Klarinet Archive - Posting 000566.txt from 1999/07

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Why I don't frequent my local music stores ...
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 22:06:15 -0400

At 07:49 PM 7/18/1999 -0400, Mark Charette wrote:
>Statements from more than one music store in my area. The quotes are from
>memory, and may not be 100% precise, but they're pretty close:
>
>1) "You want to try a mouthpiece out before you buy it? You must be
>kidding!"
>2) "Leblancs are no good. Professionals only use Selmers or Yamahas."
>(Funny, all they had were Selmers & Yamaha.)
>3) "We can have your instrument fixed in 2 weeks." (yes, we bought the
>instrument at that store. 1 pad needed replacing)
>4) "No, we don't have loaners." (IRT #3 above)
>5) "No, we won't give you a new clarinet. We never said we would." (We did a
>rent-to-own plan, and the clarinet we received initially was a previous
>rental return. We were promised a new clarinet when we concluded the
>payments. We paid off the instrument 2 years early and got this response.)
>6) "That'll take 2 weeks and cost you $70.00" (2 pads replaced on a Selmer
>10G)
>7) "I can order one for you." (In response to asking if they have and Buffet
>R13s)
>8) "You must be crazy. They're all the same." (in response to my asking if
>they'd get 4 or 5 from their distributor IRT #7)
>9) "A Vandoren B45 is all you'll ever need. We have 'em on sale today for
>only $85.00. They're normally $95.00." (The Vandoren B45 is just about all
>they stocked, too.)
>10) "Yes, we can order that for you. $19.95 + $6.00 S & H". (A music book I
>could order for $14.95 & $4.00 S & H)
>11) "That's $2200 - a great price." (A 20 year old Bb R13)
>
>I drive a pretty new mini-SUV, own a 1995 Volvo 850T, help run a small
>business (maybe $7m gross this year), know what it takes to survive in the
>business world. I don't make moral judgements about people that drive older
>cars or don't drive SUVs. I'm reasonably affluent, help out my local arts
>community, and don't mind paying a 10 or 15 percent premium for shopping
>locally because of the service benefits - my local ACE hardware gets all my
>business if they carry the items, even if their prices are a bit higher than
>some big conglomerate. I'm pretty typical in my neighborhood. I can't afford
>to throw money away, however, so if my local stores don't serve me better
>than some far away place, they deserve to wither & go out of business.
>Service is the _only_ thing that can possibly let them compete.
>
>Also, for you music store owners or workers out there - would you refuse to
>do business with someone who called you from outside your local area and
>asked you to order something for them because they trusted you? Would you
>really tell them that they shouldn't do business with you?
>
Some of those statements are the reasons that local stores get a bad
reputation, although some are fairly reasonable. For example, we DON'T
have loaners, except for our own rentals and those who have purchased
maintenance contracts from us (with occasional exceptions, such as new
clarinets with cracks). It costs money to keep a loaner pool, both
inventory cost and maintenance. I personally wish we HAD a pool of trial
mouthpieces, so people COULD try them out without scarring up new ones. (I
may have to talk to the boss about that.) You can only sell what you have,
but the statement about Leblancs is clearly a lie, as are several other of
your quotes. We can order an R-13 (or several) for you, too, but since we
are not a B & H dealer, the best price we can give you is terrible. As for
repair delays, you are in line, just like everyone else. You have to wait
your turn. Yes, our guys usually do a sort of "triage" and push some easy
stuff to the front of the line just to get it out, but you can't
necessarily count on them dropping everything and taking care of YOUR
problem just because you are you (unless you have proven in the past that
you actually WILL pay $70 to do two pads!) And gouging you on the sheet
music sale for S & H would send ME scurrying elsewhere, too!

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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