Bass Direct

[TheGreek]

At Bass Direct. 

 

Two lovely looking Cali mini basses caught my eye amongst others. 

[spacecowboy]

Another positive review from me, they sold a bass of mine last week and have paid me today when they said they would! No hassles at all. 

[dmccombe7]

9 hours ago, TheGreek said:

At Bass Direct. 

 

Two lovely looking Cali mini basses caught my eye amongst others. 

What did you buy. Its hard to go in and come out with nothing. So many basses.

Dave

[karlfer]

I was about to place a £1250 order just now, expensive cab & cover.

 

£20 shipping on top at that amount. Disappointing.

 

Looks like it'll have to be Thomann which is a shame.

 

 

[ped]

34 minutes ago, karlfer said:

I was about to place a £1250 order just now, expensive cab & cover.

 

£20 shipping on top at that amount. Disappointing.

 

Looks like it'll have to be Thomann which is a shame.

 

 

Really? For the sake of £20 and getting the stuff much more quickly?

[karlfer]

8 minutes ago, ped said:

Really? For the sake of £20 and getting the stuff much more quickly?

Yup. 

Never as simple as that though is it. The guy I spoke to could have been slightly less interested if he'd just shuffled off this mortal coil.

They would also have been paid by debit card, so no charges.

You could say the same about them, Really? For the sake of £20.

[ped]

1 hour ago, karlfer said:

Yup. 

Never as simple as that though is it. The guy I spoke to could have been slightly less interested if he'd just shuffled off this mortal coil.

They would also have been paid by debit card, so no charges.

You could say the same about them, Really? For the sake of £20.

Ah right well that’s a bit annoying. I’ve never got the fascination with Thomann though, they always take ages to deliver IME and I’d gladly pay more for a UK source. 

[Burns-bass]

4 minutes ago, ped said:

Ah right well that’s a bit annoying. I’ve never got the fascination with Thomann though, they always take ages to deliver IME and I’d gladly pay more for a UK source. 

This is Britain where people will drive 20 miles to save 5p a litre on fuel.

[Dad3353]

13 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

This is Britain where people will drive 20 miles to save 5p a litre on fuel.

 

For many people, this could be a big saving. A 50l fill saves £2.50.

Edited October 23, 2023 by Dad3353

[Burns-bass]

13 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

For many people, this could be a big saving. A 50l fill saves £2.50.

Indeed. And at 40 mpg you’re only losing £3 each trip!

[spacecowboy]

3 hours ago, karlfer said:

Yup. 

Never as simple as that though is it. The guy I spoke to could have been slightly less interested if he'd just shuffled off this mortal coil.

They would also have been paid by debit card, so no charges.

You could say the same about them, Really? For the sake of £20.

Yeah it can be hit and miss on the phone, but I’ve not had a really bad experience. They would have knocked the £20 off the postage though I reckon, I got a strap once just by asking… did buy a £4k bass though! 

[karlfer]

For those fixated by the £20.

He'd already whizzed me off before he got to the shipping.

Perhaps he was doing his nails or playing space invaders & didn't like being disturbed.

 

Mark may have been a bit more attentive & may have answered my two questions with slightly less than a can't be arsed attitude. Still, unfortunately I didn't get Mark.

[Burns-bass]

25 minutes ago, karlfer said:

For those fixated by the £20.

He'd already whizzed me off before he got to the shipping.

Perhaps he was doing his nails or playing space invaders & didn't like being disturbed.

 

Mark may have been a bit more attentive & may have answered my two questions with slightly less than a can't be arsed attitude. Still, unfortunately I didn't get Mark.

Nobody deserves bad service, whether your buying a few screws in a shop for £1 or a £100,000 sports car.

 

I have a friend who owns a retail business and when he’s in the shop takings increase by around 20% because he genuinely cares about his customers.

 

Mad they would treat you that way. To be fair, my experience of BD was very good.

[mattbass6]

1 hour ago, karlfer said:

For those fixated by the £20.

He'd already whizzed me off before he got to the shipping.

Perhaps he was doing his nails or playing space invaders & didn't like being disturbed.

 

Mark may have been a bit more attentive & may have answered my two questions with slightly less than a can't be arsed attitude. Still, unfortunately I didn't get Mark.

The same thing recently happened to me. Mark was away on holiday. We did communicate and I brought up the apathy I was met with during his absence. I’ll only deal with Mark from here on in. He’s a good guy, been a good friend, and BD has never done wrong by me, but bad customer service should be noted, registered and acknowledged. Personally, I would still buy from them but let Mark know your experience. I’m pretty sure he will do all he can to make it right. Good luck 🫡

[dmccombe7]

When i drove down to the shop approx 450 miles round trip the guy in the shop wasn't overly interested but Mark appeared and all was great from there on in. The first guy left to work for Simms i think. I now prefer to talk with Mark when i call, not that i buy lots of gear but when i do i get fantastic service from BD.

I've been to other shops and no-one takes any interest in you and i walk around for a bit looking at expensive basses and nope......no response from sales staff so i just leave and buy on-line. Guitar Guitar in Glasgow has been ok in the bass department and usually they guy is over and asks if they can help and if not right away just shout over if i need anything or have any questions. I like that attitude. 

I hate when i ask to try a bass and the sales guy takes it down plugs into his preferred amp and continues to play the bass and attempt to show off all the while i am standing there knowing my wife will be wondering where i am. One time i waited till the sales guy had stopped showing off and said "yep it sounds wonderful but my wife is waiting on me and i now need to go". Never got a chance to play that bass at all. I did laugh but he was playing poor slap bass for approx 10 mins while i was standing there. I'm 63 yrs old been playing bass for 45 yrs and know my way around a bass. I don't need some young show off trying to impress everyone in the shop. I've even waited and when i eventually got the bass to try myself i'll play something like "Little Old Wine Drinker Me" 2 notes to a bar stuff. You should see the look on their faces. 

Dave 

[spacecowboy]

1 hour ago, karlfer said:

For those fixated by the £20.

He'd already whizzed me off before he got to the shipping.

Perhaps he was doing his nails or playing space invaders & didn't like being disturbed.

 

Mark may have been a bit more attentive & may have answered my two questions with slightly less than a can't be arsed attitude. Still, unfortunately I didn't get Mark.

I hear you. And I agree with you and the others here when they say there’s no excuses for bad service. 
 

Hope you get the goods you’re after and they do the job for you!

[karlfer]

Thomann & Bass Direct are the only ones (except Bax, NEVER again!) who stock these rather expensive & high tech cabs.

 

I would much rather have bought from BD. I buy very little new gear but it's pretty much always through them.

 

From the guy picking up the phone I got the feeling he couldn't be arsed.

I'm no longer at the stage of life where I want to tear a snotty person a new anus.

 

Except guitarists, obviously.

[dmccombe7]

7 minutes ago, karlfer said:

Thomann & Bass Direct are the only ones (except Bax, NEVER again!) who stock these rather expensive & high tech cabs.

 

I would much rather have bought from BD. I buy very little new gear but it's pretty much always through them.

 

From the guy picking up the phone I got the feeling he couldn't be arsed.

I'm no longer at the stage of life where I want to tear a snotty person a new anus.

 

Except guitarists, obviously.

Its not as if you were buying a £150 cheapo bass either so its a bit worrying that someone treats you like that.

If you dont want to be pleasant and help people then working in any shop is not for you. IMO

Shame and sorry to hear this kind of thing.

More recently i've just bought on line from Guitar Guitar or Andertons. I do like Andertons to be honest. I've had good dealings with them and they are usually quick to respond to any questions.

Dave

[mowf]

10 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

More recently i've just bought on line from Guitar Guitar or Andertons. I do like Andertons to be honest. I've had good dealings with them and they are usually quick to respond to any questions.

Dave

I got my first bass from Andertons in 1987, from the tiny shop they had before they moved to their current premises. I remember the guy who used to look after bass stuff there at the time was the spitting image of Luke Skywalker. He was a lovely chap. Name was Mark somebody I think.

[Woodinblack]

18 minutes ago, mowf said:

 I remember the guy who used to look after bass stuff there at the time was the spitting image of Luke Skywalker. He was a lovely chap. Name was Mark somebody I think.

 

Hamill?

[Rich]

11 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

I hate when i ask to try a bass and the sales guy takes it down plugs into his preferred amp and continues to play the bass and attempt to show off all the while i am standing there knowing my wife will be wondering where i am. One time i waited till the sales guy had stopped showing off and said "yep it sounds wonderful but my wife is waiting on me and i now need to go". Never got a chance to play that bass at all. I did laugh but he was playing poor slap bass for approx 10 mins while i was standing there. I'm 63 yrs old been playing bass for 45 yrs and know my way around a bass. I don't need some young show off trying to impress everyone in the shop.

I did that once in a shop many moons ago (back when I still went into music shops occasionally)... asked to try something, the sales guy plugged it in and went wickety-wackity-wock (badly) for several minutes and then handed it to me. I played 5 notes, just the open strings, then said "nah, don't like it" and handed it back. Even if I'd adored it, I wouldn't have bought it off him.

[Eldon Tyrell]

 

2 hours ago, mowf said:

I got my first bass from Andertons in 1987, from the tiny shop they had before they moved to their current premises. I remember the guy who used to look after bass stuff there at the time was the spitting image of Luke Skywalker. He was a lovely chap. Name was Mark somebody I think.

 

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Hamill?

 

Very funny, but he clearly said that his name was Mark Somebody!

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, Rich said:

I did that once in a shop many moons ago (back when I still went into music shops occasionally)... asked to try something, the sales guy plugged it in and went wickety-wackity-wock (badly) for several minutes and then handed it to me. I played 5 notes, just the open strings, then said "nah, don't like it" and handed it back. Even if I'd adored it, I wouldn't have bought it off him.

Love it. I like your sense of humour. 

Dave

[Mike]

I've had a few slightly negative experiences (and one broadly positive) with BD in the last few years which I didn't feel totally comfortable posting here. I was actually driving past the shop in the last week (it's hundreds of miles from me) and I opted to book an appt at BassBros instead as I didn't want to go away with that disappointed feeling again. 

However: today I was after a particular preamp and BD had it at a good (the best) price, so I took a punt, and within practically minutes it was on its way to Royal Mail and it should be with me tomorrow - absolutely great (online!) service!

[EBS_freak]

On 24/10/2023 at 08:51, Rich said:

the sales guy plugged it in and went wickety-wackity-wock (badly) for several minutes 

After they've finished...

 

"was that hard to play? because it was hard to listen to."