How about a worst of 2001 awards?

[RABid]

Keep it civil, but tell it straight. Maybe some of the companies that appear in this thread will read and react. If not, maybe their competitors will read and take note.

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I have probably spent more money on keyboards and gear this year than any year since the early 80s. For the most part everything has been positive but I do have my one nomination for worst customer service.

 

Worst customer service Sam Ash Music Online. For some reason any order I place with Sam Ash Online seems to go wrong. First I ordered an Akai S5000 and got my confirmation. After 3 weeks I called to see why it had not been delivered. I was told it was out of stock and would not be replinished, the online order system was reporting stock incorrectly, and the person who was supposed to call and notify me failed to do so. Second time I placed an order I got a call a few days later saying that the shipping address I requested was not approved by me credit card. After calling customer service and inquiring about the possibility of my package being shipped by US Mail instead. (not possible, they signed a contract with FedEx) I was going to tell the customer rep that I would like to change my order, then I would call my credit card company and get my work addressed approved for shipping. Before I could do that he forwarded me to a person who deals with the credit approval process. She explained why they dont ship orders to addresses not approved by your credit card company which was fine and I had no problem with that. Rather than have her send me back to customer service so I could change me order, then call my credit card company and have the address approved, then wait a few day longer to get my order which I expected to be in by that time, I canceled. Not a problem. She was very understanding and canceled the order for me.

 

Well, today I got a package from Sam Ash. When I finally got a real person on the phone (Which took some doing, I hate those loops you get into on phone system directories.) she could not find a record of the order being canceled. While my order was sitting there waiting for approval to ship to my work address some of the items went out of stock. This caused the order to be split and each part fell below the $300 level which requires approval. That in turn caused the part that was in stock to ship. So now I have a package I dont need because I bought the item over the weekend, I have a charge on my credit card that I dont want and will probably have to pay interest on, the charge will not go away until Sam Ash gets the package back, and I have to wait for a label and then get the package back to UPS. (Yes, I said UPS. They only ship by FedEx but they only issue pick-ups through UPS.)

 

So there you have my vote on worst of the year, Sam Ash Online.

 

Next.

[Roto]

Well, the only keyboard I've ever bought was last year. It was one of the many Alesis DG8s that were getting blown off the shelves (literally!)

 

I don't know who dropped it, Alesis or UPS but I'll let them split the award.

[Roto]

(oops)

 

[ 01-02-2002: Message edited by: Roto ]

[Rod S]

My vote goes to Guitar Center in SJ, California. I can't express in words the frustration with that place. I've never seen ruder, clueless and slower people in retail, in ANY kind of retail Thank god for other retailers in the area like Gelb music, who gets both thumbs up from me.

 

A honorable mention to macmidi music, for being totally clueless when I placed/cancelled an order.

[Alejandro]

Rod, I enjoy the phrase you use to end your comments. I find it funny.

 

Everybody,

I have a general complaint against companies that never reply e-mails, even when you bought a product from them.

 

I had very bad experiences with Creative. I uploaded a question at their support web page. I received an e-mail saying I was going to be notified when the answer was available. Later, I received such e-mail but the URL address they gave me was blank. I tried to send e-mails complaining but they bounced or were not answered. I tried all the process again with exactly the same result.

 

I tried to get support form the company that builds or sells Phat-Boy. I wanted to know if Phat-Boy supported Vaz Modular (only Vaz+ is mentioned at their web page). I never got a reply from them. The people from Vaz answered my question. No complains about Phat-Boy, I am complaining about their customers´ support.

[midispaceho]

Guitar center in Las Vegas has got to be the most clueless and least helpful place on the planet. I have been trying to get a smart media card for my mc505 for like 2 years now and they can't help at all, ever. They sold me the 505 in the first place. Now the memory is full and I have no way to program with it without deleting something that I already did...and I like every thing on it!

[coyote]

My vote is for General Music. How is it they cannot manage to get some store in NYC or the surrounding region to distribute and DISPLAY their products? They certainly can't expect me to plunk down three thousand hard-earned dollars on faith.

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

Originally posted by coyote:

My vote is for General Music. How is it they cannot manage to get some store in NYC or the surrounding region to distribute and DISPLAY their products? They certainly can't expect me to plunk down three thousand hard-earned dollars on faith.

 

Ah-hah! Here's where I step in to argue the case of the manufacturer.

 

Coyote, trust me...Generalmusic would love it if their retailers would display their products better. This is a choice of the retailer. Now, not knowing anything about Generalmusic and their business policies, it's safe to say that stores will only focus on displaying those items that are most profitable for the store, or at least represent a huge draw that will bring people in to buy something and then get their profitability on accessories (cables, guitar straps, recording media and so on).

 

This is hardly Generalmusic's fault. It's the fault of the stores that decide (for whatever reason, perhaps very legitimate) to not show their gear. The companies that get better distribution and displays in stores are those with strong local representation to get in the stores and help out with setting up displays, as well as a product line that's a good business for the retailer.

 

There. Music Product Marketing 101 direct to you from the Weasel.

 

- Jeff

[Rod S]

As far as products not being on display, I had a similar problem when I bought a peavey pc1600x. No stores carried it, and I couldn't even order it online (less hassle to return it), so I had to have a store special order it. However, I admit it's kind of a 'specialty' item, and there's not much as far as 'test driving' it.

 

Well, maybe thumbs down for Peavey for not offering their stuff through e-tailers. 4 weeks to get it special ordered.

[Byrdman]

Originally posted by Roto:

Well, the only keyboard I've ever bought was last year. It was one of the many Alesis DG8s that were getting blown off the shelves (literally!)

 

I don't know who dropped it, Alesis or UPS but I'll let them split the award.

 

If delivery trucks didn't drop things out the back, how would the drivers find their way back to the depot?

[jimbyjoe]

obviously some music shops don't realise:

customer = business

no customer = no business = no money

 

something i learned when working at mcdonald's is that 9/10 people don't come and complain when they have a problem with the store - they just won't come back. and they tell their bad experience to at least 3 or 4 people (some stats like that).

 

for anyone living in bris vegas, go to ellaway's at kedron. the most progressive store in the city. other than that, music junction is pretty good too. allan's in sydney (nurses are you listening?) - i met the most rude and arrogant keyboard salesman i've ever met, but when i showed him i did know about keyboards and was seriously interested he was quite nice, and introduced me to the love of my life - kurzweil pc2x's (but i am yet to be one with one).

actually, the worst store i've been to is one that i used to work for. you know those salesmen who think they can play better than steve vai and can't even play creed's "higher" riff,and are really pushy and lie? and a manager who is so angry and abusive? well i tell people not to go there anymore. go to my then opposition.

 

k

[coyote]

Hmmm. You say it's not GeneralMusic's fault, and then say if they got better local representation they'd do better? Seems it IS their fault after all

 

I used to manage a dept in a music store. The good reps had some incentives for us to market/display their product. So GEM has Emerson & Wakeman endorsing their new piano, but can't get Sam Ash or Guitar Center to display one or two? Seems GEM needs to get themselves better local reps. PEACE

 

 

Originally posted by Jeff, TASCAM Guy:

Ah-hah! Here's where I step in to argue the case of the manufacturer.

 

The companies that get better distribution and displays in stores are those with strong local representation to get in the stores and help out with setting up displays, as well as a product line that's a good business for the retailer.

 

There. Music Product Marketing 101 direct to you from the Weasel.

 

- Jeff

[Dave Bryce]

Originally posted by coyote:

So GEM has Emerson & Wakeman endorsing their new piano, but can't get Sam Ash or Guitar Center to display one or two?

 

I believe that GeneralMusic distributed in the US by Peavey. Unless I am also mistaken, neither Ash nor GC carry Peavey, do they? That might have some bearing on this...

 

dB

[Felix_dup1]

I believe that GeneralMusic distributed in the US by Peavey. Unless I am also mistaken, neither Ash nor GC carry Peavey, do they? That might have some bearing on this...

It's my understanding that it's Peavey's policy not to sell to major chains at all (i.e. GC, Sam Ash, Mars), so if GeneralMusic wanted widespread display representation, they may have been better off choosing another distribution channel.

 

Also, though GeneralMusic's Flagship product looks pretty cool, I'd bet that realistically the market for it is pretty limited. How many pieces would a dealer need to sell to make it worth their while to keep one out of the box on the floor? Because I know most keyboardists would want to buy one in an unopened box, and if they were to buy a display piece, they'd expect a significant discount, severely reducing the profitability to the dealer. If the dealer is only going to sell a couple of keyboards a year, it may not be worth it to them.

 

Sorry, pretty far off topic now.

 

Worst of 2001? How about worst loss to the industry - my nomination? Alesis.

 

Hopefully, they'll eventually weather the transition and turn things around, but I can't help but think that things just won't be the same. When I think back to the new product announcements they made in 2000, Alesis was IMO the most innovative and exciting company around at the time, and I couldn't wait to see what they were going to come up with later. Too bad it didn't work out that way.

 

Another nomination? Worst vaporware? The Big Briar Minimoog Voyager. I see that a working model is supposed to make an appearance at Winter NAMM... we're waiting...

[KTempo]

Okay, how about Gateway computers AND Microsoft for the worst in 2001 award! Man, my aunt upgraded to the Windows XP so she asked me to install it for her (XP, memory, and CDRW drive). So, of course, there were stuff that I had to unistall in order to install XP. I did and for some reason the installation process wiped out the modem driver software too and no indication ANYWHERE that there ever was a modem installed. No problem. I called Gateway's Tech Service number and to my surprise, they didn't know what type of modem that she has so that I could download the driver needed. They gave me the run-around! They asked for the serial number--cool. Name, address, etc. Cool. But still couldn't tell me what I wanted or needed to know. I called them TEN TIMES since Dec. 14th to get everything to work right. I'm just shocked by the fact that these Computer Tech Experts don't know JACK about their own pre-configured computer system!! To make matters worse, Gateway gave me a 888 number to call Microsoft to ask them for the modem software driver. I called Microsoft and the guy asked for my credit card number because there's a fee in providing help with their product. Shit! I hung that damn phone up and called Gateway back. Told them they better send me that damn driver software!! And they did! To be honest, I don't like XP that much neither. There's too much shit you have to do in order to install that damn OS. So Gateway and Microsoft can share this damn award for sure!!

 

On my own AMD computer, don't get me started about them damn VIA chipsets!