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Is Andertons a reliable shop?

#81
TrevorR said:
They also support the local rock college too... The Academy Of Contemporary Music (ACM). Sponsoring the college, student discounts, helping the college with gear etc...
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It's probably because it's a family-run business with established community ties. I've never met Lee 'the captain' Anderton, but he comes across as a decent chap on YouTube.

Gear4Music also does things for its local community.

So did Carlsboro back in t'day.

I use Studiospares too, although purchases are now limited as much by space as anything else. I currently have 8 basses, for guitars, three keyboards, two electronic drum kits, two PAs, two African drums, various odds and ends, a computer, a cajon, a chair and a sofa bed in my 7 by 10 studio.
 
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#86
ficelles said:
That's interesting, because in my view Thomann hasn't been the cheapest option buying from the UK for a few years now - Gear4Music, Richtone, Andertons, GAK all match them for prices and have the advantage of being in the UK. The other thing with Thomann is they quote exchange rates that are not realistic, so the £££ sterling price you actually pay is higher than quoted on their website.
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I have the same impression as you. A few years ago Thomann was often cheaper... even if you had to put up with stuff not having the correct UK plugs, but that was usually a minor inconvenience. However, for the past 4-5 years, Thomann is rarely cheaper.

Today I was looking at the Digitech Bass Whammy as I may be getting one for a new project... The cheapest I find it in the UK is £139. Anderton's price is £139, alongside Guitar Guitar and a few others. Thomann? £147.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

https://www.thomann.de/gb/digitech_whammy_bass.htm
 
#88
eccles77 said:
Ah but when I bought it, it wasn`t listed as a B stock item, just a normal listing. They only said it was B stock when they relisted it. Hence the naughty bit ;)
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I guess it depends if they checked it before they sent it out to you... assuming they didn't as they don't open every box, then relisting a returned item as B stock is just what most stores do.
 
#89
tfer said:
Agree completely.

I understand a full inspection on used gear, but on new stock, fresh from the factory, an inspection seems like a waste of time and resources.
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It may seem like a waste of time and resources to you but £500+ is a lot of money to me and when paying that kind of money, I expect a quality instrument without any obvious flaws. It would take an experienced person 5 minutes to open the box and have a look at the bass. I realise that the shop ships maybe hundreds of guitars a day but if they can`t be bothered to check what they are sending out, to me that is not right.

And I may add that the setup was rubbish as well. If I wasn`t able to do my own setups and had kept the bass, you are looking at £50 for a decent set up. If Thomann can send their own budget P bass form Germany to the UK for £90 and the set up is almost spot on, why cant they do this with a bass at 5 times the price?

But hey, I have bought other products form them in the past and they were spot on so there not all bad.
 
#90
ficelles said:
I guess it depends if they checked it before they sent it out to you... assuming they didn't as they don't open every box, then relisting a returned item as B stock is just what most stores do.
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And I agree with you completely. Maybe the next time, horrors of horrors, I will walk into my local store, see and play the bass and buy it.

Don`t know if that idea will catch on though.....
 
#91
eccles77 said:
It may seem like a waste of time and resources to you but £500+ is a lot of money to me and when paying that kind of money, I expect a quality instrument without any obvious flaws. It would take an experienced person 5 minutes to open the box and have a look at the bass. I realise that the shop ships maybe hundreds of guitars a day but if they can`t be bothered to check what they are sending out, to me that is not right.

And I may add that the setup was rubbish as well. If I wasn`t able to do my own setups and had kept the bass, you are looking at £50 for a decent set up. If Thomann can send their own budget P bass form Germany to the UK for £90 and the set up is almost spot on, why cant they do this with a bass at 5 times the price?

But hey, I have bought other products form them in the past and they were spot on so there not all bad.
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And, we had a thread a couple of months ago, from a guy who purchased a bass that was advertised as “new in box”.

He was livid that the original packing tape had been cut, and resealed using “Guitar Center” packing tape.

Again, your issue is with Fender QC, not Anderton’s.
 
#92
tfer said:
And, we had a thread a couple of months ago, from a guy who purchased a bass that was advertised as “new in box”.

He was livid that the original packing tape had been cut, and resealed using “Guitar Center” packing tape.

Again, your issue is with Fender QC, not Anderton’s.
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Sorry mate but you have me mixed up with another contributor. I have no problem with Fender qc :)

So as not to derail this thread any further. I bought a bass from Andertons, it had some flaws, I thought at the time they should have checked the bass but I seem to be wrong on that count. I returned the bass, they gave me back my money no problem.

I have nothing against the shop, I will most likely use them again. I thank you!:bassist:
 
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#94
eccles77 said:
Ah but when I bought it, it wasn`t listed as a B stock item, just a normal listing. They only said it was B stock when they relisted it. Hence the naughty bit ;)
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They listed it as B stock when they found out it was B stock, but not before. Doesn't seem in the least naughty.

Stop grumbling or Captain Lee will send Chappers round to give you a good slapping with a haddock (plaice also available)!
 
#95
eccles77 said:
It may seem like a waste of time and resources to you but £500+ is a lot of money to me and when paying that kind of money, I expect a quality instrument without any obvious flaws. It would take an experienced person 5 minutes to open the box and have a look at the bass. I realise that the shop ships maybe hundreds of guitars a day but if they can`t be bothered to check what they are sending out, to me that is not right.

And I may add that the setup was rubbish as well. If I wasn`t able to do my own setups and had kept the bass, you are looking at £50 for a decent set up.

But hey, I have bought other products form them in the past and they were spot on so there not all bad.
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You're assuming that for volume items it even gets into a shop. I can assure you that for many of the operations that ship as many as Andertons it probably goes from dock to warehouse, then to you, and never goes near anyone in the shop and not near anyone who is experienced. It might take five minutes to check it, but you'd have to have the warehouse person find the item, take it to the person for checking, have it checked, and then back out for dispatch. It might be easier if batched for the checker, but then that needs more control of how they are stacked. It might easily add up to an extra £5 in costs for each instrument in a market where there may not be much more than £5 price differential between competitors. Since most items get QC before they leave the factory then if the fault rate is, say, 5%, then saving £100 in checking costs, and paying an extra £20 in shipping costs for the ones that don't meet standards is £80 in their pocket over each 10 sales, plus they make more sales.

If Thomann can send their own budget P bass form Germany to the UK for £90 and the set up is almost spot on, why cant they do this with a bass at 5 times the price?
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I doubt Thomann is doing the set up. It will be someone in the Far East before it's sent out. It might mean that G&L needs to do better.
 
#96
So, in the end this is what happened: the bass was delivered accordingly, but I didn't like a few things: the box looked ok, but the bass was inside wrapped in a kinda paper and that was it, nothing to really protect it from moving inside the box.
One of the pick ups had a loose screw ( which I easily sorted but I didn't like it).
The setup could be better.
The box had been previously opened, why I don't know.
 

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