From: milo@cbnews.cb.att.com (guy.f.klose)
Subject: Musician's Friend (was Mail Order Prices)
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 21:09:25 GMT

In article <17vrndINN37t@early-bird.think.com>, Paco Ojeda <Paco_Ojeda_Gonzalez@macmailgw.dfci.harvard.edu> writes:
> 1. Musician's Friend 800-776-5173
> These guys are indeed friendly. They have a catalog with a rather large
> selection of keyboardists, guitar and bass players. Decent prices.

It's nice that Musician's Friend sends out lots of glitzy catalogs,
but be careful...their prices can be a little out of wack sometimes.
Actually, I think it's good that they send out catalogs, because they're
useful for local price shopping first, before going the mail order route.

I was looking for a J.L.Cooper MSB+ midi patch bay.  Musician's Friend
listed it for $359.  I called a local store first, before driving over,
just to see it I was going to be wasting my time.  The conversation went
something like this:

Me:  "Do you carry the J.L.Cooper MSB+?"

Them:  "We can order it."

Me:  "What kind of a price can you give me on it?"

Them:  "Let me look it up...what kind of a price are you looking for?"

Me:  "I'll order one now if you can beat $360."

Them:  "Where did you get that price...we don't match mail order prices."

At this point, I knew where this was heading...I had been down this
road before...personally, I don't give a shit whether or not they meet
mail order prices...I just wanted to know if they would sell one to me
for $360 or less....so, I lied to them:

Me:  "I got the price from one of your competitors down the road."  (there
are at least two other stores on the same road as them)

Them:  "Hmmmm...can't seem to find the price...let me call you back."

So, I left my name and number, and he agreed that he would call back within
a half hour.  I would have driven over there on my lunch hour, if they needed
me to leave a deposit or anything like that.

Well, the guy didn't call back, but I'm not surprised.  He probably knew
I lied to him...maybe those other stores don't carry J.L.Cooper.  Maybe
he was just pissed that I told him that I was price shopping with him
and his competitors.  Sorry, but why should I be an idiot consumer?

Later that afternoon, I called American Musical Supply, which is another
mail order place that sends out catalogs.  The MSB+ wasn't in the catalog,
but all the other J.L.Cooper things are.  I asked their price, and it was
$259.  I have no idea why it was a full $100 less than Musician's Friend,
but AMS didn't have them in stock.  They said a new shipment was due in
a couple of weeks, and they'd send it then.  I figured maybe they would just
do one of those stall tricks, and hold onto my $$$ while they dicked around
about delivery dates and such, but I ordered the midi patch bay anyway.
It arrived on my doorstep a week and a half later.

So, this is just one experience with AMS, so I don't know if they have a
solid reputation...I'll certainly give them another try sometime.

Now, about this local music store.  There are times when they have pretty good
prices...I bought a keyboard from them, and that was maybe $75 over the best
mail order price I could get.  That difference could have been mostly eaten
in shipping and handling charges anyway.  They're also one of the few places
around here that's open on Sunday, and I always seem to need to buy extra
cables on Sunday.

But, several things have happened to me at this store that have really
aggravated me.  So, I don't really know if they want me as a repeat
customer or not.  I'll still shop there, because they do have some
prices that are reasonable.  Their salesdudes do, occasionally, know
something about the stuff they sell, but mostly they are an obnoxious
bunch.

If one walks in there, in order to shop price, and quotes a price to them,
they'll want to know if it's a mail order price.  If it is, they just
give the pat answer: "we don't match mail order prices."

But what does that have to do with anything?  A buyer just wants to know if
they will sell something for a particular price.  They should be answering
something along the lines of "we can't possibly meet that price...our
best price is $x", and then the buyer can decide if it's worth the difference.

I've used this store for service on the keyboard I bought from them,
and it was actually nice working with the techs in the service department.
One went out of his way to help me with a problem once, so I understand
there are situations where I'll want to pay extra for service.  But, for
a midi patch bay?  The way I see it, this place wanted at least the $100
markup over the price at AMS for the MSB+.  As a somewhat-intelligent
consumer, I can't justify spending that kind of a dough just for the
good feeling of buying at a local store. 

BTW, the recent Musician's Friend catalogs that have hit my mailbox still
have the MSB+ for $359.

Sorry for the ranting...
Guy
-- 
Guy Klose
milo@mvuxi.att.com
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth