Who's been screwed by Musicians Friend?

[Fusion2]

i've made 4 buys from Musician's Frick a Friend and every one was a rip off, not the equip ordered, just what they sent either wasn't what i ordered or they didn't honor there price or policies...

zzound on the other hand has been straight up on every purchase i've made from them....

just a thought...

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Fuse:

I got nicked slightly by MF when they advertised Sony Data MD discs and sent TKD -- but they were willing to take them back.

I only buy small type items from MF and have had no other problem.

"MF" can mean many things.

Green Hornet

[Badger]

Good luck with them so far.

[jeffree]

I wouldn't ue the word "screwed," but I have had a couple of MF problems, particularly related to poor packing procedures. I had a Yamaha aw16g delivered on a misty day, for instance, with an open factory box and no external packaging--when I asked for a replacement, MF refused. I returned it and bought another from Music 123 with no problems.

I've had better luck with Zzounds, too, but those frequent glossy MF catalogues are great, aren't they?

J.

[Trace]

I've never had any problems with MF. Over the years I've gotten guitars an amp and several mics with no fuss.

[Nosferous]

About the only complaint I've had so far is one Jeffree pointed out- poor packaging. Holes in boxes, pathetic tape job...

But they've honored their 45 day price match thing no problem which is cool.

But the packaging thing always worries me, the only bad thing that occured from it really one time was a mic stand I ordered one of the clips for the cable was missing (not a big deal), I'm assuming it fell out of the hole in the box.

_Mike

[Fusion2]

well, they wouldn't honor a lower price find on 2 of my orders but here's the kicker, i ordered 2 mic stands, (on sale) and recived 2 cheap stands, not what was advertized or what i ordered, so i called them and said to send me 2 more of the correct stands and no shipping that i could just dump the cheap stands at a shop close by, damn if they didn't send the same cheap stands, (again) i called and had a fit (who wouldn't?) and all they said was send them back at my expense... never again...

as i posted, zzound has been a straigh shooter as far as a reseller so far for me...

thanks for posting back also...

[Gidge]

yeah, ive fucked a few musician's friends...so what?....

[DigitalDon]

MF is nothing compared with SAMASH. Ordered an Aardvark Q10 from them a year or so ago. Took 2 months to get (yeah I know it was back ordered for 1 month). I went through 3 salesmen in that time. Each one had "quit" since the last time I talked with them. I finally got my Q10 and it was defective. Sure it was a manufacturers defect but damn, enough is enough. Took another month to get a replacement and another salesman. Never again at SAMASH.

My only complaint with MF is it seems every time I've ordered (by phone) I get someone "new" who must have their transaction "approved" by a supervisor. Seems like it always adds 2 days to the delay.

Best so far? American Musical and 8th Street Music. Usually good prices, competent sales people and quick delivery.

DD

[Kelly5150]

I've had good luck with MF, AMS, JDSound... all fast shipping and no fuck ups...

Knock on wood....

[Kramer]

AMS is the best in the biz.

[jeffree]

Aren't AMS and Zzzounds related somehow? Seems like I once ordered from one and got a catalogue from the other.

J.

[Kramer]

Originally posted by jeffree
Aren't AMS and Zzzounds related somehow? Seems like I once ordered from one and got a catalogue from the other.

J.

Nope.....Guitar Center and Musicians Friend are one in the same though.

[muttley]

Amen to what kramer said, I've been doing biz with AMS for 18 yrs. MF will switch brands on you in reguards to cables on sale, no problem on big name brand eqpt.

In reguards to catalogues, these companies sell names/address's to one another.


da MUTT

[doulos]

sweetwater enough said

[jet-rocker]

AMS is the best in the biz.

Not for me. I'd never use them again if they were the last shop in town. Funny how experiences vary.

-J

[dafduc]

MF has always been great - about 12 purchases over 5 years, only problem was when I was trying to buy a 335, they were in the middle of a merger with Guitar Center, who didn't have a Gibson franchise - they kept me waiting for a while, I finally canceled and went through Veneman's, who matched the MF price.

I preferred Veneman's, but GC/MF swallowed them up. Sweetwater prices seem high.

Lately I've been buying at GC more and MF less, and I've noticed the MF catalogs aren't coming anymore. I'll still check 'em out at major purchase time...

Daf

[MISTERQCUE]

No probs here!

[Dave S.]

I’ve placed several orders with Musician’s Friend and never had a problem. Actually I had a problem with Zzounds where they charged my card for something that was never shipped. Took some heavy phone time to straighten out. I won’t shop there again.
Dave

[esun127]

I've learned that many things about Musician's "Friend"

1.) If your order is large, they WILL screw it up, guaranteed. If it's small, they might still screw it up. I ordered a bunch of accessories and when they shipped a guitar stand, they didn't ship several of the components. Another time I ordered 2 guitars and they shipped me one. They knew they only shipped one, as they had it in their records, but they didn't refund the money until I called them. Did they think they could maybe get away with it?

2.) Their packaging sucks. They throw small parts in empty big boxes, dump a bunch of peanuts or paper and then put in the bigger items. The packages are oftem ripped and sometimes they just place shipping labels directly on the manufacturer's packaging.

3.) There is such thing as ordering too much from them. I ordered too many guitars because they were having a sale and I kept changing my mind about which to buy (I sold the ones that wasn't keeping on ebay) and they refused to sell more to me. Some asshole in the accounting department named Everett Reed asked me to wire transfer using Western Union, which costs $70 per $1000 sent. He said he would pay for the cost one day, but then the next day, he said, "oh the guitar is already such a good deal. $70 is not that much more".

[eeldip]

another way they screw up orders is to put them on back order, then forget about the order completely.

then when you call them and ask for your back ordered item, they say, we already sent that. then you have to actually argue with them.

real stupid.

funny thing is. i just went to the site and spent $46 including shipping on sale items (a PA speaker stand, a shockmount, and a drumhead). cant beat that deal! the speaker stand itself is $55 plus tax at my GC.

[maestro_dmc]

Once I ordered a Midi controlled Guitar PreAmp, Midi cable, and Midi Pedal Controller.

They were kind enough to send me the cable and pedal, along with a packing list stating that the PreAmp was "Discontinued", and no longer available.

You would think one of the Jackball's over there would realize that I would have no use for a Pedal Controller without something to controll with it! But Noooooo!

Since then I get most stuff from AMS, Ebay, Local shops, and of course Banjo Hut. Don't let's start about Banjo Hut.

When I was shopping for Nearfield monitors, I went in to my local GC to test drive. The high school dropout numbskull that tried to help me wanted to hook up the PASSIVE KRK's I was looking at into the Aux outs of the main mixer in the display room.

The wire was OBVIOUSLY a speaker wire, it had "bannana" connectors on one end.

So I asked him"Oh, so those are actives huh? I thought they were passive monitors"

He gave me a blank stare.

I ended up hooking them up myself.

ARRGGHH!

[omtayslick]

Found a GC store that I never noticed before on a route I travel frequently. So I stopped in just to check it out. After asking a few questions, I quickly determined that the salesclerk knew far less about his stock than I did. The best one though was when he recommended the echo soundcard made by Mia. "Mia's a great company with a good reputation" he says. Have had many similar experiences at other GC's But sometimes you find guys who know their stuff. Boy do I miss Mars. Has anyone else noticed GC's prices creeping up in some markets since the demise of Mars?

[jeffree]

For me, the packaging comments above really hit home. When I buy online, one of my biggest concerns is getting the item to my home safely. My initial Yammie aw16G ($1000) arrived on a misty day in an open factory box with a MF label slapped over the photo. When I called, the rep told me that I need to specify how I want it shipped. What? Was he serious? I'm sure that MF and others do most things well for most people, but such a big guffaw was enough to send me to other places. ZZounds, in comparison, sends nearly everything I order *double-boxed* whether I request it or not. Music 123 usually does this, too, even with liquid foam packaging, but I need to request it to be sure. In fact, if I were a seller, I'd advertise *all items shipped double-boxed and bubble-wrapped*. I bet I'd add a few customers.

I still read those lovely MF catalogues, though.

Best,
J.

[Richard Monroe]

I've had very good luck with 8th street and Macmidimusic.-Richie