From larry.a.schurr@boeing.com Thu Dec 18 05:23:11 2003
Subject:The 8th Street Beat

In a combination of frivolity and fun, I ordered a JBL EON15G2 from 8th Street Music. This due in very large part to all the traffic on this list concerning JBL, Mackie, Barbetta, Yorkville, Peavey.... etc. and your reports of various dealers.

Every few years, I'll do this. I'll order something sight unseen or sound unheard. Never been "bit" just yet. Anyway, having never heard or seen one I went for the JBL; 8th Street came with high praise also and after the crappy treatment I got at Sweetwater from my sales "engineer", it was time for change.

Upon receipt of my speaker (I also ordered a Behringer Bass V-amp just for fun, too) I immediately got on the phone to 8th Street and talked with a "Mark".
"There's been a mistake with my order"
He gets invoice number, apologizes, calls it up on the computer.
"We're showing a JBL Eon and a Bass Vamp, is that what you got?"
"Yup"
"Well, then what's wrong with your order"
"Well, when I placed my order, I was under the assumption that I was, in fact, purchasing a NEW item and not a used one..."

See, I've been around enough to know the diff between kicked around equipment and shipping marks. Cardboard boxes don't leave sharp cuts in the bezel, handprints all over, scuff marks all over the plastic wrapper and several layers of packing tape on the joints. This speaker had quite obviously been out gigging and likely in its own broken down box -- my guess is that some warehouse guy never believed they'd sell ALL of those speaks and just helped himself to one knowing no one would know as long as 1 was in stock. They sold the "last one" to me. At risk of unemployment, I'm guessing, the culprit had to hastily repackage the now-used unit and ship it to the unwitting customer: me. I'm sure this story is not new to those of you in/from musicstore employment.

I went on to present my various 'exhibits' in my case. Mark conferred and then transferred me to John Lewis where I told my tale of woe yet again. Apparently, I presented a pretty convincing picture. Mark gave me the option of a replacement or a $100 credit. No contest -- wanna new one. 'Sides, if it's any good I might wanna get another to match. So John does three things that sorta impress me:

1) he agrees to ( and does) arrange for a prepaid UPS label to return ship on their dime. This is a cool resource where you click on a link that's emailed to you that brings up a label you can printout with all the data, scan codes, RMA#, etc. Saves lots of time and trouble. Not one of these "ship it in and we'll settle up" sort of deals. I was happy.

2) he honestly admits that they don't have any more just yet and will get them in "several days". He goes on to say that I'm welcome to keep and use the speaker until such time they receive more and then we'll do the exchange.

3) A few days later, out of nowhere, John calls me up right here at my desk and tells me the new speaks are in. Just like he said he would.

Upon seeing how dedicated they were to customer satisfaction (plus or minus some inconvenience), I also agreed to furnish some extra padding and packing as the crumpled down box they sent it in was in no shape to make the return trip. I bundle it all up and ready it for shipping and there it sits in my livingroom for a few days whilst we fight the flu at our house. Anyway, off it goes.

Adding to the cool, I received an email telling me my new speaker was shipped. Ok, it didn't explicitly explain the bill of lading and it was obviously automatically generated, but I was pretty sure what it was. Nice touch alla same.

Integrity, I guess. It's the mark of a good person, family, organization, or company. Anyone can get along when everything is going right. When things go wrong are what separates those with integrity from those found wanting. Throughout the entire ordeal, my defenses were high and ready to strike sharply and scathingly, but none were needed. Not at all. Quite the opposite. Everything was handled well. And just as I was quite willing to openly and publicly criticize them had things gone poorly, I feel equally entreated to praise them publicly for their efforts and trust.

The UPS guy brought the speaker last night. Yup, nice new box this time. Yup, nice new speaker inside. So I fire that puppy up, it sounds actually a bit fuller and more defined. Perhaps psychosomatic, but that's good enough for me. Naturally, I turn it up a bit, and... DISTORTION??!?
::D-OH!!::
A high-mid rattle like that annoying buzz of a loose diaphragm. NOOOOOOO!!. So after a calming moment, luckly no firearms were nearby, and some pouting, I set into some critical analysis. Come to find out, JBL hadn't sufficiently tightened the 4 big screws in the back (2 of which don't seem to do anything for a living). Screwloose -- story of my life. A quick tightening and no more noise.

Well, I'm a happy guy. The speaker is great. The service was as good as could be expected. I'm fairly sure the rapscallion that caused the whole problem is skulking around still in their employ, but perhaps he's a bit repentant (I can be optimistic). I'll very certainly do business again without reservation (though I'll never buy "the last one" of anything again).

Just passing this on for anyone considering either the JBLG2 or 8th Street. High marks all around.

Larry


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