Order an Instrument Online, Wait Several Months, Item Not as Described, Then Given The "Too Bad" Chat

alienurbanite on 15/03/2022 - 17:19
Last edited 15/03/2022 - 17:55

So got a pretty good deal on a guitar from one the retailers after a recommendation from Ozbargain. Great price for the pandemic purchase so jumped on board as it was listed as being available end of January and had a hard case to boot. I travel quite a bit and needed a new guitar for the road. Paid in full (>$2.3k) in Dec 2021… I was a little worried cause it was coming from interstate and I've never spent this much on an online purchase without a store I can go to locally.

Fast forward to March, no communication from them outside of me calling a few times and chasing up why I've heard nothing. Turns out the colour I ordered is not available and even the next shipment in March they couldn't get the one I had ordered. Mine had no ETA. Probably mid-year but who knows. I then bend a bit and say I will take whatever colour that comes up so got the "last one" that arrived in March shipment.

Guitar finally arrives and it does not come with a hard case but a soft case. A huge difference if you're a traveller like me and it was a deciding factor for purchasing this one over another one I saw locally. I've noticed that they've changed their website to now say "comes with case" instead of "hard case". (I have a screenshot from December and I recommend now anybody who buys from these guys else to do the same).

Call the retailer today and they said "yup, that was a typo. Nothing we can do about it so yeah".

After further discussion, the only resolution is "fine, send it back" for a full refund.

Talk about rubbish service?

First they take my money without issue - give an arbitrary shipment date which they can't meet. I'm ok with that until I later find out they no longer even have an ETA for the one I ordered and without contacting them, I was basically never going to know when my guitar was coming or at all in 2022. Secondly, they basically tell me now to F off knowing that I can't really return it at this point as it will take me months to get another similar guitar even though they made the mistake and the order isn't as described. I offered to ship them back the soft case or work something out but nope….

Anyway, just venting. Won't be shopping from these guys again. Never buy musical instruments from people you can't actually talk to face to face and think twice about paying in full when the retailer doesn't have stock. The easiest part of the transaction was when my credit card payment went through… then its up to you to sort out when or what you're going to get.

I noticed that the discussion forum on the retailer for this particular deal is closed. I'm glad I've at least chased them up and have a guitar in hand.

Did anybody else who ordered during the Boxing Day sales have a similar run around or get their guitars yet?

I've since also ordered another guitar from a different retailer who didn't have stock but only took a deposit and I would pay the rest when they ship. How usual is it for retailers to take the full amount, sit on it for months knowing they don't know even know when they will get the items?

Buyer beware.

Screenshot for those interested. https://ibb.co/Cn0wCTK

General Discussion

Related Stores

Logans Pianos
Logans Pianos

Comments

  • teacherer on 15/03/2022 - 17:22
    +3

    That sure is some shitty service

  • freefall101 on 15/03/2022 - 17:26
    +6

    Not sure if I glazed over on the text wall, but it doesn't seem to say who the retailer is…

  • spackbace on 15/03/2022 - 17:28
    +1

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/674742

    Could try the employee though hasn't been online for a month

    Otherwise far from ideal, but I'd guess they're just a small company and maybe realised how much they weren't making. Yeah, not exactly a major store

    • Soluble on 15/03/2022 - 17:36
      +1

      Does say soft shell Gibson case in that description.

      As for the colour not available etc. I'm waiting on a pi4 I ordered from element14 months ago, it now has an ETA for May this year, was December last year when I ordered.

      This IS the world we are living in at the moment unfortunately.

      • alienurbanite on 15/03/2022 - 17:43
        +2

        The original webpage when I ordered said hard shell. I have the screenshot.

        And yup, that's what its like now due to short supplies. The balls in their court so the service can be crap.

        I ordered a Martin elsewhere who took a deposit but told me the guitar won't be available until 2023!!! That's fine, I agreed to put a deposit or I'll never get a Martin, but man, the waits are insane!

        • Soluble on 15/03/2022 - 17:46
          +1

          Upload the screenshot I suppose? I'm just going on spacks research, which lists the ozbargain post, which says soft shell. Assuming that's the store, and the post you ordered from?

          • alienurbanite on 15/03/2022 - 18:00
            +1

            @Soluble: Screenshot uploaded. Listed as hard case on the bottom right.

            • spackbace on 15/03/2022 - 18:10

              @alienurbanite: Welcome to the internet:

              https://www.loganspianos.com.au/policies/terms-of-service

              SECTION 3 - ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS AND TIMELINESS OF INFORMATION

              We are not responsible if information made available on this site is not accurate, complete or current. The material on this site is provided for general information only and should not be relied upon or used as the sole basis for making decisions without consulting primary, more accurate, more complete or more timely sources of information. Any reliance on the material on this site is at your own risk.
              This site may contain certain historical information. Historical information, necessarily, is not current and is provided for your reference only. We reserve the right to modify the contents of this site at any time, but we have no obligation to update any information on our site. You agree that it is your responsibility to monitor changes to our site.

              • alienurbanite on 15/03/2022 - 19:44
                +1

                @spackbace: Obviously I never read that but yup, pretty much confirms I won’t be buying from them again.

                Seems buying online from shops is far more dangerous than buying from the big guy. Lesson learnt.

                I’ve had issues with orders from Amazon and Apple as well. Both times they went above and beyond and probably took a loss around my purchase. But they have secured me as a customer in the long run as I trust what I buy from them now.

                Sad, but can’t really think of a reason to support the little guy nowadays in retail outside of doing it for charity.

              • alienurbanite on 15/03/2022 - 19:46
                +4

                @spackbace: Haha, if you interpret that fine print carefully… you could literally buy a guitar from them, then they update the page to show an orange, and then send you an orange. Haha…. Nothing like fine print to absolve a company of all advertising mistakes. Certainly makes me want to buy more from them again.

                • spackbace on 15/03/2022 - 19:56
                  +3

                  @alienurbanite: Hey, I'm not defending the overall actions of the company, but just trying to see if from their side as well

                  They likely also don't care if they have to refund you, as they'll sell it still and likely for a higher price than you paid.

              • RecklessMonkeys on 16/03/2022 - 10:38

                @spackbace: Yeah… nah. They can't weasel out of it that way.

    • alienurbanite on 15/03/2022 - 17:48

      Didn't actually google map their stores… my description was based on them advertising as Sydney's oldest music store and one of the best piano retailers. Assumed it would be a solid store if it's been around for 100 years and not one of the online retailers that pop up all the time.

    • bobbified on 15/03/2022 - 18:02
      +3

      Could try the employee though hasn't been online for a month

      Employee obviously ran off with the hard case.

      • spackbace on 15/03/2022 - 18:05
        +9

        It's a hard case to prove

  • SnowDragon on 15/03/2022 - 17:33
    +9

    They really strung you along

    • timthetoolman on 15/03/2022 - 17:55
      +6

      Yeah not quite as enthralling as your previous post talking about, of all things, slow covid postage…

      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/652263

    • alienurbanite on 15/03/2022 - 17:56
      +3

      Waste of time? 3 months of them holding onto my 2300 dollars? Other than that, had a great time chasing it all up on the phone over a few months….

  • Muzeeb on 15/03/2022 - 17:51
    +1

    That was a crackin' deal. Pity it fell through.

  • Hybroid on 15/03/2022 - 18:03
    -3

    Secondly, they basically tell me now to F off knowing that I can't really return it at this point as it will take me months to get another similar guitar even though they made the mistake and the order isn't as described

    Hyperbole much? You were offered a refund for it. That's pretty much all they owe you.

    Shipping & stock delays have been an issue throughout every industry.

    • alienurbanite on 15/03/2022 - 18:07
      +3

      Right… can't imagine this being ok in my industry or any other industry.

      Make a deal, take the money, don't have stock, don't contact the buyer that I won't have the item 6-8 months longer than I had estimated, then send something that is different from the contract of sale. When called out it's different from what the deal was, grumpily respond "too bad, nothing I can't do about a typo".

      Won't disclose what industry I'm in, but if I did the same, the public will have a field day of how incredibly dishonest I am.

      Oh, and our company also has had issues with delays in deliveries. We contacted the customers with updates constantly whenever another delay occurred, we did whatever it took to make good of our commitment even if it meant taking a small loss to source our goods from elsewhere, and where possible, tried to mitigate the losses of our clients as they also have downstream customers to attend to.

      Can't imagine we would be in business long if we told our customers - oh ok, too bad. Here's your money back seeya!

  • Lewd on 15/03/2022 - 19:01
    +3

    Pretty poor all round for a store in my opinion.
    I wouldn't buy a guitar online, you should've known that dropping $2300 on a SG. Need to play it in store for a bit to see if it clicks for you. I doubt you would have got a deal like that in a decent music store though.
    I'd take the loss and return it, I don't want to be stuck with a guitar that reminds me of a bad vibes.
    Looks like the modern SG standards all come with a soft case from Gibson. There's nothing they can really do to rectify that, guess they are hoping you'll just take it and leave it.

    TLDR - return it, eat the cost / lesson learned, buy in store, rid yourself of the bad vibes guitar

    • alienurbanite on 15/03/2022 - 19:39
      +2

      Yeah I’m going to return and they will eat the cost. They have to pay for shipping as I didn’t get what I ordered.

  • mskeggs on 15/03/2022 - 20:28
    +2

    Poor service, but you haven’t really got any redress. I expect they could sell your returned guitar for more than you paid without bother.
    I’d probably keep it and spend the extra $150 for a hard case, then bad mouth them to everyone any time somebody mentions the word guitar.

    • alienurbanite on 15/03/2022 - 20:57

      And that's why we are here ;)

  • adamvlad on 16/03/2022 - 08:28

    I know that retailer fairly well; he’s a few km from my place. They are an old family business operating for many, many years.
    I don’t shop there anymore, but for other reasons.

  • Grunntt on 16/03/2022 - 10:23

    You may like to have a browse through this to see if there is anything relavent you could quote to them.

    https://www.accc.gov.au/business/treating-customers-fairly/u…

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