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Musician's Friend has become the WORST!

jjbb123

jjbb123

Nov 7, 2004
549
256
Midwest
www.jblairimages.com
#1
Just a rant...I'm sure there are plenty like this on the forum.

Not too long ago I ordered a brand new bass from MF. It arrived and all the knobs were falling off. Literally. The entire preamp/control area was barely connected to the knobs. They were bent and when plugged in the sound would completely cut out when you turned knobs. Like broken. I contacted them and they said "well, yeah, we sent you a floor model from one of our sister stores." Like that is just normal when you sell someone a BRAND NEW bass?!

FFW to 2 weeks ago I ordered a $1800 dollar bass. They were the only place that had them in stock. It arrived quickly and I set it up and there were some scratches and dings on some of the final frets and there were frets next to each other that were the same notes. Go up half step and the notes are the same. So it needed fret work and setup to even start to use it. So I contacted them and got an exchange ordered. Order confirmed. Sent it back. It arrived back to them Monday so I started calling and "chatting" with customer service every day. Not one time did they have any idea what was going on with my exchange! One person said its shipping today. Then the next person says there aren't any in stock! I know there were because she TOLD me there is one in the box in the warehouse. My order went in and I got the last one. So for 5 days they either said "it's shipping today" or "there aren't any...just want and see what happens". Then today the lady asks me if I'd like to do an exchange! They literally have no idea what's going on.

I finally called again today and just cancelled the order. Order was placed 9 days ago and they still don't know what's going on and think I should just wait and see what happens! Never get a call back. No one ever actually checks on anything. They just look at the same screen I look at and say "it's processing".

Long story way too long...don't ever order from Musicians Friend or Guitar Center. IF you ever get your order it will most likely not be new and will be one of those pieces of junk they have hanging on the wall that everyone abuses for a year. And call it new.
 
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#6
jjbb123 said:
The amount of times I saw this come up when I searched for recent reviews of them is unbelievable. I don't know how they're still in business.
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Well, they've been going bankrupt "any day now" for at least a decade. Someday, the house of cards will fall in.
 
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#7
bholder said:
Well, they've been going bankrupt "any day now" for at least a decade. Someday, the house of cards will fall in.
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And I've been a customer for like 15 years ?! And I thought the first bad bass was a fluke so I didn't look into it much besides being pissed that the customer service rep acted like sending me used damage stuff as new is totally normal.

Then after this crap these last few weeks I looked up reviews and there are sooooo many with the same story. What a joke.
 
#9
Last bass I got from MF was a floor model. I had one in NC and one in KY to choose from so I got pics of both and picked one. I asked for and got an open box discount. The discount was enough I paid less than new bass price for a new bass and a decent Fender gig bag.
 
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#10
fhm555 said:
Last bass I got from MF was a floor model. I had one in NC and one in KY to choose from so I got pics of both and picked one. I asked for and got an open box discount. The discount was enough I paid less than new bass price for a new bass and a decent Fender gig bag.
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Well that's great if you know that going in! But if you buy a "brand new" bass online that you should assume is brand new, untouched, and THEN they send you a used demo beat up floor model…for full price. That's different.
 
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#11
jjbb123 said:
Well that's great if you know that going in! But if you buy a "brand new" bass online that you should assume is brand new, untouched, and THEN they send you a used demo beat up floor model…for full price. That's different.
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The transaction was initiated with the intent of buying a new bass in a factory sealed box, but the model I wanted was a limited edition and the only 2 remaining examples were in dealer stock and no mention of their status beyond my new bass being shipped from a dealer rather than the warehouse, were made until I asked if my my bass was in the stock room or on the floor. My minion said he didn't know so I asked him to confirm that for me. He did and called me back with the news that they were both on the floor. It was only then that I asked for pictures and an open box discount. Had I assumed they were NIB I would have received a repacked floor model, but I confirmed that status before placing my order and was able to pick the one I wanted and receive an open box discount, all because I did not assume I would be receiving what I wanted. IME if I order something from a place with both retail and mail order capabilities, i've always been told where my item would originate, but it's status was never mentioned until I asked specifically if it was sealed in the box or on display.
Short form, I've never had a sales person volunteer that info, but I've also never had one lie to me about it when I ask.
 
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#12
Yeah, I would've had no reason to assume I wasn't getting a brand new one. And I wasn't aware of their "sister" stores until my broken bass showed up and I called. They clearly know what they're doing there since he told me so matter-of-factory "we'll we sent you a floor model. Of course it's damaged." Like I was out of line for thinking my new bass would actually be new.

bottom line, this shouldn't be the norm. And it shouldn't be my job to investigate the situation when buying a new instrument. I'll never buy from them again.
 
#13
And regarding my most recent situation…I shouldn't have to call everyday for a week trying to figure out why my exchange isn't being shipped. And then get a different story every single day. Until finally yesterday she just says "well, I think we just probably don't have one in stock to send."

ok, so after 9 days you don't refund me?! Or contact me? I still haven't gotten my $1800 refund. The one I sent back got to them Monday morning.
 
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#15
knigel said:
So you expected them to ship out a replacement or give you a refund before they got your return back? Am I reading this correctly?
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Nope. They said they'd be sending the replacement immediately upon receiving my return. They got my return back 2 days later. And for the next 5 days it just said "processing". And customer service said it was scheduled to be shipped "that day" every day I called. And to just keep waiting. Until yesterday when they think maybe they just don't have one. Even though it was ordered and confirmed they had one.
 
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#18
jjbb123 said:
Nope. They said they'd be sending the replacement immediately upon receiving my return. They got my return back 2 days later. And for the next 5 days it just said "processing". And customer service said it was scheduled to be shipped "that day" every day I called. And to just keep waiting. Until yesterday when they think maybe they just don't have one. Even though it was ordered and confirmed they had one.
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Ah gotcha.
 
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#20
knigel said:
Ah gotcha.
Click to expand...

I probably caused some confusion in my explanation because the exchange order was put in at the same time I got my return label. So of course they wouldn't actually send the exchange yet, but the fact that it took them 9 days after the confirmed order to finally just tell me they ordered me something they think they don't even have in stock. but kept telling me to just wait and see what happens.
 

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