Disappointing customer service at bass dealer

[disgrace of bass]

This topic certainly touched nerves! And I meant it to be a cathartic exercise....😄😄😄😄

[Sibob]

It’s funny how the expectation of good customer service completely switches us off to others on a human level. So whilst it’s entirely possible that this young chap isn’t a very good salesman, it’s also very possible that he’s having an awful day/week/year. So instead of checking what the case is, we complain on social media as opposed to seeing if we can offer help/guidance/advice on how that person might either fix their problem, or at the least, get better at their job.

”Oh that’s the job of the shop manager/owner” you cry! Nope, it’s the job of anyone who cares.

Si

[Guest]

If you don’t name the dealer the post has no reason for existence. You felt the need to post your complaint - why bother without the shop in question? Even better - you’ve mailed them, so wait for a response and if still not satisfied then that may have been a more sensible time to kick off a thread. If you get an explanation you’re happy with them this thread was a waste of time!

Edited March 12, 2018 by FDC484950

[JapanAxe]

5 hours ago, disgrace of bass said:

Asked about used, told they had a head I was interested in, asked about its age and condition, just told ‘its in very good condition’. No effort made to bring it out or show it to me. At the price quoted if it really had been that good I’d have purchased then and there. 

No offer of demonstration. 

Maybe the kid has been instructed not to be too pushy and has taken it to heart. I can't understand why you didn't ask to have a look and a try-out.

[disgrace of bass]

Well I tried to summarise the visit, so there is a lot more I could have said and haven't. Said organisation hasn't answered my email as yet but I'll give them a week.

I'm actually quite an accomodating personality as those who know me well will attest. So it takes extremes to rock my boat. This was such a time.

I don't think the lad was having a bad day, he seemed quite happy with life. He just didn't make any effort to sell! Problem is a sales professional myself (selling engineering equipment in seven figure sums) I do know a thing or two about good sales practice. If that makes me a pedant so be it!

[skankdelvar]

2 hours ago, disgrace of bass said:

Well I tried to summarise the visit, ...

Ignore any chafing observations that may appear here. In expressing your dissatisfaction with a musical instrument retailer you are following in the highest traditions of BassChat. Not a week goes by that one of us does not put finger to keyboard the better to chronicle the deficiencies of sundry guitar emporia and / or their carters.

Some abhor the over-pushy salesperson; others detest the chap who cannot hand us a bass without first sitting down and slapping away like a spoons-player with St Vitus dance; profound contempt is reserved for the purse-lipped, nicotine-stained geriatric proprietor and his dopey, hopeless shop-boy alike. The happy retail experience is so vanishingly rare that it is greeted with wide-eyed surprise.

Even beyond the retailer we hurl our bile at wholesalers and manufacturers and their endorsers and their suppliers and their advertising agencies and so ad infinitum.

Frankly, it's the right thing to do. Any erring retailer who gets off with as little as a redacted thread like this should count himself lucky. For myself, when thwarted by some ghastly till-monkey I adhere to a firm two-step policy of (i) a savage, public tongue-lashing followed by (ii) a bullet in the face in a deserted warehouse.

 

Edited March 12, 2018 by skankdelvar

[yorks5stringer]

7 minutes ago, skankdelvar said:

Ignore any chafing observations that may appear here. In expressing your dissatisfaction with a musical instrument retailer you are following in the highest traditions of BassChat. Not a week goes by that one of us does not put finger to keyboard the better to chronicle the deficiencies of sundry guitar emporia and / or their carters.

Some abhor the over-pushy salesperson; others detest the chap who cannot hand us a bass without first sitting down and slapping away like a spoons-player with St Vitus dance; profound contempt is reserved for the purse-lipped, nicotine-stained geriatric proprietor and his dopey, hopeless shop-boy alike. The happy retail experience is so vanishingly rare that it is greeted with wide-eyed surprise.

Even beyond the retailer we hurl our bile at wholesalers and manufacturers and their endorsers and their suppliers and their advertising agencies and so ad infinitum.

Frankly, it's the right thing to do. Any erring retailer who gets off with as little as a redacted thread like this should count himself lucky. For myself, when thwarted by some ghastly till-monkey I adhere to a firm two-step policy of (i) a savage, public tongue-lashing followed by (ii) a bullet in the face in a deserted warehouse.

 

Why don't you tell us what you really think rather than always sitting on the fence....?

[Chris2112]

It seems rather passive aggressive to bring this up here, rather than speaking to the guy in the store about it. What would you have done before the days of the internet? Would you have gone home fuming or rather, knowing you had no recourse, would you have sorted it out with the salesman there and then? 

 

FWIW, I'd never pass over buying something I actually wanted just to spite a shop that gave me the wrong impression but then I don't really feel a need to be sold to and I get no validation from being given a sales pitch. 

[ambient]

What I would do is contact the manager/owner of the mystery shop and complain to them.

What I wouldn't do is start a post on here or Facebook or Twitter.

That's me though  .

Edited March 13, 2018 by ambient

[bazzbass]

It is a very rare occurance to find a sales person that knows even half of what you know about a product after just 5 minutes of googling, especially electrical goods.

My fave bass tech is one such person. ONE person in my local cell phone store......

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, bazzbass said:

My fave bass tech is one such person. ONE person in my local cell phone store......

Your fave bass tech works in a local cell phone store? That seems a little bit of a waste of talent!

[disgrace of bass]

To those who feel I should have contacted the store in question...please re-read my original post! It was the first thing I did. Before starting this thread. It was meant as a general sound-off, not to demonise what I otherwise regard as a reputable business, which is why I took pains to keep the identity of the offender's totally anonymous. 

It may not be the way you would have done it, but hey, it's a free country for us all.

An update. I received this morning a very nice email from the store owner. Very professional, very apologetic, very positive. As in all these situations, there was more than met the eye. Suffice to say said employee feel below the standards expected of him by his employer, and it has been dealt with. 

I can't say fairer than that.

[Norris]

11 hours ago, ambient said:

What I would do is contact the manager/owner of the mystery shop and complain to them.

What I wouldn't do is start a post on here or Facebook or Twitter.

That's me though  .

Try thinking of the Basschat collective like the spouse you'd normally grumble, rant and blow off steam to... but who actually give a toss about all things bass. There, it's not so bad now is it?

[Rich]

12 hours ago, skankdelvar said:

 (ii) a bullet in the face in a deserted warehouse.

 

Effective, true, but I find that electricity applied to the testicles first really gets the message across. I like a little bit of old-skool finesse first before galloping headlong towards the 9mm finale.

[ambient]

40 minutes ago, Norris said:

Try thinking of the Basschat collective like the spouse you'd normally grumble, rant and blow off steam to... but who actually give a toss about all things bass. There, it's not so bad now is it?

But said spouse would be in the privacy of my home, not on a public website

[FinnDave]

4 hours ago, Norris said:

Try thinking of the Basschat collective like the spouse you'd normally grumble, rant and blow off steam to... but who actually give a toss about all things bass. There, it's not so bad now is it?

So we should all totally ignore what he is saying, and just wait until his mouth stops opening and shutting and then launch into a lengthy and totally unrelated story about people you've never met and never will? 

Or is that just how it works in my house....

Edited March 13, 2018 by FinnDave

[uk_lefty]

For me going to try out a bass isn't something I can really do on the off chance. I recently emailed coda music in Stevenage to check that the bass I wanted was still in stock even though it is only a short journey and I was nearby anyway. They replied really quickly. O plan to visit some specialist bass shops soon to try out some basses and will phone or email in advance because being a lefty I can't just go and impulse buy.  If I was looking at a serious purchase like a new gig amp set up I'd probably do the same just to make sure that I'm not making a journey for nothing and they know I'm serious about buying. 

[burno70]

No excuses but the kid might have been having an off day. It happens.

I had a similar experiences in a music shop in Liverpool. I wanted a bass, tried it, wanted to buy it and the chap just acted like he could not be arsed helping me out with either a box or bag to put it in - replied in mono-syllables and shrugs. Decided to buy the same bass on line. Didn't put me off the shop though as I know they have some good staff in there too. About a year later I wanted to buy an Ibby - turns out the same lad was on duty. This time though it was night and day; he couldn't have been more helpful. 

[Horrorhiker]

5 hours ago, disgrace of bass said:

To those who feel I should have contacted the store in question...please re-read my original post! It was the first thing I did. Before starting this thread. It was meant as a general sound-off, not to demonise what I otherwise regard as a reputable business, which is why I took pains to keep the identity of the offender's totally anonymous. 

It may not be the way you would have done it, but hey, it's a free country for us all.

An update. I received this morning a very nice email from the store owner. Very professional, very apologetic, very positive. As in all these situations, there was more than met the eye. Suffice to say said employee feel below the standards expected of him by his employer, and it has been dealt with. 

I can't say fairer than that.

Selective reading. It's the old internet adage at work. Never let the facts get in the way of an internet 'like'. 

 

[Horrorhiker]

On 3/12/2018 at 14:49, disgrace of bass said:

I’m not going to name and shame. I’ve sent my thoughts direct via email, but I had a perfectly awful experience at a specialist Bass dealer today. I don’t for one moment think this is necessarily representative, indeed I hope it isn’t! 

I was on business in the area, and as I am in the market for a new amp head, I thought ‘what better opportunity?’. I drove there, parked up and walked in.

Ignored. For quite a period. When a young fella came into the sales area he was - how shall I put it? - apathetic. In fairness he was never unpleasant or rude, just disinterested. I told him my interest, but getting info out of him was like pulling teeth. I asked about the relative merits of different products, but got non- commital replies.

Asked about used, told they had a head I was interested in, asked about its age and condition, just told ‘its in very good condition’. No effort made to bring it out or show it to me. At the price quoted if it really had been that good I’d have purchased then and there. 

No offer of demonstration. 

No feeling that my presence, let alone my business was valued.

No incentive for me to buy. 

I left with a wallet full of cash that they could have taken off me.

I have to say the whole experience was most disheartening. And someone else will get my business.

If the shop in question is the one I think it is, I was just going to add that I have been considering going for a bit and have decided against it due to several bad experience internet posts and anecdotes. They are dotted around the net on various different platforms, and although I wouldn't usually 'cut my nose off' as some have put it here, what worries me is that the reviews are all talking about the same specific issues, despite being in totally different places, from different times, and are fairly well spread out chronologically. This tells me that the problems are consistent, long standing and most importantly, not learned from after bad feedback. Interestingly, the pattern also includes a bit of smarm following each problem, with no changing of attitude, which is even worse.

I would say this is a good reason to raise grievances like this. Everyone has an off day, and maybe writing off a place due to one bad experience is rash, but a consistent lack of consideration for customers walking in the door is inviting people to go elsewhere, and how else will consistent bad practices be challenged? It won't happen by just individually moaning a bit AFTER handing over your money, (that's advocating bad practice), but shared experiences being exposed on forums like this. 

A lot of people here probably have a good idea of the shop that's being talked about..which kind of highlights how much of a problem there is. 

Good on you for bringing it up AND challenging it I say. 

 

[skankdelvar]

3 hours ago, Rich said:

Effective, true, but I find that electricity applied to the testicles first really gets the message across. I like a little bit of old-skool finesse first before galloping headlong towards the 9mm finale.

Possibly. I find that toting a car battery and jump leads around is something of a tiresome exercise. By contrast, a handy little .32 automatic slips easily into one's pocket.

Cork-sniffers tend to deprecate the .32 as a 'lady's weapon' but they're wrong. Loaded with something like the Lehigh Defense .32 Caliber Xtreme Cavitator you're looking at around 1,100 fps and around 14" penetration into FBI-grade gelatin blocks. Of course, were I to shoot erring retailers in the ear rather than the face I could probably get away with a .22 but I'd feel uncomfortable about the lack of heft and grunt.

[thepurpleblob]

I'm not very sympathetic (to the shop). The very existence of a "specialist" shop is founded on the availability of specialist advice and good service. As has been pointed out, almost anything you want will be available online for delivery before 10am tomorrow and cheaper too. 

They have to put that bit of effort it. 

[Skol303]

3 minutes ago, thepurpleblob said:

As has been pointed out, almost anything you want will be available online for delivery before 10am tomorrow and cheaper too. 

Exactly this. The market will decide the fate of such shops, if it hasn't already.

You can buy a bass guitar online, often more cheaply and delivered next day with the option to return it for a no-quibbles refund within 14 days if expectations aren’t met. That’s a tough act for music shops to beat. They know it and most of them show it… hence their amosphere of impending doom and general apathy, which reinforces the vicious cycle.

The only guy I knew who got this right was Drew from the Great British Bass Lounge (Manchester); but that was largely because the shop was in his house and buying from him was like having a coffee and banter with a mate (he did make great coffee did Drew). But he’s since closed down.

For boutique stuff (which I don’t buy itself) I can see the need for specialist shops. For everything else, online uber alles.

 

Edited March 13, 2018 by Skol303

[Woodinblack]

15 minutes ago, Skol303 said:

You can buy a bass guitar online, often more cheaply and delivered next day with the option to return it for a no-quibbles refund within 14 days if expectations aren’t met. That’s a tough act for music shops to beat. They know it and most of them show it… hence their amosphere of impending doom and general apathy, which reinforces the vicious cycle.
 

Not necessarily. Provide good service and people will come back. I always pop into wunjos if I am in london and although it is a while since I bought something there (a freltess), one day will coincide them having something I really want with the justification of getting it!

[project_c]

I much prefer to be left alone in shops and hate 'sales technique'. The only people more depressing than pushy salesmen are people blowing their own 'sales expertise' horns. It's a music shop, not a  massage parlour. Jeez.