Music shop fails

[EBS_freak]

4 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Many years ago (it was when Sound Control was still a going concern and before buying stuff on the internet had really taken off) I wanted to buy Herco Flex 75 picks in bulk. A friend who used to work there had been able to get me a box of 100 picks which worked out at well under half the price of buying them individually and at the rate I was using/losing them it made good sense. As I was nearing the end of my current stock I popped into the shop to enquire about getting another box of 100.

After a lot of poring over stock catalogues, was told "we'll see what we can do". A couple of weeks later, I was told my picks were in stock and I turned up to be presented with a pack of 6. 

Me - "No that's no good - 6 will last me about a month if I'm careful. Can you get me a box of 100 like you did before?"

Them - "It was supposed to be 100. We'll place the order again."

So off I went. In the mean time I had a search on the internet. It turns out that Herco Flex 75 are still available in 100s but seemingly only in the US. Still I'm sure that Strings & Things will be able to sort me out.

And so for another 6 months I was bounced between Sound Control, Strings & Things and Jim Dunlop (who own the Herco brand) in the US. Jim Dunlop would only deal with Strings & Things because they were the UK distributor. Strings & Things would only deal with Sound Control, because they didn't sell direct to the public, and it didn't seem to matter how often I went into the shop or phoned them about the progress of order, the box of 100 picks still hadn't arrived. The manager of the shop looked embarrassed to see me every Saturday, and he had no picks to sell me.

Finally I tracked down a source in the US who would sell me 100 Herco picks and ship them to the UK, and I was just about to do the deal when Sound Control phoned to inform me that my picks had arrived. I ended up getting a second box of 100 for free for being so patient.

I've almost used up all of these 200 picks, but luckily there are plenty of sources in the UK who will sell me 100 Herco Flex 75s at a sensible price.

You do know that all this could be avoided if you played properly... with your fingers...?

 

[BassTractor]

- Hi, I'm here to pick up the five Yamaha tenor saxes we ordered.

- Ah! Here they are, sir.

- Huh? What are these?

- They're NonameAwful tenor saxes, sir. Great stuff!

- What? We specifically ordered Yamaha YTS-62 saxes!

- A tenor sax is a tenor sax, sir.

- 

BTW, as you probably guessed, a Yamaha YTS-62 is a very good sax.

[EBS_freak]

Me - I'm here to pick up five Yamaha tenor saxes we ordered?

Them - What the f**k? We're a shoe shop.

[Cato]

Not really a fail, but I've stopped going into my most local music shop even if I happen to be walking past the door because it's boring.

Unless you happen to have an unusual fetish for Eiphone Tobies or bottom of the range Ibanez's, the bass section is boring.

Unless you want to pay over the odds for a MIM Fender, the guitar section is boring.

They must sell a lot of keyboards, brass instruments and kazoos to stay afloat.

Edited February 13, 2018 by Cato

[mentalextra]

54 minutes ago, Cato said:

They must sell a lot of keyboards, brass instruments and kazoos to stay afloat.

Don't forget country and western sheet music

[Monkey Steve]

I took two Les Pauls into a small, local shop in the town where I was working on secondment at the time - they advertised that they did repairs and I wanted a couple of bits of tarting up done - one needed new pickups and I wanted the binding on the body changed from white to black and some rewiring on both of them.  Since i was going to be in town every day for the next few weeks it seemed like an ideal opportunity to get it all done without having to go out of my way to drop off an pick up the guitars.

"yes sir, of course we can do that, I'm well known for the quality of my work, ask anybody, loads of experience *quotes a surprisingly low price*  But just drop one guitar off for now, and when we've done that we can swap it over and do the other one."

They ring me later in the week to ask if I want the EMG pickups that they're removing back, because they have somebody else asking about putting EMGs on a guitar and if i want to sell them then that'll pay for all the other work.  Great - I have no use for them and it saves me flogging them on eBay.

Weeks pass.  No word.  I pop in and ask how it's going, it's been a while now.

"Ah yes, replacing the binding isn't going as easily as expected and is taking much longer than I thought it would *I've never done it before and thought it would be easy, I was wrong*"

More weeks pass, with a weekly call or visit where he promises that he'll be working on it over the next week, it'll definitely be finished soon.

Finally, about three months after dropping the first guitar off, by which time I'm no longer working in the town, I get a call telling me that the guitar is finished and ready to pick up.  But also telling me not to bother dropping off the second one because there's no way he can do the work on it for the price he quoted and doesn't want the hassle of having to do it all again.

I then find a local luthier who does it on the other guitar for a similar price to what I was originally quoted - turns out that changing the binding isn't that difficult or costly a job if you know what you're doing. 

I've never gone back

[Cato]

19 minutes ago, mentalextra said:

Don't forget country and western sheet music

You've been in then?

[uk_lefty]

Dropped in a bass at Sound Control in Southampton years back for a set up and I was concerned about the truss rod. It was a Warwick Streamer LX so not a cheap bass. Went in the next week and the person who does the set ups had taken it home... And he was off sick. He was off sick the next week too. I kicked off at the manager because it just looks like my bass has been stolen. They gave me the guys home number and I went round and collected from him. He was genuinely sick, but even so, taking a pricey bass home with you and not even doing the work is unacceptable for me. 

[EBS_freak]

8 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

Dropped in a bass at Sound Control in Southampton years back for a set up and I was concerned about the truss rod. It was a Warwick Streamer LX so not a cheap bass. Went in the next week and the person who does the set ups had taken it home... And he was off sick. He was off sick the next week too. I kicked off at the manager because it just looks like my bass has been stolen. They gave me the guys home number and I went round and collected from him. He was genuinely sick, but even so, taking a pricey bass home with you and not even doing the work is unacceptable for me. 

I suspect it would not be suitably insured also. I can't believe you went around to collect it - somebody should have done that on your behalf.

[uk_lefty]

32 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

I suspect it would not be suitably insured also. I can't believe you went around to collect it - somebody should have done that on your behalf.

I was just sick of being fobbed off and being my bass I just had to get it myself. If I'd asked them to do it I would have been waiting at least another week. 

[Barking Spiders]

well, a cr@p music shop is better than no music shop. I used to live in Cheltenham (still work there)  and 10 years ago there were four music shops; two proper guitar shops, one selling  small budget /school instruments  and one selling pianos and acoustic instruments.  Three are now gone and the one that's left has much reduced stock and is just about hanging on in there. It's them bluddy rents and rates wot dunnit. At least Gloucester still has two pretty good guitar shops.

[EBS_freak]

8 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

I was just sick of being fobbed off and being my bass I just had to get it myself. If I'd asked them to do it I would have been waiting at least another week. 

I would have said call the police in their ear shot... but given my dealings with the police... waste of time.

[Burns-bass]

45 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

I would have said call the police in their ear shot... but given my dealings with the police... waste of time.

It's no a criminal matter, it would be a civil dispute (unless the shop reported the item as having been stolen). Bonkers, I know, but I've been in this situation myself. 

[EBS_freak]

2 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

It's no a criminal matter, it would be a civil dispute (unless the shop reported the item as having been stolen). Bonkers, I know, but I've been in this situation myself. 

Indeed. And that is why the law is an donkey.

[Burns-bass]

Guess so.

[Cat Burrito]

The worst for me is the snidey, disinterested and condescending attitude often offset with someone slapping the bass that I've asked to try for ages before handing it to me. Thankfully what was a constant in my teens and early 20s never happens now I am middle aged. 

[EBS_freak]

4 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

The worst for me is the snidey, disinterested and condescending attitude often offset with someone slapping the bass that I've asked to try for ages before handing it to me. Thankfully what was a constant in my teens and early 20s never happens now I am middle aged. 

 

[Kevsy71]

15 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

The worst for me is the snidey, disinterested and condescending attitude often offset with someone slapping the bass that I've asked to try for ages before handing it to me. Thankfully what was a constant in my teens and early 20s never happens now I am middle aged. 

That was my very first bass shop experience as a young teen 32 years ago. After being handed the slapped bass, I think I played each open string slowly twice whilst wishing the earth would open. I've often thought I'd like to walk back in with a Wal and a Ken Smith, point out to the shop assistants that they make commission on sales, and that they made a HUGE mistake not being nicer to me decades before...and then I remember that I'm not Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

[TheGreek]

6 hours ago, NJE said:

What a shame, I had amazing dealings with S&T a few months ago. The guy I spoke to said they don’t sell direct to public anymore but asked what I needed and got it ordered for me direct with EB as it wasn’t a standard item (white pickup covers). They got held up with Cities basses in transit but I wasn’t in a rush. Got updates and then he arranged for me to pick them up from my local dealer to pay for them, amazing! 

 

Like NJE I've always great service from S&T - the CEO is a really nice fella and has helped us out with the Bass bashes each year. I've bought 2x Ernie Ball Zippo lighters from eBay which I've sent him, he doesn't even smoke but loves to gloat when smokers try to borrow one.

I won't have a word said against them!!

Edited February 13, 2018 by TheGreek

[Stu-khag]

8 hours ago, LewisK1975 said:

Recently some better shops have opened up in the South Wales Area, but before that it was dreadful.

We got a PMT in Cardiff City Centre, and I hear good things about 'A Strings' which is in Pontypridd.

Before that we had the ridiculously overpriced Cranes in Cardiff/Swansea (now closed), and Gamlins is still there in Cardiff, but they're not the most 'interested' bunch really.  Also GM Music in Cardiff where you literally cannot swing a cat.

 Popped into a strings just after Christmas. They had some nice stock bass wise and quite possibly the best selection of bass strings I've ever seen. Nice bunch as well. Re: cranes, they have a shop in Swansea still which was a shadow of its former self. Not much bass wise and plenty of budget stuff. Lots of super strat pointy stuff but not to my taste. Gamlins can be really hit and miss- if it's the fella who does set ups you are into a winner or the the other younger guy- or the blonde fella-  if it's the guy in his late 40s sitting at the computer  at the back, you'll be lucky to be acknowledged 

[Maude]

Shop - Need any help? 

Me - Yes, what flatwounds do you stock? 

Shop - No one uses flatwounds. (Then shows me all the rounds) 

Me - I wanted flats to see what they'd sound like on my Precision. 

Shop - They'll sound like stinky poo. 

I'm more than happy to do all my dealings via the Internet. The Internet always has what I need in stock and is usually delivered before I get the chance to drive the 150 mile round trip to the nearest decent shop. 

Re missing the shops when they're gone. You don't miss what you haven't got. 

[bubinga5]

I went into Guitar Guitar in Glasgow a while back. I asked if I could play a Sadowsky Metro from the wall.It was a lovely UV70 5 string in black. The more expensive instruments are put higher on the wall of course. The guy got it down, plugged it in, and then let me and the shop listen to some of his chops, before he let me play the bass...... Really.? 

[bubinga5]

6 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

well, a cr@p music shop is better than no music shop. I used to live in Cheltenham (still work there)  and 10 years ago there were four music shops; two proper guitar shops, one selling  small budget /school instruments  and one selling pianos and acoustic instruments.  Three are now gone and the one that's left has much reduced stock and is just about hanging on in there. It's them bluddy rents and rates wot dunnit. At least Gloucester still has two pretty good guitar shops.

I used to go into Around About Sound a bit. Was a great shop. Is it still open.? Had a very rare GB Spitfire 4 in there that was being sold by the owner. Bought a great Yamaha TRB 6 for £600. 

[Dan Dare]

9 hours ago, Kevsy71 said:

I'd miss the good ones, but I suspect they will last longer because they're good. I certainly won't miss the arrogant chancers though...

To be fair, some of the nonsense music shop staff have to put up with would try the patience of a saint. Not really surprising some develop a cynical attitude. Was in a well known shop in Denmark Street today, just looking, as they say. Played a few nice Martins and had a friendly chat with one of the staff. There was another guy in at the same time, asking all manner of daft questions, not listening to the (helpful) replies and generally being a pain. I should imagine that's a far from rare occurrence.

[EBS_freak]

21 minutes ago, bubinga5 said:

I went into Guitar Guitar in Glasgow a while back. I asked if I could play a Sadowsky Metro from the wall.It was a lovely UV70 5 string in black. The more expensive instruments are put higher on the wall of course. The guy got it down, plugged it in, and then let me and the shop listen to some of his chops, before he let me play the bass...... Really.? 

Me - could I take a look at that Sadowsky please?

Them - * 7 shades of stock licks before passing it to me *

Me - first gig of the year or something?