Bass Bros

[Terry M.]

18 minutes ago, Joe Nation said:

Anything in London doesn't count because I'm a country bumpkin.

I live in London and that doesn't hinder my trips to Warwick 😊 In fact I spoke to a customer once in The Gallery who came specifically to see them from the US. The fact remains that The Gallery and Bass Direct are the two largest UK based Bass specialists. The Galley will deliver to you and offer a return window if distance is an issue.

Edited 7 hours ago by Terry M.

[peteb]

I've dealt with Bass Bros on tree or four occasions (bought, sold & part ex'd) and it has always been a positive experience. I have never emailed them, not once. I have always phoned Will, followed by sending pictures, etc on WhatsApp if necessary. 

 

Just pick up the phone, every time...  

 

[Terry M.]

17 minutes ago, BassTractor said:

 

My website specifically asked people to avoid email because of its inefficiency.

Then it's on Will at BassBros to do the same? If he hasn't then...

[Terry M.]

In my experience Bass Direct,Andertons,Guitar Guitar and Wunjos in London answer each and every email. It can be done. 

[Dad3353]

7 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

Then it's on Will at BassBros to do the same? If he hasn't then...

 

Is this a case of 'Where there's a Will, there's a way'..?

 

...

 

I'll get my coat. 

[Willfunk]

56 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

I live in London and that doesn't hinder my trips to Warwick 😊 In fact I spoke to a customer once in The Gallery who came specifically to see them from the US. The fact remains that The Gallery and Bass Direct are the two largest UK based Bass specialists. The Galley will deliver to you and offer a return window if distance is an issue.

Terry it's certainly not a competition to who's the biggest bass shop, it doesn't matter. Everyone seems to be doing ok so that's all that matters, so no more go under. We (Bassbros) offer the same returns policy, as required by law. 

 

On the email issue, I'm sorry if you haven't had a reply, we have had ongoing issues with our account which we're always trying to get on top of. Most emails seem to come through as we usually receive a large amount a day which we reply to, but it seems some may not be coming through (sometimes the 'sell your bass' page) . If you don't get a reply feel free to call us to check. Also we work flat out, there's only a couple of us here, so always doing the best we can working long days every day and just expanding the showroom currently on top of all the usual things. We sell around 1500 basses and guitars a year and ever growing so we have a massive turnover of instruments, with only a couple of us here it's a lot of work so aways doing the best we can. 

 

Thanks, Will - BassBros 

[chris_b]

I've bought from the Bass Gallery, Bass Direct, Andertons and most of the shops in  the West London, but so far not BB's but it seems to me that, no matter what the form of communication, ignoring your clientele is not a sensible way to do business.

[Terry M.]

40 minutes ago, Willfunk said:

Terry it's certainly not a competition to who's the biggest bass shop, it doesn't matter. Everyone seems to be doing ok so that's all that matters, so no more go under. We (Bassbros) offer the same returns policy, as required by law. 

 

On the email issue, I'm sorry if you haven't had a reply, we have had ongoing issues with our account which we're always trying to get on top of. Most emails seem to come through as we usually receive a large amount a day which we reply to, but it seems some may not be coming through (sometimes the 'sell your bass' page) . If you don't get a reply feel free to call us to check. Also we work flat out, there's only a couple of us here, so always doing the best we can working long days every day and just expanding the showroom currently on top of all the usual things. We sell around 1500 basses and guitars a year and ever growing so we have a massive turnover of instruments, with only a couple of us here it's a lot of work so aways doing the best we can. 

 

Thanks, Will - BassBros 

Hi Will. You misunderstood my sentiment when I said Bass Direct and The Gallery are the two largest bass-only stores. It's not a competition whatsoever but The Gallery have been in business since about 1991 so are more established. I was just being factual. I've told you in person I like what you're doing and I meant it. And technically you now sell guitars so not strictly bass only. I've not tried to email you recently mate so I don't know about that. It's my last whatsapp message sent to you about a possible trade you've not responded to. Either way it's all good. I wasn't responding in a malicious way in any shape or form but if you've not responded I'm only presenting the facts. Someone on here said Bass Gallery is in London so doesn't count which is why I mentioned that they deliver and offer a return window. I know you also do that.

Edited 6 hours ago by Terry M.

[BassTractor]

2 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I've bought from the Bass Gallery, Bass Direct, Andertons and most of the shops in  the West London, but so far not BB's but it seems to me that, no matter what the form of communication, ignoring your clientele is not a sensible way to do business.

OK, I'll bite.
So, I get up at 7AM and start my work for the day. It's gonna be a busy day, and, trying to cater for the customers' perceived (or preferably real) needs, I hardly have time for a coffee or lunch break, so my wife shoves food down my throat with a goose stick - at every opportunity. Customers even come from the extreme North of Norway to the extreme South where I live, specifically to talk with me and to try my boats. I sell hundreds of boats and do not have the capacity to sell even more, as that would detract from the level of quality that my customers wish for and that I think they need.
After 7 or 8PM, the shop now closed, I'm having a few hours of administration. At 11PM, I start answering emails, and am not done before 2AM, after which I'll get five hours of sleep.

Then, just as I'm to shut down the computer, an email arrives from someone who knows better, the email telling me for example that my website isn't good enough, to which I reply: "If my website had been any better, I could have sold even more kayaks, and that would mean less time spent with each individual customer. I don't wanna do that."
That same email could also have been about my lacking email response.


IOW: please do not curtly say that "ignoring your clientele is not a sensible way to do business".
It's not certain that you're a better judge on this than the shop is.


As I said: IME and IMHO, email is the least sensible way of communicating.
It's detrimental to the customers' interests, whatever those customers might believe (of course depending on the nature of the emails).

[Pow_22]

Just to add to the discussion - Last week i bought a bucket list bass for me, the most expensive bass purchase thus far in my bass playing career, in a 1998 Rickenbacker 4003 from bass Bros.  Answered my queries regarding neck dimensions quickly, delivered quickly and expertly packed.  Ive bought a few things over the years from them both in person (Ashdown fliptop valve amp) and online (p basses mainly) and never had an issue.

[Joe Nation]

Some people use email purely because it is the best way for them to communicate. They might have a hearing problem, anxiety about using the phone, anxiety with holding an impromptu conversation with someone, they might have poor phone service, or they simply don't have time to stop and have a ten minute conversation. I for one much prefer email over phone and have done so for each of those reasons in the past. Although I would not expressly abandon a business because they don't reply to emails, it would certainly cause me to think twice about going somewhere else. YMMV.

[mcnach]

38 minutes ago, BassTractor said:

OK, I'll bite.
So, I get up at 7AM and start my work for the day. It's gonna be a busy day, and, trying to cater for the customers' perceived (or preferably real) needs, I hardly have time for a coffee or lunch break, so my wife shoves food down my throat with a goose stick - at every opportunity. Customers even come from the extreme North of Norway to the extreme South where I live, specifically to talk with me and to try my boats. I sell hundreds of boats and do not have the capacity to sell even more, as that would detract from the level of quality that my customers wish for and that I think they need.
After 7 or 8PM, the shop now closed, I'm having a few hours of administration. At 11PM, I start answering emails, and am not done before 2AM, after which I'll get five hours of sleep.

Then, just as I'm to shut down the computer, an email arrives from someone who knows better, the email telling me for example that my website isn't good enough, to which I reply: "If my website had been any better, I could have sold even more kayaks, and that would mean less time spent with each individual customer. I don't wanna do that."
That same email could also have been about my lacking email response.


IOW: please do not curtly say that "ignoring your clientele is not a sensible way to do business".
It's not certain that you're a better judge on this than the shop is.


As I said: IME and IMHO, email is the least sensible way of communicating.
It's detrimental to the customers' interests, whatever those customers might believe (of course depending on the nature of the emails).

 

 

email may be the least sensible *to you*, but not necessarily to everybody else...

I personally do a lot by email, because it gives me a written record and I can do it at times when most shops are closed. I'm not against other methods, but if offered I'll probably take it.

 

If email is not an option that works well for a shop, then do not offer that as a method to communicate? Can't really blame people for using a method that is right there in the list of ways of contact. 

 

 

[Lozz196]

4 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

 

email may be the least sensible *to you*, but not necessarily to everybody else...

I personally do a lot by email, because it gives me a written record and I can do it at times when most shops are closed. I'm not against other methods, but if offered I'll probably take it.

 

 

I`m the same, plus inevitably when I speak to someone on the phone I forget one or more of the things I wanted to speak about.

[chris_b]

36 minutes ago, BassTractor said:

IOW: please do not curtly say that "ignoring your clientele is not a sensible way to do business".
It's not certain that you're a better judge on this than the shop is.

 

There was nothing "curt" in my post. The guy "in  the shop" might be a better judge, which is why I put "seems to me", as an indicator that this is my opinion and I could be wrong.

 

The fact remains, in this thread several people have taken their business elsewhere "due to poor communications". He may know his business, his business might be thriving, but it still seems to me, clients going elsewhere because they simply didn't get a reply, is not good thing for a business.

[BassTractor]

28 minutes ago, chris_b said:

 

There was nothing "curt" in my post. The guy "in  the shop" might be a better judge, which is why I put "seems to me", as an indicator that this is my opinion and I could be wrong.

 

Fair comment.

[peteb]

As far as email goes, these days it is a less than ideal way of doing business. I got back from holiday a week and a bit ago to an inbox of 250 work emails, most of which were cr*p but more than I expected requiring a response. My boss had been away for the two weeks before me, monitors a team email account since someone left and wasn't replaced. He told me that he had deleted a large number of emails looking for business in my area when we had already said that we wouldn't be accepting applications, because he didn't want to bother me with nonsense emails when he knew I would have an overflowing inbox. However, someone later contacted me separately with a different query that I answered straight away. She then asked why she hadn't got that response when she made the same query three weeks ago. Almost certainly, her email had been accidently deleted along with all nonsense ones while I was away! 

 

You have to remember that Bass Bros offer a specialist service, operating in a very niche part of the market. They are also very good value in that part of the market. A couple of months ago, I was looking for a new bass with a budget of up to £3k. I talked to Bass Bros and another specialist, who are really good but generally a bit more expensive. Will was selling a virtually identical bass for around £450 cheaper than the other guy. When it came to part-ex another bass, he offered £500 more! I ended up selling my old bass to Will (again, for an acceptable price) and buying a bass for a little more than half my maximum budget on eBay (a Fender AVRI rather than a Custom Shop), but it was obvious that Will does offer an extremely good service in that space. 

 

Of course, you can deal with Andertons and get your emails answered straight away by a bigger organisation. But you won't get the benefit of the specialist service the Bass Bros offer, if that's what you actually want and if you're prepared to pick up the phone! 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by peteb

[BassTractor]

45 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

 

email may be the least sensible *to you*, but not necessarily to everybody else...

I personally do a lot by email, because it gives me a written record and I can do it at times when most shops are closed. I'm not against other methods, but if offered I'll probably take it.

 

If email is not an option that works well for a shop, then do not offer that as a method to communicate? Can't really blame people for using a method that is right there in the list of ways of contact. 

 

 

Yeah, that seems fair too. 
Of course I'm aware that what went for me not necessarily goes for everybody else, and I don't want to make general laws out of my personal experiences, but I do still wish to show possible readers one of the different sides of the coin.
In this, I thought my experiences could well resemble the experiences of similar niche shops.
 

As to the offering of email as a method, indeed if it doesn't work for the shop, they shouldn't offer it.
Also in this respect there is another side to the coin: if nearly everyone gets a good answer and a few do not, you can be sure that those few make a lot of noise about it. 

BTW, I've never blamed people for using email, and I'm sure neither do Bass Bros.
As I said earlier: IME email has seen little in the way of revenue despite my quality answers. People talking with me, me analysing their needs and them "sittin' in that bote" has seen revenue.
Me telling on BC that email is inefficient is not the same as my shop not offering it or me blaming people for using it. But yeah, after some years I did ask people to avoid it if possible.

[MungoBass]

1 hour ago, mcnach said:

 

 

email may be the least sensible *to you*, but not necessarily to everybody else...

I personally do a lot by email, because it gives me a written record and I can do it at times when most shops are closed. I'm not against other methods, but if offered I'll probably take it.

 

If email is not an option that works well for a shop, then do not offer that as a method to communicate? Can't really blame people for using a method that is right there in the list of ways of contact. 

 

 

My sentiments exactly! Especially the part about having a written record….just in case something goes wrong.

[Terry M.]

54 minutes ago, peteb said:

Of course, you can deal with Andertons and get your emails answered straight away by a bigger organisation. But you won't get the benefit of the specialist service the Bass Bros offer, if that's what you actually want and if you're prepared to pick up the phone! 

I see a bass I like at a price I like then I rarely if ever care who is selling it and I will enquire,specialist or not. I do however like Will's pricing structure so I always keep an eye on his stock levels. Anderton's have never answered an e-mail from me straight away since you mentioned them 🙂

[Woodinblack]

5 hours ago, BassTractor said:

- Even when you decide to answer well, there's no impressive revenue as a result. Revenue comes from people phoning in and especially from people actually visiting the shop and trying out the kayaks that might fit.

 

Maybe its the not answering - I know several things I wanted to buy that I emailed about didn't get bought because the shop didn't answer, so I went elsewhere.

Wheras I have bought quite a few things entirely on email, so don't really have a problem with it.

 

 

5 hours ago, BassTractor said:

My website specifically asked people to avoid email because of its inefficiency.

 

If you don't want to use email, thats fine, don't put an email out. However, if you do put an email out, don't ignore it.

[Woodinblack]

5 hours ago, Terry M. said:

In my experience Bass Direct,Andertons,Guitar Guitar and Wunjos in London answer each and every email. It can be done. 

 

and in my experience, Andertons, Guitar Guitar and Wunjos do.