service.
 
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#124
I ordered something that was out of stock once. I got mad, and thought that I should have been notified. Then I realized that I ordered an item that said "call for availability." Never had a problem otherwise. Matter of fact, last set of Labellas I ordered showed up way faster than expected. I can't get anything outside of long scale Ernie Balls, GHS Boomers, or Diaddario locally. I'm a big fan of BSO!
 
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#128
I've always had great experiences with BSO. The one time I had an issue, Jason bent over backwards to straighten it out(BTW, the problem was not his- it was a mispackaged string in a full string set).
As a small business owner myself, I always try to buy from small businesses- BSO has my complete respect, and my exclusive patronage.
 
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#131
Hows this for service:

Untitled.png
 
#132
Well, Jason's screenname doesn't say "BassStringOnline", so I can't help wondering if the OP didn't realize that Jason is very active in the Strings forum and then had an "Oh crap!!!" moment when he found out who SLaPiNFuNK is. ;)

There have been a few times when I placed a BSO order and didn't pay attention to info like "Ships in 3-7 days" on the page for an item. But when I've gone back to my order to get the details and saw that, I realized that the "issue" was on me so there was nothing to complain about. If I were in a hurry for an item that was on hold because something else on my order was holding it up, I'd contact him. But if I'm not in a hurry, which is almost always, then I just let it go. My orders have always gotten here.

There was one time when a set of strings was delayed for quite a while and, when the shipment finally arrived, I saw that it was the wrong thing - I ordered a 5-string set but got a 6-string set instead. When I contacted Jason to ask how to return it, he said that the 5-string sets have been delayed by the manufacturer for a while and they weren't able to say when they could ship more. So, in order to get me what I ordered without additional delay, he shipped me a 6-string set that he had and considered the order closed. No need to return anything. I haven't ordered strings from anywhere else since then.
 
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#133
McFarlin said:
It seems like every few months someone logs-in to whine about e-commerce not working more like a vending machine.
Click to expand...

Or people log in to express their frustration about long wait times with zero communication without reaching out for it. Seems like these are things BSO should be working on instead of spending time on talkbass. Not trying to hate on the guy, I know he's a small operation. It's a recurring issue though and has been for some time. If he could figure out a way to address it and fix it you wouldn't have to see these threads pop up every few months.
 
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#135
Honestly, do some people have the idea that this all happens by MAGIC? :) :facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

Either something is IN STOCK, or it's NOT.

And if it's not in stock... then this thing called PHYSICS comes into play.
For any number of perfectly valid reasons, things do inevitably get randomly delayed in transit. "REALITY 101"!

People should ALWAYS take estimates like "Usually ships in 3-7 days" with a BIG GRAIN OF SALT... :whistle:
 
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#136
I always recommend bassists to use BSO. I think they’re great. I even got a sticker once that I still have up on my wall (wish I had more stickers to put up). I have had an issue where my strings took a long time to come in, same with a friend of mine. However that was pretty much my fault for not checking if they were in stock. The beauty of BSO is that you can message them first about this stuff. For example I’ll be messaging them to see if they have Dunlop Super Bright 5 string tapered .130 sets in stock already because the page says they would come in early April. I understand the OPs frustration but I hope he doesn’t give up on the company because of it. Those TB discounts are great!
 
#137
mikewalker said:
Honestly, do some people have the idea that this all happens by MAGIC? :) :facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

Either something is IN STOCK, or it's NOT.

And if it's not in stock... then this thing called PHYSICS comes into play.
For any number of perfectly valid reasons, things do inevitably get randomly delayed in transit. "REALITY 101"!

People should ALWAYS take estimates like "Usually ships in 3-7 days" with a BIG GRAIN OF SALT... :whistle:
Click to expand...

Weird because the strings did not say out of stock. I don't remember any clarifiers either RE: "Usually". @1bassplayin - jealous, wish that would have been my experience as well.

My point is well summarized by @blacktocomm ; if something is delayed the vendor should notify the customer. The onus should never be on the customer to actively pursue information like that. I might have completely forgotten about this small order with the busy-ness of life. It's not my job to keep up with how my order is progressing, that's what we pay the business for. It's literally their job.
 
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#138
workinthecorner said:
Weird because the strings did not say out of stock...
Click to expand...

But part of your order DID, right?

But still, you actually expect a vendor who is giving you 'discounted from MSRP' products to also make MULTIPLE SHIPMENTS? It's fairly traditional for small companies to wait until they have everything you ordered in stock, and then "Ship your order"...

Maybe you should stick with AMAZON? (good luck with that!) :)
 
#140
mikewalker said:
But part of your order DID, right?

But still, you actually expect a vendor who is giving you 'discounted from MSRP' products to also make MULTIPLE SHIPMENTS? It's fairly traditional for small companies to wait until they have everything you ordered in stock, and then "Ship your order"...

Maybe you should stick with AMAZON? (good luck with that!) :)
Click to expand...

We do not split orders unless it is requested. OP said it would be OK to split the order then posted this thread and cancelled the order. I let him know I would have been happy to get the in stock items to him by Saturday.

I started selling some of the faster moving items on Amazon. My experience so far?
  • They take a HUGE percentage.
  • I sell the same products directly on my website for less!
  • Freight to them just adds to the expense.
  • over 40% of the items I have sold have been "returned" either due to "undelivered" or "incorrect items."
  • I haven't seen any of the returned items that were "incorrect" but I can only imagine that they were returned falsely.
  • The buyer pays Amazon $99 to be able to pay MORE for the same product.
 
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