GC/mail order

[Greg House <ghunicycle@yahoo.com>]

--- Tim Nelson <psychle62@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hmmm, I've had a couple of less than ideal dealings
> with Musician's Fiend over the years, but nonetheless
> I do have to say that probably 90-95% of the purchases
> I've made through them have been fine; decent prices
> and reasonably fast delivery... I would definitely
> prefer to do business with the friendly locals, but I
> think overall we tend to make the Fiend out to be way
> worse than they really are.

That's because it only takes one less-then-ideal deal with a mailorder 
place to
undo years of goodwill, because it's inherently impersonal. If you have a 
bad
deal with the "friendly locals", chances are they might make it up to you 
later
on, and as long as they remain "friendly", then you'll probably still be 
happy
with them. You don't get this level of personal service or interaction 
with most
non-local businesses. Companies like Sweetwater and Full Compass try to 
give more
personal service by assigning you a specific sales person, if that person 
is
good,  it really helps, just like working with someone in person. I've 
worked
with Barb Lager at Full Compass for over 10 years now, and even though I 
don't
buy all that much stuff from her, she still remembers me when I call up 
for a
price. Frankly, that's better then most of the local shops. Even the ones 
where
I've bought a guitar or other expensive thing in the past don't seem to 
recognize
me when I come in. 

So, in my case, the "friendly locals" could be more friendly as they 
charge me
almost twice what the mail order places want for the same stuff. I don't 
buy
there all that often. Frankly, I'd rather order something online or on the 
phone
then to have to deal with "GuitarGod Johnny"'s ego at the local music 
store. 

Not always true, when a friend of mine worked at a LMS, I went and bought 
there
much more often.

Greg

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