Anyone know if Bassdirect is trading?

[lou24d53]

Two years ago, April 2019, whilst doing a self-build, I ordered and paid for a Hipshot Bridge which was marked as in stock.

Ended up it wasn't and was being ordered an imported from the US. Was given a date of June, thereafter weekly emailing and chasing up until it eventually arrived in August.

Only kept my order open as I really wanted that particular bridge, was the cheapest by far and the June date ETA worked with my plans.

Before that, I've had a combo which arrived with no mains lead supplied and I've had strings which were completely the wrong ones.

I certainly won't be in any rush to shop there again.

[White Cloud]

I've always found them extremely easy and hassle free to deal with. 

[TheGreek]

Clearly there are two camps here - those who are unhappy and those who are really happy.

Every contact I've had with mark as been really positive, including emails I've sent late of a Sunday evening.

Remember they are probably the biggest small Bass trader in the UK. They stock gear you don't see elsewhere and are pretty much my "go to" trader when I'm looking for something.

[skej21]

7 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Clearly there are two camps here - those who are unhappy and those who are really happy.

Every contact I've had with mark as been really positive, including emails I've sent late of a Sunday evening.

Remember they are probably the biggest small Bass trader in the UK. They stock gear you don't see elsewhere and are pretty much my "go to" trader when I'm looking for something.

I think you’re right. The fact it’s a fairly big independent store has its downsides and when that is combined with their attitude (which is publicly known to be very clearly polarised) probably results in similarly polarised customer experience!

As a customer who has had issues, it’s also not a nice feeling to be ignored and then hear loads of people saying how great and responsive they are to sales enquiries.

[Beedster]

4 minutes ago, skej21 said:

As a customer who has had issues, it’s also not a nice feeling to be ignored and then hear loads of people saying how great and responsive they are to sales enquiries.

Absolutely, universal crapness is acceptable, it’s when you feel you’ve been singled out for targeted crapness that it’s really annoying 

[BigRedX]

I once ordered some cheap rack ears for my amp from them and was surprised to receive a very expensive set of pickups and pre-amp in return. Inconvenient for both myself and the person who should have had the items I got. All sorted out in the end, but added several days to what should have been a straight-forward order, and TBH in should never have happened in the first place.

[TrevorG]

Well I’ve managed to open up a can of worms!! To be honest the only thing I’ve bought from them crapped out after a couple of days and driving up there was the quickest solution. Found the guy very amiable though. If he gets back to me we’ll talk business but if anyone knows where I can pick up an Elrick five string Jazz... I would be very grateful.

Edited February 6, 2021 by TrevorG

[Woodinblack]

44 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

I once ordered some cheap rack ears for my amp from them and was surprised to receive a very expensive set of pickups and pre-amp in return. Inconvenient for both myself and the person who should have had the items I got. All sorted out in the end, but added several days to what should have been a straight-forward order, and TBH in should never have happened in the first place.

See - I don't necessarily mind that. Stuff happens in the best run systems, it is how it is handled that is what sets my opinion on the company. Not responding to emails, attitude on the phone, that is what marks them out to me. 

 

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

Remember they are probably the biggest small Bass trader in the UK. They stock gear you don't see elsewhere and are pretty much my "go to" trader when I'm looking for something.

They have some good stuff, and they have some good prices, so sometimes they are somewhere you have to go because there isn't anyone else. 

[erisu]

Bought a Dingwall NG-2 from them last year and they've been nothing but helpful to me. Answered e-mails very promptly and got the bass out to me within 2 days

[chris_b]

All my purchases from Bass Direct were when Mark ran the place on his own. I used to drop in if I was driving past on the way to a gig. I have nothing but good experiences of that time.

I had one negative experience after he employed a couple of guys to work in the shop. IMO they were the stereotypical "I'm cool, I work in a music shop" guys, that I'd seen in the West End shops from the 60's onwards. I didn't warm to them or their approach/attitude. I have no inside knowledge here, but seems that reports of negative experiences have stemmed from that time.

Edited February 6, 2021 by chris_b

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

See - I don't necessarily mind that. Stuff happens in the best run systems, it is how it is handled that is what sets my opinion on the company. Not responding to emails, attitude on the phone, that is what marks them out to me. 

It was a lot of mucking about on my part (organising posting back the wrong items and then claiming back the money from Bass Direct) to sort out a problem that shouldn't have happened in the first place.

A less scrupulous person might have simply kept the pickups and pre-amp and ordered another set of rack ears from different shop, leaving the person who had ordered the items wondering where their electronics were.

[Ltsal]

When the import Dingwall DBird was released a couple years back, I wanted to preorder the Bass.
So I send them a Mail and waited for the response but nothing. I send them a second Mail and the I actually got a response. The preorder stuff went smoothly and nothing to complain about. The only thing that was a bit strange was that I asked if the Bass came with a Gigbag and they said no. But later I found out they did come with the bag. 
A other thing was that the Bass was delayed and there was no communication about that. 

I ended actually cancelling the Preorder and got my money back without question. 

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

It was a lot of mucking about on my part (organising posting back the wrong items and then claiming back the money from Bass Direct) to sort out a problem that shouldn't have happened in the first place.

Oh yes, when a mistake is made, all the work has to be done by the shop to rectify it.

[Chiliwailer]

Mostly had good experiences, 5 x high end basses and other bits and pieces, though had a couple of frustrating little wobbles. 

But despite threads like this, I still think our bass community is better off with a store like BD. 

Edited February 6, 2021 by Chiliwailer

[drTStingray]

21 minutes ago, Chiliwailer said:

Mostly had good experiences, 5 x high end basses and other bits and pieces, though had a couple of frustrating little wobbles. 

But despite threads like this, I still think our bass community is better off with a store like BD. 

Absolutely - their prices are more competitive than some as well.

We are also 12 months into a global pandemic so people's experiences over the last two decades are interesting but really not an appropriate comparison!!  

[Lozz196]

In general I’ve had decent service from them, one slight hiccup but overall it won’t stop me from using them again. I agree with the sentiments that we as bassists are better off with a dedicated outlet like BD.

[Ltsal]

Well because of Brexit I probably won’t be shopping there unless I find/ need something specific from there. 
But that won’t stop me from window shopping on the website(especially the used section). 

[dub_junkie]

I messaged them last year about a used MusicMan ‘Sledge’ Classic Sabre bass they had. Never got a reply then the bass was taken off the page about a week later. Possibly the bass was already sold, but I thought at the time if they didn’t reply I wasn’t going to chase them up. Personally I wish I had chased after the bass a bit harder though. 

[chris_b]

6 hours ago, Chiliwailer said:

. . . . . . despite threads like this, I still think our bass community is better off with a store like BD. 

Absolutely. We have lost a few in recent years, but we need as many businesses selling quality bass gear as we can get.

[51m0n]

Mark phoned me last week out of the blue for an update on my new fretless Roscoe (excitement overload). 

Definitely trading for sure!

I've not had an issue with them except their website stock is manually dealt with so not up to date. For anything serious I would recommend a phone call to check before you buy. 

Marks a top chap though IMO, I've spent way way way too much with him over about 14 years, often driving up from Brighton to check something out before buying. He has seen me right even when a £1200 amp turned out to not be right for me after I used it in a rehearsal a couple of times. No hassle just sorted it out, very happy to help.

[attackbass]

I have had an OK experience with bassdirect on average... Buying low cost things like strings, straps etc mainly and found that they have always replied pretty quickly to my emails and offer advice freely.

I did buy some nordstrand pickups and a Delano preamp this summer though which ended in a bit of a fiasco and I can't remember exactly what happened but I had to chase the order after a few days, then the preamp arrived and only one of the two pickups I think, so I emailed an explained I was missing a pickup and they said they would send out the other one, the following day two sets of pickups turned up which I was slightly confused about and then the day after that the original missing pickup arrived! 

I of course returned the extra pair of pickups, I would never take advantage of a business big or small in that way but I did wonder how it had happened and it was a bit of a pain to send them back and to worry if they did make it back to the store. Mark did deduct the postage money from a string order to be fair so it was al good and would still buy from them.

[Doddy]

I can't say anything bad about Bass Direct. I've always been treated well even when I haven't bought anything for a while. But then, I bought my Bergantino cab and Genz Benz head off Mark when he was still operating out of a barn.

[chris_b]

4 hours ago, Doddy said:

. . . . . I bought my Bergantino cab and Genz Benz head off Mark when he was still operating out of a barn.

I bought my Bergs from the barn as well. 

[MNY]

I recently bought a Vigier Passion 5 string from them. I exchanged a few emails with Mark prior to driving down from the NW. He was courteous and helpful. When I arrived at the shop he wasn’t there however his colleagues  were also helpful and the purchase went smoothly. When I unpacked the bass at home later in the day, I found that there was a fairly expensive boxed Aguilar pedal in one of the gig bag pockets. I phoned the shop to explain and asked if they could arrange for it to be collected, only to be asked in a subsequent phone call to post it back to them, something which I duly did. However this required a non essential visit to Asda where my local post office is located. I did let the shop know by email that I had sent the pedal back (RRP £200) and got a brief thanks which is fair enough but no offer of covering the postage cost which would have been a nice gesture , after all I am pretty sure some folk may have been tempted to say nothing and keep the pedal. Good job I believe in karma I guess, and being totally honest the thought of keeping it never entered my head. I must also add that I would happily buy from them again, their selection of instruments and gear is as good as I’ve seen in a long time, perhaps since the hey day of the Bass Centre Wapping.

Edited February 7, 2021 by MNY

[Sarlscharisma]

I think we've got to support dealers like this because they stock less common products like Hipshot and Nordstrand and at good price points.  I've always found I get a response from an email enquiry, more so than some other well known bass dealerships out there.  On memory I've bought a handful of items from the website and had a couple of issues but Mark sorted these out for me.  Yes, I had to send pictures and there was a bit of a palaver but because some of these issues involve USA companies, I accept why this might be the case.

So a thumbs up from me!