I have always loved Bass Direct and found Mark an excellent person to deal with, however my last couple of visits/transactions I have dealt with the staff he now employs. I have to say they were absolutely un professional. I ordered some Aquila strings from them which I needed ASAP for a tour, 10 days (far too late) later I emailed to enquire what had happened to my order, I was told they had mixed me up with another Dave Evans and sent the strings somewhere in Cornwall! (It's worth noting I had to get in touch to find this out, they didn't feel the need to tell me). The strings finally arrived (obviously sent directly from this person in Cornwall) 2nd class with a receipt/invoice made out to someone else!...I emailed requesting the correct copy an made a point of saying that this was the most drawn out purchase I have ever made and below the standards I have come to expect, his staff member responded by sending me the invoice in some ridiculous text edit format (which I can't use for my records) as long with a message that simply said "Sorry about that "
Who puts a bloody smiley face at the end of a business email?!?!
Previous to this I made the 1hr 40 trip up there to buy a used U bass I had reserved via email. It was advertised on the site as fretless, I got there and it was fretted. Mark was not there and again his staff were completely unhelpful.
Certainly won't be rushing back anytime soon.