‘In Stock’

[ped]

Gear4Music - this is the last straw. After applying for a job with them (I called to check the closing date, there wasn’t one written in the site) nobody knew or cold tell me, so I applied and weeks later was told the job was closed. It’s still on their site. Anyway, I know lots of others have had similar experiences with them...

I went to buy a guitar stand today, it says ‘2 In Stock’ - they are, but helpfully that’s in stock in Sweden. Not their UK shop. Which is their main shop. It doesn’t even mention a shop in Sweden. There’s no way to check a ‘branch’. 

As much as I’d like to support a bricks and mortar shop they make it painfully difficult. 

 

[ped]

@fiatcoupe432 typical eh?!

[The59Sound]

7th-10th January does seem like quite a wait if it was in stock in the UK?

[ped]

3 minutes ago, The59Sound said:

7th-10th January does seem like quite a wait if it was in stock in the UK?

That’s because they aren’t 

[The59Sound]

Yes, that's my point. Would make me think it's coming from further afield.

[Ricky 4000]

 

Quote

Andrew has over 20 years’ business management experience, having founded Gear4music Limited (then called Soundpro Limited) in 1995. In 1998 he began selling IT systems for the audio recording market before launching “Gear4music” in 2003. Since then Andrew has retained overall responsibility for driving the Group’s growth.

 

Between 1992 and 1998, Andrew set up and ran his own recording studio business, having studied Popular Music and Sound Recording at the University of Salford. Andrew is a keen pianist.

Source: http://www.gear4musicplc.com/about-us/plc-board/

Edited January 1, 2019 by Ricky 4000

[ped]

38 minutes ago, The59Sound said:

Yes, that's my point. Would make me think it's coming from further afield.

Yeah it is. Sweden. It’s all in the first post?!

[paul_c2]

I am guessing "in stock" means they have it in a warehouse, somewhere. But that warehouse is their own - not the manufacturer's. And that their collection of warehouses is Europe-wide.

I've had items delivered from Europe (ie outside of UK) in pretty good timeframes, so I don't think its a massive issue in itself. And they do show an expected delivery time. Its one of them things with the new-fangled modern world of shopping online that there is an inevitable delay between ordering and arriving. If I need something quick, I physically go to a physical shop (probably in a car, and need to park, etc etc) and will probably end up paying a little more too. At least there's still actual shops - but not for long - the two music shops in Chester will shortly be closing!

[ped]

When there’s a physical shop I think saying the item is in stock is misleading. It should say ‘available to order’ - which it does say on lots of items. In stock is basically meaningless! 

[paul_c2]

Yeah I think they're interpreting "online" as one of the shops. If there isn't a tool to check the branch you could visit (you can visit a branch, right??) then that's awkward - I guess you could phone them up. I phoned up my local music shop (to save a trip, if their stock thing online checker was wrong) to be sure they had something in stock previously.

[ped]

Just now, paul_c2 said:

Yeah I think they're interpreting "online" as one of the shops. If there isn't a tool to check the branch you could visit (you can visit a branch, right??) then that's awkward - I guess you could phone them up. I phoned up my local music shop (to save a trip, if their stock thing online checker was wrong) to be sure they had something in stock previously.

I was going to phone but then I noticed that some items say ‘available to order’ so thought that ‘in stock’ meant that it didn’t need ordering and was in fact in stock. So I wonder what ‘available to order’ means... 

[Paul S]

Probably sat in the manufacturers warehouse in China.

9 minutes ago, ped said:

I was going to phone but then I noticed that some items say ‘available to order’ so thought that ‘in stock’ meant that it didn’t need ordering and was in fact in stock. So I wonder what ‘available to order’ means... 

 

[Delberthot]

If you add it to your basket it will let you know if it's in the UK or coming from Sweden or darkest Peru or wherever 

A Berhringer BLE400 pedal that I had been looking for was a bargain at £18 with postage at a not so bargain £14.50 😳

Edited December 29, 2018 by Delberthot

[lurksalot]

I was looking to buy a cheap Dj controller , did some research and looked on line , plenty available for delivery etc 

then checked Dawson’s website , their stock levels show each shop , that really helps , and as the price was the same as all the cheap online sources, I drove in and got one 

If the stock was down to one, I would probably check though 

[ped]

Gear4music only have one shop but it’s like an afterthought and they expect you to buy everything online! 

Anyway I’m done with them. Sod ‘em. 

[josie]

I recently wanted to buy a piece of clothing (a rare event for me) in a local chain store and couldn't see it in my size. One of the staff helpfully had a quick look on her computer and said, "No, we don't have one here, but I can get one for you, we have it in stock", meaning in the warehouse. And phoned me three days later to say it was there for me. I thought that was fair enough, I wasn't in a hurry for it, and holding lower stock levels in the branch keeps their costs down. Good customer service helped too. 

No reason music shops shouldn't do the same, as long as they're completely clear about it. 

 

[jebroad]

They sold me a six string bass with a terrible neck. The truss was not making a difference at all to the unplayable action. They said they'll have a look at it for me and just 'gave it a setup' which actually meant rise the action and polish a couple of frets.

[Planemo]

I feel your pain. When I ordered my XT2 from DV247 it said '3 in stock'. Even given my benevolent assumption that it was in fact likely to be at their warehouse in Germany, after 10 days with no show and no contact I called them to be told 'oh those 3 were either sold or allocated  - yours has gone on back order'. Great. The fact that the one I eventually received some weeks later had a siezed truss rod (not entirely DV247's fault I admit) only rubbed salt into the wound. The only reason I ordered from them was because it was 'in stock', as I would have otherwise ordered one of the many Hohner B2A's that passed through Ebay during the many weeks I waited for a usable XT2 to get to me. I can only assume that either DV247's website does not automatically update stock levels post-sale or (a risky strategy to lay on customers) its done manually by some YTS yoof on a Monday after a heavy weekend on WKD blue.

In fact it was only last week that I recieved the partial refund I was due as they overcharged me. This was only after many emails/calls I made to them and bearing in mind the order was placed in September. I think the problem is that these companies run on the bare minimum of staff and skills. To get a decent retail manager that knows their stuff is going to cost upwards of 40k a year and I doubt that they are paid more than a little over half of that. Its a shame but I will struggle to use them again for anything.

[taunton-hobbit]

I'm bored with ordering stuff on EBay that's flagged as 'in stock in UK,' to find it arrives (eventually) having been posted in China.

😎

 

[HazBeen]

Utterly useless place.... tried, failed, now ignored.

[ambient]

I’ve given up worrying about buying from bricks and mortar shops. Their customer service generally tends to be rubbish. For music gear stuff I either buy from Thomann or Amazon. Anything else it’s from Amazon.

[Roger2611]

On an upside I ordered a cheapo factory second semi acoustic bass from Gear 4 Music via an Ebay auction in November, I get a message the following day to say that they couldn't actually find the factory second in the warehouse so I could either cancel the sale or they would send me a brand new bass for the same price, I took the latter option and received a spanking new bass a couple of days later, which, to be fair was worth just about what I paid for it!

[Skol303]

I’ve bought plenty of stuff from Gear4Music without any problems. Their next day delivery service comes at a premium, but I find it exceptionally good if you need something hastily.

I’ve had two separate items from them that I decided I didn’t want; contacted them to arrange a return and both times they just said “keep it and here’s a refund”. Admittedly both items were under £50, but that’s pretty amazing service in my book.

I’ve also purchased and returned other items I didn’t want with no quibbles and immediate refunds.

(Yes, I am a fussy shopper).

They’re a massive company and of course some orders are going to go awry. But my own experience of buying from them has been 10/10 every time. But then I tend to have the same experience with the courier companies that frequently get panned on here. So as always it seems, it's a case of YMMV.

[skidder652003]

Thomman for me, GAK seem pretty decent too, Gear4music? Nah.

[Norris]

I bought my son a Hofner Ignition Violin Bass for Christmas from Anderton's. It arrived with lovely low action, intonated, and even pretty much in tune out of the box. Not all online retailers are bad