At the end of last year, I decided 2022 would be a year of No New Basses for me.
Well... that lasted 2 months.
I had thinned my bass herd down to 3 basses. They're all fancy boutique basses, and they're awesome. But I decided to start shopping for a good, less-expensive workhorse bass. I had settled in on a really nice looking Fender Custom Shop bass from a very prominent, but relatively small, online bass retailer. I contacted the owner of the store to ask a couple of questions and discuss price. It took him a day, but I finally heard back from him (it was the weekend, so I didn't sweat it). He said he couldn't answer my question because the bass was in his warehouse. But he did agree on a small discount and a tax-free PayPal transaction. It was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but a good value. So, I quickly agreed.
On Monday, we had a deal and he was going to send me a PayPal money request. I waited all day and heard nothing. So Monday night I emailed again, "We gonna do this?" Still nothing. Today is Wednesday and I decided to take my business elsewhere...
Enter: Replay Guitar Exchange in Tampa. I stumbled across a gorgeous Stingray 4 on their site. It's so pretty and I know just how fantastic these things sound. So this morning, I texted Shawn Wainwright, the bass manager at Replay (I got his number years ago from a very helpful fellow TB-er. Thanks @Spectre Gunner). Shawn responded almost immediately, answered all my questions, gave me a discount (plus free shipping and no sales tax out-of-state... yay!)... all over text! One quick phone call, and we had the deal done within the hour. In fact, as I sit here typing this, I just received the FedEx notification that my bass was picked up and will be here in a couple of days!
That's how you do it!
(don't worry... NBD coming soon
)
Granted, I'm not looking to throw the first guy under the bus (no names mentioned, so don't guess. I'll never tell
). Maybe he's busy. Maybe he's out of town. Maybe he has covid or a cold or a hangnail (I hope he's okay). But the lack of communication makes me leery of sending thousands of dollars, even if I am protected through PayPal. After the fact, a perusal of his shop's online reviews quickly showed me that I'm not the first person who has had this experience with his establishment. Bullet officially dodged?
What a night and day comparison of two very different shopping experiences! Rest assured, I'll always check Replay when I need gear in the future. The other guy, not so much.
Any similar (positive or negative) experiences out there?
Well... that lasted 2 months.
I had thinned my bass herd down to 3 basses. They're all fancy boutique basses, and they're awesome. But I decided to start shopping for a good, less-expensive workhorse bass. I had settled in on a really nice looking Fender Custom Shop bass from a very prominent, but relatively small, online bass retailer. I contacted the owner of the store to ask a couple of questions and discuss price. It took him a day, but I finally heard back from him (it was the weekend, so I didn't sweat it). He said he couldn't answer my question because the bass was in his warehouse. But he did agree on a small discount and a tax-free PayPal transaction. It was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but a good value. So, I quickly agreed.
On Monday, we had a deal and he was going to send me a PayPal money request. I waited all day and heard nothing. So Monday night I emailed again, "We gonna do this?" Still nothing. Today is Wednesday and I decided to take my business elsewhere...
Enter: Replay Guitar Exchange in Tampa. I stumbled across a gorgeous Stingray 4 on their site. It's so pretty and I know just how fantastic these things sound. So this morning, I texted Shawn Wainwright, the bass manager at Replay (I got his number years ago from a very helpful fellow TB-er. Thanks @Spectre Gunner). Shawn responded almost immediately, answered all my questions, gave me a discount (plus free shipping and no sales tax out-of-state... yay!)... all over text! One quick phone call, and we had the deal done within the hour. In fact, as I sit here typing this, I just received the FedEx notification that my bass was picked up and will be here in a couple of days!
That's how you do it!
(don't worry... NBD coming soon
)Granted, I'm not looking to throw the first guy under the bus (no names mentioned, so don't guess. I'll never tell
). Maybe he's busy. Maybe he's out of town. Maybe he has covid or a cold or a hangnail (I hope he's okay). But the lack of communication makes me leery of sending thousands of dollars, even if I am protected through PayPal. After the fact, a perusal of his shop's online reviews quickly showed me that I'm not the first person who has had this experience with his establishment. Bullet officially dodged?What a night and day comparison of two very different shopping experiences! Rest assured, I'll always check Replay when I need gear in the future. The other guy, not so much.
Any similar (positive or negative) experiences out there?
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