Muscian's Friend? Really??

[Peteyboy]

Semi-relatedly: I ordered a socket-set via Amazon and they sent me this obviously used version with fingerprints all over the chrome. I contacted the seller and Amazon just refunded 100% and said keep or discard it. So obviously I kept it. Took me about a half-hour to wipe it all down with disinfectant.

 

[farace]

MF = GC = Music123.com
Either take a nice discount for keeping it, or return it for a new one.

Aren’t they also Music & Arts and Something & Woodwinds as well?

 

[pcake]

i'm not in love with MF, but what happened to you, OP, is exceptionally awful. if they were out of the amps, it should say so on the amp's page. they could have called you to see if you wanted the used one, but deciding for you and charging full price. wow, that's some very bad business!

something i don't like about MF is that you have to phone to cancel something on backorder, and they want to know why you're cancelling. sweetwater is easy to cancel backorders - just email your rep - and sam ash cancels with no questions asked and a much shorter wait on the phone. amazon lets you just click cancel.

 

[Charlzm]

So last week I ordered a new Markbass Little Mark 250 Blackline amp head through Musician's "Friend." I was really looking forward to the amp head and even dusted off a place for it (I never dust). Today, I get a plain, brown cardboard box from Guitar Center (#217, Dublin California). "What's this?" I say, as I had not ordered anything from Guitar Center (#217, Dublin California).

I opened the box to find a clearly used, unboxed, dinged up, Markbass Little Mark 250 Blackline amp head. No paperwork. No invoice. Nothing but bubblewrap and a 'scratch and dent' Markbass head covered in fingerprints from Guitar Center ......#217...... Dublin, California.

I called Musicians "Friend" and was told that they partner with Guitar Center and that there have been issues with Guitar Center sending floor demos and used items out as new. Wow. I get that I'm not Phil Lesh or Marcus Miller; that I'm just one of the 'unwashed masses' but seriously Musicians "Friend" and Guitar Center (#217, Dublin California) this ain't right.

So instead of irritating the wife with mediocre bass playing at full volume through my new Markbass amp head, I am wrapping this paperweight back up in its bubble wrap, putting it back in its brown cardboard box and sending it on its way.

Musicians "Friend" ain't getting any more coin from this guy. I'll stick with Sweetwater, where I have had really good products and service.

Seriously, I get that a lot of musicians like their guitars and basses to have the relic treatment, but I don't expect a brand new piece of electronic equipment to be relic'd as well. The yellow font on Markbass is bad enough...

MF and GC have been in bed for ages. The 'rona is probably making things worse for them. But to send a floor model as a "new" is a bridge too far. I'd either return for refund (as you have done) or have asked for a partial refund and kept it.

 

[Sixgunn]

So last week I ordered a new Markbass Little Mark 250 Blackline amp head through Musician's "Friend." I was really looking forward to the amp head and even dusted off a place for it (I never dust). Today, I get a plain, brown cardboard box from Guitar Center (#217, Dublin California). "What's this?" I say, as I had not ordered anything from Guitar Center (#217, Dublin California).

I opened the box to find a clearly used, unboxed, dinged up, Markbass Little Mark 250 Blackline amp head. No paperwork. No invoice. Nothing but bubblewrap and a 'scratch and dent' Markbass head covered in fingerprints from Guitar Center ......#217...... Dublin, California.

I called Musicians "Friend" and was told that they partner with Guitar Center and that there have been issues with Guitar Center sending floor demos and used items out as new. Wow. I get that I'm not Phil Lesh or Marcus Miller; that I'm just one of the 'unwashed masses' but seriously Musicians "Friend" and Guitar Center (#217, Dublin California) this ain't right.

So instead of irritating the wife with mediocre bass playing at full volume through my new Markbass amp head, I am wrapping this paperweight back up in its bubble wrap, putting it back in its brown cardboard box and sending it on its way.

Musicians "Friend" ain't getting any more coin from this guy. I'll stick with Sweetwater, where I have had really good products and service.

Seriously, I get that a lot of musicians like their guitars and basses to have the relic treatment, but I don't expect a brand new piece of electronic equipment to be relic'd as well. The yellow font on Markbass is bad enough...

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[wmhill]

Welcome to the Guitar Center disgruntlement club.

 

[JimmyM]

Good decision Sweetwater makes an attempt at good service. Sam Ash is ok even better is your small local carry-out store.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Not all are good.

 

[Snibborwocky]

I use a personal rule that if I absolutely HAVE to use MF, I only order accessories from them (cables, strings, ect). All instruments, amps, electronics are purchased on SW. I just have seen too many horror stories with MF and this one adds to the list of NOPE!

 

[slagheap]

i no longer buy basses & guitars, new or used, online - learned my lessons on that. amps and accessories, on the other hand, i do. never had even one problem with matt at sweetwater. he's never made a mistake, service is excellent, no problems.

 

[Zoffy]

Thanks for the replies; it's interesting to see others' take on things.

I had no idea that MF and GC were BFFs. I ended up returning the amp to the Guitar Center in Roseville CA. I have to give them props, they were really helpful and the return was pretty painless.

As per Sixgunn's request here is the clearest pic I have. You cant see all of the greasy fingerprints and two good sized nicks on the edge in this pic, but this is how it was shipped.

I understand that in the grand scheme of things it's not that big of a deal, but it is poor customer service and they permanently lost a customer with a decent amount of disposable income.

 

[Rojd]

I used to order a lot from mf, but not so much these days. There's been a few times where I've ordered a new pedal or amp from them and clearly received a used customer return. They've always been good about taking them back. I've had the same thing happen with sw too.

 

[MCF]

I think there's a shortage of new amps due to slowdowns in manufacturing because of the "virus". That doesn't justify what they did to you, which is despicable. I've been seeing lots of "currently not available" on websites like GC, MF, and Amazon for gear that is current. There's probably lots of this going on and they're banking on people not sending the stuff back.

If they’re banking on it, then at least here in CA, they’re intentionally breaking the law. Thanks for posting this. MF/GC has gone so downhill in the last five years, I doubt we’ll have them to kick around for much longer.

 

[MCF]

Isn't/wasn't that Mitt Romney's company? Seems I have heard that name recently. Ahh, found it - this is Rolling Stone's take on how Bain Capital destroys companies: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital - wonder if that is still going on with places like GC?

It is.

 

[mikewalker]

You think there is an AMP shortage... just try and buy a reasonably-priced 5 inch orbital sander!! Went to 4 different stores today, ALL of which claimed they had local stock on it, according to their websites. Bait&Switch CITY! NONE of them had it, so I basically burned two hours driving all over town and standing in lines with my covid mask on. Finally just bought the bullet and purchased one for $100 ( about twice what I was planning to spend on a light duty tool I will probably use for a whole hour over my entire lifetime...)

 

[MCF]

Thanks for the replies; it's interesting to see others' take on things.

I had no idea that MF and GC were BFFs. I ended up returning the amp to the Guitar Center in Roseville CA. I have to give them props, they were really helpful and the return was pretty painless.

As per Sixgunn's request here is the clearest pic I have. You cant see all of the greasy fingerprints and two good sized nicks on the edge in this pic, but this is how it was shipped.

I understand that in the grand scheme of things it's not that big of a deal, but it is poor customer service and they permanently lost a customer with a decent amount of disposable income.


View attachment 3863499

You are fortunate that both the Arden and Roseville stores are generally decent. There was a guy named Micheal at the Arden store who was always helpful to me when I lived up there. You also have some good independents there; hope they’re able to survive all this.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

So last week I ordered a new Markbass Little Mark 250 Blackline amp head through Musician's "Friend." I was really looking forward to the amp head and even dusted off a place for it (I never dust). Today, I get a plain, brown cardboard box from Guitar Center (#217, Dublin California). "What's this?" I say, as I had not ordered anything from Guitar Center (#217, Dublin California).

I opened the box to find a clearly used, unboxed, dinged up, Markbass Little Mark 250 Blackline amp head. No paperwork. No invoice. Nothing but bubblewrap and a 'scratch and dent' Markbass head covered in fingerprints from Guitar Center ......#217...... Dublin, California.

I called Musicians "Friend" and was told that they partner with Guitar Center and that there have been issues with Guitar Center sending floor demos and used items out as new. Wow. I get that I'm not Phil Lesh or Marcus Miller; that I'm just one of the 'unwashed masses' but seriously Musicians "Friend" and Guitar Center (#217, Dublin California) this ain't right.

So instead of irritating the wife with mediocre bass playing at full volume through my new Markbass amp head, I am wrapping this paperweight back up in its bubble wrap, putting it back in its brown cardboard box and sending it on its way.

Musicians "Friend" ain't getting any more coin from this guy. I'll stick with Sweetwater, where I have had really good products and service.

Seriously, I get that a lot of musicians like their guitars and basses to have the relic treatment, but I don't expect a brand new piece of electronic equipment to be relic'd as well. The yellow font on Markbass is bad enough...

Well, my issue with musician's friend is that my amp was supposed to be here on Monday. Ups sent me an email saying they can't make the scheduled delivery time. Tracking says they're still waiting for the item. Musician's friend's tracking says they're waiting on UPS. I chatted with them this morning, and support says that my amp "shipped" on Monday. And, that they're waiting for UPS to pick it up. So...what that means is that they never shipped it. They just marked the order shipped on Thursday, sent me tracking info on it, and never even packaged the amp, and still haven't.

See, I was really thinking that they might have dropped it or something, and were looking for a replacement. She said no, its just sitting in the warehouse for no apparent reason whatsoever, with no rhyme or reason why I haven't been playing it for the last 3 days. $1600 too. It's not like it was a 200 buck deal. I want my amp.

 

[dponbass]

Yes Music&Arts is part of GC. Woodwind Brasswind as well, same warehouse. Read the articles, the backorders are more related to outright telling manufacturers they will not pay their bills than availability. Wall Street Journal is a good source as is Moody's. Search WSJ + Guitar Center Debt, you will see how much trouble there was 30-60 days ago. It won't get better from what I can see. I hope so, we do need them. Well, some of us do.

Oh, and see what happened with them and Fulltone recently. They tried to spin being shut off by Fulltone to being "moral". Gross.

Your experience is a result of sourcing products from existing stock in GCs, regardless of condition. Trying to reduce stock, save capital on buying new items. It's not helping.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Musicians Friend was just a way for Guitar Center to sell items tax free online before the SCOTUS ruling eliminated that. They are one in the same. Usually it works fine, but they are limited on supply currently. There are a items that are in short supply currently and the database says there is one in store X, but it shouldn’t be in stock because it’s a heavily used floor model.

 

[dponbass]

Musicians Friend was just a way for Guitar Center to sell items tax free online before the SCOTUS ruling eliminated that. They are one in the same. Usually it works fine, but they are limited on supply currently. There are a items that are in short supply currently and the database says there is one in store X, but it shouldn’t be in stock because it’s a heavily used floor model.

But the good news is the return policy is 180 days.... if they last that long.

 

[Chrisk-K]

I’ve been using MF for more than 20 years with no issue. I almost always get 15-20% off deals, and MF offers a fantastic return policy. Add to that 8% cash back. What is there not to like?