Klarinet Archive - Posting 000451.txt from 1999/07

From: Margaret Squires <margeaux@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Buffet E 11
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 21:57:37 -0400

The way our shop works (one owner is a clarinetist!) for rental nights is this:

All instruments are gone through when they come through the front door, whether they
are brand new from the factory, or if they are a rental return. We take as wide a
price range of instruments to rental nights as possible. Sometimes toward the end
of the rental season we only have new instruments to rent. We offer a "damage
policy" for $2 per month (in addition to the regular monthly rental). It covers all
accidental damage done to the instrument. Yes, the broken tenon repair would be
covered. (However, when the kid had a temper tantrum and kicked his alto sax across
the floor, that was not covered!)

Some parents want to purchase an instrument instead of rent. We discount the price
and offer a "guaranteed byback". They have a year from the date of purchase to
return the instrument for a full refund, less whatever would have been the regular
monthly rental for the time they had the instrument.

We also offer smiles and our shop dogs to welcome you when you enter the store!

I'm not trying to advertise for our store, just want people to know that we do
everything we can to make ourselves competitive. The quality of instruments that
come out of some of the mail order catalogs is so inferior to what we provide.
(That's why we sent 130 flutes back to a major manufacturer to be reworked) So,
yes, the price may be a bit higher, but we guarantee that you will get a quality
produce and be satisfied with your purchase.

OK, I've said WAY more than enough.

Margaret

Jack Kissinger wrote:

> In St. Louis, list price is
> the rule and I can echo the experience of Band Rental night that Jim Hobby
> referred to. The two large music stores that showed up (which happen to be two
> of the most highly regarded in town) came with stacks of new Selmer 1410's (one
> of Selmer's plastic student models), still in their original sealed plastic
> wrapping, dispensed like hotcakes to eager (but mostly naive) parents for only
> $650 apiece (about $300 above mail-order price, I would guess). Would these
> stores replace a pad that had fallen out or a bumper cork or repair a bent key?
> Probably. But suppose a kid dropped the instrument and broke a tenon three or
> four weeks after the purchase. Would the store rebuild (about a $70 job) it for
> free? Perhaps but, having lived here for over 20 years observing the local
> stores, I doubt it. Seems to me $300 will buy alot of service and the
> difference between local and mail order prices on professional models is even
> greater.

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