# Musician's Friend... hrm.



## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

Last weekend Musician's Friend had a sale where basically everything was discounted depending on the amount you spend. Anyway, I did the math and it turned out that if I bought the guitar I wanted from them I could come out over $200 ahead versus buying it local (note that I tried even calling my local store to see if they could come close, but it was a holiday here on Monday and they were closed - sale ended at midnight Monday). Anyway, the guitar was shown as "in-stock" when I made the purchase plus I added a few smaller items (strap lock, capo) and I had everything shipped to a package receiving outlet just across the border (to take advantage of free shipping within the US). Did this all on Monday. A few days went by, no confirmation email. Status online still says "pending". So I call them. I'm told everything is fine, they're just a bit behind with their order verifications. Ok. So few more days pass. Today finally, I got an email that says the guitar is now on back order and out of stock! I call them up to see what's going on and I'm told "sorry, someone else must have bought the last one just before you." Grr. They say expected date for the new stock is March 12. So, I asked if they could hold off the other items and ship all at once so I don't have to make two trips across the border. Then they tell me that it's too late, they've already processed the shipping on the rest of the order and I would have had to tell them prior to the verification. Huh? But, I didn't know the guitar was even out of stock until they emailed me that the verification was complete... Whatever, so I just tell them fine and end the call. 
After I get home today, there's a voicemail message on my answering machine from the MF rep I spoke to. She explains that also, the "free gift" of a box of a dozen packs of strings is also "out of stock" and apparently has been discontinued and they're not substituting anything. Again, "We're soooo sorry. Have a nice day!"

*Grumble*


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

The American Wal-Mart of Online Guitar Stores. They don't really need Cdn. business, it's just a few extra dollars in their pocket. "We're so sorry, have a nice day." translates into tough shit.


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

Powdered Toast Man said:


> After I get home today, there's a voicemail message on my answering machine from the MF rep I spoke to. She explains that also, the "free gift" of a box of a dozen packs of strings is also "out of stock" and apparently has been discontinued and they're not substituting anything. Again, "We're soooo sorry. Have a nice day!"
> 
> *Grumble*


that's worth going up the ladder a bit for. They've got giveaways all over the place, I'm sure they can slide some strings (or something comparable) your way.


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

puckhead said:


> that's worth going up the ladder a bit for. They've got giveaways all over the place, I'm sure they can slide some strings (or something comparable) your way.


Oddly enough, it acutally WAS strings that they ran out of. LOL!


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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

that's bull,as said take it up the ladder and make them honor their agreement.Just because we're Canadian doesn't mean we should take this laying down.When you made you're purchase you were under the impression that the strings would be free,for them to turn around and do that is bordering on false advertising.You deserve the same as an american who ordered and got the deal since they didn't have a disclaimer on their website.


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

It's not even the free strings that I'm irritated with. I mean, mistakes happen, but it's how you address those mistakes that makes a difference. The agent on the phone knew they'd screwed up more than once on this order, but took no initiative to do anything about it. 
An example: Back in the summer, I rented a bin (dumpster) from a local company to clean out my garage and yard waste. They dropped the bin in my driveway and I had it for 4 days. I called them up when I was done and told them they could come get it. They promised a time, however when the time came, the guy didn't arrive. I waited and after about 3 hours, I phoned back and asked what was up. They explained there were some unforeseen problems out of their control (one of their trucks broke down) and they'd gotten behind. They ended up coming to get the bin the next morning. I was fine with that. When I got the invoice in the mail about a week later, they'd dropped a $20 Time Horton's gift card in there! They totally didn't have to do that, but it worked in that I remember this company with positive feelings and I would recommend them to others despite the minor issue. Sounds a bit like payoff, but they felt they'd screwed up and they took initiative to make it up to the customer. To me, that's good service.
There's lots of ways MF could have handled this. As others have stated, they're giving away and discounting stuff all the time there. So offer X% off the next order, or upgrade the shipping for no charge, or throw in a cable instead... I'm sure there's options at their disposal. 
I've sent them a polite, but firmly worded email to explain the situation and my disappointment with their customer care. We'll see how it goes.


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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

Hopefully it turns out good.They shouldn't treat anyone like that,across to border or not,the internet is a powerful thing.I'm interested to see how this all turns out being an american company and doing business across the border.So far it seems they think they can get away with mistreating their customers,sincerely hope they prove me wrong though.They do have good deals.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

xuthal said:


> Hopefully it turns out good.They shouldn't treat anyone like that,across to border or not,the internet is a powerful thing.I'm interested to see how this all turns out being an american company and doing business across the border.So far it seems they think they can get away with mistreating their customers,sincerely hope they prove me wrong though.They do have good deals.



Powerful Internet + Bad Economy. Could be a good deal. EVERY customer is an opportunity to advertise! OR get bad PR that can go on a forum or on youtube and be seen by maybe 100's and maybe 1,000,000's you NEVER know anymore.


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## mfbeau (Feb 22, 2010)

Hi, this is Beau from Musician's Friend. We apologize for the inconvenience regarding this issue. We would like to try and get this issue resolved for you as soon as possible. You would just need to forward these kinds of complaints to our e-mail resolutions team. Their e-mail address is [email protected]. Please forward your request to them, along with your order information. Thanks!


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

mfbeau said:


> Hi, this is Beau from Musician's Friend. We apologize for the inconvenience regarding this issue. We would like to try and get this issue resolved for you as soon as possible. You would just need to forward these kinds of complaints to our e-mail resolutions team. Their e-mail address is [email protected]. Please forward your request to them, along with your order information. Thanks!



Hello Beau

Welcome to the Guitars Canada Forum. 

Mistakes happen in orders, and sales. The internet is a bit of monster when they do LOL however, I must say that I have had the opportunity (about a year ago) to have dealt with your resolutions team and I have to say the person I dealt with was prompt, courteous, efficient, and did manage to sort the issue I had out.

I know I will be shopping Musicians Friend soon, I myself hope to catch a cymbal stand/practice pad soon (friends birthday pressie ).


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

mfbeau said:


> Hi, this is Beau from Musician's Friend. We apologize for the inconvenience regarding this issue. We would like to try and get this issue resolved for you as soon as possible. You would just need to forward these kinds of complaints to our e-mail resolutions team. Their e-mail address is [email protected]. Please forward your request to them, along with your order information. Thanks!


Hello Beau,

I submitted an email contact request via the MF website on Friday evening just before I posted this. I have yet to hear back. I've emailed the information to the address you have provided.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I'm curious to see how this plays out.


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

Update: My web feedback request I submitted Friday finally got a response, and I've exchanged a few messages back and forth with them. Result: Apology, $25 store credit at MF for my next phone order, and they apparently just _happened _to get a few of the model I requested in from Fender and I've been told mine is being prepped to ship tomorrow. If it does in fact ship tomorrow, I'm happy.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Squeaky wheel gets the grease. These forums are good for many things.


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## Stonesy (Oct 7, 2008)

Yes sirree bobb.


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

Glad you got a happy resolution P.T.M. :food-smiley-004:


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

Last update: One last kick in the rear... MF never emailed me an invoice. Every other online order I've ever done I've received an email confirmation of the order - not here. I figured, no biggie, every other time I've ordered anything online there's been a printed copy of the invoice in the box with the packing slip. I crossed the border today to pick up the guitar at the mailbox place, opened the box, and NO RECEIPT. They included a packing slip that looks like an invoice, and even has columns for the price of the items, but NO VALUES WERE PRINTED. So, this meant I was in trouble. I had the guitar, the packing slip, but nothing showing the value to declare to Customs (recall that they didn't email me anything so it's not like I could have printed one out before I left home). I ended up having to take it through customs, just show the packing slip, and explain what happened. The Canada Customs agent ended up looking it up online from the MF website to determine the value. Only problem is, I got it on sale and didn't pay full retail. So, I ended up paying taxes on an amount higher than what I actually paid for the order.

Thanks, Musician's Friend, for messing up just about every aspect of this order from beginning to end.

Final word of caution to everyone out there who has something from MF shipped to a USA address with the intention of picking it up in person: MAKE SURE YOU FORCE THEM TO GIVE YOU A RECEIPT BECAUSE IT WON'T BE THERE.


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