Disappointing experience with Fret Nation

[monsterthompson]

I had very similar experiences to the OP on two of my three orders from their old shop (before the name change). There won’t be a fourth order, despite the significant TB positive impressions I’ve read.

Jason is obviously aware of this thread. He reached out to me today with an explanation of why my orders from 3-4 years ago were late. He clearly cares about the business and the image. Unfortunately, that won't change the experiences I had, but it was a nice gesture.

 

[iiipopes]

What Jon Moody said. With COVID-19 shutting down or severely curtailing many businesses, the delay is the new normal. It's not necessarily Jason's fault. Remember how many steps there are in the production chain for a bass guitar string: raw wire manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers; printers and other suppliers of the labels, envelopes, etc., the string company itself that may have been shut down or on limited staff for quite awhile, etc.

When the pandemic hit, I had an order outstanding with Jason for some DR flatwound guitar string. It had to be cancelled because DR had shut down. So please give Jason slack. As a retailer, he is taking the heat from both sides, and doing as well as he can for customers in spite of everything.

Side note: I may not prefer their bass strings, but their steel "Legend" flatwound guitar strings are the closest to the old Gibson Sonomatics I know of, and their Rare Phosphor Bronze acoustic strings are superlative.

 

[Stevorebob]

Fret Nation is not perfect — I’ve had my issues — but all in all, it’s a great place to patronize. I’ve just come to understand that everything is not stocked and my order may take a little longer than a big seller. That’s well worth the selection, prices and especially the expertise.

Jason’s expertise here is missed.

 

[Stelio Kontos]

Given what the majority here thinks, I personally would give the shop another try. Not his fault on the partial delivery of his orders.
I made a crazy mistake by the way... "Strings are on the shipping table" - Sorry, English is not my first language and the first thing that came to mind was an actual table. Furniture. You know, like the table where orders are packed up for shipment by workers.
So I thought he gave the OP the impression that he had walked into his warehouse or office, checked the things that were actually being packed up right then, and reported to the OP "yep, they are being packed for shipment right now ON THE TABLE!". Although he hadn't have them in stock. That would have driven me mad forever.
However , the "table" was a list, a schedule. He thought the things on the list were there already but DR failed to deliver. I apologize.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

I always had a great service when dealing with Jason myself. The shipping of strings that are not in stock has taken longer than before, but in these times I think it is the norm for now.

 

[hihat]

I've also had sub-par service from fret nation. Poor communication, too many excuses, plays stalling games. I've given him several chances even before covid. No more. I won't consider shopping from him again.

 

[Mechayoshi]

Not a horror story, but I recently I made the mistake of thinking that something that "ships in 24 hours" is in stock. I was wrong and that actually means its on order. Now I'm still waiting. Nothing personal but in the future I'll buy from somewhere where what you see is actually in stock.

 

[DogsNbeer]

I placed a tiny trifling order w Fret Nation
I ordered two Ernie Cobalt Flat singles, a .50 & .55 from them last Wednesday.
I hadn’t heard from them for a bit after placing the order. So I inquired as to when they’d be shipping on Monday. Got a prompt reply from Jason saying that they’d be going out that day ie Monday.
Only just got a shipping notice w tracking from Fret Nation today, today being Wednesday two days later.
So without any follow up to state anything to the contrary eg that there was a delay or whatever, that missive was effectively a lie.

Edit: I only saw one or two other sources for the strings online. So if the strings get to me at some point in a pinch I might go back for a similarly circumstanced purchase ie they are there as a last resort

 

[sleevey55]

Jason is THE BEST to deal with and I've bought many basses, amps and other goodies from him. No concern here, he's as top notch as they come and I will continue to do business with him far into the future because of the way he does business and treats me.

 

[NinjaPyrate]

As a small business owner of a hobby type product, the pandemic has been crazy. Many people think that the pandemic is over so the retail experience should be back to normal, but our normal 1-5 business day turnaround is still 1-35 business days. So many people have taken up new hobbies (like bass) that a lot of companies are still overwhelmed - good for business and bad for customers. This is affecting suppliers as bad or worse than resellers - suppliers we are used to getting in 1-2 weeks are taking 1-3 months - and the ship dates that they give us (which we give to customers) are often being missed. Makes us look like jerks to those that expect Amazon-type fulfillment time. Most people are understanding when we explain the situation, but some complain on forums. Not much we can do - but I have certainly stopped being an inpatient/angry customer (for the most part).

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

I’ll reiterate that I’ve always had excellent results doing business with Jason

I’ve found with everything I purchase online, to check availability before you order.

I also keep a few sets of my favorite sets of strings on hand. When I get down to my last set or two, I make another order.


I just ordered two 5-string sets of GHS Pressurewounds, plus two single C-strings, and three 6-string sets of GHS Boomers from Jason at Fret Nation.

I texted him about availability on the PWs, and he told me they were back ordered, but he expected his next shipment to arrive within 14 days. His prediction of when he’d receive his next shipment from GHS was spot on. But in the meantime, I called him to check on the availability of GHS Boomers in the 6-string set.

It ended up being easier for Jason to have my sets dropped shipped to me directly from GHS. I received my full order in less than 5 days.

I continue to have zero complaints about Jason and Fret Nation.

 

[mngbass]

I’ll reiterate that I’ve always had excellent results doing business with Jason

I’ve found with everything I purchase online, to check availability before you order.

I also keep a few sets of my favorite sets of strings on hand. When I get down to my last set or two, I make another order.


I just ordered two 5-string sets of GHS Pressurewounds, plus two single C-strings, and three 6-string sets of GHS Boomers from Jason at Fret Nation.

I texted him about availability on the PWs, and he told me they were back ordered, but he expected his next shipment to arrive within 14 days. His prediction of when he’d receive his next shipment from GHS was spot on. But in the meantime, I called him to check on the availability of GHS Boomers in the 6-string set.

It ended up being easier for Jason to have my sets dropped shipped to me directly from GHS. I received my full order in less than 5 days.

I continue to have zero complaints about Jason and Fret Nation.

Jason has always been terrific even called me concerning orders in the past if there was a delay.
So any negative feedback I find hard to understand.