I am not sure where to post this so I will start here. About three weeks ago I ordered a quad bass system from Musicians Friend for $4400. A decent price with free shipping. However the nightmare was just beginning. First of all they shipped me 4 B1's and 1 ps1 and 1 L1. So I began calling. After 8 phone calls to customer service and a week later I was assured that the missing items shipped. Nope I got 1 L1 and no PS1. After 8 more phone calls and pitching a major ***** a supervisor told me on Tuesday of last week that it would ship out that afternoon overnight. Nope three more phone calls and finally it shipped on Thursday. Two weeks and 20 phone calls to get this fixed.

I have never in my many years of ordering equipment come across such difficult time in getting an order corrected. Wow. I am not a pain in the ***, nor do I play games with vendors, but Musicians Friend has lost me as a customer. I estimate I spend around 2 to 3000 a year on equipment and has been as much as 10,000 one year when I was working as an independant engineer for the Rock Hall in Cleveland in 2000. What has customer service come to in the business? I thought that the Bose folks should know about my experience. One two or even three calls I could see.

Any other experiences out there ?

quote:

Originally posted by oldwave:
Musicians Friend has lost me as a customer.

Me too - bought a P-bass pickguard from them a few months ago. Ship address to my theatre. Weeks pass no pickguard so I call and they say package was returned to them - address was correct. Asked me if I still wanted pickguard, my answer NO so they refunded the purchase price but not the s/h.

The idiot I spoke with couldn't have been more unfriendly or uninterested in customer service so I decided I would never EVER buy anything from these musician friends again. Zzounds has been pretty good to me since then but I don't think they rep Bose stuff.

Bose should pull their products from MF ASAP - being associated with a company that treats customers so poorly, isn't very flattering to Bose, is it?

I have bought several things from Musician's Friend, especially their blems, and never had a problem. For regular supply purchases I prefer to support my local music store. I bought my Bose from Bose, and I would encourage anyone else to do the same. Customer service there is GREAT.
Respect

Well GC is the main store demo site and they aren't exactly known for top of the line cutomer service either...

I think in general it's a sign of the times - service is down everywhere - from the local fast food joints to the pricey hotels, especially airlines (did they ever really offer CUSTOMER service anyway?)

Point being, I see it as a negative toward MF (in your case) and GC (in many others) but I'd not see it as a mark against BOSE (or endangering them). True true - good help is surely hard to find these days!

It's unfortunate that neither MF or GC, can match the level of service, enthusiasm, or product knowledge that Bose offers.
But those companies just don't have the investment in it that the Bose Live Music Technology Group does.
The retailers are just that...retailers.

Too bad you couldn't have bought your gear right from Bose and avoided all that nastiness.
That's the way I did it and have never had the littlest snag.
They even surprised me with a few unexpected gifts after the sale.
What a company!

Boy! I have bought a lot of stuff from Musicians Friend with no problems what so ever. In fact they have bent over backwards to please me.

My daughter and her husband always get bad service when they go to any restaurant. It’s so bad that my wife and I don’t like to go with them. I have kind of started teasing them; tell them that they have bad restaurant karma. It has happen so many times that I have wounded if it’s not true.

I have often wounded why one person would get bad service and another good from the same place… I really don’t believe its bad karma, but it is definitely peculiar.

Now I have never gotten great service from Guitar Center. When I walk in there it’s like I am invisible. Usually I like that… That way I can shop with out being distracted… but when you do have a question and they act to busy to bother with you that sucks…

It would be nice if Bose could offer free shipping with no sales taxes where as to match their prices….

I've had good service from both GC and Musician's friend, but they could never touch the level of service I've recieved from Bose Corporation.

In a world where customer service is a thing of the past, Bose is a welcome reflection of the "Good Old Days" where the Customer is King.

Jeff
www.theunmentionables.com

quote:

In a world where customer service is a thing of the past, Bose is a welcome reflection of the "Good Old Days" where the Customer is King.

I agree wholeheartedly, Jeff. And while I also agree that GC and MF leave a lot to be desired in that department, I do understand the need for Bose to attempt to take advantage of such a marketing juggernaut. I wonder how many blissful L1 owners would never have discovered the system, if not for the high visibility of those two stores.

quote:

Bose is a welcome reflection of the "Good Old Days" where the Customer is King.

I don't think even the "good old days" had the extra special treatment we get from this company!

quote:

Originally posted by oldwave:
I am not sure where to post this so I will start here. About three weeks ago I ordered a quad bass system from Musicians Friend for $4400. A decent price with free shipping. However the nightmare was just beginning. First of all they shipped me 4 B1's and 1 ps1 and 1 L1. So I began calling. After 8 phone calls to customer service and a week later I was assured that the missing items shipped. Nope I got 1 L1 and no PS1. After 8 more phone calls and pitching a major ***** a supervisor told me on Tuesday of last week that it would ship out that afternoon overnight. Nope three more phone calls and finally it shipped on Thursday. Two weeks and 20 phone calls to get this fixed.

I have never in my many years of ordering equipment come across such difficult time in getting an order corrected. Wow. I am not a pain in the ***, nor do I play games with vendors, but Musicians Friend has lost me as a customer. I estimate I spend around 2 to 3000 a year on equipment and has been as much as 10,000 one year when I was working as an independant engineer for the Rock Hall in Cleveland in 2000. What has customer service come to in the business? I thought that the Bose folks should know about my experience. One two or even three calls I could see.

Any other experiences out there ?

Hi,
I'm am having a horrible experience with Musician's Friend. I just spent a little under $5k with them (Dual Bass pacakge and new mixer, power conditioner and mics) and am getting a run around with my delivery. I used my Musician's friend credit card and made a phone order. Everything was confirmed right then. 3 days later I received only the power conditioner. So I waited patiently for another few days. When nothing else came I called and was told that my order was being "pulled" and will be ready to ship within the next day or two. I waited 10 days and saw nothing. So I called back on August 28 and was told that my order hadn't been confirmed so it was being held. Nobody bothered to call me to confirm it. I confirmed it with them and was promised by "Thomas", a supervisor, that since it was their error and nobody called me, He would authorize 2nd day shipping on the entire remaining order. 2 days later I received "1" bass module. I called to find out where the rest of the order is and was told that I wouldn't see it probably for at least another week. PROBLEM. When Thomas guaranteed 2nd day shipping....I sold my old gear. Guess what?...I have a gig tomorrow (9/1/07) and a gig next Saturday (9/8) and.....NO GEAR!
I talked for over an hour with someone that kept on telling me "I understand your problem"....but didn't really seem to give a rat's a**. The Bosee marketing department needs to offer us more options of where to purchase these. I have been waiting since the beginning of May for Musician's Friend to get them in stock, the price went up by $250 since I originally tried to order them, and they can't come through with the promised delivery. I want these speakers SO BAD but am probably going to end up cancelling them so that I can purchase new gear locally for the 9/8 gig. I fortunately found someone else to take the 9/1 gig but forfeited my income to him. GOOD GOING MUSICIAN's FRIEND. I wouldn't recommend you to my worst enemy.

Sorry to hear about your frustrations with these guys.

Musician's Friend (and sister company Music123)is going thru a rough stretch right now. They relocated their distribution center and have fallen flat on their face for the past few months.

I ordered assorted items in early July that have still not arrived. 5 of the 6 items were just listed as shipped on Thursday. Even though most items could fit in a box the size of a six-pack, they're coming in 4 different shipments.

They actually listed a pair of wall racks as just being shipped on this Thursday but they arrived over a week ago in a box from Guitar Center.

The one item that I really need, a sheet music stand, is listed as not shipped. Instead I received a mic boom stand that I didn't order. The guy on the phone didn't really care. He said give it til Wednesday and call back.

I guess you're kinda handcuffed now because your money is tied up with them so you can't just cancel the order and get a system direct from Bose overnighted to you.

quote:

Originally posted by JD1:
Sorry to hear about your frustrations with these guys.

Musician's Friend (and sister company Music123)is going thru a rough stretch right now. They relocated their distribution center and have fallen flat on their face for the past few months.

I ordered assorted items in early July that have still not arrived. 5 of the 6 items were just listed as shipped on Thursday. Even though most items could fit in a box the size of a six-pack, they're coming in 4 different shipments.

They actually listed a pair of wall racks as just being shipped on this Thursday but they arrived over a week ago in a box from Guitar Center.

The one item that I really need, a sheet music stand, is listed as not shipped. Instead I received a mic boom stand that I didn't order. The guy on the phone didn't really care. He said give it til Wednesday and call back.

I guess you're kinda handcuffed now because your money is tied up with them so you can't just cancel the order and get a system direct from Bose overnighted to you.

Thanks for your input JD1. I already called the BOSE folks and they told me that they could overnight the stuff for me at no charge. They're awesome. Unforntunately, you're right about my money being tied up with MF, and BOSE doesn't have a credit plan for me like MF does. I'm am going to be forced to cancel my order and wait until I can afford to pay for these speakers without a credit card. I guess I'll have to purchase Mackays or something locally to get me through until I can afford them.
Musician's friend is NOT a musician's friend at all. They're our worst nightmare. Buyer beware of them. Make your purchase directly from BOSE.

When I initially wanted to buy my L1 system, the GC saleperson tried to sway me from the purchase of what I really wanted. I thought these guys work on comm... anyway, what he wanted to sell me was cheaper....

I went home and ordered from Bose.com, got it the next day!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dynamite DJs,

Happy Ending
I called MF and cancelled my entire order. A 4-hour phonecall later, yes folks, 4 hours, I finally got them to credit my account. I called Bose and talked to an awesome lady, Iris, about orderering directly. She gave me free next day shipping. I am a happy Bose speaker owner. Iris, you're a doll. Thanks Bose.

They all are great! Glad you went with Bose.com instead of ThEm... Hopefully everyone reading this thread that is a future buyer will do the same.

Yep, Donna !
I understand what you are saying about ordering directly from Bose. I ordered both of my systems that way. It's absolutely great to get off the phone after ordering, go to bed that night and then get up to the sound of the delivery man dropping the L1 off at your door !

I love the 1 year/no interest plan of theirs too! I used that on my first system.

All the best !
John