Klarinet Archive - Posting 000557.txt from 2000/06

From: Richard Bush <rbushidioglot@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] ebay bassethorn
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 11:47:43 -0400

Dan,

In my own mind, I can easily understand why WW&BW didn't want to entertain
you and your proposed order. They buy from Fox at maximum discount. They buy
from B&H, UMI and just about everyone else the same way. Because of this and
large inventories that often reflect last years prices and their having
purchased at those max. discounts, they can cut profit margin to the bone
(selling huge quantities), scare away most competitors and, very often, sell
at prices that are within a hundred dollars of what other franchised dealers
have to pay for the same item.

A single sale of an item that requires a great deal of attention on their
part is more bother than it is worth. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not
defending them, only speculating as to why you were virtually ignored.

Daniel Leeson wrote:

> With respect to basset horns, Bob Howe wrote:
>
> > Woodwind and Brasswind presently sells bassetti by all three big makers,
> > they go discounted for 7 kilobucks and up.
>
> Bob's satement about Woodwind and Brasswind needs a little adendum. I
> recently contacted them and asked about purchasing a cocobolo wood
> basset horn made to order with very specific conditions from a certain
> manufacturer whose products they sell. It is as if I were speaking
> choctaw and they were speaking serbo-croation.
>
> What I got back was a statement about which basset horns they sell and,
> in any case, none were in stock, so there was nothing that they could
> sell to me.
>
> I went right back to them and said, "I don't want what you normally sell
> and don't have in stock in any case. I want a basset horn made by ...,
> I want it out of cocobolo wood, I want a narrow bore, and I want a
> wooden bell. Will you please ask that manufacturer if he will make one
> for me?"
>
> Never got an answer to that one. It is as if once they told me what
> they had (or in this case did not have), they had used up whatever
> marketing savvy and interest they had in available.
>
> Now is it my imagination or has Woodwind and Brasswind gotten to the
> point of dealing with customers on the basis of "this is what we have -
> what you want is not my problem"? I had just driven across the US on
> I80 and passed their place without stopping. If I were doing the trip
> again, I would stop this time and that salesperson and I would have a
> little discussion on the matter of how to sell things.
>
> It is not that I don't know a little bit about basset horns but I got
> the reaction that my correspondent had an overblown sense of
> self-importance with respect to her knowledge of basset horndom as
> contrasted with mine. I would think that they would want to make an
> effort to get me what it is I want.
>
> In effect what I wanted to buy was not what they wanted to sell so I got
> ignored. That is a lot different from the time I bought a bass clarinet
> in A from them and got a receptive, responsible reaction to my request.
>
> Am I being unfair in my changed opinion of them because of this single
> and unpleasant incident. (Incidentally, my a cocobolo wood basset horn
> with a wooden bell, narrow bore, and gold plated keys is now being made
> by someone else and W&B blew the sale. I'll tell you about the horn
> when I get it in January.)
> --
> ***************************
> ** Dan Leeson **
> ** leeson0@-----.net **
> ***************************
>
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