Bass Direct

[bartelby]

It's ok, their new website is only a couple of weeks away😉

[peteb]

I must admit I would never buy a bass directly from the site, I would ring the shop up everytime. They can take the card details over the phone and arrange shipping there and then, rather than wait for the notification from the website. 

 

I recently bought a pair of shorts in a sale from an online retailer, only to get an email a couple of days later saying they had sold out and cancelled the credit card transaction. For a high value purchase, I will speak to a human every time.  

 

[Clarky]

3 minutes ago, peteb said:

I must admit I would never buy a bass directly from the site, I would ring the shop up everytime. They can take the card details over the phone and arrange shipping there and then, rather than wait for the notification from the website. 

 

I recently bought a pair of shorts in a sale from an online retailer, only to get an email a couple of days later saying they had sold out and cancelled the credit card transaction. For a high value purchase, I will speak to a human every time.  

 

Fair comment but, really, in this digital age how hard should it be for the retailer to click a button when an item is sold? Its not as if BD are ASOS with a gazillion transactions a day.

 

Anyhow lesson learned.

Edited September 24, 2022 by Clarky

[Woodinblack]

12 minutes ago, Clarky said:

Fair comment but, really, in this digital age how hard should it be for the retailer to click a button when an item is sold? Its not as if BD are ASOS with a gazillion transactions a day.

 

Agreed - I have had this as well with them.

 

Having run a couple of online shops, yes, it should be very easy that the second you take a valid payment for one, it goes from the website.

Still, lets hope this new website helps (although, it isn't really the website, its the people running it).

[peteb]

35 minutes ago, Clarky said:

Fair comment but, really, in this digital age how hard should it be for the retailer to click a button when an item is sold? Its not as if BD are ASOS with a gazillion transactions a day.

 

Anyhow lesson learned.

 

Thinking about it I had a similar thing with the Bass Gallery. I was interested in a cab on their website, got in touch for them to say 'sorry, we sold that months ago'! 

[Steve Browning]

50 minutes ago, peteb said:

I must admit I would never buy a bass directly from the site, I would ring the shop up everytime. They can take the card details over the phone and arrange shipping there and then, rather than wait for the notification from the website.  

 

 

Absolutely this. You can always try a bit of a haggle over the phone.

[spacecowboy]

More experience was had at Bass Direct this week, short story, I'm after a 5 string bass with a budget around a grand, with the brief explained I got to play most of the 1K 5ers in the shop, was left to crack on and offered support and a chat when needed, both Mark and a member of staff were great with me. I Didn't end up taking anything from them for a few reasons but nothing bad, just nothing really grabbed me, the Cort NJS 5 was a really lovely bass but not for me. I was there an hour all in, all good.

 

I will say that they had some chinese made Sadowsky basses and my god they're terrible, fit, finish, feel all awful, plugged it in and it sounded like it was going to take off, noisiest pickups I've ever experienced, really not good. 

 

However I do have a gripe, on the website there is a Marcus Miller V7 5 String, which is why I popped over, I've owned one before and they're great and would suit what I need right now. I had noticed that the bass had Aguilar J pickups and a non stock preamp so I wanted to investigate. When I got to the shop they didn't know about the mods (Don't know how mind, they've now updated their ad) they agreed to open the bass up and see what preamp it had in it, turns out it was a Delano Sonar 2, and it was wired in to the aforementioned Aguilar pickups, it even had a Fender Hi Mass bridge - absolutely awesome, then... nightmare... and this is where I massively disagreed with their online description "A used bass in superb condition" the pickup routes to fit the aggies had been done with a spoon, and they're such a mess in person, there's even a wedge of foam blocking the hole left from the original longer bridge pickup, If I had bought this online I would have been bloody devastated and would be sending it back, again I have nothing against the guys, they've consistently been good with me, but this isn't a great example... could perhaps get value buying it and selling the bits or filling the body and re routing and spraying, but bloody hell. 

 

 

 

🤢

 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by spacecowboy
My grammar is terrible

[Stub Mandrel]

6 minutes ago, spacecowboy said:

My grammar is terrible

 

I hope she gets better soon.

[mrtcat]

20 hours ago, spacecowboy said:

 

That is really poor. For a shop that specialises in basses not to spot that and describe it properly is pretty shocking.

[peteb]

In terms of customer service, a couple of months ago I rang Bass Direct as I had somehow managed to lose one of the feet off a Bergantino cab on a gig. Note that I bought the cab s/h from someone on here, not from BD.

 

Marcus asked me to email him the serial no of the cab so that he could look into it. Thirty minutes later I was copied into an email from Mark asking Marcus to look in a drawer in the storeroom where they might have some spares. The next morning there was an email from Marcus saying they couldn't find any spares but he had emailed Jim Bergantino. A few hours later there was a message from JB saying that it wasn't cost-effective to mail a replacement over, but saying exactly what the replacement was. At this point I bought the right feet from eBay and they arrived in time for the gig on the next weekend. 

 

So, all sorted in less than 24 hours. I know it was only a few emails, but I thought they genuinely made an effort and that was pretty good service, seeing as I didn't even buy the cab from them. 

 

[dmccombe7]

Do BC'ers have similar issues with other bass shops. Just curious why we have singled out BD.

As i've said in earlier posts i have no issues with BD and found them very helpful.

Dave

[Woodinblack]

4 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Do BC'ers have similar issues with other bass shops. Just curious why we have singled out BD.

 

I don't think BD is being singled out. When you have bad service somewhere you are going to mention it and when you get good service you are going to mention it. If people aren't complaining about other shops I assume it is due to not having bad service there - there are also threads on PMT here, although considering the level of trade PMT must do, not as much.

[peteb]

15 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Do BC'ers have similar issues with other bass shops. Just curious why we have singled out BD.

As i've said in earlier posts i have no issues with BD and found them very helpful.

Dave

 

I think that Bass Direct just have made a bigger impact on the type of people who visit BC. 

 

I remember there was a guy who worked at the Bass Gallery years ago, who some people had an issue with (although I certainly didn't). Funnily enough, I've always found the Gallery to be helpful and enjoyed talking to them. However, their website is terrible - far worse than the Bass Direct one! 

 

[Clarky]

27 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Do BC'ers have similar issues with other bass shops. Just curious why we have singled out BD.

As i've said in earlier posts i have no issues with BD and found them very helpful.

Dave

Hey Dave, I have generally had good dealings with BD. I just posted yesterday to vent as I thought I had bought a rather nice bass from them only to find their website/stock listing system had led me up the garden path! 

[dmccombe7]

4 minutes ago, Clarky said:

Hey Dave, I have generally had good dealings with BD. I just posted yesterday to vent as I thought I had bought a rather nice bass from them only to find their website/stock listing system had led me up the garden path! 

I fully understand why you posted @Clarky but i was wondering if people get the same experiences with other bass shops altho there arent many bass specific shops in UK to be fair.

I wasn't aware there was a PMT thread too. I'll need to have a look at that thread. I've bought strings from PMT but that is the sum of my dealings as far as i can remember.

Think everyone should highlight issues with shops etc altho i know you're aware of my recent posts that were not welcomed so much.

I have very strong opinions on this subject.

Dave  

[Ed_S]

3 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

I fully understand why you posted @Clarky but i was wondering if people get the same experiences with other bass shops altho there arent many bass specific shops in UK to be fair.

I wasn't aware there was a PMT thread too. I'll need to have a look at that thread. I've bought strings from PMT but that is the sum of my dealings as far as i can remember.

Think everyone should highlight issues with shops etc altho i know you're aware of my recent posts that were not welcomed so much.

I have very strong opinions on this subject.

Dave  

 

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that I've had an occasional negative experience with just about every music shop I've ever frequented; BD, PMT, GG, G4M etc. all included, but I know I'm not in a great mood at work every single day and I'm certainly not beyond making a mistake, so I try to keep things in perspective. There have been times I've not managed it and stores I've never returned to because I believe them to be fundamentally dishonest, but if it's an interpersonal issue I tend to just chew the person there and then rather than walk away seething.

 

I wonder whether BD get more attention partly because of the kind of stock they hold. When you've finally decided to treat yourself to a bit of expensive, speciality kit that you've been building up in your head, which you've potentially travelled a fair distance to try/buy, and then the purchase goes wrong or you don't get the attitude you'd like from the salesman, it often seems to go down like a brick. Lower value commodity purchases that people make more frequently from whichever box-shifter is local / has stock / ships cheapest, perhaps have less to go wrong with them in the first place, and raise less emotional responses and negative reviews when they do go wrong?

[Munurmunuh]

I sold a bass through them last year, and the experience was sufficiently pleasing that I'm very happily using them again right now.

[Osiris]

2 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Do BC'ers have similar issues with other bass shops. Just curious why we have singled out BD.

As i've said in earlier posts i have no issues with BD and found them very helpful.

Dave

 

I don't think they're being singled out as such but speaking from personal experience of BD as well as making a sweeping generalisation based on some of the posts in this thread, it seems to me that BD's unique take on customer service is arguably more variable than most shops, be they selling music equipment or anything else. In my own experience the level of customer service I have received from them has varied from excellent through to condescending, to apathetic incompetence. 

 

IF you go to one of the big box shifters and deal with the 12 year old Saturday boy on minimum wage then you might adjust your expectations accordingly. But when you go to a specialist shop like BD you, or at least I do, expect service that's a little more consistent. I neither want nor expect some fawning sycophant to blow smoke up my exhaust, but a little respect and common courtesy goes a long way. 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Osiris
Clarity

[Munurmunuh]

Just had an very enjoyable part-exchange experience with Bass Direct, but while it was going on, I noticed that their ability to convert kg into lb oz is rubbish.

 

1) The bass I'm getting was listed in metric as 3.9kg

 

2) that's rounded to 2 figures, so the weight is somewhere 3.85 – 3.95kg, which translates to 8lb 8oz – 8lb 11oz

 

3) the conversion they give is a very eye-catching (and thoroughly unrealistic) 8lb 3oz

 

Heaven knows what the truth is. I had a look at the weights in a few of their other adverts, and bizarre conversions seems to be their standard m.o.

 

Lots of pinches of salt needed, if you care about such things (my gefukt shoulder does)

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

Lots of copying and pasting with little regard to the actual instrument. I never take any spec measurements they list as legit. I always ask and invariably it’s not what they’ve shown.

[blisters on my fingers]

So basically   they make it up?

[Munurmunuh]

It gets comical:

 

Advert A: Fender Precision 1978, 10lb 5oz/4.9kg

 

Advert B: Fender Precision 1979, 4.8kg/11lb

 

0.1kg lighter = 11oz heavier 🙃

 

Peach Guitar's approach — taking a photo of the bass on the scales — suddenly seems very sensible

 

Edited October 9, 2022 by Ricky Rioli

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

17 hours ago, blisters on my fingers said:

So basically   they make it up?

There would be a good argument for saying that, but I think it’s either crass stupidity or just bone idleness. Probably the latter.

This just popped up on the used page. It’s not an MVJ, it’s not Shoreline Gold, it doesn’t have a matching headstock and it doesn’t have lollipop tuners 🤷‍♂️
 

 

I sent them an e-mail the other day to verify a ‘spec anomaly’ for one of their other used basses. They confirmed the spec shown was wrong citing the usual ‘new web site is coming soon’ bullshite. Have they amended it? No, of course not. They do a very good impression of not giving a fnck!

Edited October 9, 2022 by hiram.k.hackenbacker

[binky_bass]

20 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

They do a very good impression of not giving a fnck!

They give that same impression in person too...

 

I had the unfortunate need to visit the store a few weeks back and had to deal with an exceptionally rude member of staff, massively patronising from the get go, made a clear point to make the occasion as awkward and difficult as possible, shouted across the store for my bank details while other customers were there. All the while another member of staff was attempting to find a specific bass for a customer that had bought it online, the staff member came downstairs about 5 times with several completely different basses to the one the guy had bought, each time the guy said 'no, that is again not the bass I've bought'. The staff member even came down with a left handed bass and tried to pass it off as the correct bass with the customer having to insist he is not left handed. It all just feels like unless your some quasi-famous customer or you're ready to drop 5k on a bass without asking any questions, you're just an inconvenience to them. Such a shame that they act this way, its a very poor reflection of the bass playing community.

[chris_b]

19 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

Just had an very enjoyable part-exchange experience with Bass Direct, but while it was going on, I noticed that their ability to convert kg into lb oz is rubbish.

 

 

They can also list 2 separate weights for a bass!