Prior to today all of my experiences with Zzounds had been good.
I used to use them a lot when I was gigging full-time and bought some studio-related stuff after that. Never had any issues until today, but I don't remember needing their customer service either.
Recently purchased a Fender Rumble Stage 800 as well as an Ibanez BTB845V from them. Also ordered a Levy's strap in tan. It arrived a day after the bass, gig bag and Straploks and when I opened it I could see immediately that it was not the tan I had ordered, but brown. No biggie, fast and easy to return, right?
I went online and filled out their return authorization request form very clearly stating that although the strap was mistakenly tagged as "PM32-Tan" it was obviously "PM32-Brn" as depicted on their site and I wanted to exchange it for one that was actually tan. 4 days later, today I get an email saying "We are sorry to hear that you did not receive a Levys PM32-TAN Garment Leather Guitar Strap Tan. However, we're not sure exactly what your received instead. Can you please provide photos of the item you received?" Seriously? Did no one read what I had written in my initial request even though it was included just below their response? I could not have been more clear, including the numbers and now they're wanting photographic evidence before they'll issue a return authorization for an exchange on a strap? So I've just dropped almost $2000 with you and you're going to hassle me about returning a strap. Brilliant business practice! Good thing for you there aren't any other retailers out there I can turn to.
I used to use them a lot when I was gigging full-time and bought some studio-related stuff after that. Never had any issues until today, but I don't remember needing their customer service either.
Recently purchased a Fender Rumble Stage 800 as well as an Ibanez BTB845V from them. Also ordered a Levy's strap in tan. It arrived a day after the bass, gig bag and Straploks and when I opened it I could see immediately that it was not the tan I had ordered, but brown. No biggie, fast and easy to return, right?
I went online and filled out their return authorization request form very clearly stating that although the strap was mistakenly tagged as "PM32-Tan" it was obviously "PM32-Brn" as depicted on their site and I wanted to exchange it for one that was actually tan. 4 days later, today I get an email saying "We are sorry to hear that you did not receive a Levys PM32-TAN Garment Leather Guitar Strap Tan. However, we're not sure exactly what your received instead. Can you please provide photos of the item you received?" Seriously? Did no one read what I had written in my initial request even though it was included just below their response? I could not have been more clear, including the numbers and now they're wanting photographic evidence before they'll issue a return authorization for an exchange on a strap? So I've just dropped almost $2000 with you and you're going to hassle me about returning a strap. Brilliant business practice! Good thing for you there aren't any other retailers out there I can turn to.
They asked for photos, I provided them this once and now I'll find someone with business practices that I find more to my liking. One way to look at it is that they did me a favor by showing me how their return process "works" and that it doesn't work for me (but it may for you), before it was something really expensive. This is the worst online "customer service" experience I've had in a long, long time. It's definitely not what I'm used to these days and that's why I find it unacceptable. They'd already lost me at having to ask for a return authorization. I'm just too used to the "No questions." return policy offered by a lot of big retailers and free shipping return slips included in the box. I have easy access to far too many businesses that provide consistently excellent customer service to waste any of my time or spend any money with one that doesn't. Many other music stores are just a click away and if Zzounds doesn't realize that it's on them, not me. If they were the only game in town, then I'd have to jump through whatever hoops they put in front of me, but they're not and I don't. That's just one of the many great things about free enterprise. They're free to make their choices, so are you and so am I. Needless to say, what with this being the internet and all, I welcome your opinions on my reaction and I'll give them the same respect given mine. 
