Musician's Friend

I received a gift of a gibson barstool, what showed up was broken and assembly impossible. They 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!

Stay away from this shop, they have dishonest people, customer service is very poor and they lie to you.

Abel G

Please don't buy anything from Musiciansfriend as they're dishonest in conducting business. The sales rep will lie to get your order as they work on commission. I ordered couple of items on Nov. 19th and was assured it will be shipped via 2 day shipping. Well, that was just to get my money. I called today on Nov. 24th as my package didn't come. I called to find out what happened and I was told it will arrive on Nov. 27th. This is their definition of "2Day shipping" so be careful. They'll take your money and run. Musiciansfriend DOES NOT take any responsibility after the sale which is a DAMN SHAME!

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 they 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...

MUSICIAN'S UNFRIEND. Bought a guitar open box $319 with the help of sales associate online chat and confirmed by phone. Received email confirmation of order, then received Back order notice. The next day I get a cancellation notice of order. Call customer service for assistance, basically told me T. S. you can purchase at regular sale price of $499. They used to call that bait and switch. Why did associate online and phone confirm that it was in stock when the was purchase made? NOT A FRIEND OF THIS MUSICIAN. #Musician'sFriend buyer beware

Offer guitars for sale on website When a damaged item arrives, contact with Musician's approves return for refund. They obfuscate the return of damaged guitar not-with-standing their assurance of satisfying customers. Meanwhile, they keep the money. UPS gets a refund label authorization from them but does not provide a label. Their assertions of "customer satisfaction" is marketing jive as they advise return your merchandise. - "return shipping label is located on the back of your invoice." Which is not provided. UPS doesn't provide label either. They advise to take packaged return to a local UPS store to return. Which may incur added cost of buying a damaged guitar advertised as "like new" yet mine as received had a big chunk out the main body. I asked for a refund of $50 and forget the issue as I would have repaired, they said we'll only refund $20. HUH? They really "suck" so again, buyer beware. Hey, any lawyers out there? To start a class action suit to put them out of business so other unsuspecting customers won't get screwed.

Ordered a Fender pj Mustang Bass first week of December. Its nearly March.
Sweetwater, Chicago Music, American Music, have all been restocked with this instrument multiple times. Enough said

"MusiciansFriend" sold me some download software (Steinberg Cubase). Only Steinberg says I need a USB dongle to run it, and Musicians friend didn't provide it. Steinberg says "sorry they should have told you" "MusiciansFriend" says (haha got your money,) "we can't refund digital downloads".

I also one time made the mistake of thinking I could return something purchased from "MusiciansFriend" to a guitar Center (owned by the same company).

If you are fond of your money, go somewhere other than "MusiciansFriend"

I can endorse what the other reviewers have written, Musicians Friend has been a reliable provider for most of the time. On one occasion, though, I'd ordered an instrument as a birthday present and it didn't turn up at all. When I called, I was told that they didn't have it in stock and had no idea why they'd accepted payment for it and not told me that it was unavailable. I did get a prompt refund, but it still left me with no present to give and naturally I was unhappy about it. That was maybe one transaction out of half a dozen, though, so I can put it down to chance and just knock a star off the rating for it.

Although it's great to be able to save money, I will add that the company is big enough and popular enough to undercut smaller businesses, sometimes quite drastically. And that's a pity. So I'm inclined to say that if you really can afford to pay a bit more - not to be overcharged, just pay a bit more - then you might at least consider supporting a local business that doesn't have the advantage of a mail-order company's buying power.

But if you're just starting out and need to put the gear together for a band, this has to be the first place to look for a good deal. Then in a year or two when the band folds up and you have to sell the gear again, the local business will probably get it anyway. Maybe what goes around comes around.

The worst experience I have ever had! We have been ordering online from Musicians Friend for years but never again! I tried to order an electronic gift card but had issues with my computer so decided to call. I got someone in the Philippines and yes was there was a bit of a communication gap. The girl assured me I would be getting my gift card in my e- mail within two hours. Four hours later I called and was assured it would arrive within the hour. Two hours later I got an email saying my gift card was being shipped. I spoke with three or four more people insisting to have the card cancelled and was told that it had been. I asked for an email confirmation of the cancellation. Never came. I called again and after explaining the situation the $#*! hung up on me so I called back. The guy said he would call me back the next day to follow up. LIAR! They DID/WOULD not cancel that gift card that the first person I spoke to in the Philippines screwed up. They were rude, ignorant and of no help. My husbands birthday has come and gone. They refused to let me speak to a supervisor saying that they would tell me the same thing. What was once a nice company to deal with has now become a disrespectful, rude crap hole!

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.

These people are terrible. Ordered an item. They 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 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 they 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!