Anyone know how much of a risk it'd be getting this Harley Benton 5-string fretless?

[Stub Mandrel]

At HB prices? Low risk. If you don't like it Thomann will refund. If you decide to keep it, then change your mind then resale value will be low but the low purchase price minimises the hit.

And with their reputation you'll probably decide it's worth keeping.

[kwmlondon]

14 hours ago, Richie_b said:

If your hanger is in a solid wall, you'll be grand.  I could show the pitcures of what happens after time with it on in a stud partition wall 🙂
It is now on a floor stand! lol  & I haven't got round to fixing the holes just yet!

Yeah. I may stick with the floor-stand then!

[kwmlondon]

14 hours ago, ominous bear said:

If it helps, I've just weighed the one I have (that exact model) and it's 9.1 lbs / 4.13 kg. 

Oh, and the pickups are nowhere near jazz shape, but sound pretty decent to my ears. 

Well, I'm pretty open minded. I guess I just tend to default to passive if it's an option and I don't think you can bypass the eq on this bass. Not a huge deal.

[kwmlondon]

I got the bass and first look was okay, but in the daylight... this is on the neck! It looks like it's been repaired too. I got it as having signs of use but this is not a bit of use!!!

[PaulThePlug]

Shame... 

Whats the headstock, tuners like? Could it of got a knock at the top?

In the finish or in the wood?..

If only finish, and ya happy with the rest i'd be on em for a good discount... If the wood, back it goes.

[kwmlondon]

22 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

Shame... 

Whats the headstock, tuners like? Could it of got a knock at the top?

In the finish or in the wood?..

If only finish, and ya happy with the rest i'd be on em for a good discount... If the wood, back it goes.

It's a crack. I got it for £228 as it was b stock but they've offered to replace for new and they'll take it up with DHL as the box has a great big hole in it! 

[kwmlondon]

21 minutes ago, kwmlondon said:

It's a crack. I got it for £228 as it was b stock but they've offered to replace for new and they'll take it up with DHL as the box has a great big hole in it! 

It's a shame as this one isn't at all heavy! Still, it's got a big crack at the neck. Never a good look!

 

It's very nice though. I can't imagine how they're making a profit on this.

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

It's very nice though. I can't imagine how they're making a profit on this.

 

They aren't.  Apparently they are loss leaders as part of a long term customer base and brand building strategy.

[kwmlondon]

16 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

They aren't.  Apparently they are loss leaders as part of a long term customer base and brand building strategy.

Well. I'm pretty promiscuous when it comes to buying gear - I'll go with whoever takes my fancy at any given point. BUT. The experience of dealing with their customer service has meant I'm very happy to use Thomann again in the future. It was a bit of a faff taking loads of pics for them to claim against DHL but they were friendly and efficient in solving an issue. Honestly, cheap'n'cheerful products are only going to win you customers if the customer service is up to dealing with the issues and from my experience, it is.

[Richie_b]

That's a shame it's so done.  But awesome customer service, so a win allround.
I wondered after a comment upthread how varied they were & that you had one that wasn't that heavy seems like there might be some significant variance, but cool if you can get one from lighter cuts of wood!!

[NickA]

.

Edited April 20 by NickA

[tauzero]

On 18/04/2024 at 15:52, kwmlondon said:

It's a shame as this one isn't at all heavy! Still, it's got a big crack at the neck. Never a good look!

 

It's very nice though. I can't imagine how they're making a profit on this.

 

They have less markup as Thomann owns HB so they can sell them at cost if they want without making a loss, then flog you all the accessories for a profit.

[kwmlondon]

On 20/04/2024 at 23:44, tauzero said:

 

They have less markup as Thomann owns HB so they can sell them at cost if they want without making a loss, then flog you all the accessories for a profit.

Well the tuners seem to work okay but the bridge is nasty so may get an aftermarket one. 

[kwmlondon]

Well that was odd. DPD just came to collect the bass. I handed it to the courier guy and asked for a receipt and he said he can't give a receipt so I said "okay, I'll just take a photo of you taking the box away" and he said no and handed the box back to me!!!!!

 

What the actual F*CK?!

[Stub Mandrel]

Dpd - dodgy parcel destruction.

[kwmlondon]

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Dpd - dodgy parcel destruction.

I am perplexed!

[kwmlondon]

Fair play, Thomann said they'd rearrange and that this time the courier would definitely come with a label and I can take a photo of that as proof of collection which is fine. Will have to wait till friday though boooo!

[Huge Hands]

A manufacturer we buy a lot of items from at work use DHL.   They had a tick box option that said "Courier to bring labels" on their courier request form to save us printing them out.

 

However, in our experience, the DHL driver never had the labels, so the items would not get collected unless we printed and put them on the box ourselves.  I have noticed that tick box option has disappeared from the request form so must have been a regular issue!

[kwmlondon]

3 hours ago, Huge Hands said:

A manufacturer we buy a lot of items from at work use DHL.   They had a tick box option that said "Courier to bring labels" on their courier request form to save us printing them out.

 

However, in our experience, the DHL driver never had the labels, so the items would not get collected unless we printed and put them on the box ourselves.  I have noticed that tick box option has disappeared from the request form so must have been a regular issue!

Urgh. Honestly. If you're doing a collection I'd have thought it was automatic to bring a label. The courier was going to take the box away without anything on it saying where it was going ffs. If they'd asked me to print and attach I'd have done so but I'd have wanted to take a pic of it being taken away in the van...

[kwmlondon]

Okay. Update. Thomann have tried three times to arrange collection by DPD. The first time the driver didn't bring a label and went to take the box, I said fine but I'd like to take a picture of the bass being taken so I had proof it had been collected he handed it back to me and refused to take it saying it'd need to be rebooked and he'd bring a label.

 

Rebooked. No show.

Rebooked again. No show.

 

Thomann suggested taking it to a store to drop off which I was apprehensive about as the shops are quite small and I was worried they'd not take such a big box but I downloaded a label, stuck it on and went to a store. 

 

Didn't work. The label would just went "beep" and was unrecognised. 

 

So now what do I do? DPD just won't pick up from my house and I the label doesn't work.

 

Thomann say there's nothing they can do just either keep going to a store and trying over and over again or keep waiting in all day, every day for DPD.

 

I've now opened a case with PayPal to see what they suggest. If Thomann have no other way of collecting the bass PayPal will have to refund me and I can send them the damaged bass. 

[kwmlondon]

Finally managed to get it to a drop-off point on Saturday and they took it!!!!!

 

I am so relived to have the thing back on the way to Thomann and I've asked for a refund rather than a replacement - my experience of buying from them has been awful. I may buy strings or bits again in the future but I don't think I'll buy another instrument direct as the process of returning is such a nightmare. ALSO it's pretty hairy not having any of the customer service rights you get with a UK supplier. If I buy from them again I'll pay with a card directly rather than using PayPal as well. PayPal are about as much use as a chainmail condom.

Edited May 21 by kwmlondon