Musician's Friend ripoff fraudulent pricing Medford Oregon
I ordered a mandolin from MF on 1-25-06. The finish options available were tobacco sunburst, walnut and amberfade. The tobacco and walnut options were priced at $499.99 and the amberfade at $798.99. I ordered a tobacco sunburst finish and received confirmation of order promptly. The day after I order I am looking at MF website and the prices have jumped to $799.99 for tobacco and walnut and $849.99 for amberfade! This seems odd to me, but I congratulate myself on getting a great deal.
Then two days later I receive a backorder notice saying my shipment will be delayed a month. And then today (2-1-06) I receive a cancellation of order notice! I immediately call MF and ask how to change my order to walnut, which was advertised at the same price as the tobacco. I am told I will have to re-order the mando at current price of $799.99 instead of recieving original price of $499.99! It seems to me original price should be honored since both finishes were available at time of order for that price. I was not even offered the chance to change order before price was changed and original order was cancelled. This is a scandalous way to do business.
I was basically called a liar by customer rep when I told them at the time of original order BOTH finishes were listed at $499.99. It appears someone mis-listed the prices and when I ordered they caught their mistake and quickly took steps to cover it up. They told me they could not confirm that both finishes were listed at $499.99 when my order was placed. They removed the tobacco finish option altogether from webpage, this was after they sent the cancellation notice.
I was also told if I had printed a copy of webpage that confirmed both finishes were listed at $499.99, they would honor that price for the walnut finish. Me telling them this was the case was not confirmation enough. Very, very disappointing indeed.
Mike
Springdale, Arkansas
U.S.A.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Jarrod
Holiday,Florida,
U.S.A.
The Peril of Dealing with Internet Music Retailers...
#6Consumer Comment
Mon, June 12, 2006
I am an in-store pro audio sales representative for Sam Ash Music Stores. I recieve numerous comments as well as a good deal of in-store business as a result of situations just like yours.
You may or may not be aware that Musician's Friend is the online division of Guitar Center, Inc., who is my chain's biggest competitor. While I will resist the urge to bash my competitor ( ;) ), I will offer this sage piece of advice: If you have a major music retailer in your area, you are ALWAYS better off dealing with the "brick and mortar" store than you are dealing with internet retailers.
Why? Because the sales people in the stores, about 90% of the time, are working on STRICT commission; i.e., no salary. While most people equate "commissioned salespeople" with "pushy high-pressure salespeople", it's a stigma that most of the time gets unfairly applied.
The fact is, that salesperson in the store ONLY gets paid if YOU, the customer, are satisfied with your purchase both during AND after the transaction. That person will ENSURE that you are recieving the BEST, fair price for the item you are purchasing, and is only a phone call away from resolving any and all problems that may arise. Internet retailers, however, are paying less than admirable wages to hourly people who really don't care whether or not you are satisfied; they are getting paid either way.
For instance, in a "brick and mortar" store, you could walk up to a sales guy and say "hey, this item was only $499 last week; can I get that price?" And about 9 times out of 10, you would have walked out of the store, at the price that you just saw it at last week, product in hand, without having to sit on "perma-hold" for a faceless customer service line.
In summary, you get to have an ESTABLISHED relationship with a salesperson at the store who knows who you are, probably knows you by face, and, believe it or not, will actually know your name when you walk in the store.
Can the internet save you a few dollars? Perhaps. But the "cost of a low price" can sometimes lead to the situation you had to deal with.
I'm happy things turned out well for you, and I'll now hop off my tangent.
Mike
springdale,Arkansas,
U.S.A.
Musician's Friend a friend after all!
#6Author of original report
Thu, February 02, 2006
After spending two hours on MF customer service line and receiving no satisfaction, I wrote a lengthy e-mail to MF explaining the whole fiasco from start to finish. I received a telephone call this afternoon from "Matt" at MF apologizing for the whole affair and offering the walnut finish at my original price of $499.99. I was stunned but very pleased. Why wasn't I treated this way from the very beginning? Does MF's level of customer service vary so widely from rep to rep? This is my only remaining criticism of MF. If I had not doggedly pursued what I believed to be fair, it is highly unlikely I would have received justice. Nonetheless, hip-hip-hooray to MF for making things right and retaining a frequent customer.
Mike
springdale,Arkansas,
U.S.A.
Musician's Friend a friend after all!
#6Author of original report
Thu, February 02, 2006
After spending two hours on MF customer service line and receiving no satisfaction, I wrote a lengthy e-mail to MF explaining the whole fiasco from start to finish. I received a telephone call this afternoon from "Matt" at MF apologizing for the whole affair and offering the walnut finish at my original price of $499.99. I was stunned but very pleased. Why wasn't I treated this way from the very beginning? Does MF's level of customer service vary so widely from rep to rep? This is my only remaining criticism of MF. If I had not doggedly pursued what I believed to be fair, it is highly unlikely I would have received justice. Nonetheless, hip-hip-hooray to MF for making things right and retaining a frequent customer.
Mike
springdale,Arkansas,
U.S.A.
Musician's Friend a friend after all!
#6Author of original report
Thu, February 02, 2006
After spending two hours on MF customer service line and receiving no satisfaction, I wrote a lengthy e-mail to MF explaining the whole fiasco from start to finish. I received a telephone call this afternoon from "Matt" at MF apologizing for the whole affair and offering the walnut finish at my original price of $499.99. I was stunned but very pleased. Why wasn't I treated this way from the very beginning? Does MF's level of customer service vary so widely from rep to rep? This is my only remaining criticism of MF. If I had not doggedly pursued what I believed to be fair, it is highly unlikely I would have received justice. Nonetheless, hip-hip-hooray to MF for making things right and retaining a frequent customer.
Mike
springdale,Arkansas,
U.S.A.
Musician's Friend a friend after all!
#6Author of original report
Thu, February 02, 2006
After spending two hours on MF customer service line and receiving no satisfaction, I wrote a lengthy e-mail to MF explaining the whole fiasco from start to finish. I received a telephone call this afternoon from "Matt" at MF apologizing for the whole affair and offering the walnut finish at my original price of $499.99. I was stunned but very pleased. Why wasn't I treated this way from the very beginning? Does MF's level of customer service vary so widely from rep to rep? This is my only remaining criticism of MF. If I had not doggedly pursued what I believed to be fair, it is highly unlikely I would have received justice. Nonetheless, hip-hip-hooray to MF for making things right and retaining a frequent customer.