Bass Direct

[fretmeister]

35 minutes ago, 28mistertee said:

Hi Rob, no it was bought in store. However I feel that it was unfair I couldn’t return it on the 14th day. Hard to get a true representation of an instrument in that time especially with only two rehearsals plus I live an hour and half away. What’s done is done, you live and learn. Thanks for the heads up though.

I'm with the shop on this.

 

You bought it in person. They don't have to give you any return time at all if you decide you just don't like it. The Cooling off period for online sales is because you don't get the chance to try it before you buy. 

 

I'm still amazed that clothes shops allow changes for so long after purchase - the amount of people they must have buying stuff and wearing it for a party and returning it must be mental.

[ambient]

39 minutes ago, 28mistertee said:

Hi Rob, no it was bought in store. However I feel that it was unfair I couldn’t return it on the 14th day. Hard to get a true representation of an instrument in that time especially with only two rehearsals plus I live an hour and half away. What’s done is done, you live and learn. Thanks for the heads up though.

I think the 14 days thing is only for distance selling/purchasing.

[discreet]

37 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

...the amount of people they must have buying stuff and wearing it for a party and returning it must be mental...

...and unhygenic. 

[lowregisterhead]

44 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

I'm still amazed that clothes shops allow changes for so long after purchase - the amount of people they must have buying stuff and wearing it for a party and returning it must be mental.

Not to mention potentially legally hazardous. Imagine if you bought some clothing that had been 'partied' in, got swabbed going through airport security, and it came up with traces of drugs? Scary.

Sorry if that's slightly off topic...

[taunton-hobbit]

"I'm still amazed that clothes shops allow changes for so long after purchase - the amount of people they must have buying stuff and wearing it for a party and returning it must be mental."

I don't know what others do (nor care) - I run a clothes shop -

I'll take back & exchange within a couple of days,

or issue a credit note (neither of which I'm legally obliged to do).........

fortunately I don't sell anything that would be (normally) worn for a party -

this is what killed C & A in the UK, & lately Majik & Sparkle have severely

curtailed their trading policies...........

I'm thinking that some of the aggressive online clothing firms are heading into

very choppy waters with 'distance selling' returns - which helped murder the

mail order catalogue retailers........interesting times...........

(whistles gently, exits stage left)

😎

[dieseldalziel]

2 hours ago, fretmeister said:

 

I'm still amazed that clothes shops allow changes for so long after purchase - the amount of people they must have buying stuff and wearing it for a party and returning it must be mental.

I work in retail & our company policy gives you 28 days to return for an exchange or refund as long as all tags etc are intact, we often start days in deficit. Recently had someone want to return stuff bought in the xmas sale for a birthday in May & it didn't fit....

[taunton-hobbit]

Yeah, the 'tags' thing is usually a good giveaway..........

as for bought at Xmas & returned in May -

I'm relieved that I don't have a monopoly on tw*ts.......

😎

Edited June 18, 2018 by taunton-hobbit

[discreet]

I've only dealt with Bass Direct online and have had nothing but good service. I had a problem with some strings and Mark liaised with the manufacturer to get me replacements... took a while but they're based in the USA, so not much to be done about that. Generally I order stuff from their website and it arrives in very good time, job done. I'd buy a bass from them online, if it came to that.

But then I can decide whether or not I'm going to like a bass as soon as I get it in my hands. Mostly.

 

Edited June 18, 2018 by discreet

[dieseldalziel]

also some  of the returns we get are stinking...smoke,food,incense,perfumes..but we take it all back..

Edited June 18, 2018 by dieseldalziel

[Woodinblack]

Had less luck here. Tried to buy an bass recently but after a couple of messages they didn't get back to me.

On the plus side, it was a bit expensive and so I still have the money!

[grumpyguts]

It good to see this thread is back on track, it was in danger of floundering.

[mrtcat]

I dropped in on my way up the M40 last week. I needed strings but also had £2k in my bass fund pot so thought I'd check out what toys they had. They had the strings I wanted but seemed so keen to usher me out of the door that I didn't even look at basses. Instead I've spent most of it on here lol.

I love the idea of the shop and have had great experiences there before but it just mystifies me how the service can be so up and down. 21 pages of divided opinion and still going says it all really for me.

[gjones]

I just splashed some cash, on a Jazz Bass from Bass Direct, yesterday. I bought it online. It's my first time with the shop. i'm hoping all will go smoothly.

Edited June 20, 2018 by gjones

[Woodinblack]

37 minutes ago, gjones said:

I just splashed some cash, on a Jazz Bass from Bass Direct, yesterday. I bought it online. It's my first time with the shop. i'm hoping all will go smoothly.

I am sure it will

[peteb]

17 hours ago, gjones said:

I just splashed some cash, on a Jazz Bass from Bass Direct, yesterday. I bought it online. It's my first time with the shop. i'm hoping all will go smoothly.

I just bought a Jazz Bass from them over the phone on Monday. All went very smoothly and I had the bass the next day. 

[BrunoBass]

On 19/06/2018 at 07:50, mrtcat said:

I love the idea of the shop and have had great experiences there before but it just mystifies me how the service can be so up and down. 21 pages of divided opinion and still going says it all really for me.

To save me trawling through the entire thread, has anyone from Bass Direct ever commented here on any of the posts? 

[Guest]

On 19/06/2018 at 07:50, mrtcat said:

I dropped in on my way up the M40 last week. I needed strings but also had £2k in my bass fund pot so thought I'd check out what toys they had. They had the strings I wanted but seemed so keen to usher me out of the door that I didn't even look at basses. Instead I've spent most of it on here lol.

I love the idea of the shop and have had great experiences there before but it just mystifies me how the service can be so up and down. 21 pages of divided opinion and still going says it all really for me.

Did you think to tell them that you were interested in a bass? Looking from the other side of the fence it is sometimes hard to tell the genuine customers from the (many) timewasters who will take up your entire day and spend £20 - or nothing. I’ve worked in a music shop, albeit a long time ago, and the ratio of reasonable/chocolate starfish customers was about 10%/90%. If you feel you had poor service tell them there and then - the worst that can happen is that they’ve lost a customer. Maybe the guy/gal was having a bad day?

[mrtcat]

1 hour ago, FDC484950 said:

Did you think to tell them that you were interested in a bass? Looking from the other side of the fence it is sometimes hard to tell the genuine customers from the (many) timewasters who will take up your entire day and spend £20 - or nothing. I’ve worked in a music shop, albeit a long time ago, and the ratio of reasonable/chocolate starfish customers was about 10%/90%. If you feel you had poor service tell them there and then - the worst that can happen is that they’ve lost a customer. Maybe the guy/gal was having a bad day?

They know and recognise me as someone who has spent a lot in there over the years, probably £5k to date and I've also sold stuff to staff. It was reasonably busy but it's not a customer's job to convince a shop and it's staff that they're worthy of being welcome. Everyone is a potential customer when you are running a business whether they spend today, tomorrow or years down the line. If they're having a bad day then they need to be professional and suck it up a bit like the rest of us in our professional lives.

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, mrtcat said:

They know and recognise me as someone who has spent a lot in there over the years, probably £5k to date and I've also sold stuff to staff. It was reasonably busy but it's not a customer's job to convince a shop and it's staff that they're worthy of being welcome. Everyone is a potential customer when you are running a business whether they spend today, tomorrow or years down the line. If they're having a bad day then they need to be professional and suck it up a bit like the rest of us in our professional lives.

I think we’ll agree to disagree on this one. I recognise your tone from some of the “customers” I had the misfortune of encountering.

[Daz39]

Don’t get it: why is @mrtcat wrong? Poor customer service is bad PR, regardless of the customer’s intention.

[gjones]

4 hours ago, peteb said:

I just bought a Jazz Bass from them over the phone on Monday. All went very smoothly and I had the bass the next day. 

Bought mine on Tuesday night, no sign of it so far. Did they send you an email to confirm it was with the courier?

[jezzaboy]

34 minutes ago, gjones said:

Bought mine on Tuesday night, no sign of it so far. Did they send you an email to confirm it was with the courier?

I bought a Markbass cab from them earlier this year and got a conformation of purchase but nowt regarding postage, couriers etc. It did turn up in a couple of days though. In this internet age, it was a bit disappointing.

And the packing was shocking: they had put the cab in a box and it looked like they had just threw in some small air bags and polystyrene in with the cab, no protection at all really. But the cab was fine.

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, FDC484950 said:

Did you think to tell them that you were interested in a bass? Looking from the other side of the fence it is sometimes hard to tell the genuine customers from the (many) timewasters who will take up your entire day and spend £20 - or nothing. I’ve worked in a music shop, albeit a long time ago, and the ratio of reasonable/chocolate starfish customers was about 10%/90%. If you feel you had poor service tell them there and then - the worst that can happen is that they’ve lost a customer. Maybe the guy/gal was having a bad day?

Yes, that is the attitude that a lot of music shops had when I was young many years ago, and why no-one was that worried when a lot of them closed down.

[Woodinblack]

10 minutes ago, jezzaboy said:

And the packing was shocking: they had put the cab in a box and it looked like they had just threw in some small air bags and polystyrene in with the cab, no protection at all really. But the cab was fine.

I had that with the packaging.

[peteb]

2 hours ago, gjones said:

Bought mine on Tuesday night, no sign of it so far. Did they send you an email to confirm it was with the courier?

I got an email from the courier first thing the next morning and another to confirm delivery a few hours later. 

Remember that I bought the bass over the phone rather than online. If I was you I would give them a ring to check on progress / delivery.