[Distortion]

"Ow "and it is not possible for the competition to post bogus BS in a public forum ? to put someone out of business

 

[gtrguy]

"Ow "and it is not possible for the competition to post bogus BS in a public forum ? to put someone out of business

Sure it is, that's why the more posters post the better- I wouldn't go by one person's review and neither should anyone else. And by all means, consider the rep of the poster... if someone with no posting history came on and started slagging someone/something I probably wouldn't put much stock in it. If it was a regular poster with a history here I'd probably take it more seriously but I still wouldn't base any decision I made on the opinion of a single person... if there's a general trend among multiple trustworthy posters then I'm a lot more inclined to let that influence me.

Shutting people up and stopping them from contributing their experiences doesn't do any of us any favours.

 

[BMW-KTM]

Just like it's possible for friends of store owners to do them a solid and post glowing recommendations to put them "into" more business.
What would be the difference and what would you see us do?
Ban all posts about music stores?

 

[AndrewWaite]

People are getting a little heated here. I think that I should maybe delete the thread at this point. I appreciate everyone has a right to an opinion, but my hope here was to get a little insight from people who know better than I about the subject matter. I've seen a bunch of negative reviews of the business, which is fine if that's been your experience, I did mention that I did purchase a guitar from them that I was happy with, so I'm not looking to speak negatively of the business in a public forum, not my style. Just wondered if people had traditionally slow email communication with them in the past is all, which never really was answered. One member did mention that they are potentially under staffed at the location I've been dealing with, so that does give me some insight.

 

[BMW-KTM]

I'm not heated.
I'm capable of debating an issue without getting angry.
In all honesty, I haven't seen a post yet in this thread that was clearly made in anger.

 

[AirForbes1]

They are hit and miss, and it really depends on who you're dealing with. One of the locations is just around the corner from my house. I find it hard to go in to that one because there's always some sort of sales pitch, can't just browse around.

2 of the people I've dealt with there have been pretty good. But, 1 of them left. And the other, is a good guy, but he never gets back to me when I have a question. "Can you get this in, and how much?" They always have to check and I never get a response back. So, yes they are bad at communication. Seems to be a constant.

 

[AndrewWaite]

They are hit and miss, and it really depends on who you're dealing with. One of the locations is just around the corner from my house. I find it hard to go in to that one because there's always some sort of sales pitch, can't just browse around.

2 of the people I've dealt with there have been pretty good. But, 1 of them left. And the other, is a good guy, but he never gets back to me when I have a question. "Can you get this in, and how much?" They always have to check and I never get a response back. So, yes they are bad at communication. Seems to be a constant.

Thank you, this is the kind of answer I was hoping for. That's been my experience as well. As I work in the industry, I can call suppliers and find out the stock level myself, so I've been just coming to them with the answers to my own questions regarding availability. The issue has been that I always get a response that they'll need to check on that to verify and get back to me. This doesn't make a lot of sense which has me kinda perplexed as to what's happening. In the last week, I've called and sent 4 emails to say "Hi, just let me know your sell price and then we'll order the guitar", and they haven't been able to respond to any of them. Usually I'd say oh well, time to move on, but where I already have a deposit of over $300 in place, it's kinda hard to move on. I just sent them another follow up email, and I'll try calling again this week. Hoping to get the guitar on order, or get a refund, just want some kinda of resolution.

 

[Dorian2]

I bought one guitar. They took a deposit for a second guitar. I was told the guitar was on a 2-3 month back order from the supplier. I called the manufacturer and they said it's discontinued and no longer available. I passed that info on to the salesperson. They agreed that it wasn't going to be obtainable. I am now trying to turn that deposit into a different guitar. So at this point, I'm a repeat customer who's already just purchased something.

Did they offer the deposit back? Or did they say you'd have to use it in their store? (sorry if you've answered this already). If it was the latter I'd seriously question the business practices of the store.

EDIT: I'll assume from your above post that they did not offer your deposit back. And they took a deposit on an iten that was not even available. Is that even a legal business practice?

 

[AndrewWaite]

Did they offer the deposit back? Or did they say you'd have to use it in their store? (sorry if you've answered this already). If it was the latter I'd seriously question the business practices of the store.

I used their financing service, Cantrex, and the deposit was charged to the card. The salesperson did say they could refund it, after I became frustrated due to the misinformation about the initial order that I placed (I explained this earlier, but the guitar I ordered was quoted as a 2-3 month back order, but it was in fact discontinued), but I thought I'd order a different item instead, using said deposit. Since deciding to do so, I haven't been able to process the order for the new guitar or get a refund, because nobody gets back to me regardless if I call or email. I'd got there, but a flight to Hamilton from Halifax would seem a bit extreme *#*(

 

[Dorian2]

GF^%@ to hear that. That really sucks man. Good luck.

 

[AndrewWaite]

GF^%@ to hear that. That really sucks man. Good luck.

Thanks man, appreciate it!

 

[Budda]

If all else fails, contact CBC's "Go Public" and see if they think it's worth digging into.

I'd also start posting about it all over social media and tagging them. If it can get resolutions over airfare I'm sure it will do *something* for your situation.

Sorry to hear that you have $300 tied up in a company that won't respond to you. That sounds exactly like ghosting a customer (never reply) to me.

 

[AirForbes1]

Thank you, this is the kind of answer I was hoping for. That's been my experience as well. As I work in the industry, I can call suppliers and find out the stock level myself, so I've been just coming to them with the answers to my own questions regarding availability. The issue has been that I always get a response that they'll need to check on that to verify and get back to me. This doesn't make a lot of sense which has me kinda perplexed as to what's happening. In the last week, I've called and sent 4 emails to say "Hi, just let me know your sell price and then we'll order the guitar", and they haven't been able to respond to any of them. Usually I'd say oh well, time to move on, but where I already have a deposit of over $300 in place, it's kinda hard to move on. I just sent them another follow up email, and I'll try calling again this week. Hoping to get the guitar on order, or get a refund, just want some kinda of resolution.

I've been in touch with the guy who left the shop. He was a super cool, nice guy. He didn't tell me why he left, he said he didn't want to talk bad about my local guitar shop. I do get the impression that he became frustrated with not being able to know how much things would cost when customers would ask. He always had to check. I think (speculation) that most things there are price-negotiable so I think the sales people always have to get approval for pricing.

If I were in your position, I'd take it up with the credit company or bank or whoever you used to pay the $300 deposit.

 

[Distortion]

Aw there is more to the story. You have a legit problem. I know the Hamilton store guy has posted on here in the past. Someone should contact him to let him no about this thread . He might change the way he is responding. Bad press is not good for business.

 

[colchar]

The first store was close to my high school job, so I went there to look at stuff. Everything costs double what it should andalways has. I have a theory about that but I'll keep it to myself.

Please share.

Also, they are trying to franchise and expand:


Franchise Opportunity

 

[colchar]

You know I often wonder if GC should shut these threads down that run down instrument retailers. First it is LA Music and now Tundra is on the chopping block. I no if I owned one of these stores there would be some interaction with GC..

So people aren't allowed to educate each other on a business based on their experiences with that business? Ever heard of yelp?

 

[colchar]

"Ow "and it is not possible for the competition to post bogus BS in a public forum ? to put someone out of business

When the majority of people here already know each other from the forum, and interact regularly, no.

 

[AndrewWaite]

I got an email today, seems like there was some issues with communication with the supplier. Looks like the order is going to go through this week. That's all I was hoping for in the scenario. I'd like to reiterate once again, I did purchase a guitar from them already, and although it took longer than I was told it would take, I was happy with the guitar and I thought the price was comparable to every other place I saw it advertised online.

I'm not super interested in speaking ill of people I'd classify as contemporaries, which is why I've never mentioned the salesperson by name. I actually met Ed MacDonald at NAMM this year, and he was quite nice to speak to, he gave me his card and said to keep him in mind if I came across any cool vintage guitars. We actually had some mutual acquaintances out here on the east coast. As long as the guitar gets ordered, I'm happy.

 

[Guest]

This thread is absolutely insane.

Who in their right mind would ever buy a guitar they haven't actually played?

Completely bonkers.

 

[BMW-KTM]

This thread is absolutely insane.

Who in their right mind would ever buy a guitar they haven't actually played?

Completely bonkers.

It's a risk.
No doubt about it.
I've done it 3 times.
The 2nd time was not good but the other 2 got me a couple of truly great guitars that I could not have otherwise found in the local markets.