MUSIC 123 ignoring price matches?

[bjcarl]

 

Originally Posted by brandass

I just got several PMs back that I'd submitted electronically 3-4 days ago. Each from a different CSR, and the math is roughly close (odd that the calculations don't come out the same for everyone, it's not like a perceptual difference or a political opinion, it's math right???).

 

I particularly like it when they send a price match for something with the original, undiscounted price

[brandass]

Yes, I've received a few such animals. Makes you wonder what's going on over there. But this set was all within 3% of what the correct math should have yielded, so maybe the eggnog is helping?

[Meowy]

Originally Posted by brandass

Yes, I've received a few such animals. Makes you wonder what's going on over there. But this set was all within 3% of what the correct math should have yielded, so maybe the eggnog is helping?

auto-correct

[Flatspotter]

Originally Posted by jhorne

If you aren't completely fed up yet, I'd try the following:

Call again and if you are not successful, get the name of the CSR and their supervisor, and anyone else involved in the transaction, and send all of that information to the email Chris Baker provided. I have a feeling by the time you start asking for names they'll probably come around. Or you could skip the first part and just send all the info in an email. Only risk there is that they sell out before the email gets handled...

There really is no excuse for this stupid {censored}, but it has been going on for years.

I sent an email to Chris on Sunday night, and he got back to me this morning. Unfortunately, M123 has sold out of the Les Paul Deluxes, and they are discontinued, so they can't get any more.

Four minutes after I got Chris's email, I got another one from a CSR: "By the time we received your price match request, we have ran out of stock on the Gibson Limited Les Paul Deluxe Gold Top.
I'm sure we could have done that price for you, but unfortunately we do not have a product to supply you with."

Yes, I'm sure you could have done that price for me after three quotes that were higher than that. You can definitely do it now that you don't have any more.

[bjcarl]

Originally Posted by Flatspotter

I sent an email to Chris on Sunday night, and he got back to me this morning. Unfortunately, M123 has sold out of the Les Paul Deluxes, and they are discontinued, so they can't get any more.

Four minutes after I got Chris's email, I got another one from a CSR: "By the time we received your price match request, we have ran out of stock on the Gibson Limited Les Paul Deluxe Gold Top.
I'm sure we could have done that price for you, but unfortunately we do not have a product to supply you with."

Yes, I'm sure you could have done that price for me after three quotes that were higher than that. You can definitely do it now that you don't have any more.

They suck. Unless they've sold out at Zzounds, you should be able to still get one for $1350 using code FROSTY2012...

[jhorne]

Originally Posted by Flatspotter

I sent an email to Chris on Sunday night, and he got back to me this morning. Unfortunately, M123 has sold out of the Les Paul Deluxes, and they are discontinued, so they can't get any more.

Four minutes after I got Chris's email, I got another one from a CSR: "By the time we received your price match request, we have ran out of stock on the Gibson Limited Les Paul Deluxe Gold Top.
I'm sure we could have done that price for you, but unfortunately we do not have a product to supply you with."

Yes, I'm sure you could have done that price for me after three quotes that were higher than that. You can definitely do it now that you don't have any more.

They do have a used level 2 in stock and it sounds like the only issue is with the pickguard, which easily replaced if it was enough of an issue.

Since level 2 used items are marked at 20% off MAP, tell them you'll take it at 20% off of that price they 'could have done', which would be about $996.

[GAS Man]

Originally Posted by GAS Man

Just had a little annoyance. I sent in a price match for a Perri's strap that Amazon has a great deal on. 2 days later still no response from M123 and now the price is up about 6% at Amazon. . But that's only about 63 cents



Ah, but that's what I get for bein a piker.

M123 did get back to me today with a killer deal on the Perri's 2" Italian Suede Guitar Strap with Deluxe Soft Glove Leather Pad

Thanks Emily!

[Danhedonia]

This is pathetic - I get why you'd put up with it for a few hundred dollars, but at this point I strongly suspect them of fraudulent behavior.

And I was the one who mentioned a class action suit. At one point I did paralegal work for a lawyer and remember some of the requirements for class certification - a mass retailer's customer base would likely qualify in this case. In fact, all the "hard drive true storage amount" suits were just like this. All that's needed is a greedy lawyer.

Ultimately, you wonder how a retailer thinks they can have these kind of issues (regardless of cause) and not suffer a blow to their brand? I'd never buy from them after this thread, and I believe those who say they got decent service. I think the "baker" posts are unimpressive. Backdooring customers to finally stand by your pricing policies is more sleaze, IMHO.

That Vox is really nice, btw. Played one recently in Portland.

And I'm PMing about the trem.

[bjcarl]

Originally Posted by Danhedonia

This is pathetic - I get why you'd put up with it for a few hundred dollars, but at this point I strongly suspect them of fraudulent behavior.

That's the only reason I'm willing to put up with their BS and still order from them...when I stand to save several hundred dollars, it's worth it...I DO NOT want to hate on M123 or any other online retailer...I'd rather see them stand by their word and do right by their customers. It's also completely unfair to their competition-dirty pool, if you will.

Originally Posted by Danhedonia

And I'm PMing about the trem.

What trem? Did I miss something?

[steve_man]

Originally Posted by bjcarl

I did actually send in a test PM yesterday(just one) on a Vox SSC33(their newer single-cut guitars with the funky p90-looking p'ups). Shockingly, they replied fairly quickly and did a straight-up 123% PM...

If you aren't familiar with the guitar, MSRP is $1000 and they were being sold for $799 til recently. In any case, I now have a PM on one for $242.49 It's good til Jan.2...I might use it, but if anyone reads this and really wants one, hit me up and it's yours. Otherwise, I'll slap that bitch in the deals thread sometime next weekend

Man...that's a GREAT deal on that guitar! Is it for a specific color?

[bjcarl]

 

Originally Posted by steve_man

Man...that's a GREAT deal on that guitar! Is it for a specific color?

 

It's vintage cream...I was hoping for teaburst but that would be $300 more lol...if you want it, PM me and it's yours...if you don't, I'll wait til the weekend to throw it on the deals thread.

[wagdog]

 

Originally Posted by Danhedonia

All that's needed is a greedy lawyer.

 

Ha, you'll never find one of those.

[GAS Man]

Originally Posted by Flatspotter

Four minutes after I got Chris's email, I got another one from a CSR: "By the time we received your price match request, we have ran out of stock on the Gibson Limited Les Paul Deluxe Gold Top.
I'm sure we could have done that price for you, but unfortunately we do not have a product to supply you with."

Yes, I'm sure you could have done that price for me after three quotes that were higher than that. You can definitely do it now that you don't have any more.

REMINDS ME OF A JOKE: (fave of mine told to me by a local alcoholic attorney )



Woman goes into the butcher shop, and says to the butcher, "I'd like to buy 4 pork chops, how much are you charging?"

The butcher replies, "Well Mrs. Epstein, we've got some fine pork chops in that I just cut this morning for $1.99 a pound."

She says, "What, a dollar ninety nine for pork chops? Goldman's butcher shop has them advertised for only $1.49 a pound!"

Butcher says, "So why don't you buy your pork chops at Goldman's?"

Woman replies, "because he's out of pork chops"

Butcher replies, "And when I'm out of pork chops, I'll be selling mine for a dollar forty-nine too!"

[steve_man]

 

Originally Posted by bjcarl

It's vintage cream...I was hoping for teaburst but that would be $300 more lol...if you want it, PM me and it's yours...if you don't, I'll wait til the weekend to throw it on the deals thread.

 

thanks man...wish I could...but I'd want a gold top if I got one... Hope someone can use it!

[chbaker]

Originally Posted by Fusion1

I sent in a PM for the Gibson SG Standard on 12/13. I didn't recieve a PM until 7 days later and it was in my spam folder so by the time I checked it the price match was expired as they limit price matches with a 9 day expiration period. Wouldn't you expect the expiration period to start from the time they send out the price match email to you, and not the time the customer originally sends in the price request?

That is weird, the system should have gone off the time the quote was sent by us, not you. If you email me, I can resend it.

Originally Posted by Flatspotter

I've been trying to get a price match for a week on a Les Paul Deluxe with a coupon code on zZounds, but M123 has only given me quotes that are higher than zZounds. The latest email I got yesterday said that zZounds price is $2249 (it's actually $1499), and that they never received a screen shot that I sent of the coupon code applied (price with coupon is $1349.10). Then they said, "...for the time being we have such a limited supply of these currently that I cannot set up a quote."

If we still haven't taken care of you, email me and I'll get this handled for you.

Originally Posted by harold heckuba

This is crazy, why would a company not want business at X-mas?

I sent in two (small) price matches over a week ago.

Got them back today and:
1) Neither price was even close to being matched
2) More baffling, they waited a week and until X-mas eve to send them.
They were to be gifts, I dont need them this late.
3) They waited just long enough until the price went up elsewhere before sending
back a non-matched price..

Sorry, email me and I'll get you taken care of.

Originally Posted by bjcarl

They do want business...especially at Christmas. The problem is, M123/MF have clearly bitten off more than they can chew. They're trying to attract business and squash the competition with an unrealistic guarantee. I doubt the corporate bigwigs who concocted this scheme had any idea that Amazon, Best Buy or anyone else would be able to sell anything for as cheap as they do.

As for the CSR's...they're either encouraging them to avoid price matching on money-losing deals, or they've hired a bunch of people who have no business being in customer service.

In any case, I'm thinking the average potential customer is easy to fool...when they send back some crap response like, "Best Buy isn't an authorized Fender dealer, but we'd be happy to offer you 5% off", most people don't call them out on their bull{censored}.

Someone mentioned a class-action lawsuit earlier in this thread or in another one...at first I was like, "sure lol", but apparently, according to a friend of mine who's a federal judge, it wouldn't be unheard of. It really boils down to false advertising...at the very least, it's unscrupulous, unethical and embarrassing for MF/M123...it's not only screwing their competition, but also screwing their customers.

I've said it before, but I almost can't wait til these clowns go out of business in 2013 so I'm forced to deal with an honest company(in my experience) like Zzounds or Sweetwater...or hell, just my local mom 'n pop...(I just hope they leave HC the way they found it when they do!)

Originally Posted by bjcarl

Mr. Baker is one of the few bright spots for MF/M123 IMO. That said, I'm pretty sure he's ignoring the forums right now-between an unrealistic policy his higher-ups have implemented, game-playing CSR's who obviously are misinformed, and the slew of unhappy customers, this has to be a major headache for him. If he is paying attention, have a Merry X-Mas, Chris...I sincerely hope things get better for you guys

Thanks bjcarl, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well. I'm not ignoring the forums, I've just been out since Saturday on account of Christmas, and have been working through the backlog of emails since I've been out.

I assure you we're not encouraging agents to sit on emails and trying to get them to expire. It's the exact opposite, we want to get emails cleared out quickly and correctly. Some of you mentioned getting answers faster than expected back on 12/24; this is because the call volume died down and we could pull agents off the phone to help catch us up in emails. The holiday rush puts a ton of calls and emails our way. Now that the holiday buying rush is over, we're now working to catch everything up, so hopefully you all should see email response times get better soon.

Again, I assure you we're not trying to avoid doing these price matches, and if you ever get denied, you're welcome to email me. This will also give me a chance to go back and see who did it wrong the first time and work to improve our future responses. Hopefully, with time this will all be a problem of the past.

Sincerely,
Chris Baker
Night Supervisor
forums@musiciansfriend.com

[johnnytuinals]

Originally Posted by Flatspotter

I sent an email to Chris on Sunday night, and he got back to me this morning. Unfortunately, M123 has sold out of the Les Paul Deluxes, and they are discontinued, so they can't get any more.

Four minutes after I got Chris's email, I got another one from a CSR: "By the time we received your price match request, we have ran out of stock on the Gibson Limited Les Paul Deluxe Gold Top.
I'm sure we could have done that price for you, but unfortunately we do not have a product to supply you with."

Yes, I'm sure you could have done that price for me after three quotes that were higher than that. You can definitely do it now that you don't have any more.

Yep ZZounds have the Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Gold Tops for $1349 with this coupon FROSTY2012
Best to pay atads more then not to have one......JT

[Flatspotter]

Originally Posted by johnnytuinals

Yep ZZounds have the Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Gold Tops for $1349 with this coupon FROSTY2012
Best to pay atads more then not to have one......JT

I didn't want one that badly, and M123 cured my GAS.

I got another email about the LP Deluxe from M123 today:

"Unfortunately this item is no longer in stock and has been discontinued. Upon following your link I see that an error occured on our part and your initial request was valid."

Classic.

[steve_man]

Well...submitted another one today...still no response. Guess we're right back into the same boat...

[aporcelainsky]

For the past 2 days I have been putting in price-match requests for the Gibson SG Diablo from American Musical Supply - no response despite multiple email attempts. Today I try again.. an hour later it's out of stock at American Musical Supply and not 5 minutes later do I receive a response saying Music123 can't match the price because it's out of stock. Unbelievable. 

[johnnytuinals]

Thats what a telephone is for.......JT

[joemonkey]

They sold out of the ebony 61SG satin, which was the only finish at $799.  A guy on another board got one for $530.

[RandallRM1004ME]

This is kind of my point. Some people get the price match and some don't. They should always honor their guarantee and train all the CSRs on how the price match works. While the $710 I paid for the SG was a good deal but not when compared to what other people paid $630 or $530.I also used the found better price link on the website for other items and they never responded.