Musician's Friend Responds To Guitar Center Shipping Mix-Up
Bob Weibel at Musician's Friend contacted us only a few hours after we posted Mitch's story of the used guitar shipping screw up. He writes, "This kind of thing simply can't happen, ever. We've tracked down Mitch's order information and have been attempting to reach him on the phone to make things right."
I'm Bob Weibel, Director of Editorial & Content Management at Musician's Friend. I work closely with Paul Christensen, Director of our Contact Center and customer service operation.
Paul, myself, and all of the upper management team here at Musician's Friend are particularly concerned that we failed Mitch so miserably after he trusted us with his hard-earned money and desire for a new, pristine Fender Telecaster electric guitar. We've tracked down Mitch's order information and have been attempting to reach him on the phone to make things right.
It's a sad thing for us to have so severely disappointed a customer and fellow musician, especially since we've actually put extensive new efforts into improving our warehouse efficiency and accuracy, retraining customer service staff, and doing everything possible to improve the customer experience.
So this kind of failure — albeit rare — is what we call a "sentinel event," in quality-assurance terms. It forces us to go back over our operation from top to bottom in order to track down the odd set of circumstances that led to this mix-up and to the insensitive response Mitch received. We won't accept that "mistakes are made." This kind of thing simply can't happen, ever.
In the 10 years I've been here I've watched Musician's Friend grow into a large company, based entirely on enthusiastic, loyal customers. My feeling is that folks like our large product selection, attractive pricing, generous return and price-matching policies, and informative web site, to name a few benefits. But with growth comes challenges: we've moved through three warehouses and are now in a fourth, a highly efficient operation designed to fulfill a huge amount of orders without delays. We continue to fine-tune all of our systems so that an incident like the one Mitch experienced won't occur again. Mitch has our sincere apologies, and we'll definitely make things right for him.
Bob Weibel
Director of Editorial & Content Management
Musician's Friend
Say what you will about Guitar Center or Musician's Friend, this is one of the fastest management-level responses I've seen to a story on Consumerist, and other than the promotional boilerplate in the last paragraph, it's the sort of honesty and openness that we wish more companies would embrace: "it was a mistake, we are deeply sorry, we are correcting it and looking at how to prevent it from happening again."
Mitch contacted us shortly thereafter to say he'd missed a call from the company, and was hoping to speak with them later today. We hope Mitch writes back soon with his own update that he finally got the new Fender he paid for.
Update: Mitch writes,
Actually I talked to Paul from GC. They have expressed their genuine regret and embarrassment and have done more than needed to make things right. As we speak a new guitar (this time an American Standard Telecaster) is being shipped overnight to my house. This is actually about a $550 upgrade from my previous. Very, very, very nice. Paul reiterated over and over that he wanted to not only make things right, but retain me as a customer... and you know what? He has.
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Comments:
I've seen MF do this in other situations. They have a team trolling the net(and for once trolling is good) for bad news about them, and then they step in and make it right. This is not the first time i've see them do this, and every time I applaud them. If only more places did it.
Good for them, hope he gets a guitar. Im debating buying a bass and learning to play, perhaps ill check them out.
I took this as more of a Guitar Center mistake than Musician's Friend, so good for them for responding like this when Guitar Center dropped the ball. And, how surprising/refreshing it is to see management take a direct interest in making things right and even acknowledging fault.
That's the kind of letter that makes me believe they are truly taking it seriously. It actually sounds like they are going to look into how the hell it happened.
My son plays drums and we've ordered plenty of stuff from Mucisian's Friends. I have been more than pleased with their service. There stuff ships within 24 hours and arrives within a few days and I've always had free shipping. Plus, they send bonus bucks for your next order (within a certain time frame). Thumbs up to them and their management!
Don't get too used to it. The management at this shop changes every few weeks since GC purchased MF.
This is what more companies need to do. They need to get serious about monitoring their brand online and owning up to their mistakes with a promise to rectify them. I'm happy that Musician's Friend responded in such an authentic way.
Of course, companies/stores in general should go above and beyond to avoid any type of reputation management issues in the future, but Musician's Friend did a great job here after the fact, even though it may not even have been at fault.
@WeAre138:
not really, upper management for both the contact xcenter and distribution center has pretty much stayed the same. Paul Christensen has been there since day 1, he was actually the first one to take a call when the call center opened up and when you call in to MF the voice on the hold music is his. There corporate has stayed pretty much the same too. Now for the front line at MF and GC call center, yeah turnover rate is high, it is a call center after all.
I've never had a problem with Musician's Friend, and have had nothing but positive experiences with their customer service department. I'm not surprised at all that they responded so quickly.
Now, if only they guaranteed that you would get more chicks after playing it a few times.
Maybe now Guitar Center can focus on putting in staff that actually knows something about the gear they sell instead of putting drummers in the pro audio section or employees who are there for more than the discount and low pay.
I've only been to 1 Guitar Center that had someone who was worth speaking to.
Musician's Friend are fantastic. I had an order mixup too dull and convoluted to relate here when I bought a guitar from them last year. They went out of their way to make things right and gave me an impressive discount off an already discounted item, and then had the guitar shipped by next-day air rather than the "cheapest possible overland delivery" option I'd actually paid for. All of this was offered voluntarily to make up for the original problem with my order, rather than as a result of me having to launch any EECBs or battle my way through layers of unhelpful, couldn't-care-less customer service reps. Can't speak highly enough of them!
I just started buying from Musician's Friend and they're very very good.
I've placed three orders ranging from a guitar to in ear monitors to various accessories and everything was great. They even wrote back when I filled out the survey at the end of an order to the effect that the website's search function wasn't working like i wanted it to work.
Bravo! Notice that on top of being very sincere and admitting a mistake, in no part of that letter does it say "we are taking this very seriously." By the way that phrase translates to "we don't give a crap." I think I might go by some strings or a new pickup just because they give me a warm fuzzy feeling.
@Don't take anything aaron8301 says seriously: I agree. It brought a tear to my eye seeing that there is a company out there that still gets it. And the best part is, he didn't even need to use the words "taking" or "seriously."
@downwithmonstercable: This is a genuine question, not a snarky one - but aren't Musician's Friend and Guitar Center basically the same entity? That was my understanding, anyway.
Based on this article alone, I will definitely be doing business with Musician's Friend in the future.
@Batwaffel: No offense but why keep going then? I never understand when people keep going to places they find so unsatisfactory.
From my experience with Musician's Friend, I'd say the difference between them and the majority of companies I have the misfortune of dealing with is that the frontline CSRs are encouraged to give a shit, and given the power to actually take steps to resolve problems and make customers happy. Y'know, I'd guess that their training doesn't consist of "if a customer calls with a problem or complaint, give them the brush-off, get them off the phone as fast as possible, and politely tell them to go get fucked. Oh yeah, and tell them you're taking everything very seriously". Just judging from the calls I've had with their CSRs, I get the impression that making the customer happy is actually impressed on them as their top priority.
It's really pretty pathetic that I'm posting about this in such gushing terms. This should be what we come to expect from most, if not all companies we deal with. But no - we grit our teeth and resign ourselves to the fact that shitty, ignorant, obstructive customer service is just par for the course. Ugh.
@SybilDisobedience: You know, I'm glad that someone posted this because I get the feeling that they're either friendly companies (towards each other) or Bob is taking really good care of this situation (by handling something that happened at a store that wasn't his).
@bones11: The VP of the IT dept (think his name was DJ) who was there from the beginning bailed as did many other managers in that group and the Medford, Oregon office. One of them was so upset with GC, he burnt rubber in the parking lot on his way out like a pissed off teenager.
@xtc46:
Then you just have to hope that your story gets published on Consumerist if you have any issues and you're all good..
I have been thinking about picking up some musical equipment and will now consider Musicians Friend my first option for shopping, thanks to their management's reaction to Mitch's problem.
@xtc46:
You should play the drums or guitar, otherwise you will be the butt of the old joke;
"What do you call a guy who stands around with a bunch of musicians? A bass player."
On the other-hand, I have never had issues with guitar center online or musicians friend. The only thing I hated was their "you pay your own shipping back" for returns policy.
@oneliketadow: They'll be sending over a couple of groupies they have left over from a Springsteen promotion. Guaranteed low mileage.
It's cool that they owned up to their mistake so quickly and resolved in the manner they did. It's just a shame that Bob felt he needed to turn the last part of the letter in to a commercial for their products.
Getting an American made Tele as an upgrade from the one he got before (Mexican?) is a pretty big deal. Not only is there the current $550 savings, American made Fender guitars are much more desirable and will retain their value for much longer than their outsourced cousins.
Kudos to GC/Musicians Friend on making it right.
@donnie5: How many drummers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
None. They have a machine for that.
I gain a lot of respect for CONSUMERIST.COM when they post the stories of the 'good' responses from companies as well as the 'bad' ones.
Cheers to this company and cheers to this site.
Awesome to hear for both Mitch and GC/MF. I figured they would respond to this, surprising how quickly they did. Like I said on the last post, they have never left me feeling disappointed, and this just strengthens that belief.
Congrats to Mitch on the upgrade (very nice!) and kudos to GC/MF for handling this so quickly!
you know, I have only ever had stellar service from guitar center. My son, saved and saved his money to buy his first guitar when he was 12, he bought a $149 epiphone les paul, not the most expenesive, but you know it was good enough for him, I also bought the replacement warranty, just because you know it was for a 12 year old. Well, the tuners started to go bad, we have had it for 1.5 years, took it to the store, they said to call the replacement plan 800 number, in less than 1 week, they had sent a check for the replacement amount and they let you keep the old guitar. Isnt that crazy. He bought another guitar with the check, everyone there is so nice and friendly. With the way retails store are now days, it really surprises me that there still is a store that will above and beyond for its customers.
Fast management response FTW!
Maybe we need a "Gold Star" list to reward companies that go out of their way to respond to customer issues.
It's really refrshing to see this corporation make the right move, but they have a terrible reputation overall, and I hope that this is just the beginning of their turnaround... it'd be nice to have a music store I LIKED going to.
Do they sell rhythm and talent too? Cause I sort of need those to go with the guitar.
@starrion: I regularly check Consumerist.com 'Above and Beyond' section. You can find some real customer service friendly companies in there. It has shaped a significant part of my buying habits.
Even the best companies make mistakes sometimes. It is those companies that DO something seriously that make the difference.
@downwithmonstercable: They're the same company. And this type of thing isn't nearly as rare as the marketing guy says. I know at least two people who no longer shop with GC or MF due to having been given the run-around with refusals to honor price matching, refusal to honor advertised prices, problems with gift cards, and cross-stalking issues like what has been highlighted here in the last few days.
Seriously, be careful buying musical gear online -- you'd be surprised how often you get used/returned/broken merchandise.
I play guitar and drums, and my roomie plays keyboards, and we've purchased numerous items online from Musician's Friend over the past 3 years. MF has been consistently good to work with.
Only once have I had to return anything, and that was when I recently received a defective, and expensive, guitar effects board.
After several days of experimenting with the board at home and referring back to the manual to see exactly what was or wasn't supposed to happen when I turned this knob or pushed that button, I realized it was the board and not me.
I called MF and spoke to a CSR who asked intelligent questions about the defects, and who was obviously empowered to help. The matter was settled fairly and relatively quickly, and I was refunded. I then placed an order for another effects board, which is due to arrive soon.
Another example: I once ordered several items online and shortly thereafter discovered a different item that I wanted instead of one of the items I'd ordered. Again, a quick call to a thoughtful CSR got me exactly what wanted and an accurate price adjustment.
You know a company's reputation by the way they handle things when problems arise. Musician's Friend has come through for me in these two instances, and I've ordered countless other items from them without any problems at all. With very competitive prices and smart service, they are always my first stop.
And no, I don't work for them, don't know anyone who works for them, and am not receiving any gifts of appreciation for making this statement.
It's good to see someone solving a problem so quickly. As for Guitar center, I recently had a horrific experience trying to purchase a drum set with them. The salesman kept pushing more expensive sets on me after i told him my spending limit, tried to sell me a drum module that did not even have a power supply...and would not get one so i could see if it even worked,and became angry when i wouldn't buy it. Congrats on actually getting something accomplised!
We've bought several items online and at their stores. We had a bass amp have an issue under warranty and no problems getting it fixed. Never had any issues and their staff consists of musicians. Not employees who never touched an instrument until they walked into the store.
Hold it !
Is Musician's Friend and Guitar Center one in the same ????
I ordered earphones from Both companies and one said they had them and the other didn't.
WTH ?
Glad to see they are making it right -after the threat of a PR meltdown via the interwebs- but anyone seriously considering the purchase of a musical instrument really owes it to themselves and their local economy to purchase it from an independent instrument dealer. I can't imagine purchasing a guitar without playing it first, although I haven't yet reached the point where I'd consider buying a non-American made Gibson, Fender or Martin. Sure the mail order comapanies will exchange it, but the accompanying hassle hardly seems worth it.
Good to hear a timely and blame accepting resolution now and again. Good show.