Musician's Friend .com: We didn't ship to the wrong address -- You just don't know what state you live in.

That is crazy. Musician's Friend has a choice between expediting the package (a few extra dollars) or a pissed off customer. They chose a pissed off customer to save a few bucks. Whoops.

Also, you said MF Customer Service Line. I love it.

Here was my latest and last experience with Musician's Friend:
http://www.epinions.com/content_413829402244

I hope you don't mind my crosslinking my review with your blog entry.

Yeah, I had a similar experience. I ordered something I absolutely had to have with several weeks lead time. The item was in stock, and the order immediately went through and was charged (cha-ching!), but on their web site the status showed up as "being packed" for two weeks.

I filled in an online customer service form to ask why it took them two weeks to put something into box. I got an auto-response saying they'd get back to me within 24 hours. Three days later I gave up on waiting for their response (they evidently use a different system of time), and waited on hold over a lunch hour to talk to somebody in person.

I was told that everything was fine, the item was in stock, it's just that sometimes their warehouse computers "get confused." Huh? On top of that he refused to expedite the order for me (I was running out of time), and wouldn't even let me change the shipping, since it was "already at the warehouse."

Even after that conversation, it took them TWO MORE weeks to pack the box. Needless to say, the item didn't arrive in time, it actually wasn't even shipped until after I needed it. Ah well... lessons learned... never use Musicians Friend again.

I ordered Christmas presents through their website this year, with the added perk of getting a 15% 'bonus bucks' kickback on $1,000 or more. Or so I thought.

I was supposed to get an email confirming my bucks by December 28th. Of course, it never came, so I called customer service as was suggested in the promotion. I may as well have been talking to a tree stump. I asked for his supervisor. I again explained the situation (don't you wonder why the hell service people always react like they've never heard of a problem as bizarre as yours?) and -- low and behold -- the super put in for the credit and 'made a note' in my account.

A couple of weeks later, I attempted to place a phone order using my 'bucks.' Except there weren't any. Gee, super Tim had assured me they were there. Could he have lied to me? Hmmm... After two episodes on hold, listening to an endless stream of 'buy more of our stuff' advertisements, the rep finally located the note on my account. I was relieved that it actually existed. But...my account had not been credited and it would take three business days for that to happen. Sigh...

A couple nights ago, I decided to go test the 'bonus bucks' waters one more time. I lined up a few items I needed and gave 'em a call. Wow. Imagine my surprise. No bucks. This time, the rep couldn't remember if there was ever such a promotion. Really? It's remarkably similar to the one they are CURRENTLY RUNNING! Don't freakin' lie to me. I'm not stupid. I told him to go check my account 'notes' and see that whatever the promotions are/have been, I am due $150 in vapor bucks (new nickname.)

I was then put on hold for more than 30 minutes, after which time the call was disconnected.

OK, this is bullshit. I wrote a scathing email the next morning detailing my extreme dissatisfaction with their service and demanding what I was due. I've yet to get any kind of response, but let's just say that I'm not holding my breath.

I'll freakin' build my own gear before I spend one more nickel with these scamming losers.

I just paid what was a lot of money (to me, anyway) for an instrument to be
sent to my daughter for Valentine's Day. I ordered it from Musician's
Friend. I paid extra for expedited shipping. I AM SO ANGRY!

Musician's Friend:

1. Sent the package via USPS parcel post (the cheapest, slowest service possible) rather than FED EX Second Day Air.
2. Sent it to the WRONG PERSON (using my name rather than my daughter's) (And will the mail room at my daughter's dorm figure that out? Fat Chance!)
3. Gave me an invalid tracking number, apparently just making one up.
4. When I asked about the invalid tracking number, said that USPS sometimes just "recycles" tracking numbers.
5. Said that maybe they will give me a refund IF I SEND THE PACKAGE BACK. But I don't have the package!
6. Certainly the opportunity for the once-in-a-lifetime little Valentine's Day surprise is over forever.

Be careful when using Musician's Friend. Or find an honest, reliable company.

I admit that mf doesn't have any idea whats going on, but none of the music stores in my state, Alabama, do either. But if you're too dumb to be carefull filling out an online order, and read over the page before you go clicking onto the next one, you had it coming, you're as big a screw up as you blame them to be. Looks like to me you went out of your way with your "precious time" to keep from admitting you might have made a mistake.

[Edit: The user posted this comment twice. The duplicate has been deleted.]

oops, I double clicked and that posted twice, quess somebody owes me some free shipping or something, cuz there's no way I made a mistake. There are some of us out there looking for good quality reviews so that we can learn something, share some knowledge, but if your opinion is as useless as this guys, just keep it to yourself.

I have been tried to order the stuffs from your website but I don't know how to pay for it, I was selected 4-5 items but I confused when I need to pay for them, please let me know how?

Beware of Musician's Friend Platinum Membership and any of their other no interest plans or payment plans that they offer. You save no money on this deal. You end up paying more and in some cases it could end up being double for the piece of equipment you bought, it is a major scam. If you think your not paying interest, they just add it on at the end of the 12 months, to include your elevated payments. By the time you are done paying if off, even if you do lump sum payment, you probably bought yourself a guitar or amp.

Theres an old addage that says don't buy anything if you don't have the money...Of course the charge more after the twelve months. Pay it off in twelve months or don't buy it at all. Fucking duh... Musicians Friend has never been a problem more me and i've spent somewhere between 3 and 4 thousand dollars with them. They've always been helpful, and when Roadway fucking up my shipping, Musicians Friend refunded my shipping for me.

No problems.

Get some brains.

I work for MF and can say they hire some pretty dumb people. People who have no idea what musical equipment is. There are some things I don't know about however I do know who to ask. Most of the time it is dumb customers who don't know the difference between a guitar case and a bass case. Most all the screwed up orders that are placed are placed using the internet. Take your time using the interent. If you do want to track your shipment ask to have shipments UPS. You cannot track using USPS. The worst part of Musicain's Friend is the treatment of employee's. Ask the next time you call how they are treated.

They should rename themselves musician's enemy. They are fucking garbage. I ordered a combo amp from them 3 weeks ago. They sent me the wrong shit. I called them up 2 and a half weeks ago to figure out what the hell was going on. They scheduled someone to pick up the wrong item friday, 12/26. I called in friday around 1:30 to make sure they were coming. They said everything was on schedule. Well, no one showed up on friday. Called monday (last week), they said it wasn't even scheduled to be picked up yet. They said they would schedule it for tuesday 12/30. Called on tues, shipping company came and picked up cab. Was told that everything would be handled by end of week. Called up today to see what status of order was. They haven't even gotten the wrong item back yet and they won't send out the new one. BULLSHIT! The shit they sent me is still in Denver, only about an hour from my house. Tomorrow will be one week since it was picked up and it's only an hour away from my house. Musician's friend is total shit. I hate this and If I had enough money, I would have just gotten a head to match the cab they sent in error. THE WORST EVER!

What can I say? I ordered a 400 dollar guitar on clearance a month ago, never came. Called them, nothing they would do. Criminals.

Calling someone a criminal is a strong accusation. Can you provide any more information about what happened?

I ordered a $400 studio desk during a clearance sale to save some cash. About a week after I ordered it, the desk still hadn't shipped, and no money was being taken out of my account. I called and they said it would be shipped out the next day. I got an email the next day saying they were out of stock, and it wouldn't ship for at least a month.
I've never had a problem with these guys, so I canceled the order and ordered something else. The stuff shipped the next day. I would recommend not buying stuff during clearence since the stock clears mad fast.

Reading all of these complaints makes me feel obliged to point out that, in almost 15 years with at least 6-7 orders per year, I've never had a negative issue with Musician's Friend. They've handled returns and the like with no hassle and are geniunely pleasant on the phone.

They shorted me a 3-pack of strings once, but took care of it. You can call them and get 15% off most anything right now since the economy's so slow, and I don't have to pay 7% sales tax using them as opposed to Guitar Center or my local shop. Really I couldn't reasonably ask them to be much better then they've been.

I don't doubt there are going to be some horror stories with a company doing that much business. Reading the first post though... you gave them the wrong address, what do you expect? They re-routed the package and the carrier needs to adjust for that. You couldn't just wait the week, instead of demanding MF jump through hoops, shipping out another unit and processing a return, because of your mistake? They probably already lost a couple bucks to the shipper for your massive $59 order.

You couldn't find a guitar pick and a set of strings in NYC to hold you over a week?

I will NEVER buy anything from "Musicians Friend" again. The friendly colorful "In stock & ready to ship" graphic they have in the description of everything they sell means "We'll backorder that eventually". Of course they DO charge your credit card the millisecond you submit the order. They have a "fast shipment guarantee" that says you get 20% off your next order if this one isn't shipped the next day but the ... person I just talked to says that only applies to "in stock" items.
The fact that their web page said what I was ordering was in stock, and has said that every day for the last week somehow "doesn't count" as far as the guarantee goes. It only applies to "in-stock" items. I'm looking at the page for the item I ordered right now and it STILL says "In stock & ready to ship".
This is not an isolated incident. It's happened with at least part of my order EVERY time I've dealt with them for the last couple years. I have spent literally tens of thousands of dollars over the years with these people and they didn't offer me so much as a free guitar pick for the hassle.
This is what I blow my money on. I don't have a Harley, kids, quad-runners or a boat. I work in a damn prison to get money to buy tools to create my art with and I get treated like a dope, and I guess I am one for continuing to deal with these people.
Done. I'll take my next multi-thousand dollar order to another shop. I'm off to cut up my Musicians Friend gold account credit card. Fool me once....... (Doesn't sound like I'm pissed does it?)

You all have to realize that Guitar Center now owns most of the well-known online musical supply store, ie: MF, WWBW, West Music, Music123.com, etc. That's why most everything is shipped from Lenexa, Kansas or Colorado. They've all had plenty of burps if you check online blogs...

Heheh .. I used to own one of those stupid, obsolete old Brick & Mortar stores that Musician's friend basically put out of business .. Every time I hear about the big machine f****** up an order where someone wanted to save $3 and 8 minutes I just laugh my ass off .. Does anyone still *really* *actually* expect customer service from big on-line retailers? Man, my country must be dumber than I ever thought ..

Good deal not so good. I purchased a new (not used or pre-owned) clarinet for my son from MF as they had 15% off, which "was" a good deal. The first clarinet arrived with several keys bent and the instrument not playable. Damage was not due to shipping as this instrument had no warranty cards, was not wrapped in plastic as a new instrument shipped from the factory would be, the cork grease was used and there was no reed. Immediate return to MF and upon reciept of the return a second one was sent out. The box of number 2 showed a label from 6 months prior evidencing a return to MF from another customer who apparently returned the instrument. Although number 2 was wrapped in plastic and had the warranty cards, this one did not play either as one of the springs was broken rendering one of the keys inoperable. After number 2 was returned, a 3rd one was sent out. Shipping was delayed by MF not getting the package to the shipper so the expected delivery date changed. I contacted MF to delay delivery and they did not get to the shipper on time so delivery occurred while I was away for vacation. When I returned home there was no package, yet the email tracking I received showed delivery. I contacted MF and they said they would contact the shipper. 3 days later they had not done so, and had to do it myself. The shipper said only the sender could make a claim not the receiver. The shipper got MF on the line and fortunately a claim was made, but I have a charge on my credit card for this instrument and have to wait until a resolution is made. MF and the shipper are going to duke it out and one will be responsible, I have no say so in this matter but I am responsible for payment of the instrument. Never again as MF does not sell new instruments. They send you rejects that are damaged, have awful customer service and are no bargain as I now know.

Well, my advice is that you should stick to your local dealer. Sometimes you can get a deal that more or less matches the online offer. My story goes like this. These megastores make a living out of brainwashing you about getting the newest s***t around. I fell once. The started a "trade-in-cash-out" thing, where they basically offer pennies for your instrument, and re-sell it for top $$$. A couple of years ago, I tried it by submitting a 2003, supposedly Limited Edition Flamed Maple top Standard MIM Strat I got for ~$350 at MF, and asked between $250 and $500, since the instrument was basically "Mint" condition. They offered $209 pre-inspection. I filled the UPS form the send by e-mail and shipped it. Well, a week later, a guy from TICO, calls saying that even when I had sent all original documentation, there had been a printing error on the invoice and the catalog. What I had purchased was a "Quilted Maple Top", not a FMT, and my guitar was not as valuable as the FMT. But that's not all, the guy also tells me that it had a couple of deep dents in the arm rest (If you own a strat, you know what that is), and this would affect the re-sell prices, so they ended up offering $100. And I have read about worse offers, like $200 for 5 guitars. Of course, I wanted my Fender back, and when they shipped it, I saw the dents, which can only be caused by dropping or smashing the guitar. But in lack of photo evidence or witnesses, legal action does not proceed. So if any of you is thinking about using the TICO service, don't. It's just another scam...