Musicians Advocate. Buyer Beware!
I had a horrible time with this guy (Brad)
Full Detail Here:
----
My purchase of
an Art TCS started out as a regular old eBay purchase and turned into a nightmare. Do not buy from these people. They have the absolutely worst customer service I have ever experienced.
The owner's name and city of residence, seems to be:
Bradley L Hagen
Las Vegas, NV 89102 United States
<strong>July 17th, 2007:</strong>
I purchased the item from Musicians Advocate on eBay and accidentally sent an eCheck through PayPal instead of a direct draft. Realizing I had made an honest mistake, I looked up the 800 number listed in the eBay auction item. Upon calling their advertised 800 number, the answering machine informed me that Musicians Advocate no longer provided phone support for their clients and the 800 number was no specifically for their vendors only. That is when I got worried.
I simply wanted to but the item again via a credit card and have them refund my original purchase once paypal sent through the eCheck.
I sent though the following email to Musicians Advocate (to the email addresses, sales & tracking
<blockquote>Hey guys,
What is the status of order 2705600?
Is there a problem?
Warmest Regards,
Phillip B. Holmes</blockquote>
<strong>July 18th, 2007:</strong>
I waited till 1:30 PM the next day and did not hear a peep out of them. I was getting really worried at that point and sent another email to csr@, sales@, support@ (hoping to find someone that would help me.
<blockquote>
Guys,
Paypal has screwed up and is trying to take money out of my checking account instead of using the balance in the account now.
This happened in the cart as I purchase and didn’t realize the funds weren't yet populated. Paypal auto deducted the amount without notification to me on the screen.
I just got off the phone with Paypal and they refused to help or just fund your transaction with the money already in the Paypal account.
So at this point I think we only have one option, cancel Invoice #2705600 and let me re-checkout.
I need this item here ASAP, so please somebody help.
Warmest Regards,
Phillip B. Holmes</blockquote>
Pretty reasonable right? Well, finally I got a response:
<blockquote>You will probably have to cancel the echeck for us to reset this order.
Please cancel the echeck and we will reset the invoice.
Thank you for your patience in this matter,
Customer Service Team
</blockquote>
Okay! We'll great.. So off I went to payPal to ask how I could make that happen. After spending quite a while (about 3 hours total) on the the phone with PayPal, they assure me that Musicians Advocate can cancel it. In the end, I found out this was wrong as well. I wrote musicians advocate back several times trying to find out what the skinny was.. I told them that PayPal said they can do it and I was being sent in circles.
This is the respose I got back from them after a their service kept steering me in the wrong direction over and over:
<blockquote>
Stop emailing multiple email addresses or you will get no help.......
Do you think we have money to just throw away at email support..........
STOP IT!!!
Thank you for your patience in this matter,
Customer Service Team
Well, needless to say, after this I was quite worred about how I was going to get my new rack mount before my gig. I'd even paid for 2nd day shipping and it looked like these jack sticks were not going to offer any solution (i.e. letting me re-checkout using a credit card or other form of payment and then just refunding my original transaction when the eCheck cleared)... We went back and forth all day long. No solution, no end in sight.
At this point, I gave the company a bad feedback rating and filed a BBB complaint. When Brad at musicians advocate found out I had filed a negative rating. He went totally crazy. The following are the emails that I received from him over the next few days. I did not respond to any of his threats. I filed them under the Safe Harbor Department with eBay.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>-----Original Message-----
From: Customer Service [mailto:csr@x]
Sent: Thursday, <strong>July 19, 2007 2:33 PM</strong>
To: phillip @ hidden
Subject: Re: Paypal problem - Invoice #2705600
You have A LOT of nerve..........a neg after one day.....because paypal messed up the payment.........nice
You are exactly the kind of person that we DON'T want as a customer..........GOODBYE!</blockquote>
---next crazy one---
<blockquote>This message was sent while the listing was active.
musiciansadvocate is the seller.
Are going to remove this? Or are we going to have to file a report with Ebay, since you have yet to make payment? </blockquote>
---next one---
<blockquote>
" This is your ONE chance. I have absolutely ZERO patience for anyone who leaves a neg after ONE DAY over a technical issue. GET RID OF THESE, or you are going to have more problems"</blockquote>
---next one---
<blockquote>You have 75% feedback, and if you agree to the mutual feedback withdrawal message that we sent you, it goes back to 100%....What are you waiting for? </blockquote>
So, while all this was going on, Brad @ Musicians Advocate hired a third party mediator (SquareTrade). The case was eventually closed because they would not respond to her. Here is the transcript from this converation with them. The is most recent to oldest in order. The case was closed because I finally gave up and removed his negative rating (just to end the time involved).
<blockquote>
Mediator
Sun, Jul 29, 2007 10:43 AM (PT) Dear Mr. Holmes:
Thank you for your efforts to resolve this issue. At this point, since the negative feedback has been withdraw, there's really nothing more we can do - if there's still a problem with PayPal and the funds clearing so you can be refunded, you will need to deal directly with PayPal on that issue.
If you otherwise need our help, you can ask that the case be reopened.
Thank you,
Lisa
agecode5
Mon, Jul 23, 2007 2:35 PM (PT) Lisa,
I went ahead and removed the feedback as I dont have time to deal with him anymore. I'll let you know if he does not refund my item.
Phillip
agecode5
Mon, Jul 23, 2007 9:03 AM (PT) Lisa,
Brad is continuing to email me about this negative feedback rating (see quote from his email to me this morning, below).
"You have 75% feedback, and if you agree to the mutual feedback withdrawal message that we sent you, it goes back to 100%....What are you waiting for?"
Isn't the understanding here for him NOT to contact me during the mediation. Apparently, this person is fixated. I have an autistic child and am working a full time job. I do not have the energy for this sort of drama. Could you please put this matter to bed? I am literally only waiting for the botched transaction to clear and for him to refund me once he is able to.
After that I'll clear his negative feedback. I'd like an apology but I'll settle for the refund.
Warmest Regards,
Phillip B. Holmes
Mediator
Mon, Jul 23, 2007 4:17 AM (PT) Dear Mr. Holmes:
Thank you for your prompt responses. I'm sorry to hear that you have had such a frustrating and unpleasant experience with this transaction. It also sounds like you've taken all the steps I might recommend to you such as reporting this incident to Safe Harbor, etc.
I have not yet heard from Mr. Hagen and as soon as I do, I will be in contact with you.
Lisa
agecode5
Fri, Jul 20, 2007 5:54 PM (PT) By the way, Brad also sent me the following today AFTER he contracted your service:
"Are going to remove this? Or are we going to have to file a report with Ebay, since you have yet to make payment?"
In any case, I will not buy the item from Brad. I'll be very happy to remove his negative rating as soon as the assurance (in writing) that he will not bill me for this item further and apologies for his handling of this situation.
His account will be blocked from my sellers list and I certainly will never buy anything from him, again.
agecode5
Fri, Jul 20, 2007 5:13 PM (PT) Lisa,
I've never received such poor customer service in my life. Their support was unresponsive and downright rude right from the beginning. They also misrepresented an 800 number in his eBay ad for support. This number merely has an answering machine that supports his shipping vendors only.
Furthermore, I've reported his threats to extort me to remove my negative posting which was simply, "no telephone support (as advertised) and poor support".
eBay's SafeHarbor has been made aware of the fact that Brad has use threats / extortion of "further problems" to try and get me to remove his negative rating. This is a clear violation of eBay policy and musicians advocate now faces the possibiliy of losing their Power Seller status or worse. I've also filed a case with the BBB at this point. I don't know where this guy gets off treating customers like this.
I will remove the negative rating and BBB complain after the transaction is refunded, an apology is given for not offering a mutually benefitial solution to getting the (time sensitive) equipment shipped, for his threats.
As far as the item itself, I've already purchased it through another eBayer and will not require the ART TCS from musicians advocate
Warmest Regards,
Phillip B. Holmes
Mediator
Fri, Jul 20, 2007 4:04 PM (PT) Dear Mr. Hagen and Mr. Holmes:
My name is Lisa and I will be working with you both to try to facilitate a resolution to your dispute which will be mutually agreeable. My role is to help you both become clear as to what caused the dispute and find a way to cooperatively resolve it while remaining a neutral party. If there is not a reasonable mutual agreement, I will make proposals for a settlement as long as you both agree to have me make such suggestions. What you say to me is confidential and your messages will not be seen by the other party. They will only be seen by me. However, if I make any settlement proposals, they will be based on all of the information I have received from both parties.
In compliance with SquareTrade policy, from this point forward I will ask both of you to have no direct correspondence with each other and direct all of your correspondence to me. If either of you is unwilling to abide by this requirement, we will have to discontinue mediation.
I understand that you both must be frustrated. In the vast majority of online disputes I believe that both parties took part in the transaction with honest motives, but sometimes things go wrong that can't be helped (items get lost or damaged in the mail, etc).
At this point I would like to review the issues involved in this dispute. I understand that the ART TCS Tube Compressor w/ V3 TCSII TCS II NEW was won by Mr. Holmes and the merchandise was not received. Mr. Hagen, can you please help me understand what happened? I would also like to know if you might both consider refraining from posting negative feedback if we can find an acceptable resolution.
It would be very helpful to me if you both would please provide me with any other information that could help me understand what happened. In your messages I will ask you both to refrain from personal attacks, as they do not further the dispute resolution process.
Thank you for your willingness to work together to resolve this cooperatively. I look forward to your prompt replies.
Lisa</blockquote>
In conclusion, Musicians Advocate refunded me. Then, Brad sent me this little nastygram.
<blockquote>Phillip-
I am not sure why you went to the extreme of filing a BBB report against our company. After all, it was YOU who Emailed us from no less than FIVE different Email addresses, and botched your Paypal payment method.
You have received your refund, and we consider this matter closed.
We will inform the BBB as such
Kindest Regards,
Brad Hagen "Contact us for any Recording, Pro Audio, or Synth needs"
"JUST SAY NO!!! to the Megastores!!!!"
NAMM member since 1999
</blockquote>
Thinking I was out of the woods, I let him have it!
<blockquote>That’s fine. Tell them what you want.
You want to know why I filed it? I'll tell you why. You overreacted about the email instead of understanding that you had a customer that was just trying to reach customer service in a prompt manner (which your CS is clearly no where near prompt). Also your 800 number was misrepresented in your ad as a line clients can call.
My order was time sensitive. At that point I didn't trust you because quite frankly, your responses indicated that you didn't care and you acted like a total prick about. Also, you offered no solution to my problem. Example: allowing me to simply paying by credit card. That solution should have been the first thing you said to me.
Your conduct throughout the entire matter was childish, curt and insipid.
I was going to let this go but due to your last rude email, you'll get a great review on my blog soon. This will be googled and you'll have a permanent record on the web of the completely shitty customer service from your so called 'business'.
I hope it shows people what they're in for if they happen to make an honest mistake and it costs you business.
You're a shitty business person. Grow up.
Have a nice life.
--Phillip</blockquote>
Now, Brad has opened a unpaid item dispute with eBay AFTER he refunded my $233.50. Again, I have gone to eBay's Safeharbor and they assure me action is being taken. I asked for them to strip Musicians Advocate of their power seller status and told them they should kick sellers like this, Musicians Advocate uses the eBay system against their customers, have horrible customer support, advertise support 800 numbers that are answered by a machine that tells you that the number is no longer used for client support and lie about unpaid items after they refund you. This Brad is obviously a very immature individual and if you cause him any extra effort, be prepared for the worst scenario.
Buyer beware!!! IF you do business with Musicians Advocate, be prepared for the worst.
