Klarinet Archive - Posting 000390.txt from 2006/03
From: Jeff Albrecht <jeffn8wr@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Re: buffets and Rafi's complaints
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 14:39:57 -0500
First of all, Rafi, you can't have it both ways. ANY
instrument needs to be set up properly after arriving
in the manufacturer's “sealed” case. If it is
"factory sealed" as you seem to desire, how in the
world is anybody ever supposed to check it out and
verify that is in the condition you so desperately
desire?
Second, somebody blowing the horn and then deciding it
isn't for them does not make a clarinet "used". A
"USED" clarinet is one that somebody has OWNED for a
period of time, and then traded in or sold to somebody
else. You need to get your terms straight.
Additionally, you need to acquaint yourself with the
definition of "perjury", as you so flippantly used it
in your last reply to some of the statements others
have made. I, for one, am unaware of WWBW ever being
called into court and declaring anything under oath
(and thus, the penalty of perjury, something which
was later proved (in a court of law) to be a
misstatement. That is what perjury is.
You aren't *really* going to cite "Consumer Reports”
as an authority on much of anything, are you? Half of
their reviews are loaded with misstatements and
factual errors. If you are to be consistent, aren't
*they* also guilty of your charge of "perjury"???
Another error in fact that you bring out is the false
assumption of the serial number somehow indicating
that the clarinet is not brand-new. Get real. If it
sat in a sealed box on a shelf, unopened for two
years, it is not a "used" instrument, as you seem to
feel. It was simply on the shelf in somebody's
warehouse for that period of time. It may have been
in Buffet’s possession for part of the time, as well
as in WWBW's possession for another part of the time.
Who is to say? When I got my first R-13 in 1974, I
was perfectly happy with he instrument. It was in
great condition, and had been properly set up.
Therefore, it was NOT in a "factory-sealed" box. I
later (in the past two years) found out, based on the
S/N, that it was in fact made in 1971. Big deal!!! I
know that at least two individuals had had the
audacity to touch it before me: the technician who
set it up prior to me receiving it, and my clarinet
teacher, who inspected it when it came to his house,
as he was the one who ordered it for me at a discount.
Should I sue both of them, as well as Buffet? That's
utterly ridiculous!
You seem to use the terms "bamboozle" and
"malfeasance" rather cavalierly, without a good
understanding of their significance. Based even on
your hyperbolic descriptions, the term "malfeasance"
simply does not apply.
Once again, you won't be able to have it both ways.
You want a hand-picked instrument, one that WWBW
should test before sending it out to you. How in the
world are they supposed to do that, if you insist that
nobody can even breathe in the same room as the
"virgin" clarinet you so adamantly demand??? It
doesn't work that way in the real world. If you go to
a car dealer (I am using that metaphor again) you test
drive a car. Just because some other guy test driove
it a few days earlier, does not make it a used car,
does it? They also had to run the motor to get it off
the assembly line and into the waiting lot, onto the
train and later the truck to transport it to the
dealer, and off the truck. Once it got to the dealer,
they also have the audacity to turn the engine over to
make sure the thing doesn't blow up when you try to
drive it off the lot. Does that make it less
desirable, simply because *you* consider it "used"?
By any legal and/or reasonable definition, title has
never passed to anybody except the dealer, so it is
still new. The same goes with the R 13.
One last point: I don't recall anybody here insisting
that you had to get a Prestige (or any other
higher-grade) clarinet in order to have a working
horn. We suggested that you try other dealers, who
may charge a little more, but include in those charge,
all the set-up work that makes these instruments
perform the way they should. Try Clarinet XPress, for
example. His prices are competitive, and he does the
prep work that ALL instruments need.
If you are so hell-bent on getting something from WWBW
that you, yourself have stated they can't deliver,
then you have nobody to blame except yourself. You
wanted a Rolls for the price of a Yugo, and you aren't
willing to look at even a marginally higher price to
get what you want. You rejected out-of-hand a
price-saving instrument based simply on the fact that
someone else has owned it before. There is no reason
to reject well-maintained used instruments. You are
complaining that you don't have the extra money.
Maybe you should look for alternative avenues where
your money will go farther. A used instrument can get
you a much better value, and someone has already
worked all the bugs out of it. I don't see any NEW
Stradivarius models for sale in the violin market, but
that doesn’t stop people from lining up to buy them.
Tell WWBW you want your money back. They will be
happy to do a refund. Then go and buy a new or used
instrument somewhere else. You have already decided
that they are crooks. You have been prosecutor,
judge, jury, and executioner in their trial. Give it
up, already, and find someone else to supply you with
your instrument. I found clarinets at a number of
reputable vendors for less than $100 difference for
the identical new instrument you want. It took me all
of ten minutes of searching the sites of people
recommended by members of the woodwind.org community.
Why not try one of them?
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