I was pleasantly surprised...
Written: Sep 16 '04 (Updated Sep 17 '04)
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OK... I've read more than a few bad things about Music123.com from epinions.com so I was reluctant to deal with them but I was pleasantly surprised.
Situation
After the last guitar (Guild G4) that was broken by carelessness of my friend, I gave up playing guitar. I wasn't good anyway so for about 10 years, I just wished I could play like some of my friends. And one day about two weeks ago, I caught the guitar bug and wanted to buy a new guitar so I can start practicing and play again.
So I went to my local music store, GuitarCenter and looked around. At the same time, I started researching the web for a good guitar (good sounding) for about $300-500. From the reviews here and other places, I found out that Martin is one of the best guitars and with my budget, I could get DX1 ($499) which is highly recommended. At the guitar center, I tried it and it sounded really bassy and mellow. I liked it but still I looked around and found Yamaha limited for $300 which was decent and definitely cheaper than the Martin. It sounded not as good as Martin DX1 but definitely not too bad.
I came home and narrowed the selection to Martin DX1 ($499), Yamaha FG04LTD ($299) and Guild GAD50 ($649 since I enjoyed my last Guild guitar and it comes with a hard case). I thought about Martin D-15 but that seemed little out of my league.
Finally, I decided to get Martin and head back to GuitarCenter. Since they had 3 months no interest financing, I figured I could get $500 guitar and paid it off in 3 installments. I got the credit card and all that but unfortunately they didn't have a new one in stock.
The salesman insisted that the display one was new but I could tell the strings were old and there were little spots where people touched it with dirty hands. So when I insisted that I needed a new one, he offered me the display guitar as a loan until a new one comes in the following week but he told me that I had to pay $7 for shipping. Absurd... So after a serious debate in my mind, I walked out.
Now I had to go back to the beginning to find Martin DX1 at the same or cheaper price and with a better or equal financing option. That's when I came to Music123.com.
Beginning
After this, I talked to a few of my friends and they told me they all would want to buy a Taylor when they have money. So I thought... what's so good about Taylor? I should try it. Head back to GuitarCenter.
One of the cheaper Taylor that caught my eyes was model 214 for $749 (wth a case). It sounded definitely different from DX1. It has more treble and livelier. In a word, I really liked it. It was pricey but I thought if I can get 12 months interest free financing somewhere, I can definitely afford this. I will probably use this guitar for the next 10 years so why not get a good guitar?
But you know what... none of the internet companies had Taylor on their websites. Later I realized that it was because of Taylor company's request not to advertise the price. So I went back to GuitarCenter and local SamAsh. GuitarCenter had one in stock but with only 3 months. That's $250 a month... SamAsh offered me 12 months but they did not have one in stock. Instead they offered me display Martin DX1 with a hard case for $499.
So out of frustration, I sent email inquiry to Music123.com, musiciansfriend.com (GuitarCenter affiliated), and SamAsh.com asking whether they carried Taylor guitars. There are numerous other companies but only these three had some sort of financing plan.
Process
Out of three, I only got a response from Music123.com that they had Taylor 214. I still haven't heard from SamAsh even after 2 weeks (I sent them 5 times) and for musiciansfriend.com, they did not respond to my email inquiries but I called and they said they did not have one in stock.
The problem was music123.com offered it at $839 and musiciansfriend.com at $819 which were definitely higher than the local guitarcenter.
Since music123 had one in stock, I decided to try to haggle the price. So I responded to their email, telling them that GuitarCenter had it at $749 and I wanted 12 months free interest financing instead of their usual 6 months.
The next day, a representative jasone responded that the price does not include tax and shipping (they offer free shipping over $199) so the end price would be the same. I responded... since the guitar is for our church (I am a youth pastor) and I could pick it up in the neighborhood, his argument was not valid.
To my surprise, he responded back with the approval of price matching (did not even ask for a proof) and 12 months free interest offer. Wow...
Problems
One problem that I encountered was that when I offered a credit card for their address verification, I gave one with a different address than music123.com card. It took me and them 4 days (including Saturday, Sunday) to correct and verify with a new card. Even then, they could not do it with phone verification, so I had to fax my ID.
But good thing about the 4 day waiting was that they were really prompt (in one case, they responded within 5 minutes by email) and they had this system of sending/receiving responses implemented in their customer system. Also the process in a way ensured me that they are serious about customer credit protection.
Conclusion
Despite of my worries, they were all courteous throughout the entire process and I had only good impressions on their service. I did not have to call them and everything was done through their email system (I hate waiting on the phone).
They sent the guitar out on Tuesday night (They sent me a confirmation email). Fedex picked it up on Wednesday morning and I am suppossed to get it on Friday. Not bad for free shipping...
By the way, although the company is located in NJ, I realized the shipments comes from Illinois somewhere.
When I receive them, I will let you know further.
Update
I just received the package as promised and everything is as described, in boxes, never opened. I am very satisfied. The guitar looks and sounds good.
I ordered a box Elixir strings. Music123.com put two cardboards and wrapped it with rubber bands so the box wouldn't get crushed. Nice touch...
One word of recommendation... Always try to haggle even if you are dealing with a web-based company. Often times, they will be more than willing and eager to please you with better offers.
* Regarding price match...
I found the elixir string for 60 cents cheaper at Musiciansfriends.com. When I notify music123, they credited me with 60 cents the next day.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Taylor 214 Acoustic guitar with a few accessories
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Epinions.com ID:
pastorsoh
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Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 1 member
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