Customer Service at The Gallery

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1360534202' post='1972055']
There is that. There's nothing more annoying than overkeen shop assistants. A lot of folk just like to be left to it. The gallery's been there a long time and must be doing something right to be still trading when a lot of guitar shops are dying out.
[/quote] I used to sell high end food stuffs, and the higher end you go the less you go pushy, you smile and are friendly but you let the customer make the choice - you don't get much more high end than some of the stuff they have in the gallery.

[Dash]

Slightly different angle on this... I've been to the Gallery a few times. I haven't bought a bass but have had one set up and some other small bits of work done. I found Alex to be a bit reserved and happy to leave me to browse but when I asked him some questions, he warmed up and was very friendly. I'm a lefty so we've chatted about the lack of lefty bass guitars and he has let me try out all the lefty basses he in stock... including a couple retailing for over a grand each that were well above anything I could possibly afford at the time (and he knew that).

As a woman, I'm used to walking into guitar shops and being completely ignored or, at most, getting questions from the staff like 'are you waiting for your boyfriend?' so maybe my expectations are different but I'd happily go back to the Gallery unlike 90% of guitar shops I've visited.

[tedmanzie]

i got very nice service from the guy that works on the set-ups downstairs - we chatted about strings.
upstairs was different where a 'anything i can help you with mate?' wouldn't have gone amiss!

gotta say that their 'price match' is a bit suspect (certainly for strings), and they advertise it big time on their site so they can't blame people for asking.

Edited February 10, 2013 by tedmanzie

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1360534482' post='1972060']
nah if you work in a shop, especially a closed door shop like the gallery just having one customer is way way more akward - you don't want to be too pushy or sell, you don't know the person or what they are into or anything - or know what they are after - for something like basses if it were me I would be happier letting the customer have a look and strike up a convo if they wanted
[/quote]

I know what you mean, and I actually detest a hard sale approach. In this case, I tried to get chatting, telling him I was down in London for the weekend, had heard good things about The Gallery, how old is that bass etc. Nothing but the bare minimum of a reply, and in one instance I was just ignored (when I said goodbye)

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1360536109' post='1972088']
I know what you mean, and I actually detest a hard sale approach. In this case, I tried to get chatting, telling him I was down in London for the weekend, had heard good things about The Gallery, how old is that bass etc. Nothing but the bare minimum of a reply, and in one instance I was just ignored (when I said goodbye)
[/quote] It's London, no one likes anyone. If you wanted banter you should have gone north of Nottingham!

[Roland Rock]

:-D

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1360531521' post='1971990']
Agreed. Mark and Bass Direct are everything the Bass Cellar should be.
[/quote]
I've only ever spoken to Mark on the phone but have found him really helpful and nice bloke. I'd go to Bass Direct every time.

[shizznit]

I have been a customer of the Gallery for a long time and I have always found the guys to be friendly and informative. I have read negative feedback posts on BC and other forums about their customer service. Maybe I am one of the lucky ones.

But, saying that...I haven't been at the Gallery for a long time as the Bass Centre is a bit easier to travel to for me.

[peteb]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1360537611' post='1972119']
It's London, no one likes anyone. If you wanted banter you should have gone north of Nottingham!
[/quote]
Having lived in both London and in the north I can say that definitely is not true!

However, things are different in London without doubt....

[Leen2112]

[color=#222222]I emailed them about selling my Jaydee Supernatural and asked a few questions, all I got back was 'pop it in' and not much else. I mailed back to say as I live in Scotland I couldn’t 'pop it in' but could post it. I got bugger all back in answer to my questions and I wasn’t going to risk a £1000 bass with crap correspondence like that.[/color]

[color=#222222]However, a few months ago I saw a bass i wanted on their site and mailed again. This time a straight question about posting. I got the answer phoned and the guy was fine, maybe because i was buying.....dunno. [/color]
[color=#222222]The guys from Guitar Guitar in Edinburgh couldnt be more helpful, great place.[/color]

[Kiwi]

It might be that some of you are interpreting Alex's distance as coldness when he might be intending to show respect by not being pushy. Next time you're in there, try having a chat with him and see how you go before judging the situation. He's very committed to customer satisfaction. I've found him to be pretty friendly but he does tend to recognise me. I also tend to be upfront with him about the reasons I'm visiting. If I'm there just to mooch I'll let him know and he can find better things to do with his time like updating stock and following up on orders.

[quote name='Dash' timestamp='1360535516' post='1972074']
As a woman, I'm used to walking into guitar shops and being completely ignored or, at most, getting questions from the staff like 'are you waiting for your boyfriend?' so maybe my expectations are different
[/quote]
Alex's wife Jo is a bass player and an extremely accomplished one too, although most of her work is in theatre pits.

[steve-soar]

It's called "The Gallery" for a reason. Ring in advance. It's a special place to buy basses from, not guitars, not recorders for your kids, just basses.

[risingson]

I've found Alex's interpersonal skills a bit hit and miss, but that's nothing that he hasn't confirmed himself before on this site as I'm certain there are plenty of time wasters. The time I bought my Eden rig a few years back from them I think he figured me a time waster before I finally took the plunge, the times I've after that have been better as I've known what to expect to an extent.

The other two guys I have no complaints about at all, Martin was great when I spoke to him and the younger guy was also really nice as well, very accommodating. It's still my favourite place to shop bass wise in London when I'm there.

[Phil-osopher10]

And there's me thinking I was the only one. It was awful services and I doubt I'll spend my money there based on their service.

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1360529892' post='1971950']
I found myself in north London this weekend with a few hours to spare, so made a trip to Camden to check out The Gallery. I'm not really in the market for gear at the moment, but may be this year, and also thought it might be interesting to try the Dingwall Super P to feel what the fanned frets are like.

I really felt that the member of staff there found me as an annoyance, answering questions in a short manner, no small talk, no offers to try either of the instruments that I was showing interest in, not even any eye contact. I didn't feel comfortable asking to play the Dingwall in this environment, so eventually left, mumbling an awkward "thanks, bye" on my way out (no reply)

Is this the norm? or maybe I look like a penniless time waster!
It really put me off the place, and when I do buy more gear, it certainly won't be top of my list of places to go. A bit of a disappointment :-(
[/quote]

Wow, can't say i would be much pleased myself. As i've said before, my mate runs a music shop. In reality, i didn't even know the fella before he owned the music shop. What happened was that the music shop that i would normally have used in Ballymena shut down, leaving just one place to go which isn't very well geared for what they would call "rock" musicians. Sure, they have a few guitars, a couple of sets of strings, then about 30 £10,000 pianos and walls filled with theory books. Trouble is, even their small selection of pretty poor accessories are stupidly expensive. So i took to google, and sound this new place. It was closer to home, so i went there. The guy was so friendly, and the shop was so handy that i just kept returning, and he has been happy to order in whatever it is i might want. He knows that i'm not a time waster, and that i have my eye on one of the acoustic lags that he has in at the minute. He's offered me to cover the shop before (which i was unable to do) and last week offered me a bass student. On saturday i was in, and he was off, but i really needed the neck plate screws that he had ordered in for me, so i eventually found them after a lot of searching, and the lady there said "He said to pay him next time you're in. He doesn't know the price off hand, but he trusts you enough to pay him next time".

Not to mention i got some D'Addario goodies through him.

The benefits of being loyal. For both of us. I go to him first for nearly everything now, which gives him good business, and i get what i need without any hassle.

[MiltyG565]

Also adding- I have never set foot within 200 miles of London, so safe to say i haven't been to The Gallery. None of my experiences written above are about The Gallery, but just a few meandering stories to show what good customer service, and loyalty gets for both parties.

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1360537611' post='1972119']
It's London, no one likes anyone. If you wanted banter you should have gone north of Nottingham!
[/quote]

Banter! That's one thing any good music shop should have! Kieran (that owns the music shop i use) is pretty happy for me to come in and just have a chat. A couple of weeks ago, he handed me a guitar, and he picked up a ukulele, and we started playing Wet Sand by RHCP. I played rhythm and he played the melody. It was pretty cool. Until my mum walked in and started saying stuff like "we have to go to a party later" (To Kieran)"Martin thinks i can take him places then just chat all day"

For goodness sake mum, you ruined the jam!

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1360543953' post='1972227']
It might be that some of you are interpreting Alex's distance as coldness when he might be intending to show respect by not being pushy. Next time you're in there, try having a chat with him and see how you go before judging the situation. He's very committed to customer satisfaction. I've found him to be pretty friendly but he does tend to recognise me. I also tend to be upfront with him about the reasons I'm visiting. If I'm there just to mooch I'll let him know and he can find better things to do with his time like updating stock and following up on orders.
[/quote]

Like I said in post 29, I did try and have a chat, but it was like getting blood from a stone :-(
To be fair, I did make it clear that I was just browsing, and he went off and did other stuff, which is fine. It's just the lack of friendliness/manners made me want to leave the shop.
I definitely do not feel that he was intending to show respect - quite the opposite! Of course, this is all my interpretation of the situation, but as a customer interface, he failed badly, regardless of intention.

[Kiwi]

Would you like me to draw his attention to this thread? You could always drop him a line on Facebook or email BTW.

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1360565634' post='1972281']
Would you like me to draw his attention to this thread? You could always drop him a line on Facebook or email BTW.
[/quote]

I imagine that would just bring about the usual "I'm sorry that blah blah blah".

The thing is, he was a prospective buyer, whether he was just having a look or not. Before you buy something, you need to just have a look, don't you?

The man may very well be busy, and doesn't have much time to lavish on tyre kickers, but if he was asking questions about it, he should have given him the courtesy of elaborating a bit.

[Roland Rock]

Yeah, good idea, I'll send him a message. It's always good to get customer feedback

[karlfer]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1360534482' post='1972060']
nah if you work in a shop, especially a closed door shop like the gallery just having one customer is way way more akward - you don't want to be too pushy or sell, you don't know the person or what they are into or anything - or know what they are after - for something like basses if it were me I would be happier letting the customer have a look and strike up a convo if they wanted- expecting the poor fella to do a starbucks style 'how are you, whats your name' with every idiot who comes off the street is unfair. Yeah they could be better at the banter - but they don't trade on the banter.
Hi small independent shop, one of your products was bought en mass by a major chain store competitor so they can offer it cheaper, and they've had their stock for ages to slashed the prices to try and shift it.... will you match that price by lopping off 30% off the price (ie your profit) for me? - no, you don't have any in stock, oh poor show
[/quote]

Sorry Luke, you are missing the point, which is very unusual for you.
They advertise price match.
They advertised the bass was in stock.
They still advertise price match.
They still advertise the bass is in stock.
In fact none of the adverts have changed, it just seemed that the only time they didn't have that bass in stock was when I asked about price match.
It doesn't matter what field and wether big or small retailer, there are advertising codes.
If you have no intention of doing something, do not advertise to the contrary. If you advertise to the contrary, you may have to at least take some criticism.
Karl.

Edited February 11, 2013 by karlfer

[xilddx]

The Gallery is THE bass shop in London for me. Martin is a highly skilled luthier and a very nice guy. But I have to agree Alex is not the most welcoming of people and he's admitted that on here before. He's ok when you get to know him. I've had Martin do some work for me and a friend of mine and I can't say enough good things about him.

Overall though, The Gallery as a shop can (and should) do better.

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1360534482' post='1972060']
Hi small independent shop, one of your products was bought en mass by a major chain store competitor so they can offer it cheaper, and they've had their stock for ages to slashed the prices to try and shift it.... will you match that price by lopping off 30% off the price (ie your profit) for me? - no, you don't have any in stock, oh poor show
[/quote]

I missed this before. The music shop i use has price matched for me on strings against strings direct, just based on that it's money in his tills rather than somebody else's, and that was on product he ordered in for me. I don't know what he made from them, but he was happy enough to price match, and he has talked about price matching other products too (Boss pedals i believe, which he said have a pretty bad mark-up already).

If it puts any money in the till at all, make the sale.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1360571949' post='1972326']
Sorry Luke, you are missing the point, which is very unusual for you.
They advertise price match.
They advertised the bass was in stock.
They still advertise price match.
They still advertise the bass is in stock.
In fact none of the adverts have changed, it just seemed that the only time they didn't have that bass in stock was when I asked about price match.
It doesn't matter what field and wether big or small retailer, there are advertising codes.
If you have no intention of doing something, do not advertise to the contrary. If you advertise to the contrary, you may have to at least take some criticism.
Karl.
[/quote] Good point.