Klarinet Archive - Posting 000599.txt from 1996/05

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.EDU>
Subj: Nate Burk's experience
Date: Mon, 27 May 1996 18:00:29 -0400

Gee Nate, you wouldn't be talking about Lisa Argiris and International
Music Supply, would you? Funny how these stories keep surfacing about
that company...

> I didn't happen to like any of the
> three R-13's they sent me (they lady *did* pre-select them, too), so I sent
> them all back. Here's what happened after that:
>
> The company had required a deposit on one of the clarinets, so my mom's
> credit card was charged $1600. It took a little while for them to credit the
> card, so she had to pay about $32 in interest while we waited for the
> company to apply the credit (we had to call them twice to ask what was going
> on; they told us it was possible the paperwork had been put aside and
> forgotten about). So all in all, we payed over $100 in shipping and in
> credit interest to try three clarinets, one of which was plainly a bad
> instrument. The other two were not a whole lot better.
>
> The day before I sent these horns back, I got a call from Albert Alphin, and
> he had gotten in a beautiful R-13 that Tom Martin had liked. I tried it and
> bought it. I couldn't be happier.
>
> Instruments are something that mail order houses, IMO, just *shouldn't*
> sell. I was glad I bought my clarinet at Albert Alphin's because I know that
> I can take it back to him with any problem I have, and he should treat me
> well because he sold me the instrument and he wants to me to be happy (at
> least I'd like to think that). I want to shake the store owner's hand and
> have him remember who I am -- I don't want my name, number, and credit card
> information to be the only things a mail order house knows me as.
>
> So that's just one experience I've had with mail order, and as a result I'll
> never recommend that anyone purchases an instrument through the mail. Even
> if it seems risk free, there's always some way to get screwed -- you know? I
> was lucky enough to live only 45 minutes away from a good Buffet dealer...
> if you have access to good instruments locally, *please* don't make the same
> mistake I did by trying to save a buck and ending up paying $100 more than
> was necessary.
>
> --Nate
>
> Btw, Albert Alphin's repair shop and store is in Needham, MA: (508)
> 449-4197. The man knows about everything there is to know about woodwind
> repair and he's got good prices on equipment, too.
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Don't let school get in the way of your education. -- Mark Twain
> nathan@-----.com/~nathan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>