great deal on Neumann TLM 49 @MF

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by jklotz

Hey man, I didn't jinx you. I just told you how this has gone down in the past. I was hoping they'd have shipped the mics to you. And if they did, I'd have been happy for you and maybe even a little jealous I didn't get in on it.

Okay, so you probably didn't jinx me but that isn't going to stop me from signing up for an adult education class on how to construct a voodoo doll.

[AcousticDreams]

In the 70's when I was seriously into music and recording at my home studio I decided to take the big lunge and buy a Neumann U87.

Of course there was no internet in those days...so you just had to call around for the best price. Living in LA...at that time...there were several places selling High end equipment. I just started in the yellow pages and went from there. Everyone had the same high price.

After a long search I found a place that gave me a super low quote on a brand new U87. I don't remember the price..only that it was like ridiculously low and maybe 60% less than anywhere else. It was a warehouse of some kind.

After they gave me the quote on the phone I said:
" Listen, I think you made a mistake on that price. It is a Neumann U87. Would you double check price?"
He checked and said " No that is the correct price"
I was in total shock...again I said in a strong voice:
" Are you absolutely sure? Cause if that is the correct price I will come down and pick it up right now. It is a Neumann U87"
He replied " yep, that is correct"
I drove down to that Warehouse, getting there as fast as I could...safely.
Handed them the cash...all the while expecting them to say "we made a mistake" BUT they never did.

I figured I gave them as many chances as possible to rectify their accounting of price by even telling them I thought they were making a mistake. I wanted to be as upfront as possible.

Who knows why that price was so low?. Maybe they were the middle men for suppliers? And they supplied me thinking I was a supplier? Or they did make a mistake on the price. I will never know. But boy did I get a great price. And Paying them cash..there was no way to contact me and say" hey we made a mistake" Not that I paid them cash for that reason...I had just been saving up.

I have never been a Lucky One...I do not win raffles, never win at anything involving gambling...Learned my lesson a long time ago.
But that day I was extremely lucky...and got a dream price. So Jim1960...sometimes it can happen.

Yep, that was a lucky day for me. Only had one other lucky day in my life. I loved canoeing and canoed all the circuits in British Columbia. Too Long story to quickly tell...but basically I saved a man's life in the outbacks of Canada 30 miles from the nearest civilization. I had found this man, on a lunar eclipse in total darkness.

That was the luckiest day of my life. No greater feeling

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

And at least there will be a little gain $50 to $100 dollars) for your efforts. Not bad for a 30 second punching of the buttons.

That's how I'm choosing to look at this. I may even give to a child the jklotz voodoo doll I made. I get the free money, a kid gets a toy, and jklotz doesn't writhe in agony ...win-win-win.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by jim1960

That's how I'm choosing to look at this. I may even give to a child the jklotz voodoo doll I made. I get the free money, a kid gets a toy, and jklotz doesn't writhe in agony ...win-win-win.

...assuming the child's parent doesn't find that it makes a great pin cushion in the sewing room!

[jim1960]

Final resolution...

Musican's Friend gave me the $50 credit, not the $100 credit I thought I deserved for having placed TWO orders for the Neuman TLM 49 which they then cancelled.

I called them this morning to see if I could work out a deal on a Gator 335 guitar case I need for my new Epiphone Riviera. I explained the credit situation to the person on the phone and asked if she could give me a 20% discount on the $130 case. That would only be half of the other $50 credit I thought I should have gotten but it would leave me feeling better about the situation. I thought it was a reasonable request since they sometimes issue 20% coupons for various items. She said she'd have to speak to her supervisor.

She came back with even better news for me. Her supervisor approved a $50 reduction in the price of the case. So that, combined with my $50 credit, brought the price of the case with tax down to $36 and change. That's pretty sweet.

I didn't get the mics and I'm disappointed by that but I understand and accept that outcome. Getting a $130 case for $36 makes me feel a lot better about it.

[KevWind]

Ah the Guitar gods are smiling upon you

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Ah the Guitar gods are smiling upon you

Yeah, but that was only after the Microphone gods kicked me in the privates.

[russchapman]

It's interesting how different people respond to simple mistakes.

I would never feel like I deserved compensation for something like this, let alone feeling like I got screwed even after they essentially comp'd me $100.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by russchapman

It's interesting how different people respond to simple mistakes.

I would never feel like I deserved compensation for something like this, let alone feeling like I got screwed even after they essentially comp'd me $100.

I'm fine with how it turned out, not feeling screwed at all. Your inability to discern the serious from the jest has led you astray.

[russchapman]

Originally Posted by jim1960

I'm fine with how it turned out, not feeling screwed at all. Your inability to discern the serious from the jest has led you astray.

Well, you thought you deserved a $100 compensation for this mistake.
That part is pretty clear.

Unless you were joking about that, too.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by russchapman

Well, you thought you deserved $100 compensation for this mistake.
That part is pretty clear.

The company offered compensation. They offered a $50 credit for each cancelled order. The sale was only live for about an hour and it's pretty safe to assume the majority of people only ordered a single mic. I ordered two. So if the company offered a $50 credit for each mic order cancelled, then I should have gotten two $50 credits. If you don't like that, you should take it up with Musician's Friend because your problem is with their policy.

As for feeling like I got "screwed," as you erroneously put it. I never felt that way throughout the process. You might want to read post #12 in this thread. When I got the cancellation call the next day, I didn't get angry or even annoyed. Sure I was disappointed but that's an entirely different emotion (examples can be provided, if necessary). I didn't ask for compensation; the compensation was offered. I did inquire about whether I'd get compensated for both orders but the person on the other end didn't know.

When I called this morning to order the guitar case and found out I only received the one $50 credit, I accepted that outcome and assumed the person who called to tell me about the cancellations inquired on my behalf and was told 'no.' I did ask for a 20% discount on the stand but there's nothing unusual about being able to get a 20% discount at MF or GC on a lot of purchases. They give those coupons out fairly regularly. I did NOT ask for the second $50 credit this morning. But when the sales person returned, she said her supervisor approved the $50, which leads me to believe it would have been approved last week too had the person I spoke with asked about it. I'm guessing she had a crappy morning getting yelled at (not by me) and forgot. So far as I know, this worked out just as MF intended. I'm happy; they're happy; the only person unhappy is you and you had nothing to do with this so that's a bit confusing.

[russchapman]

Obviously my intended humor was sadly missed. I suppose that's the way it is with humor. It's so personal, that sometimes it goes by unnoticed.

[Glennwillow]

Jim,

I was feeling dumb for missing out on that Neumann mic sale, which of course was a mess-up. I find it interesting how MF handled that resolution with you.

I am very pleased for you that you ended up getting such a great deal on a very nice case for your new Epiphone Riviera.

That's a very cool side of this story!

- Glenn

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

I find it interesting how MF handled that resolution with you.

One person I know who ordered the mic didn't get his call until the day after I did. If they couldn't get to everyone in one day, that points to a fairly high number of cancelled orders. No company wants the kind of bad press that comes with having to cancel some crazy number of orders so this was likely a management decision to smooth the waters a bit.