Bass Direct

[mrtcat]

I played a friend's lull precision a couple of years ago. After two minutes I handed it back and made him promise to never let me play it again. It was pretty much perfect in every way and I just haven't got the money to buy one.

[Steve Browning]

I meant that you seem to have rather tailored your answer to produce the answer you seemed to have wanted. I would think Rich was just looking at the total posts and I would roughly reckon he's about right overall.

Let me be clear, I have made two perfectly good purchases from BD but it seems quite clear that some people have had issues, and (in fairness) they have described them in order to 'justify' their disappointments. There seems to be some valuable feedback for the proprietor should he choose to take it on board.

If the shop disappoints too many customers it may fail. That is a chance but that is the fault of the shop in not delivering good and consistent service and not the fault of people on a forum reporting their issues.

It won't be an issue for me. My signature suggests I'd be banned from the place! There certainly seems to me (having just read every single post) more favourable responses than bad (overwhelmingly I would say) and that's good but some people's experiences seem to be snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, which is a shame when you are a niche shop in an already niche market.

It's kind of like Barefaced in some ways. These are brands which seem to be seen as 'ours' in some way and any criticism is immediately jumped on by an opinions police who cannot accept 'our' brand being criticised, even when perfectly justified.

[stingrayPete1977]

Drive through bass shop?

[roceci]

They were all out of beef & tomato pot noodles last time I went the bastards, & I went home with a divorce's worth of gear I secretly really needed :/

[taunton-hobbit]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]"It's kind of like Barefaced in some ways"[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Which is why Barefaced is looking to widen its market with pa stuff at the moment[/font][/color]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif](I'd never be surprised to see Alex launch total band kit at sometime).[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color]

[JohnR]

I have bought several items from Bass Direct over the years through their website. I love the fact that there is a shop specialising in the needs of bass players run by someone who is passionate about bass.

I emailed them yesterday to discuss ordering a left handed 6 stringer and had an email conversation with Mark in the evening to identify my requirements. First thing this morning he had sourced one with the bonus it is in my preferred finish. This might not be a big deal for all you right handers but we leftys rarely have this sort of luck.

I phoned Mark this morning to seal the deal and we had a great conversation about bass playing and the evolution of gear over the years.

John

[CameronJ]

Yep. Have to say Bass Direct have been very helpful during my recent experiences with them. It’s a thumbs up from me!

[Owen]

I like BD. I had a ridiculously tortuous situation which they were caught up in (not remotely their doing) and they were cool.

[Oldman]

I have to pop this in. Since joining this money extraction forum in 2009 and buying online from BD a Genz 600 soon after, I have sold via BD 6 Basses and purchased numerous heads ( no I don’t have them now ) and a Bass or two. Apart from being intimidated by the array of sweeties I have not had a really bad experience topped out a by slice of consumer excellence yesterday.

I decided to downsize to C4’s and sort out a 3/4 cab solution ( once and for all you understand ) so three weeks ago I bought an Aguilar AG700 together with 3 (yes 3) C4’s. At first it sounded immense but then the shine rubbed off the Head ( stay with me, breathe ) I decided I didn’t like it....... I’d been advised not to look at the Mesa and the Darkglass has a ( for me ) fussy from end so it’s the Genzler. I’d communicated with Marcus and without any quibble was offered a refund immeadiately. Yesterday I returned the AG700 and picked up a shiny new, sealed in the box Genzler Magellan. Got it home, fired it up with the three cabs, tonal perfection...

I am a happy bunny, in this online cut throat Thomann, GAK, Bax ( and others) dominated online sales arena, for me ‘popping’ out for a perusal and a purchase is most satisfying.

It’s a commercial venture and is run successfully.

[stingrayPete1977]

Oh no what about the 'heft'?

[mikel]

A "Specialist" shop, in a niche market, will by necessity be slightly elitist. If you cater for a small market, and mostly the high end of that market, a level of expertese is assumed by both trader and punter. If they try and compete with the usual high street and on line giants they have little chance, so they do what they do best, deal with bassists who have experience and have an idea of what they are looking for. High end instruments and amplification.

I use the on line giants for things like strings, stands, leads etc, but I would never buy an instrument or an amp without seeing and trying it out, having a chat with the sales people and getting advice. I like to enjoy the whole buying experience and feel I am getting more than just a product for my money.

[Oldman]

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1510224603' post='3404704']
A "Specialist" shop, in a niche market, will by necessity be slightly elitist. If you cater for a small market, and mostly the high end of that market, a level of expertese is assumed by both trader and punter. If they try and compete with the usual high street and on line giants they have little chance, so they do what they do best, deal with bassists who have experience and have an idea of what they are looking for. High end instruments and amplification.

I use the on line giants for things like strings, stands, leads etc, but I would never buy an instrument or an amp without seeing and trying it out, having a chat with the sales people and getting advice. I like to enjoy the whole buying experience and feel I am getting more than just a product for my money.
[/quote]

Yep, I’m up for that

[KingPrawn]

Popped into Bass Direct first thing, to pick up a cab Mark had kindly set aside for me without a deposit needed. Have to say pretty uneventful. Good chat, shown some really beautiful Maruszczyk basses, which are so incredibly light and the onboard kit and finish is stunning. A must try if your passing.

Really disappointed. I was hoping for Kevin & Perry style interactions, however, it was more Richard & Judy!! sorry I meant Ant & Dec. Anyway, thank you both for your time. I hope to see you soon. for a 5 string Maruszczyk!!

[Roger2611]

Just wanted to tell you guys about the customer service I recieved from Mark this week:

A while back I ordered a couple of sets of La Bella Super Steps from Bass Direct which arrived quickly and in original packaging, on Sunday I decided to re-string a bass ready for some gigs this weekend, I opened a fitted one of the packs only to find that the D string was completely dead....to say I was slightly disappointed would be an understatement, anyway the following morning I rang Bass Direct and explained the issue, Mark asked me to email the details to him and he would raise it with La Bella which I duly did, Tuesday afternoon I get home from work to find a brand new set of Super Steps on my door mat!

If Carlsberg did customer service was the phrase that sprang to mind!

Edited November 29, 2017 by Roger2611
Garbage spelling!

[fleabag]

Just been up to see Mark at BD, as he had a used bass i was interested in. Phoned first to make sure it hadn't been sold or had a deposit on it.

I offered to put a deposit on, as it was a 1 hour drive and sods law working the way it does, someone would have gone in and bought it while i was on route

Mark said no need, he will hold till close of business for me.  Fab

I drove up to Warwickshire as promised within 2 hours.  Met Mark, nice as pie and a bit of a comedian, just my type of bloke.

I also took one of my basses i wanted to part ex, and he glanced over it  ( it was mint and faultless by the way ) and he offered me one price, no haggling.

I accepted and 15 mins later i was off, after a couple of giggles with Mark while i was in his office.

The deal was hassle free, and both of us were happy

Job done

[FinnDave]

So, what did you get?

[ambient]

I bought a Mono Vertigo gig bag from them in August 2016. it had travelled hundreds and hundreds of miles with me, on trains, buses and the Eurostar across Europe.

The strap broke a couple of weeks ago, as luck would have it just as I was getting on a train for a gig in Bristol. Anyway I managed an emergency repair using my teeth to squeeze the broken buckle bak together and continued my journey.

I emailed Mark on the Monday morning, he got straight on to Mono and the distributors, and within a very short space of time had negotiated a return and a replacement bag for me. He even offered to post the broken one if I could get it over to him.

That is why shops like Bass direct should in my opinion be shown more appreciation, who cares whether they sell a set of strings with mismatched silks?

We should ensure their survival in what must be a very difficult market, with so many apparently great deals available on-line. Can you seriously imagine Amazon who, although well known for their great customer service arranging a return on an item almost a year and a half after purchase?

Edited December 16, 2017 by ambient

[CameronJ]

26 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

So, what did you get?

Yes, @fleabag, what did you get? And what did you part exchange?

[fleabag]

Ahem...

Bought NS NXT  EUB,  and sold my flame maple Yammy TRB ll  4  banger.

NXT is lovely, but gotta fire off some questions in the EUB section as to why the sustain is non existent as soon as any string is fretted

Especially the D string.  Might be the strings ?

[BassTractor]

1 hour ago, fleabag said:

  Might be the strings ?

Nope. Sustain is in the fingers. 

[clivem]

2 hours ago, ambient said:

Can you seriously imagine Amazon who, although well known for their great customer service arranging a return on an item almost a year and a half after purchase?

Yes. I used a product I purchased from Amazon for over a year, at which point it developed a fault. I tried without success to contact the UK distributor, (for the product), to arrange to have it repaired, a repair I expected to have to pay for. So then, I asked Amazon if they could put me in touch with the distributor I hadn't been able to contact. They couldn't and because they no longer sold that product, (so wouldn't be able to send me a replacement), they just gave me a full refund for the product. Just sayin' ..... 

[ambient]

8 minutes ago, clivem said:

Yes. I used a product I purchased from Amazon for over a year, at which point it developed a fault. I tried without success to contact the UK distributor, (for the product), to arrange to have it repaired, a repair I expected to have to pay for. So then, I asked Amazon if they could put me in touch with the distributor I hadn't been able to contact. They couldn't and because they no longer sold that product, (so wouldn't be able to send me a replacement), they just gave me a full refund for the product. Just sayin' ..... 

Your experience is a little different to mine with something that went wrong after 6 months or so then, because they didn’t want to know. Just saying...😊

[bartelby]

I initiated a return for an item, that was 14 months old, with Amazon. They sent out a replacement the same day. 

Edited December 16, 2017 by bartelby

[charic]

I have to say Amazon are usually great, once you manage to navigate their support

But I've honestly never bought any instruments from them and I'm not sure I would

[Monkey Steve]

Amazon are no doubt very aware of their legal responsibilities here, and as ever do not want to get into battle over enforcing them.  They are still potentially responsible for stuff that goes wrong up to six years after you've bought it, depending on how long you might reasonably assume that things will work for in the first place.

I looked into this when I was going to buy a new TV from a seller through Amazon, which stated that it had a 5 year guarantee on Amazon, then found it cheaper on the seller's own website, and wrongly assumed that it would also have the 5 year guarantee and only found out after I'd bought it that I only had a one year manufacturer's guarantee.  I was muttering to a friend about how John Lewis (from where I'd bought my last TV) offer a 5 year guarantee on all their TVs so maybe it's worth paying the extra, and they pointed out that every TV you buy effectively has a 6 year guarantee so why worry about it (it's a little more complicated than that, but as a broad principle it's right).

The best summary is that under the Sale of Goods Act, now replaced by the Consumer Rights Act, if you buy something that goes wrong within a period where you might reasonably have expected it to work properly, then the seller is required to repair or replace it, regardless of guarantees or their current relationship with the manufacturer.

Good overview here:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/feb/05/how-long-electrical-goods-guaranteed

The one caveat of note is that they can knock off an amount for the use you've had.  Which makes getting the bag strap replaced after such heavy use above and beyond the legal requirements