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Musicians Friend - customer service

xbud

xbud

Nov 9, 2012
706
1,207
Southwestern, PA
#1
So I troll E-bay and all the usual sites looking for a deal on a specific bass - G&L M2500 Tribute - Preferably in Black with the Maple neck. I played one at a local store and loved it, unfortunately the local retailer is not offering a deal and is asking $100 more than I can find anywhere else.

So I am on Musicians Friend and I see the G&L in Honeyburst being offered as a Black Friday deal for $499 but they are unfortunately sold out. I check E-bay a few minutes later and the same deal is on there...So I am thinking they have one left and I have a chance to get one. So I quickly buy it now and pay. I am excited to get such a good deal.

A few days later I send an e-mail to customer service to get tracking details and I am told they have no record of this info and need more info. I provide the additional details and I am quickly informed that they do not have the honeyburst in stock and they are not planning to order anymore of that color, but that they do have the Black in stock. So I am thinking this is my luckyday, they are going to switch out the Honeyburst for the Black and honor the deal, so I state that I would be willing to accept the black in replacement of the Honeyburst.

Moments - (Maybe three minutes) I recieve an e-mail that my Paypal payment has been refunded and a reply e-mail that my money has been refunded and the order cancelled and that if I want the Black Model then to place another order for that bass since the original order never shipped!

Unbelievable, I have never felt so mistreated and miss-led at the same time. I have now vowed to stop doing business with Musicians Friend and Guitar Center - Which I have spent over $3K with in the last couple of years.

I know the response I will get,...you got your money back move on with your life. These things happen....

I have taken a beating on E-bay and classified ads in the past because I setup no reserve auctions and it went for less than I expected, and I told myself, thats O.K., think of all the deals you have made out on in the past, this is just payback, or karma if you will.

I'm done ranting. Sorry for the long post, I just know that it gets under my skin when these things happen.

Carry on......
 
#3
I know situations like this are frustrating.
But keep in mind that the Customer Sevice Depts. of most large retailers are nothing more than call centers where the employees aren't always versed in the retailer's policies...or even the products being being sold. Especially the temps who are hired this time of year.
 
#4
XBUD,

I'm very sorry to hear about this situation. I received the email you sent us yesterday evening and I'd like to thank you for reaching out to us. I'm looking into this right now and I will get you taken care of. I sincerely apologize that you did not receive exceptional customer service in regard to your G&L order, and I will be taking action to see that it never happens again. We want all of our customers to be confident in purchasing from us, and situations like this definitely do not instill confidence. I'll make sure that you're taken care of. If you have any questions before I have an appropriate solution for you, please feel free to email us.

[email protected]


Sincerely,
Casey P
 
#6
Thanks Casey,

I appreciate the phone call and smoothing this out, I was certain that the request for management review would have been ignored. I am glad to see you got it and contacted me.

Thanks again,

Thanks for the contact information as well.
 
#8
Usually these kinds of things happen because of poor communication within the organization, i.e. different departments handling the transaction(s). There is no intent to inconvenience you but it sure does feel like it at the time. I'm glad to hear that Casey from MF reached out to you and is taking care of the matter. Let us know how it works out for you!
 
#9
MF offers great deals to TB members and I've enjoyed my share. Like any large company a glitch happens from time to time but overall great service, return policy, and product offering ... IMHO.
 
#10
My problem with MF is there back ordering. I ordered the rack kit for my Genz Benz Shuttlemax 12. It showed in-stock when placed the order, a week later it hit me, wait I should have my rack kit by now so I called and was informed it was back ordered. I told the woman that it wasn't listed as back ordered when I placed the order but she was only apologetic. Well, the back order date passed by and still no rack kit so I called again and was told the date was pushed back again. What bugged me the most about this is I never received an Email stating they were put onto back order. I could have canceled my order and purchased a used set on ebay for $15 instead.
 
#11
That actually looks correct. The 1st order was treated as a cancellation with a refund. The 2nd order was a brand new order. On several occasions after ordering online and make payment, I have called them up to cancel the order and reorder a different although pretty close to the same item. They have never applied the previous payment to the new order. It's always cancel/refund then new order/payment.
 
#12
xbud said:
So I troll E-bay and all the usual sites looking for a deal on a specific bass - G&L M2500 Tribute - Preferably in Black with the Maple neck. I played one at a local store and loved it, unfortunately the local retailer is not offering a deal and is asking $100 more than I can find anywhere else.

So I am on Musicians Friend and I see the G&L in Honeyburst being offered as a Black Friday deal for $499 but they are unfortunately sold out. I check E-bay a few minutes later and the same deal is on there...So I am thinking they have one left and I have a chance to get one. So I quickly buy it now and pay. I am excited to get such a good deal.

A few days later I send an e-mail to customer service to get tracking details and I am told they have no record of this info and need more info. I provide the additional details and I am quickly informed that they do not have the honeyburst in stock and they are not planning to order anymore of that color, but that they do have the Black in stock. So I am thinking this is my luckyday, they are going to switch out the Honeyburst for the Black and honor the deal, so I state that I would be willing to accept the black in replacement of the Honeyburst.

Moments - (Maybe three minutes) I recieve an e-mail that my Paypal payment has been refunded and a reply e-mail that my money has been refunded and the order cancelled and that if I want the Black Model then to place another order for that bass since the original order never shipped!

Unbelievable, I have never felt so mistreated and miss-led at the same time. I have now vowed to stop doing business with Musicians Friend and Guitar Center - Which I have spent over $3K with in the last couple of years.

I know the response I will get,...you got your money back move on with your life. These things happen....

I have taken a beating on E-bay and classified ads in the past because I setup no reserve auctions and it went for less than I expected, and I told myself, thats O.K., think of all the deals you have made out on in the past, this is just payback, or karma if you will.

I'm done ranting. Sorry for the long post, I just know that it gets under my skin when these things happen.

Carry on......
Click to expand...

I've been playing G&L's for a number of years. If the one that is local sounds good and plays good . . . buy it. Each instrument has a different tone b/c they're made of wood. See if the local guy will give you a deal but don't expect the MF deal. Buy the local one. You'll soon forget about the extra bit you paid b/c you'll have the bass that you liked.
 
#13
JxBass said:
MF offers great deals to TB members and I've enjoyed my share. Like any large company a glitch happens from time to time but overall great service, return policy, and product offering ... IMHO.
Click to expand...

+1

Just ordered an entire new rig from MF and couldn't be happier. I am as guilty as anyone about liking to handle things by email and via the interwebz but sometimes simply picking up the phone will save a lot of time and frustration.
 
#14
Thats why I like Talkbass - Always good feedback.

Musicians Friend - Casey - Has made good on the original deal and went above and beyond by throwing in some extras which I respectfully declined. It was not needed and not what I was after. I was looking for the deal that I had paid for. Nothing more.

I've been playing G&L's for a number of years. If the one that is local sounds good and plays good . . . buy it. Each instrument has a different tone b/c they're made of wood. See if the local guy will give you a deal but don't expect the MF deal. Buy the local one. You'll soon forget about the extra bit you paid b/c you'll have the bass that you liked.
Click to expand...

Great response, and something I did not take lightly.

I wrestled with this for a while. I am "usually" a proponent of dealing local and keeping the money local, but when it comes to dealing with certain stores, you know they are out to stick it to you when they know you want something. I tried to negotiate a deal but I could see it was just going to result in a fruitless effort.....The G&L was nice, but I was not interested in paying more than I had to.
 
#15
Glad things worked out for you. I understand about local stores. There's one near me that won't budge on price for anything. I just don't understand it. They have to compete with the local GC's and the internet and yet they are steadfast to sticking to their high prices.

Yesterday, I stopped in to see what they have (they sometimes get some used stuff that's good) and they had a used Ampeg 810 (tolex was beat up a bit) and they wanted $850 for it. Not sure what they're smoking but $850? Come on.
 
#16
Really, which would you expect to have the most current and accurate information ... the retailer's website or eBay? There was no harm and no foul, other than the OP's expectations weren't met.

I usually ignore these rants ... people today are just hot-headed and act like unhappy children when things don't go the way they think they should. The OP should be embarrassed that he didn't give MF a chance to fix the situation before flaming them in a public forum. FWIW, I've never had a problem with MF that wasn't fairly addressed.
 
#17
I always encourage kudos when any company goes out of it's way to make things right. It's the honorable thing to do IMO and refreshing to see. Mistakes get made, "sh*t sometimes happens", it's how it's resolved that separates the good from the average.
 
#20
I had a similar experience but with a different outcome. I had ordered an all white M2000: a special run that was available for a short while at a crazy low price ($399 or less, can't remember) both from some vendors on eBay and from MF. After I placed the order (with apparent stock) it came back as being backordered. I was in no hurry, so I thought OK I'll wait. Over the next 3 months, the "expected" date would arrive and then be pushed back exactly 3 weeks. That date arrived, and another 3 week push back. And so on. Finally, after about the 5th of these, I called customer service. They said it was backordered. I insisted that there were none available anywhere, they were likely a one-off factory special and that the backordering was nonsense. Kicked it up two levels of supervisors and got someone who finally admitted there weren't any and there never would be. At last! So I suggested they sell me the white/black trim GTS version for the same price. They wouldn't bite. Then we haggled (yup, haggled) and I got the GTS for $475. I don't know if this is a victory for customer service or a defeat. Either way, it was my experience. MF is a funny place, for sure. When the computers are running things, it's nuts. When you get a human—or at least a high enough up human—it's sort of reasonable.
 

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