Musician's Friend

I ordered a guitar to play a wedding gig that got cancelled at the last minute due to the virus. After ordering, I got an email from a Customer Service rep, checking to see if everything was OK. When the wedding got cancelled, I tried to contact the Rep at the number and hours listed to arrange a return... No answer. No Rep? Strange. Couple days later I called their Customer Service to arrange return. The lady picks up, very heavy accent... I hear roosters crowing in the background... she is on the other side of the world. Not a fan of companies who do that. But worse, she was RUDE! Lady told me in broken English that I was several days past the return window. I told her, "The guitar is NEW IN THE BOX, it has literally not been opened, and I am fine with paying the 15% restocking fee (like $60)." She says, well, why did you wait so long? Arrogant and totally inflexible attitude. She refused to take any return. Worldwide pandemic, things are rough, things get cancelled... and Musician's Friend says, "Welp, you're on day 34, and the return window is 30 days, so... You're outta luck pal!" I decided to write an email to customer service... but Musician's Friend simply didn't reply. Terrible service, terrible company. Never again.

I purchased a G&L S-500 Deluxe. The guitar was and still is being advertised as having Shaller locking tuners. When I received the guitar the tuners were not the tuners advertised. I contacted MF and was told the tuners on my guitar are good. Yes... Musician's Friend are... but they are not the tuners that are advertised. They even admitted that their information was incorrect. I suppose I could send the guitar back but it is a great instrument and I don't think I want to risk any further involvement with these people. I wonder what Leo Fender might have to say about the misleading tactics being use by this company to sell his instruments.
BUYER BEWARE!

****** UPDATE ******
I just received a phone call from Musicians Friend. They apologized and gave me an in store credit. I was hoping to get enough credit to get the tuners that I paid for but the credit was a fraction of the cost that I will have to pay to bring the guitar in line with what was advertised.

Just checked their site again... go ahead and check for yourself. Why won't they correct the error?

BEWARE MF SHIPPING PRACTICES!

A product was ordered FOR ME by a family member not aware of my attitude toward MF.

The very expensive item was shipped in its RETAIL carton with NO outer box. The item was very expensive and heavy. The retail box was obviously NOT, I say, NOT intended as a shipping container. The box arrived from the UPS Demolition team, hanging open on my porch! Shipping expensive gear in retail boxes which provide absolutely NO damage protection is a POOR reflection on the shipping department and company leadership. Good God, don't buy anything from MF!

Previous review below::

I have experienced this TWICE! The first time I considered it a mistake, and was ok to continue doing business. I have bought $$$$ of product from MF, but NO MORE...

If you have a problem with MF customer serivce, Musician's Friend have a quite intricate RUN-AROUND tactic that will leave you unbelievable frustrated. They instruct you to continually call someone else and they will not transfer the call. They simply try to wear you out dialing and getting repeated pass offs until you give up.

AVOID buying from MF if you can help it! Go with another online supplier.

I wnet on line to look for a small rack mount mixer. I found a little behringer, because I needed to rack mount it. Sweetwater had it on sale for a good price, you could order becuase Musician's Friend had more coming in after the holidays, but I thought, I order quite a bit fromMusicians friend and I am pretty sure they price match, so i contacted them and even gave them the link, they looked at it a bit to make sure it was the same mixer. Discription was a bit different but they realized it was the same, then they said since its not in stock, no way could they match it. Here is a credable competitor who is not noted for lowballing, yet it was an out they could take. Very dsiappointing. Why would I ever call to compare again. I might as well just stay on their site and order it and wqait for sewwtwater to deliver it, they have never fulted before, howerev this was a huge default from Musicians friend!

I received a gift of a gibson barstool, what showed up was broken and assembly impossible. Musician's Friend will not exchange ANYTHING! So i have 2 choices, bend it myself and void any hope of returning it, or call the people who gave me the gift and ask them to call in and start a refund process, get the refund, then place a new order on my behalf. Which I'm not too keen on as i very much appreciate them for thinking of me and taking the time to order/give me this is the first place. This is not posted ANYWHERE in their return policy so i figured id help them out and post this everywhere! Would it not be easier/more cost effective to all parties to exchange the broken product you sent me? Again, DO NOT BUY GIFTS HERE!

Ordered two acoustic guitar cases on sale (with a history of over $1000/year in the past from Musicians Friend... so GOOD customer). Sale said backordered on acoustic gtr cases until like 3 months later (reason for sale price, which is common on items on their website). At first, it was good. Musician's Friend sent me a reminder email saying items still backordered and that they would be sending when in stock. After THREE months, I received the last update on Sept 10,2019... saying items still backordered and that they would send when in stock. On Sept. 17, got an email saying both items had been cancelled. When I called about cancellation, rep said it was MY responsibility to call and keep the items "active" since it had been so long since the order date (again, a common practice for their online sales across MANY items on their website. Remember, the item said it would be three plus months at time of sale... and REASON for the cheaper price. Buy now and save on a new product... kind of deal. So, to summarize, it was MY fault for ordering items and not calling them to keep it active (so that once it got in stock, it would be sent to me), even though Musician Friend monthly emails told me I needed to do nothing to keep it active. SECOND COMPLAINT. If you do order a case (happened on more than two OTHER orders), and that case comes in dented and damaged like my 3-4 cases did over the span of a year and three or so orders. Well, guess what... it's the CONSUMER'S responsibility to pay shipping back for cases that are basically crap when they arrive... so FALSE ADVERTISING on return policy. This policy changed at the beginning of 2019, because previous to this, their policy was to honor the bad cases and send you another on them for sending you a hunk of junk. But, not after Jan. 1,2019... with NO NOTIFICATION OF CHANGE FOR CONSUMER. Ohh yeah, and guess what about a replacement. Once the case or item is received back from you, you don't get the sale price replacement that you PAID FOR INITIALLY. You, then, have to pay whatever the current price is to get that item again.>SO BUYER BEWARE ABOUT ANY MUSICIAN FRIEND SALES>>>>>THEY ARE NOT MUSICIANS' FRIEND. IT SHOULD BE CALLED MUSICIANS' FIEND... STUPID DEAL OF THE DAY OR HOUR (or any sale they have)... is just that... STUPID and from a FIEND. BEWARE!

These people are terrible. Ordered an item. Musician's Friend shipped it via post office/UPS partnered service. It made it all the way to Washington state and within 100 milers of my residence. Then overnight it was sent to Brooklyn New York. There it stays for four days now. Some idiot in the postal service decided it should be Rochester New York instead of Rochester Washington I guess. So they send it 4000 mile to the east. I called Musician Friend about the blunder. The lady I spoke to was rude and just stated it was on the wrong truck and would be delivered today. I told her maybe the wrong truck 4000 miles away. I asked her if they could just send another of the product I ordered. I was given a flat Nope for an answer. She said there was nothing she could do and said call back tomorrow. Really! So it's tomorrow and (4 days later) and my package is still in New York. I doubt I will ever get what I paid for. So I will just eat it as a bad, very bad first experience with these numb nuts people. And my last experience with them. I ordered the same item from Sweetwater Music and received it no problem first time. They even called me to confirm my order was correct before shipping and follow up to makes sure you receive your product from them. So my advice to you: Never order from Musicians friend unless you want to get blown off and ignored and never receive your product. Can't put it any simpler than that people. Musicians Friend is NOT YOUR FRIEND! Let that sink in and marinate on that before you even consider ordering from the NOT YOUR FRIEND music store.

I stopped doing business with Musicians Friend several years ago because their customer service stinks, and when you order a new item, many times you will receive B-stock, open-box, or demo items sold as new. As a company Musician's Friend have absolutely no integrity. Because they were the only vendor that had an effects pedal I wanted, I decided to give them anther try. BIG MISTAKE! Not only was it poorly packed, but the factory box had been opened and the pedal was defective. I called and got an RA# and returned the pedal the same day I received it. Musicians Friend received the pedal on 8-3-20 and as of 8-11-20, no refund. I had to call my credit card company and dispute the charge. It has come to my attention that Musicians Friend and Guitar Center(owned by the same holding company)will have to file bankruptcy this year. I hope so, it would be excellent to see these rip-offs out of business.

I bought a brand new guitar and paid extra for expedited shipping AND Saturday delivery. Received it on Saturday, but the lower pickups don't work. I called and service rep, Nicholas, said the manufacturers warranty would cover it and to call them. I said I'd rather get a new guitar. He told me I'd have to wait until their warehouse received it and processed it before Musician's Friend would ship a new one... because people don't ship them back if they get a new one. He stated once again that I couldn't be trusted to send the broken one back, so I said I'd just return it for a refund. He said he wouldn't return my money for the shipping, so I asked to talk to his supervisor. After waiting on hold, he returned and said that this wasn't important enough for a busy supervisor to spend time on. So now I have to wait to get a replacement because I don't want to lose the 50 bucks... I shipped that POS back in less than two hours after receiving it. If this ever gets resolved, I will NEVER buy from Musician's Friend again.

It's a shame to see what was once a top-notch reputable company take such a nose-dive! I started buying from MF in around 2000. Since then Musician's Friend have slowly gone downhill, especially in their honesty & customer service. It is my opinion that as they've grown (they're affiliated with Guitar Center, Music 123, Bain Capital & others!), they have come to care less & less about those of us who spent our hard earned dollars there. I am a pro musician & also co-own 2 recording/rehearsal studios, plus do music therapy. So, you can imagine how much gear I've purchased (tens of thousands of $ worth)!
Problems with MF started a couple of years ago when I began receiving "new" equipment that had obviously been used or open. That was not so bad since they were pretty good about standing behind their products. Things got really bad when they introduced the "Backstage Pass Program". They claim to offer 8% cash-back/credit for purchases (sometimes up to 16-24% during special offers). Unfortunately, in 2016 & early 2017 I've been deprived (robbed) of over $500 in BSP awards! When I initially filed a complaint last year, they sent a convoluted email with "math" that supposedly explained how they had over-credited me. Although I had gone over every single transaction with a calculator & explained that they were way off, they refused to credit me the points/money I'd earned! I gave them the benefit of the doubt & bought thousands of $ worth of gear from them again in early 2017... same thing! Their scheme is to claim that they over-credited you, then never make good on what they owe. One customer service rep had the audacity so say "... that's what happens when you want something for free"! (It's not "free" when you paid for the initial items & were seduced into buying from them based on the BSP discounts/rebates)!
Sorry for MF... I can & will buy elsewhere!

Empty box arrived on my doorstep 6/6/2018... it is now 10/16/2018. No guitar, no money back, no resolution. I keep being told Musician's Friend are "investigating" it with FedEx and as soon as they know something they'll tell me. So I contacted FedEx. The claim that had been filed was denied and musicians friend was told they did not file the claim soon enough. Bear in mind I reported the incident as soon as the empty box arrived. Now MF says they're working with FedEx to reopen the claim because MF swears they reported it within a week after I called it in. MF never reaches out to me, I always initiate contact. For every 3 emails or phone calls I make I may get 1 response. I've asked for managers and supervisors with no luck either. I've told them to just let me know if I'm not getting my product and if they're keeping my money so I can just move on, but nothing. I'm convinced they just ignore you long enough that you go away. Horrible company that I've spent thousands on over 20 years now and I'll never buy from them again over a dispute with a bass that costs less than $300...

Bought a guitar for my son's Christmas gift online at Guitar Center on 8/26/2000. On 9/26, the guitar had not been shipped, though Musician's Friend already had billed and received payment. GC said guitar was out of stock... will give me a refund, and notify me when new stock is ready to ship. Did get the refund... but never heard from them again.
On 11/17, saw same deal in stock on Musician's Friend, and purchased it.
On 11/19, received Email saying it is backordered.
On 12/17, told that guitar is still out of stock. This was supposed to be a Christmas gift!
On 1/13/2001, MF sends Email "The item(s) below has been canceled from your order. If your credit card has already been authorized for payment, it may take 5–7 days for your bank to release the hold on those funds." Not even a 'we're sorry, but'!
SAME COMPANY, SAME LIES. Never had a bad thing to say about Sweetwater. INCOMPETENCE..., and worse.

I tried to order a specific guitar. I dealt with a guy and he told me when I decided to call him. I called back and a young girl answered she said she would help me and then we would contact my salesperson. She said she found the guitar and was filling out the order form. I said, what about contacting my salesman as you said you would do? She said do you want the guitar or not? She was rude so I hung up and called back. The next guy answered and looked for that guitar and told me Musician's Friend did not sell that model. So the girl tried to sell me something close and not tell me! I went ahead and ordered something close and it was in stock. Four days pass and every time I look it says processing. I call and they could care less. I started thinking, if there is a problem with the guitar, do I want to deal with these people? Answer: HELL NO! If they don't care when you're ordering, they sure won't care if you have problems. I buy a lot of gear each year and I don't want my time wasted by a company like this. Their CEO should be ashamed of this poor operation. If I held stock in this outfit, I would be appalled.

I was sold parts and received the wrong parts that I got stuck with being a snare drum... I was lied to another time on next day air that was not and ended up normal shipping... I ordered drumheads that were in stock to have them come to my house in one of the drums size top and bottom not in delivery... did not even send out a email stating salesman told me that all my heads were in stock that was a lie... when Musician's Friend say they have a back order they will wait until they have more customers to order something that could be a month to two months when they could order it but just don't because they want to wait until more people order a real bull$#*! business... i've dealt with Musician's Friend since 1994 and I will not do business any longer...

"I ordered a new Fender Special Edition Stratocaster HSS Electric Guitar from their website advertised as brand new. After going thru some kind of buyer confirmation process after Musician's Friend had already deducted the purchase price from my bank account, I received the guitar in about a week but it was not brand new. It was either an out of box store display or a customer return. It was covered with fingerprints and the plastic film that protects the pick guard was all nicked up from someone playing it. Hair line scratch on the body and a visible repair where a chip in the lacquer finish was touched and buffed. The Humbucker Pickup pole piece screws were stripped and could not adjust string volumes. The neck was about 1/8 inch out of alignment. After one month of moderate playing ,the humbucker stopped working all together .Tell tell signs of pick guard mounting screw wear, which tells me that someone may have swapped the original humbucker for a faulty one. To say the least I am not a happy customer and am considering filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. As dealing with these people directly would be a waste of time since this was an obvious con job. I would not recommend buying anything from this place."

I have purchased gear from this site since 2008. The level of service has gone down tremendously and I figured something out moments ago. If it is my understanding, the parent company of musiciansfriend.com is none other than Guitar Center. It all makes sense. First, Guitar Center sucks! Each time I have visited the Rockville, Md. Store there is this level of snobbery I cannot stand. I have to go and search of help. On simple matters like instructional DVD's, staff has often pointed fingers in the direction away from them so that Musician's Friend leave the customer to his lonesome just not to be bothered. I remember asking a so called 'guitar-tech' if he believed there is a great difference in string gauge. He said, "Not sure what you mean." Again, we're talking about the level of service. As I have dealt with musiciansfriend.com, seems to be the same crap. I have made comments in the past regarding service but no one seems to read the emails until it is too late and folks I'm here to tell you that if you're a budding musician or expert, gear can be purchased with other companies that are more than happy to have you as a customer because they want a life-long relationship with you and your band-mates.
I don't want people kissing my rump, just great service. Let me know you appreciate my business. Rewards points ain't crap if the service is sap!

I received an item that FedEx damaged. MF said Musician's Friend would refund my purchase and have FedEx pick up the item. Wonderful! Except after 2 weeks and multiple calls to MF, still no contact from FedEx to get the broken item AND since I paid via paypal, they wouldn't refund my money. I needed the item so I had to repurchase and thankfully that one arrived undamaged. Today again, I called MF. Each customer service representative gives me a different story and different excuse for why they cant help me. The supervisor gets on the line. They generate a shipping label, now I need to get this piano to UPS. And the "keyboard" as MF refers to it weighs nearly as much as I do. They said they can have UPS come pick it up if I want to pay a fee and then they will reimburse me. Now I have to pay to return the damaged item when they are already holding $277 hostage? It shouldn't be so inconvenient to return an item. Also, their customer service reps are locally sourced, creating a smart-ass attitude when dealing with an unhappy customer. At least the Supervisor was apologetic, even though she could do nothing to remedy the situation.

Add me to the list of others that was treated to Musician's Friend's version of customer service. I also was a frequent customer, and have spent a lot of money at both Musician's Friend and Guitar Center over the years.

In January, I purchased a brand new bass under a 48-month financing deal. Ordered it on a Friday evening. It shipped Monday for delivery Tuesday. I knew something was wrong; the Friend would NEVER ship overnight on their own dime.

I checked out the shipping details and saw that it was shipping from a town 10 miles away from me… also the location of a Guitar Center. My suspicions grew.

When the package arrived, I had my son record me opening the box. I removed the gig bag – which to their credit was well-packed. As I opened the bag, I started seeing scratches and dings on the bass. Removing the bass, there were no tags or cards. No plastic on the pickguard. There was, however, a 9-volt battery already in the bass for the active pickups.

Clearly, I received a floor model. A well-used floor model. For full price.

The bass has been returned and I did receive my full refund. I will not, though, purchase another item from Musician's Friend or Guitar Center, unless I need emergency strings or drum sticks.

I followed up by writing an email to my Sweetwater rep and the CEO, congratulating them on always earning my business. Pleased to say Sweetwater just got a mighty big order from the company I work for. Who do you think made the recommendation? :D

If it's sounds too good to be true... Unfortunately, I fell for one of their "Black Friday" deals for a ukulele. Great deal, price knocked down, was going to be a Christmas present for my daughter. Item was then on back-order, would supposedly receive it beginning of January. So I told my daughter she would be getting a late present. Well, today I called to check on it, and Musician's Friend told me the order had been cancelled "by the system". They are no longer on good terms with the ukulele manufacturer and there are no ukulele's (BTW--this was an expensive acoustic electric model). They never once thought to notify me--although they said they did---it was a flat out lie. I kept every single email from that company including all their sale and promotion emails--and there was no email from them with a cancellation. I asked if they could help me out, flat out "no!" Unbelievable. So now I am left with nothing. Going to deal with the credit card company now...

We attempted to buy a classical guitar that was on a sale and back ordered. It was only supposed to take an extra two weeks and that was fine. However, over the next month the back order date continuously slipped until it was pushed over three weeks beyond the initial date. That's when we decided to get of the back order game and actually bought the guitar from someone that actually had the guitar. Don't trust their back order time lines. Musician's Friend are meaningless and they don't care that their drawing customers in and charging them for items they can't actually provide. An upstanding company would simply mark the item as out of stock and wait till they actually had a firm shipment date but that is not the Musician's Friend.

Made a credit purchase of $3000 and it takes two plus days to verify my credit, I chat with customer service reps and Musician's Friend promise order shipping to no avail. I chat again the next day and this guy was a smart A**. Sweetwater is by far a better place to order over the web they actually call you and talk to you about your order and if there's a problem let you know. Musicians friend is incredibly slow, next time I will not bother, the only reason I didn't order Sweetwater is they didn't have the instrument I needed in stock. I'll see how soon my order arrives and the condition, I would not be surprised if some a** doesn't sabotage. I'll post another review after I receive my order that is if I ever do!

I ordered a Taylor 214 CE DLX which showed up flawed, Musician's Friend sent a return shipping label which didnt work and sent a replacement in the meantime. The replacement box was horrendous. Tattered, torn, smashed, crudely taped back shut and had the previous owners shipping label still on it crossed off. Refused delivery of the 2nd due to its condition. The guitar was free floating in the box without any padding or the standard braces. Cant reach corporate office and am always told they will contact me, which never happens. I'm on day 18 after initial arrival and cant make any progress with this company. I used them before about 5 years ago and they were great. Not sure what has happened to this company. In either case, I'm out 1200. 00 right now with a promise that they will reimburse.

I wish I could give less than one star. These people are complete crooks with no customer service. We spent over $5k buying furniture for our whole home there a year ago. We bought a giant sectional couch that was on sale with a "free" recliner included as well as sofa tables a dinette set a queen bedroom set etc.

Within 8 months the couch recliner handles completely broke off and the springs in TWO of the seats started popping up through the fabric. We had been sold a warranty that the salesman stated covered EVERYTHING and that if we weren't happy with it at any point we could get a pro rated refund on it. So we called the warranty people - Musician's Friend made us fill out tons of forms and send in pictured. THREE WEEKS and several phone calls later, they sent out a tech that we assumed would do the repair. Instead he was here for about 5 minutes to look at the damage and take MORE pics and advise us to wait another 3 weeks for a DECISION on if they would fix it.

We waited - they denied our claim stating that the damage was "normal wear and tear" adn not covered, despite what teh Becks salesman had told us. We asked for our prorated refundon teh remainder of our warranty as we could see at this point that it was a worthless waste of money and a scam - they stated only Becks could refund us.

At this point after reviewing our receipt we had noticed that Becks had fraudulently charged us for our "free" recliner - over $350. We had already called the upwards of 8 times. Sometimes they don't answer and we leave messages that are not returned. Sometimes they say the manager is out with health issues with no ETA to return. Other times they transfer us to someone elses voice mail. Or tell us they will look into it and never get back to us. Once they actually put us through to the sales man who said he would look into it and get back to us - but he never did. When I questioned him about the warranty he said "Oh yes, they cover everythign even wear and tear" and I said no - they just denied our claim saying it was normale wear and tear for springs to poke up through the couch adn the handles to fall off - and then he corrected himself "Oh no... they don't cover wear and tear". We started calling them AGAIN regarding the warranty reimbursement only to now be told they DON'T give a pro rated refudn - the salesman just LIED about everything. Nice.

We filed a complaint with the BBB with ALL of these issues. They did NOT respond to the overcharge of $350. They did NOT respond to their sales person lying to make the sale. The ONLY response they had was stating that according to the warranty company we were rude to their tech and so therefore we didn't get any service. Which isn't true - our denial wasn't for "being rude" nor did any manager contact us regarding the visit etc. It stated we are denied service because the damage is wear and tear.

Becks won't even RESPOND honestly to ANY allegations - or respond at ALL to the allegations of blatant fraud.

These people have no customer service or morals. AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE.

This was the first time we made an orders here online.
Ordering was easily enough.
Fed-ex delivered an incomplete order.
We ordered the less Paul pack.
The guitar shows up (late)
As I check to see where the rest of the order is. I am informed that I would have to send back the guitar, and then re order again.
I can buy it at a local guitar center for more, but completely less hassle the get a full order.
1 either the fulfillment center made a mess of not sending the order
Or 2 FedEx stole the amp and other items
(Which would be be surprised if.)
The girl I spoke with on the issue was very helpful. And very professional
But I don't think I will reorder.
I would be more at ease knowing even if I have to spend more at a store. I won't have to go through the hassle and probably not get it on time for Christmas day./if at all

Musician's Friend once re-ran my card for $400 one year to the day after a purchase by mistake. Some problem with their credit card system. Caused me to overdraw on valentines day and cost hundreds in overdraft fees that they ended up paying. On another order I was expecting a guitar pickup that was around $100 and a couple small items. Received the small items but no pickup. Had to wait weeks for them to investigate and finally send it out. My current issue is with a preorder. Was told it wouldn't go out until 10/14 but received an email on 9/22 that it went out. My card was charged $930. Fedex still does not have the package 6 days later. I had to call customer service 3 times to get someone to truly look into this and investigate the problem. I asked them to refund my money, keep my place in line for the pre-order, and charge me when the package goes out. They refused. Waiting for them to complete research on whether the package has left their warehouse. If it has not left the warehouse I am cancelling the order even if it means I have to wait longer to get the item. They are the worst.

Really dissatisfied with my ordering experience with MF. I ordered a Gibson Hummingbird Pro that was on sale and was a great deal. I had been checking MF for at least 4 weeks given that I have bought other merchandise from them and it went smoothly. All seemed well until I received an email about 6 hours after I placed my order that said that the serial number guitar that I ordered was already sold but there were several left. I then contacted them and asked which ones were left. At first the rep kept evading my question, offering a more expensive guitar as an alternative. After asking several times, the rep said that all 6 had been sold and that their website had not been updated. Here's the thing though... just the day before the page did not have the sale price. In less than 18 hours someone had accessed the page and updated the price yet, not the number that was left nor the banner that says: In stock and ready to ship! I a completely dismayed with this and will never buy from MF again.

The customer service at this company is awful, Ive attempted to order items online thru this company and their "highly trained" verifications team keeps canceling my orders. After speaking with Micheal Baker, hes made it clear that the items I was going to purchase were high fraud items, what defines a high fraud item I dont know, so after several attempts to order two items, Musician's Friend made it clear that they will keep canceling my orders unless I make a purchase via bank wire transfer, Ok so I go to my bank, do a wire transfer for certain items. And Micheal Baker who claims he is the final authority tells/scolds me, that I was wrong for doing a wire transfer for an amount different then the original orders, I asked if it made a difference and he said it did, but would not tell me why. He also said that I would need to keep doing wire transfers if I wanted to make purchases thru either Musicians Friend or Guitar Center.com, which are under the same ownership. I would normally walk away from any company that shows so little respect for its customers, and that insinuates to a customer that they think they are commiting fraud. But I am stuck with a Musicians Friend credit card, which is thru Synchrony Bank, who did identity after identity verification before they activated my account. So I cancel the credit card, it will have negative effects on my credit. Im stuck with a credit card I cant use, and a company that accused/suspected me of commiting fraud for wanting to purchase a 350.00 ipad mini, headphone, instrument interface combo. Why do they offer to sell these items if they are "high fraud" items? I attempted to contact Paul Christianson, who is the director of the Musicians friend/Guitar center call center. No luck there, and it seems that every person I spoke to in this company seems to feel this is a little extreme on the part of the verifications team, even after Ive done as they asked and did the wire transfer. If you plan on making any larger purchase stay away from this company, their verifications team seems intent of cancelling larger orders. Had plans to purchase a Gibson Explorer thru this company but after my dealings with them I ended up ended up giving my money to Sweetwater, awsome customer service. For a corporation like Musicians Friend/Guitar Center, that is struggling financially, it seems they would rather push customers away instead of bringing them in. Makes no sense.

So, after ordering a new bass for my son, to be shipped to Maryland, we anxiously awaited the arrival excited to see it. Being it was a surprise it was tracked accordingly. Upon arrival and my sons return home, he found the brand new bass guitar sitting on the side walk soaked with water and the bass damaged due to the water. UPS had left it out in the rain.
Scared of the expected response from Guitar Friend "It's not our fault, file a claim with UPS." Musician's Friend instead addressed the issue, shipped a new one for return of the damaged one and we are all happy. Robert Jackson was amazing! He took that horror away and made it right. I HIGHLY recommend them as well will purchase from them again in the future. Thank you for doing the RIGHT thing to keep us all happy.

Sold me a 2017 Les Paul custom axcess, Portland Orange, 1 of 25 made as new for $4599. 00 guitar had massive amounts of wear on fret board, strap wear both ends, worn finish on back leg rest contour, finish on horn worn through to paint. Scratches on back and front of guitar, missing switch cap with miss-matched color replacement just left in case. Then Musician's Friend claim they have no idea how this sort of thing could hve happened and drag their feet on the the return of my money. Excuse of working through a mass backlog of returns. How does anyone let a high end custom out the door in this condition by accident? They don't, bottom line it is attempted fraud. My advice to anyone in similar situation. FBI IC3 site, your states attorney general office (NAAG.ORG) and the federal trade commission. They are committing interstate fraud on a regular basis as you can see in many cases on this site and all should be reported as I have.

Ordered a studio monitors with warranty the 27th of September 2020. AFTER IT WAS PUT ON BACKORDER, CUSTOMER SERVICE Said it would arrive on the 11th of October 2020. Oct 11th arrives. I received ANOTHER BACK ORDER NOTICE. CUSTOMER SERVICE SAID. It will arrive the 22nd of October 2020. I received yet another BACKORDER NOTICE. I CALLED CUSTOMER SERVICE AGAIN, Musician's Friend apologized for the delays and blamed it on Covid-19. Your new shipping date should be by the 11th of November. It is now election day and I decided to call Customer service and "Cancel" my order. And explain to them I don't want the product anymore. I was put on hold for 15 min and they told me it has been cancelled wait about 8 days for your money to wire back to my account. Today is November 4 2020 and I received a notification that my package is being shipped. I lose my marbles, I've had enough, so I called customer service yet again and they tell me there's no record of them cancelling my order... I laid down the law and gave them a real good ear rodgering about Customer service. I've been nothing but patient and have been a loyal customer since I found out about Musicians Friend. I've spent thousands of dollars at this company and I refuse to pay them a dime for anything else. My advice... Wait till Guitar Center files for bankruptcy and get your gear when it goes on clearance and Middle fingers up to musicians friend.