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Double Bass What happened to Marvin Tailpieces?

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Jeremy Allen

Jeremy Allen

Supporting Member
Mar 18, 2002
2,345
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Bloomington, IN
#1
Does anybody have any information on the status of this company or the guy who runs it? I ordered a tailpiece at the beginning of last summer, my credit card was charged, they sent me an email saying it had shipped, and I never received anything. I've tried to contact him (is it Kevin?) multiple times via email and on TalkBass and I haven't heard a peep.
 
#6
He contacted me last month and said he was going over the emails from last year and stumbled on my complaints; said it was too late to issue a refund, but he could send me a check or send me two tailpieces (one that I had ordered, one free).

I think it's absurd that someone can have a business and be completely unreachable to a customer who gave them money; I can't tell what's worse, that he would have been ignoring me or that my communications were simply never read. To his credit, once he discovered the problem seven months later, he did what he could to make it right, and I accepted his offer of the two tailpieces. So the issue is closed, but I suppose I would recommend talking to him in person if you're going to order from him.
 
#7
Jeremy, I'm unclear about what happened. "It was too late to issue a refund, but he could send me a check or send me two tailpieces" Wasn't the check an offer of a refund?

I met Kevin at Bass 2012 in Copenhagen. He seemed like a super nice guy. We talked about the difficulty of exporting to Europe, and design issues such as adapting the product for 5-stringers. He's some kind of scientist or something by day. Not a music merchandiser or businessman. The tailpieces are a labor of love, and I don't think he makes any profit from it at all. When you are trying to sell a very niche product to a very niche market, it can be hard to always provide good customer service. Mistakes will be made. I'd cut him some slack. He offers what is by all accounts an excellent product, and has no hope of ever getting rich off the idea. True though, that it's unacceptable to be out of touch for so long with an unhappy customer. Perhaps he should make an arrangement with a distributor. This would take the weight of managing sales, CS, and shipping off his shoulders, but at a high cost. As I know personally, going through a middleman pushes costs up, and can make the retail price unrealistic in a market such as this.

I'm glad things seem to have been resolved!
 
#8
robobass said:
"It was too late to issue a refund, but he could send me a check or send me two tailpieces" Wasn't the check an offer of a refund?
Click to expand...

The purchase was made on a credit card, and after 90 days you cannot get the charge refunded. That's what he meant.

Although I'm a college professor now, I have worked in retail and I do operate my own one-man online business (selling my CDs) for which I'm required to read the emails as they come in and process the orders just as Kevin does. I would be mortified to think I had missed so many efforts by a customer to contact me after I had taken their money. There's not really any way to spin it as being OK; all that can be done is to make it right as far as is possible, and as I said Kevin did so. So, again, "we're cool," and I won't order from him again without speaking on the phone. That's all.
 
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#9
Jeremy Allen said:
The purchase was made on a credit card, and after 90 days you cannot get the charge refunded. That's what he meant.

Although I'm a college professor now, I have worked in retail and I do operate my own one-man online business (selling my CDs) for which I'm required to read the emails as they come in and process the orders just as Kevin does. I would be mortified to think I had missed so many efforts by a customer to contact me after I had taken their money. There's not really any way to spin it as being OK; all that can be done is to make it right as far as is possible, and as I said Kevin did so. So, again, "we're cool," and I won't order from him again without speaking on the phone. That's all.
Click to expand...

Jeremy,
Yes, very hard to explain what happened, and not excusable. I also sell online and try very hard to provide the best service possible. To not do so just kills your brand! Did Kevin give any reason for this mishap? It's hard to imagine that anyone would intentionally snub a customer on a small purchase like this. Nothing to gain and lots to lose...
 
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