Well.. Musician's Friend shafted me today.

War_in_D

Well-known member
Ordered two Furman PST 2+6 power strip/conditioners and a Korg Pitchblack rack mount tuner from MF the other day. All brand new. The two Furman's shipped out immediatly, but I noticed that the Korg didn't ship. I spoke to a rep and asked about it, and they said it would be shipping from a store location in TX. I thought, cool.. will just be a little later getting here but no biggie. Fast forward a couple of days and the Furman's deliver and all is well. Well, UPS delivers a box to my front porch today and I go to get it. As soon as I see it, I know something is wrong. It's about 4' long, 3"x3" square and I'm thinking "WTF?" Open it up, inside sits a used, greasy looking, fingerprint all over it Korg Pitchblack rack mount tuner just floppin' around in there. No factory packaging, and no power cord. No paperwork, no invoice.. Nothing. Nada. Get on the horn to MF customer service, and they are like "Wow, sorry that happened. Do you want to return it?". Uh, yeah Sherlock that would be correct. So, I tell them to ship me another one and send a return label for this one.. Rep says "Sorry, those are on back order.". All the while, I'm looking at the website that says "In Stock - Ready to Ship". I ask about that, and the Rep tells me thats "misinformation"..

Idiots.
 
You have to ask your sales person if the item is coming from the warehouse or shipped from a guitar center. If they have one in a guitar center and none in stock in there warehouse it still shows in stock on the Mf web site. If it comes from a guitar center it will be a display item right off the rack. Real shit show if ya buy a guitar. Lol
 
Just return it to your local GC. And tell them what you think of their service. Complete shit show. Not surprised either.

Yeah, under normal circumstances I would have done that. But, the nearest GC to me is about a 140 mile round trip. When I buy used gear, I accept the possibility that I might have to make the trip if it's not up to snuff, jacked up or whatever. But this stuff being new, and the fact that we're talking about $120 for this tuner, it wouldn't have been worth the trip for me this time.
 
I've had this problem with MF in the past. Order stuff that's "in stock" only get to get a backordered notification the next day or so.
 
Unless it's something you can't do without, just stop purchasing. This is why eBay and Reverb (private sale) items are so expensive. You know you're going to get your item. Not that Reverb and eBay are without risk... I recently purchased a guitar from a seller who sports an excellent feedback rating. He neglected to mention that the guitar had been modified. I spotted it (post shipment), and requested that the item be re-routed back for to the seller a refund... The seller refused. Not the kind of behavior one would expect from a someone of such reputation, but, I suppose the prospect of potentially doubling one's investment is too attractive for some to resist.

Your experience with MF is not unique. I've experienced the very same treatment from both MF and GC. I purchased a Cornford Hellcat head from GC some years back. As soon as I saw the box, I knew I was in for a treat! They placed a few pieces of soft foam in the box and tossed the Hellcat head in with it. The box was 3 x bigger than the amp, so you can imagine the result of that. The amp was thoroughly and needlessly trashed! Same thing happened to a Hayseed 30 head. The package was dropped so hard, that the impact literally ripped the PT away from the chassis.

With the new tax laws, more sellers are going to turn to selling gear locally. Keep your eyes on your local CL ads. I found a mint 2020 Gibson LP Standard Goldtop today for $1500.00 on CL.
 
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I won't even buy a pack of strings from those assholes. Funny part is, they keep calling and emailing me introducing themselves as my new "Gear Advisor", and I tell them to shove it, and why. All seem sympathetic, but never address the issues I've had. Then, 2 months later, I get another NEW "Gear Advisor" calling and emailing me.

I've experienced what OP is talking about several times, as well as bait and switch on "pre-order" blowout prices. They post ridiculously good deals for items they don't have and never will, and/or double the price on you when it finally comes in. I've said it here many times.. They are a SHIT company to do business with. Absolutely the bottom of the barrel.
 
Unless it's something you can't do without, just stop purchasing. This is why eBay and Reverb (private sale) items are so expensive. You know you're going to get your item. Not that Reverb and eBay are without risk... I recently purchased a guitar from a seller who sports an excellent feedback rating. He neglected to mention that the guitar had been modified. I spotted it (post shipment), and requested that the item be re-routed back for to the seller a refund... The seller refused. Not the kind of behavior one would expect from a someone of such reputation, but, I suppose the prospect of potentially doubling one's investment is too attractive for some to resist.

Your experience with MF is not unique. I've experienced the very same treatment from both MF and GC. I purchased a Cornford Hellcat head from GC some years back. As soon as I saw the box, I knew I was in for a treat! They placed a few pieces of soft foam in the box and tossed the Hellcat head in with it. The box was 3 x bigger than the amp, so you can imagine the result of that. The amp was thoroughly and needlessly trashed! Same thing happened to a Hayseed 30 head. The package was dropped so hard, that the impact literally ripped the PT away from the chassis.

With the new tax laws, more sellers are going to turn to selling gear locally. Keep your eyes on your local CL ads. I found a mint 2020 Gibson LP Standard Goldtop today for $1500.00 on CL.
I have a horrible memory/story of a similar guitar. My fellow bandmate had a buddy who I knew from occasional get togethers. He had some nice gear. Made good money and didn't ever wanna wait for stuff. For 3 years he would stop by our jam practices, bring gear, drink some beers. He had a 2011 Les Paul Trad Pro Goldtop. Thing played awesome! Everytime he would say might sell it. I said numerous times to him point blank give me a call, or give me first dibs on it.

One day out of nowhere he text me saying he is bringing it to guitar center to trade for a combo. I text him back "do not take that trade value, I will give you $100 more right now." Didn't hear from him for hours. He traded it in. Got like $800 trade in for it. I was livid. LIVID! I still don't forgive him. HAHA. I just didn't understand why he would even text me to tell me he was gonna do that, then do it after I said not to? It was like a big fuck you tease. Son of a bitch, now I'm worked up!
 
They've been shipping people used shit advertised as brand new (at brand new price) a lot over the past year or so

I know a guy that bought a new Marshall Origin 50 from them and what he got was a Marshall Origin that had painters tape on it with someone's settings written in sharpie :doh:
 
I don’t think a guitar center return is an option, just have to call Mf and have them send a return shipping label and start over. You can dodge a lot of bullets just by asking when ya place the order. The biggest red flag is when everybody else is out of stock and they show it’s in stock.
 
I haven't thought of Musician's Friend in years. LIke since they used to send paper catalogs in the mail. Thanks for this post. I'll continue to stay away.
 
Yeah my experiences with MF and GC in recent times has been horrible at best. They just plain suck and have some truly worthless human beings working for them.
 
I have a horrible memory/story of a similar guitar. My fellow bandmate had a buddy who I knew from occasional get togethers. He had some nice gear. Made good money and didn't ever wanna wait for stuff. For 3 years he would stop by our jam practices, bring gear, drink some beers. He had a 2011 Les Paul Trad Pro Goldtop. Thing played awesome! Everytime he would say might sell it. I said numerous times to him point blank give me a call, or give me first dibs on it.

One day out of nowhere he text me saying he is bringing it to guitar center to trade for a combo. I text him back "do not take that trade value, I will give you $100 more right now." Didn't hear from him for hours. He traded it in. Got like $800 trade in for it. I was livid. LIVID! I still don't forgive him. HAHA. I just didn't understand why he would even text me to tell me he was gonna do that, then do it after I said not to? It was like a big fuck you tease. Son of a bitch, now I'm worked up!
$100? Cheap fuck. Certainly didn't make it worth his while to take you seriously.
 
You have to ask your sales person if the item is coming from the warehouse or shipped from a guitar center. If they have one in a guitar center and none in stock in there warehouse it still shows in stock on the Mf web site. If it comes from a guitar center it will be a display item right off the rack. Real shit show if ya buy a guitar. Lol
This 100%.
I bought a brand new Charvel from MF. Showed up from GC. It was a floor model with a scratch, no trem bar no hang tags not in a charvel box. I called up MF. The guy was cool. He assured me they would ship out a factory fresh sealed new guitar which they did. He sent me a prepaid label to return the used guitar. Sucks they do this,next time I would call and speak to someone directly to place the order.
 
This 100%.
I bought a brand new Charvel from MF. Showed up from GC. It was a floor model with a scratch, no trem bar no hang tags not in a charvel box. I called up MF. The guy was cool. He assured me they would ship out a factory fresh sealed new guitar which they did. He sent me a prepaid label to return the used guitar. Sucks they do this,next time I would call and speak to someone directly to place the order.
I did that when I called. I specifically asked if it was NIB, they assured me it was and they still tried sending me a floor model from a GC store. Luckily I caught it and the said they had one coming in that had been on order. When that date came and went with no product I just canceled the order
 
I haven't thought of Musician's Friend in years. LIke since they used to send paper catalogs in the mail. Thanks for this post. I'll continue to stay away.
Me too man. I started buying from Musicians Friend in 1989 and there came a time when I'd call and it was always a clueless "dude" that my imagination pictured as the lead singer of some 90's Nu Metal band. I'd say something like "how many control knobs does that amp have" and they would say something like "oh yeah it has knobs man. It controls the bass, trembled, and the cruncher" or some crap. I'd be like "uhhh, ok...thanks..."
 
I don’t think a guitar center return is an option, just have to call Mf and have them send a return shipping label and start over. You can dodge a lot of bullets just by asking when ya place the order. The biggest red flag is when everybody else is out of stock and they show it’s in stock.
Yeah last I asked, you can't return a MF purchase to GC.

I've not ordered from MF in forever. I've generally had good luck with GC. There are mishaps but you just get your money back and move on.
 
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