Re: OT: Warning! Musician's Friend Warning!

[Michael Clark <mcl451@airmail.net>]

mark,

Sorry you have had this experience.  Very common.  But, it's not happend to
me.  Here's why - I think.

Here's the deal:  ONLY buy from the manager of the department (at least) if
not the store manager.  Develop a rapport with the store manager -
especially if you buy a lot of gizmos or expensive gizmos.  I have found
that once the person on the phone actually activates enough brain cells to
understand that you want to speak with the manager, and then actually
remembers who the manager is and how to actually connect you, and then does
actually connect you, and you are then actually speaking with the manager -
you will be listened to and the service will be good.  That has been my
experience with GC.

Don't deal with chumps who tomorrow will be asking someone if they want
fries and a large Coke.

Stairway To Heaven destroys brain cells.

A rule of business #1:  Always deal with the real decision maker.  Anything
else is wasting your time (not always true, but mostly).

A rule of business #2:  Go with the person who has the most to lose.

My 2 cents.

M.


At 05:58 PM 12/5/00 -0800, you wrote:
>Yes this is so right.  My problem is that I'm new to the bay area and I
don't know
>any other places.  Frankly, I'm a little amazed at the lack of good music
shops.
>I'm going to try Banana's at Large in San Rafael tomorrow.  It's a hike
for me,
>but it may be worth while and the guy on the phone seemed very helpful and
honest.
>
>Mark
>
>
>
>rich wrote:
>
>> Sorry to hear about your troubles, Mark.  Tough one to beat,
>> though...Musician's Friend and Guitar Center get so many incentives
>> and great buys from the manufacturers because they buy so damn much,
>> that they can drive the smaller stores (with possibly better service)
>> out of business.
>>
>> Very few of the mom/pop stores carry a selection that those
>> stores/catalogs do, though.  They just can't carry that much
>> inventory.  Which leaves people with taste for gear that's a bit left
>> of center no choice sometimes.  Also, often the small shops can't
>> even get premium brands because they don't sell enough units!
>>
>> the best bet i have had is finding someone at the store, or on the
>> phone that seems like they have more than just a couple of hampsters
>> between their ears, and STICK TO THEM.  make them aware that you will
>> only buy from them because they are the ONLY one in the store that
>> gives you the service you want.  that usually means you will be
>> buying from a manager.  nice side effect, though, is that if you're
>> dealing with a manager at a high enough level, they can discount
>> beyond what the little chumps can.  If you forge a relationship with
>> someone, they are more likely to help you out, too.
>>
>> best of luck,
>>
>> rich
>>
>> ps.  being lied to by a GC salesman?  ...like getting yelled at by
>> someone with Tourette's syndrome.
>>
>> >Hey.
>> >
>> >I just had/am having a horrible experience with Musician's Friend.
>> >I ordered a
>> >GR-30 and a GK-2A, as they were blowing out the GR-30s at a great price
($399)
>> >I paid extra to have it shipped next day FedEx.  The order was done on 
>the
>> >27th.  For some reason they decided not to ship it until the 29th.  I
have not
>> >received anything from them at this point.  They gave me a FedEx 
>tracking
>> >number, but FedEx claims to have never entered that number into their
system.
>> >Musician's Friend told me they had started a trace with FedEx, but I
found out
>> >yesterday that they never had.  This was confirmed by both FedEx, and a
>> >customer service manager at Musician's Friend.
>> >
>> >I was totally lied to.
>> >
>> >Fed up with waiting, I attempted to buy a GR-33 from The Guitar Center,
>> >Musician's Friend's brick and mortar sister.  Via the phone, I made the
>> >salesman hunt down both the synth and the pick up and put my name on
them.  He
>> >claimed he could see both units in front of him.  When I arrived, the
salesman
>> >launched into an explanation about how the GK-2 blister pack only
looked as if
>> >it were missing stuff, when in fact it was not.  "Roland just uses the
same
>> >package for a lot of it's products."  Of course, the pick up was
>> >missing all of
>> >the mounting hardware and cables.  You could see where some of the
>> >double sided
>> >tape still clung to the pickup.  I just turned around and walked out.
>> >
>> >I was totally lied to.
>> >
>> >Last Friday I was told that if the "trace" didn't turn up something by
>> >yesterday, they would just send me another one, next day, at no extra
charge.
>> >Yesterday I was told that the item was no longer in stock, and the
trace might
>> >take weeks.  They refuse to cancel the order and refund my money.  They
refuse
>> >to sell me a GR-33 at a discount.  After speaking to another FedEx
>> >rep today, I
>> >find that still no trace has been put on this order.
>> >
>> >Finally I get an email telling me that they are sending me a GR-30
>> >and I should
>> >receive it tomorrow.  Were they out of stock?  Are they really sending 
>it?
>> >Good question.  Oh, and get this: They are now out of the GK-2 pick up,
so my
>> >synth will be useless.
>> >
>> >So this is my story.  Use the knowledge wisely.  I will never give a
dime to
>> >either Musician's Friend, or The Guitar Center again.
>> >
>> >Mark Sottilaro
>
>