While this complaint is several months old, I feel that the treatment I received from Sweetwater deserves to be noted by other potential customers.
The main reason I made my $600 purchase from Sweetwater last September, and not a different online retailer, is due to another local musician's positive feedback. This person matched up the claims made on the cover of their catalogs of "Best Service" and "Best Free Shipping on the Planet". My experience was different.
The order got off on the wrong foot when my order was placed online on Sunday, and my items were finally shipped out on Thursday. There was a delay caused by my bank which imposes a limit on daily transactions made on debit cards as a security precaution. However, I was able to call the bank and approve the transaction, solving this matter within minutes of having it brought to my attention, and am unclear about why I wasn't notified of this first thing Monday morning.
When the order was finally processed, it was scheduled for a Saturday FedEx delivery. It did not arrive. I am still unclear why. I also decided to pay extra for the recommended signature required option on my package because of the suggestions made during my online order concerning security. However, that caused me to spend most of my day waiting for a package that would never arrive.
The FedEx rep told me that I had two options: have the package held at their terminal in Green Bay (60 miles away), or wait around again for an attempt to be made on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, part of the order arrived, including the main item which was priced at $500. While the item looked in good shape, the sticker seal was gone and the adapter cable was sloppily re-tied. The manufacturer (Line 6) confirmed that they ship that model and other models with sticker seals on the inside bags, as I've previously noticed on their other packages. I made a number of complaint emails to my salesperson Arend, but they went unanswered. While it was clearly used/demo'd, it was in good shape and I decided to keep it, not being too hung up on the cosmetic appearance of an item that sits on the floor and gets stepped on. That being said, it's bad business to ship out used/demo'd items as new, or to sell used/demo'd items at new prices.
Within a few weeks, my final "special order" arrived (amplifier power tubes), and the cake was iced when that package was shipped to a previous address which hadn't been entered during my order, or used for over a year.inexplicably, this was shipped UPS without the signature requirement. Fortunately, the current resident at that address denied the package, and an alert UPS driver found my address in the phone book.
I felt that there was a major lapse in judgement by repacking and shipping a used product, as well as some "creative negligence" by shipping the balance of the order to a different address. I also wasn't impressed by Arend's ability to dodge phone calls, or pass them off to fellow sales team member Brian. I was completely respectful throughout this situation, and felt that I was owed an explanation.
Do I feel ripped off? A little. Especially when you consider all the smoke they blow about how much better they are than all the other retailers. This was definately not the "best service", and just thought I'd let you all know.
Anthony
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
U.S.A.
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