Am I being Unreasonable?

[Charla]

Morning All

 

I have a Gibson SG Bass and would like a good quality soft case so I can get it in my car boot (out of sight). A Fellow BC'r suggested the Gator Icon guitar bag. Whilst looking at this I saw another bag which designed for loner 6 string guitars, which offered good protection.  So I contacted the Retailer to ask if they could try the base in the said bag (both were in stock). However, I was informed that they do not provide this service request. I could purchase the bag and return it if it was not suitable. If I had gone to the shop I would have asked to check the fit before buying, so see little difference in the fact that the purchase was online. I wasn't impressed, or ids it just me?

 

Cheers

 

Charla

[Dad3353]

'In stock' does not mean 'to hand', I suppose. If they had to open up the packaging of a new bag, and it didn't fit as you would like, it's no longer 'new' for another customer. If you'd gone to the shop, they may not let you try your test on new gear, either, for the same reason. Unreasonable..? A bit 'limit', I'd say, but not so unusual. 

[police squad]

12 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

'In stock' does not mean 'to hand', I suppose. If they had to open up the packaging of a new bag, and it didn't fit as you would like, it's no longer 'new' for another customer. If you'd gone to the shop, they may not let you try your test on new gear, either, for the same reason. Unreasonable..? A bit 'limit', I'd say, but not so unusual. 

if that was the reason (a very understandable one) why did they just not give it

their answer was evasive

[tegs07]

36 minutes ago, Charla said:

Morning All

 

I have a Gibson SG Bass and would like a good quality soft case so I can get it in my car boot (out of sight). A Fellow BC'r suggested the Gator Icon guitar bag. Whilst looking at this I saw another bag which designed for loner 6 string guitars, which offered good protection.  So I contacted the Retailer to ask if they could try the base in the said bag (both were in stock). However, I was informed that they do not provide this service request. I could purchase the bag and return it if it was not suitable. If I had gone to the shop I would have asked to check the fit before buying, so see little difference in the fact that the purchase was online. I wasn't impressed, or ids it just me?

 

Cheers

 

Charla

If it’s online rather than bricks and mortar it may well just be located in a distribution centre staffed by by 3rd party employees who have nothing to do with the online store. Their job is to take stuff off shelves and get it on vans for delivery. Online sales are cheaper for a reason. If you want the personal touch buy in store, preferably from an independent retailer.

Edited 14 hours ago by tegs07

[Marvin]

If you 'try' something in a shop the item is still on the retailer's premises. I'm not aware of many instances where a physical shop would allow someone to take the item home, without paying for it, to sort of test it out.

[Lozz196]

My mate had a similar issue, the case he was after had been updated and made slightly bigger, the newer version not fitting in his car boot. He saw an older version online and messaged the retailer for dimensions, specifically measuring the actual case in stock, not the manufacturers spec, which they agreed to do and replied with, and fortunately for him it was the old case sizes. He placed the order, received the case, which was the new version. So he returned it at their cost. 
 

Moral of the story, you can only trust in something when you have it and can test it yourself, the person on the other end of the phone/message could be a very helpful individual, willing and eager to help a customer. Or they could not.

 

[uk_lefty]

While you might not be being unreasonable I am sure they get thousands of requests of this nature and never hear from the person again.... Like when any of us tries to sell something online. I had a bass up for sale "can you record it playing through a distortion pedal please?" Errrrr why?  Or the thousands of back and forth messages with people who then disappear when you try to confirm they will buy and pay.

[chris667]

This is all we will have if we don't support our local music shops.

[chris_b]

My guess is they have to protect against tyre kickers. You get a lot of those in shops.

 

I prefer Mono M80 Vertigo bags.

 

IMO it's a gig bag. Do your homework, find a good one, that fits, and just buy it.

Edited 12 hours ago by chris_b

[Jakester]

2 hours ago, Marvin said:

If you 'try' something in a shop the item is still on the retailer's premises. I'm not aware of many instances where a physical shop would allow someone to take the item home, without paying for it, to sort of test it out.

 

OP was asking the shop staff to use their bass to test the case i.e. it was always on their premises.

 

TBH I think it's a little unreasonable; you wouldn't ask someone in the M&S warehouse to try on clothes for you before you bought them. I'd probably have just bought it, tried it, and returned if it didn't fit.

[Mrbigstuff]

23 minutes ago, Jakester said:

 

OP was asking the shop staff to use their bass to test the case i.e. it was always on their premises.

 

TBH I think it's a little unreasonable; you wouldn't ask someone in the M&S warehouse to try on clothes for you before you bought them. I'd probably have just bought it, tried it, and returned if it didn't fit.

I suppose there’s two issues:

 

1) they have the goods in stock but one or both are still in original packaging that they don’t want to undo.

2) what if they say it fits but the margins are tight and you argue it doesn’t upon receipt? A wasted effort for all.

[Charla]

Thanks for the Feedback, it's good to hear your views which have helped me get over my intitial irritation.  If I'm going to spend a good sum of money on a bag/case then I think I'll go for the Gibson shaped case for both sturdy protection and good fit. Looks like I'll be buying direct from Gibson as I can't find a pre owned in this Internet!!!.

 

Cheers

 

Charla

[PaulThePlug]

Not unreasonable, maybe out of touch.

Yours makes perfect sense, but that is not the new way, or the common sense of others who may see the Buy two and send one back to be the new normal - but check the returns policy, might be liable for return postage.

 

Epi SG EB0 Case or Bag?

Edited 3 hours ago by PaulThePlug

[TimR]

11 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Moral of the story, you can only trust in something when you have it and can test it yourself, the person on the other end of the phone/message could be a very helpful individual, willing and eager to help a customer. Or they could not.

 

This.

 

Their version of 'Yes, it fits.' may well not match your version of 'Yes, it fits.'

 

Just buy it, try it and return it in the unlikely event it doesn't.

 

However, I bought a rucksack once and the place sent me the wrong one. I returned it, but the process was: return for a refund and purchase the item again... Somewhat convoluted.

[Dan Dare]

It's for a retailer to decide what level of service they are willing/prepared to offer and for you, as a potential customer, to decide whether you wish to buy from them. Everyone has a different take on what is "reasonable". That's the long and short of it, really.