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Shipping companies sometimes handle packages roughly, and last times on internetshops, I have not been so happy to receive an expensive archtop just in it’s case with no other protection apart from a cartoon box with plenty of holes and marks from the transportation.
The guitar may be able to stand a lot, and I’m maybe overly sensitive, but I would prefer another shipping policy instead of less is more. Do you have any good experiences with shops. For example with any of these?
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04-22-2016 01:42 PM
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Whatever you do stay away from musicstore.de. They are CROOKS. I have this unbelievable situation where I bought a defective guitar from them and they won't take it back under warranty. But I won't leave it at that and they will be sorry...
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Originally Posted by m_d
I have also had some difficulties with Thomann lately, so I searched for alternatives, among big shops, 30 days money back guarantee, but I'm afraid you are absolutely right. Just take a look at trustpilot
https://dk.trustpilot.com/review/www.musicstore.de
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By the way, there is a European consumer Center who should be able to help you.
Maybe you can contact here:
European Consumer Centres - European Commission
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These guys have fun to visit brick and mortar stores in Waldorf and Frankfurt, Germany ... and a few more places.
https://www.facebook.com/session.de
Musikinstrumente bei session
Not sure about their shipping.
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I bought only pedals from German websites MusicStore and Musik Productiv without any problem.
I would never buy a guitar from the web
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With trusthworty internet shops, money back policy, few physical shops and this mostly with rock guitars, it has become normal for me to order online. In some cases I have returned the guitar immediately. Until now I have got the money back after a couple of weeks, but it is a exciting time until I know, if they claim the guitar has signs of wear. I have been told, that guitars shipped from factories to the dealer shops are not packed better than in their hardcases and a cardboard, but when buying guitar online it is not unlikely to receive one, which has travelled back and forth many times betweeen customers in a cardbox.
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Munk, thank you for the information about consumer authorities. I was thinking indeed of going to one of them, either the Swiss or the German one (I live in Switzerland). It will take as long as it takes. I briefly saw that very same rating on their site and assumed it was 4.5 out of 5. Is it possible that those big box retailers are experiencing the same financial problems as Guitar Center in the US and it is a race to the bottom situation? Another thing is my French-speaking Musicstore representative was evidently from an "underpriviledged" background; I'm always willing to give such guys a chance but ended up getting the all-too-frequent treatment of no professionalism, ethics, or sense of service. He took 3 hours to sell me the guitar, and I've been waiting for 6 weeks now for him to take it back under warranty. Frankly I don't understand Musicstore's strategy which looks like commercial suicide, after all it's not as if they are ultimately responsible for defective items, the manufacturer is.
Meanwhile, I contacted a Swiss retailer with a facility not too far from where I live, where I can even go pick the next guitar rather than having it shipped. The contact was nice and professional. It may be an acceptable compromise, although my choice will be between Ibanez... and Ibanez. They are priced very well here. If I were to go for a MIJ model Ibby or Yamaha (unlikely at this time), the prices are 1/2 to a 1/3 an equivalent Gibby. Another possibility would be a US pop-and-mom operation with an online service to get an Eastman, some of these stores are great, but I can't justify the extra expense for shipping costs and duties at this time.Last edited by m_d; 04-23-2016 at 03:05 AM.
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M_d. Some internet shops may have problems with economy and therefore threat their customers like that or the reason is maybe the other way around. A low trustpilot score with bad or no replies from shops on several bad reviews, is definetely a bad sign.
But I think physical shops have been even more under pressure recent years from low internet prices, and when I lived in Copenhagen, the shops I visited had poor service, much worse than internet shops, and it was my impression that the small shops had very little to say against the factories.
Besides I have never had a new guitar with so many defects as with an Eastman topmodel, I bought in a ‘real’ shop, and neither shop or the Eastman company would do anything in spite of warranty and golden words. I then decided not to go through a long lasting consumer case, but it was a dilemma between justice, loss of money, time and well being, so both the shop and Eastman is not on my list. Since I have bought 10 new guitars online, but today for a high end guitar I would choose a luthier guitar again, if I have the patience to wait the months, it requires. No others has been that good, and it’s possible to get a good price for a new builded by a guy with good reputation, and you pay less for a name, history and marketing as for example with Gibson. These days I’m just gassing for a Ibanez GB-10 or GB-10 SE, and hope it's possible to order one which doesn’t arrive in a cardboard and can be returned if I'm not satiesfied.
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I just speak for myself, and I don't want to influence anybody in this respect.
But talking about buying a brand new guitar based on my modest experience, my recommendation is to buy it from a reputated shops preferably owned by a (real) luthier who is supposed to first, select the best brands & references , from the lower cost to premium models, and secondly, to test and set up each guitare they sale.Last edited by mambosun; 04-23-2016 at 09:05 AM.
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Munk, the Eastman I bought from Jeff Hale (who's no longer in business) was and still is very good. He was a gentleman through and through, and his guitars were inspected and set up by a reputable tech with a number of celebrity guitar players as clients. The lesson is one should be extra careful regardless of the store one buys from. I followed that rule for the Eastman, but not for another guitar years later.
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My experience with shops in Europe:
guitar-village.co.uk, good packing, good service
gregsguitars.de, good packing, good service
thomann.de, good packing, good service
musik-produktiv.de, good packing, mediocre service
session.de, good packing, chaotic service
musicstore.de, good packing, bad service
musikhaus-hermann.de, good packing, bad service
station-music.de, good packing, bad service
maxguitar.nl, worst packing ever, mediocre service
realguitars.de, refused to ship at all, bad service
I highly recommend guitar-village.co.uk and gregsguitars.de. Thomann is a box shifter company but in my opinion, they at least try hard to offer good service.
Stay away from maxguitar.nl. Or at least don't have them ship your guitar.
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I'd never buy a guitar I didn't put my hands on ....
but for everything else, I've had good experience with Thomann
for strings, King Cordes is very good
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I understand 339, and I also regards it as that I don’t buy guitars before I play them.
I lent the internet shop money for 3 weeks, so I can try their guitars at home with free shipment both ways.
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- The Fellowship of Acoustic ( in the Netherlands )
best shop in Europe, great service, 10 days return policy.
Gregsguitars ( Gregor Hilden ) is an overpriced a..hole,betrayed a good friend of mine ( Peter Coura ).
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Buying local in a shop where you can play before you buy usually means the deal is final, no return policy. At least here in Germany. I also prefer having a lot of quality time with an instrument at home before deciding over being able to choose out of several guitars of the same model in a shop. In addition, the clerks in local shops usually get pretty annoyed when you ask for several guitars of the same model to compare. And when it comes to archtops, few store have many to choose from anyway.
Buying used, it's different. Much more of a risk buying sight unseen if you cannot return it.
330, do you know anything about woodbrass.com? Seems to be the French Thomann.
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I've heard good things about The fellowship but have never bought from them. Seems to be a likeable company. But they are certainly not less expensive than Greg. I haven't made one bad experience with Greg and I have bought several guitars from him. Maybe I've just been lucky. Sorry to hear about the story with Peter Coura. Betrayal is a strong accusation. I wonder what happened.
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Sorry, no experience with them Originally Posted by Drifter
I've only been once in their shop in Paris and was not impressed by the choice they had (at least in the "jazz" corner).
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Foulds in Derby, UK (mentioned in the OP) are good guys. Dan Johnson from Foulds is a great player and a member of this forum.
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- Replay to Tread # 18:
Peter Coura sold Mr. Hilden a Mid "70th Fender Princeton for a very low price that Mr.GH pretty fast sold with
great profit ( ok,you might see it as a sign of great businesship,but I see it as a way to be able to buy an original
Dumble amp via credit card from ebay,and you have to do a big amount of those deals to be able to buy an 30-
60k amp,but to each his own).
Why I think the Fellowship - guys are great ?
Years ago I bought an "78 Ibanez L5 copy,and cause it was in the wintertime,they shoot me an email that when
the guitar arrives at my door, I should leave the case unopened for 24 h to give the guitar time to acclimate -
for me great customer careness.
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Wow, guitar village 's sales pitch is pretty much everything an online buyer wants to hear...
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I'm not affiliated with Gregor Hilden in any other way than being a satisfied customer. As far as I know, Greg does not make offers for the used gear he buys. People make offers to him to sell their used gear, Greg just accepts or declines. So if it was like that with Peter Coura and his amp, it seems he offered it for way to little to Greg. I don't think you can expect a business person to pay more voluntarily or resell it cheap just because he got it cheap. Just my 2 cts. Maybe it was a different story alltogether. Originally Posted by MackBolan
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The Fellowship is a charity; you dont buy guitars you donate money to their slush fund!
Their prices are actually offensive.
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I've bought a few guitar from Andertons (UK). They're trustworthy and I'm sure you could request packaging details.
I've moved from the UK to Spain and they only charge an extra £5 shipping.
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