Bass Direct

[Woodinblack]

8 minutes ago, peteb said:

Allow me to explain.

 

Bass Direct are a small company that provide a pretty unique niche service to musicians in a challenging market, and I have used them quite a few times and always found them to be very helpful. However, if I knew nothing of BD or Basschat and was searching on the internet to see if I should use them or not and came across some of the posts here, I might get an unduly negative impression if those posts were to go unchallenged

 

 

There is plenty of both pro and anti posts. As the husband of someone who runs a small online shop I know the problems and challenges of a small shop, and I would always use a small shop if I could, because normally the service is better. However, I want to know the good and the bad. 

 

Because I support small businesses I have used them several times (including my last post, just ordered from them), but they would never be my first choice if there was another small business, or if it was really critical to get something, because I have never found them super reliable, although I have never lost anything using them. And as previously mentioned, whether you have a difficulty understanding or not (which I don't really care about), I don't use the phone if I can help it, and if there are two companies, one that I have to phone, and one that I don't, I will always use the internet one.

[TheGreek]

Isn't Mark a member here?

I think that we should give him a chance to reply - when they're not so busy.

I've had replies from Mark and Marcus at out of hours times and found them really helpful.

I appreciate that not everyone has had this service but I like that at least I still have BD to turn to when I need something. 

I always say "great service " not "perfect service ".

[fleabag]

41 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

There is plenty of  anti posts.

 

There certainly is, and still maintain my original thread was probably the worst scenario dealing with a bass shop anywhere.  I'm not sure back then why i asked ped to hide the thread. I'm tempted to ask him to resurrect  the monstrous catalogue of BS he gave me over the course of a few months,  so the uninitiated can have a good read of the bloke's nature.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by fleabag

[fleabag]

2 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Isn't Mark a member here?

I think that we should give him a chance to reply - when they're not so busy.

I've had replies from Mark and Marcus at out of hours times and found them really helpful.

I appreciate that not everyone has had this service but I like that at least I still have BD to turn to when I need something. 

I always say "great service " not "perfect service ".

 

Yes he is. Last visit was Jan 11th

[Ralf1e]

I don't believe Thomann got as big as they are without a cunning plan. That plan was the fantastic service they give and the enthusiasm they have to get it right and sell ridiculously good products at ridiculously user friendly prices.

If they get any better God help all other retailers and builders.

Yes you might have to do a set up but you get that everywhere. At least HB's are fit to set up.

Today I set up a six string (boo hiss) H B TE-80 Prince version I bought yesterday (used) as a gift for a friend who is going to learn to play by another friend.

Neck of, shimmed it, truss rod set, level, crown and polish the frets, new strings, intonation, bridge adjustment. 3 hours.

It now plays as well as any other six strings here including my Gordon Smith Graduate.

It sounds great as well.

You get what you pay for or put in/add afterwards.

 

[Woodinblack]

6 minutes ago, fleabag said:

There certainly is, and still maintain my original thread was probably the worst scenario dealing with a bass shop anywhere.  I'm not sure back then why i asked ped to hide the thread. I'm tempted to ask him to resurrect  the monstrous catalogue of BS he gave me over the course of a few months,  so the uninitiated can have a good read of the bloke's nature.

 

I seem to recall we looked for that once and it no longer existed. Or am I thinking of another thread?

[fleabag]

It should be in ped's vault somewhere unless he's deleted it. It should only be hidden though, as that was the arrangement.

 

I've never requested ped resurrect it since it was secreted, so it should still be somewhere in the secret files stash

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by fleabag

[Skin Lewis]

It's the online buying that's a bit hit and miss, not the company itself. I've been there in person, tried basses, bought them, and had a very pleasant experience. Buying online: not so much. BD is a great resource.

Meanwhile, my advice is phone or email to check stock before ordering anything.

[LukeFRC]

4 hours ago, fleabag said:

It should be in ped's vault somewhere unless he's deleted it. It should only be hidden though, as that was the arrangement.

 

I've never requested ped resurrect it since it was secreted, so it should still be somewhere in the secret files stash

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the idea Ped has a secret files stash 

[mr4stringz]

6 hours ago, peteb said:

However, if I knew nothing of BD or Basschat and was searching on the internet to see if I should use them or not and came across some of the posts here, I might get an unduly negative impression if those posts were to go unchallenged.

Fair enough, but I’ve seen nowt in this thread personally when dipping into it over the weeks and months that suggests the posts don’t reflect genuine real world examples. I don’t think anyone is trying to throw a business under a bus here, bass-centric or not.
 

I’ve never used BD myself, but there seems to be balance in this thread, with both positive and negative experiences shared. So no different to what you might find on Trustpilot, for example (where, as an observation, the limited reviews are also at opposite ends of the spectrum).

[ead]

6 hours ago, MichaelDean said:

 @ead - it would be worth double checking your spam folder.

 

Pretty much the first thing I did.  What is weird is that in the past I've had quite a few things from BD and have exchanged emails (and phone calls) with Mark using the exact same email address as the order acknowledgements apparently come from so the address is known to be a trusted source to my email account.

[tauzero]

12 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

 

I have always wondered why people who don't have never had an issue with a company are really quick to deny the experience of people who did

 

But those who do have an issue with a company seem to think that the company's customer service is uniformly bad. I haven't had any problems with BD, and will continue to use them should the occasion arise, but it's quite obvious that some people haven't has as good an experience. With a small, self-selecting sample, it's difficult to tell whether those who haven't had problems outnumber those who have significantly, and whether what is acceptable but not perfect for one person is unacceptable for another.

[Osiris]

16 hours ago, peteb said:

 

Allow me to explain.

 

Bass Direct are a small company that provide a pretty unique niche service to musicians in a challenging market, and I have used them quite a few times and always found them to be very helpful. However, if I knew nothing of BD or Basschat and was searching on the internet to see if I should use them or not and came across some of the posts here, I might get an unduly negative impression if those posts were to go unchallenged.

 

The thing is that they are not a big box mover with lots of staff and they are never going to manage their online operations as well as a company like Thomann. But Thomann, good as they are, are never going to give you the level of in-person service / advice that BD will, nor will they give you the opportunity to actually try out gear out before you buy. Every thing you say about BD you can probably say about Bass Gallery, who I think are great even if their website is even worse than the BD one!

 

Now I know that BD really don’t need me to champion them and they're doing OK despite a few negative posts on BC, but there’s not many of these types of small companies left in this country and we ought to appreciate them (or at least cut them some slack) while they are still in business…! 

 

 

All valid points. 

 

However, as this thread demonstrates, their customer service is extremely variable. It's more often than not faultless, but they do seem to make arguably more than their fair share of mistakes. But it's how those mistakes are rectified - or not - which is the divisive issue. My own experiences of visiting the shop many times have ranged from great to a trade deal that was incompletely managed and my repeated queries were met with apathy and not even a cursory attempt to put things right. That was a few years ago and I've not used them since. But prior to this I'd had many positive experiences visiting the shop and had made numerous purchases including 2 or 3 basses, an amp and several odds and sods. 

 

I don't think there's anyone posting on this thread who actively wants BD to fail, quite the opposite as we're all bass nerds after all. As you say, they're a niche specialist in an increasingly tough economic climate and a company that I once supported and spent a lot of money with. They're only human and they make mistakes, we all acknowledge that even if we don't like it. However, I just don't think their current customer service model is sustainable for the long term. 

Edited April 21, 2023 by Osiris
Typo

[Sweeneythebass]

12 minutes ago, Osiris said:

 

All valid points. 

 

However, as this thread demonstrates, their customer service is extremely variable. It's more often than not faultless, but they do seem to make arguably more than their fair share of mistakes. But it's how those mistakes are rectified - or not - which is the divisive issue. My own experiences of visiting the shop many times have ranged from great to a trade deal that was incompletely managed and my repeated queries were met with apathy and not even a cursory attempt to out put things right. That was a few years ago and I've not used them since. But prior to this I'd had many positive experiences visiting the shop and had made numerous purchases including 2 or 3 basses, an amp and several odds and sods. 

 

I don't think there's anyone posting on this thread who actively wants BD to fail, quite the opposite as we're all bass nerds after all. As you say, they're a niche specialist in an increasingly tough economic change and a company that I once supported and spent a lot of money with. They're only human and they make mistakes, we all acknowledge that even if we don't like it. However, I just don't think their current customer service model is sustainable for the long term. 

Service recovery

its very important in any service sector business, because mistakes happen.
 

If service recovery is done well the customer is often more confident in the company than if nothing had gone wrong at all.

 

I love Bass Direct 

 

[Woodinblack]

On 20/04/2023 at 16:39, Ralf1e said:

Yes please do let us know where it arrives as well. Shame to waste some irony this big 😀

 

Not that ironic really, all conducted over the net as any of this sort of trasaction should be.

Anyway, ordered a mod dwarf from them on thursday night, turned up just now, so good shipping, good price. Seems like the box had already been opened though, so not sure why but all there and plastic on the screen so maybe just in the shop.Still, cheaper than the thomman bstock, so no problem really, and kind of what I would expect, so assuming everything is good (have opened and looked but not tried it yet) then I am happy with that

 

 

[Lozz196]

Is a mod dwarf Small Weller?

[Rayman]

Has anyone used BD recently?

 

I can’t understand why my emails with regards to ordering something are being completely ignored? I’ve emailed 3 times over the last few weeks with the same request, but no answer. 

 

Maybe I should just ring….. I hate phones 🫣📞

[fretmeister]

11 minutes ago, Rayman said:

Has anyone used BD recently?

 

I can’t understand why my emails with regards to ordering something are being completely ignored? I’ve emailed 3 times over the last few weeks with the same request, but no answer. 

 

Maybe I should just ring….. I hate phones 🫣📞

 

Perhaps your email is going in their spam folder for some reason?

[Rayman]

Yeah I thought that...... it's definitely the right address .... maybe it's my end then....

[fretmeister]

Or they could be being really slack!

[ped]

I emailed the other day about getting a Backbeat G2 ordered and Marcus replied the same day, but it went into my spam folder.

[Greg Edwards69]

31 minutes ago, Rayman said:

Yeah I thought that...... it's definitely the right address .... maybe it's my end then....

Have you tried ordering with a different 'send' address?

[Rayman]

No, maybe I’ll try my work email

[JohnH89]

Pick up the phone . Its a lot easier to actually speak to someone .

[Daz39]

38 minutes ago, Wally Gogg said:

Pick up the phone . Its a lot easier to actually speak to someone .

I refer the honourable bass player to the Telephobia thread…