Musicians Friend Reviews

I have shopped Musicians Friend for quite a long while. My last two guitar purchases have been through them (a Rogue LX205B 5-String Series III Electric Bass Guitar Metallic Blue & a Rogue RA-090 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar Black. Yeah, I like me some Rogue Guitars). Both were open-box returns with very few cosmetic issues (i. E. The LX205B had minor scratches at the cord connection and was missing the peal fret marker on the 5th fret. The RA-090 had no discernible issues at all. Both were purchased with significant discounts on some already great but inexpensive guitars.) and played perfectly right out of the box. Out of my entire guitar collection, the Rogue RA-090 is my go-to for acoustic and my Rogue LX205B is second only to my 1979 Peavey T40 (and as a side note, my 1975 Fender Jazz, one f my dearest loves, comes in 3rd. Sorry Leo.).

The biggest issue I've run into is back-orders. I have had two or three that were cancelled that I didn't know about for several months after the cancellation when I checked my order history for updates. Although very annoying, it was nothing I haven't run into with other places. It's a fact of business that you sometimes get caught with a low inventory when an unexpected demand hits. Nothing unusual about it and I did get my merchandise after redoing the order (a Bill Lawrence A245C Acoustic Guitar Sound-hole Pickup Black).
Overall, I love their large selections; their new webpage design is a pain to navigate but I'm getting used to, and I have fewer complaints regarding Musicians Friend than I have on local retailers that I still frequent. Nothing that would make me stop patronizing any of them. I've been happy with every transaction.
***To be fair, one star off for the cancelled back-orders mentioned above. I hope someone finds this novella helpful.

Paid for a new Martin CEO 7 and when it arrived it was in a used Dreadnaught case. Returned the used case as directed and now they don't respond to emails. What I saved on the sale I'll now have spend on the proper case. This is third guitar I bought from them in the last 12 months and every one has been in a pain. No more.

I ordered a lavalier mic from Musicians Friend. Unfortunately 2 days later I tried to return it because it does not work with my Rode wireless go, and I called them but they said my order number does not match what's in their system so they can't help me. Even though the return label info included in the box has their company name, address and telephone number, LPN and scan code. However, I did get a refund for it through Target since they were the ones that referred Musicians Friend. So Im ok now, but the whole experience with talking with the so called customer service rep and her constantly cutting me off is the reason for the review score of three stars.

Where do I even start?! This company shouldn't be in business based on my experience. The CS reps have horrible communication skills; they'll straight up lie to you to get you off the phone, they are rude and very unhelpful and you'll never fix your original issue the first time you call. They ONLY reason they are still operating is there 48 months no interest credit card Synchrony Bank offers. Believe me, it ain't worth it. Go to ZZOUNDS or Sweetwater.

I am a college student in desperate need of musical items at a decent price. Musician's Friend sends out coupons and there was a 20% coupon that I had just seen, however it expired only a day ago. I called the main number and the site's wonderful representative Ashley Foard picked up. I explained to her my situation and she kindly and patiently helped get me my discount. I ordered a keyboard and other accessories to go along with it, constantly asking questions to make sure the products and payment were correct. I successfully ordered my products and she offered to call when they arrive to make sure everything was in good condition. I was very fortunate to have spoken with Ashley and I am very happy with my purchase.

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 they 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.

Thanks for calling back upon my request. Oh, wait.
You didn't do that.
Twice.
That 'pandemic' excuse is wearing pretty thin.

I purchased Melodyne Editor 5 from Editor 4, it was my first time buying Melodyne software. Instead of the software I thought it was, I bought an upgrade. No where on the page did it say it was an upgrade, and I can't buy the software that the upgrade is for be sure it's obsolete. After all of this, I've wasted $100, and hours of my time on something I can't use. Customer service was of no help to me, definitely not a musician's friend.

I purchased an "open box" speaker with a lvl 3 rating, from what I understand that's pretty good. When I received the speaker one of the wheels were broken and when I hooked it up to play music, they speaker was bowls and crackling. I have an event this weekend I was depending on this speaker for and now I have to ship back this piece of junk and when they receive it I gotta wait 7-10 business days, and the gentleman I was dealing with was laughing while talking about the whole thing. I won't be returning.

Spent $1,100 on a brand new Ibanez S61. Box showed up the guitar was wrapped only in bubble wrap. No factory box no paper work no warranty no nothing. They took a floor model full of blemishes from a guitar center threw it in a box and sent it out. So incredibly unethical and deceiving. Selling used gear at brand new prices and trying to get away with it. I spend a lot of money on guitars and they just lost my business for ever.

I've bought tons of stuff from "musicians friend" over the years. They've always beat everyone else on price. Rarely is an item not in stock. Orders ship promptly and free of charge. If there ever was a problem, it was swiftly and easily rectified. I can't understand all the lousy reviews because they've always been a positive experience for me.
The only negative is that recently the website does not cooperate with my iPhone. Maybe my browser is out of date or something.

No issues with shipping or customer service. The only problem is they didn't set up the awesome Warwick Bass or even check it before shipping. A full set up will fix that but for the price a set up would have been nice.

I sent complain in and still have not heard anything back from after the person holler at me about a snare drum. The one I brought back. Didn't offer to see if the drum can fix all it needed was a small part. And the drum would have been fixed. He set there and arguing with me. I thought coustomer was always right but that's not true. If y'all read this I hope and someone calls me thanks have a nice thank you

I ordered a lot of drum gear from MF in the past, no problems. After 2 bad experiences in the last 2 years, I will never order from them again. I ordered a brand new PDP snare drum and they shipped me a returned drum with a damaged lug. I figured that was just an isolated incident until I ordered an Ahead Spinal G drum throne. Every Ahead product I ever purchased came with tags for warranty and product info. MF sent me a throne with no tags and a photocopied instruction sheet. And the shaft was stuck, making it almost impossible to use. When I called MF, the rep was very evasive. Sure, I could return it and wait for another one to be shipped. But I no longer trusted MF; it was too obvious they were selling returned products as brand new.
I also noticed some odd things on their website. I like to read customer reviews so I feel it's only fair to submit mine. MF even encouraged me to review my purchases. They stopped posting any reviews I sent in. Then I also noticed they stopped posting all new reviews. Instead, they show reviews from 9 to 13 years ago. Other sites like Sweetwater don't show reviews older than 2 or 3 years, and if you send one in, they post it.
When you read the Questions people have about a product, the answers range from ridiculous to insulting. For example, a snare drum with wood hoops is too big for some snare stands. Customer asked which stands work with this drum. MF answer: "one that fits."
Their "knowledgeable" staff is mostly people desperate to sell without any product knowledge.
As I said, I never had any problems with MF 10 years ago. Something about their whole approach changed recently and I no longer order from them.

I thoroughly enjoyed the "Stupid Deal of the Day" for years, but Musicians Friend recently stopped shipping anything to Canada, so they are useless to me. Canadian musicians go elsewhere!

After purchasing a software (which they advertise as 'delivered within a few hours into your mailbox'), I had to wait 7(!) days to get a mail, in which they just told me that they cancelled my purchase because of insufficent billing information. So to solve this I contact their customer service via chat and the 'expert' lady disconnects after a few questions because she didn't want to answer them. (Proof in attachment) Never buying anything from them ever again.

Beware of their "bait and switch" Stupid Deal of the Day.
I tried to order the SDOTD which was an Cordoba mini bass discounted from $299 to $129 when if first came on my email this morning. However I was redirected to a 12 string. When I called and texted MF they advised me the item was sold out, but when I checked online it was available at $299.

I placed an order and paid in full. I have an email receipt showing payment and screen shot of my bank account showing they took my money. However, I never received my order and they made no attempt to send it. When I called to ask what was going on the customer service tried to extort more money out me saying I had to pay another $220.00 on top of the full price I already paid or else they wouldn't send me anything. Complete scammers

They literally call you and send you emails about every single thing you look at or add to your cart. I finally had to tell the to just straight up $#*! off after 5 calls and 3 emails in 48 hours. When I finally did make a purchase, the "in stock and ready to ship" items took over two weeks to finally leave their warehouse. It's such a shame because I grew up ordering from this company with many great experiences but ever since being bought out by Guitar Center, it's absolutely horrid. Buy from your local shop instead.

I have ordered successfully from Musicians Friend for a few years now. So when my son wanted a new Ibanez guitar, I trusted no one but them to supply. Imagine my shock and disappointment when we received a so-called "open box" used guitar that I did not order, and also was damaged- very noticeably!! Never again.

I recently ordered a Maschine MK3 on July 1st, Item was listed as IN-Stock and Available to ship on there website, so i decided to purchase, since i recently purchased & received a Focusrite Audio Interface without any issues prior.. I've purchased from them over the years, and haven't ran into issues until now, after checkout, i noticed the item status was originally "Processing" was now put on a "Backorder" when originally ordering and upon checkout, said the item was in stock and would be shipped using standard ground. If i had to reserve, i would've purchased elsewhere as i needed this item delivered for a upcoming music project... 20 Days later, No contact from MF, No updates on shipping, or when they will be in stock or when they will actually ship... I was charged for the product, and although the charge is Pending and on a Hold from MF until they ship, If i decided to purchase elsewhere, i can't without further delays, until the hold from MF is removed, i cancel my order, or until they ship upon which they will remove the hold and charge.. Either way, i will have to wait additional time i did not intend on waiting... in x2 days, will be 3 weeks of waiting. I was intending on purchasing a few additional items after i purchased the Maschine MK3, I also wanted to purchase a new Midi Keyboard, and a pair of Studio Monitors, but glad i didnt, as i am not sure if i check out another IN STOCK item, if it will be the same result and be backordered having me waiting even longer... I may just order from another Vendor for the rest of the items i require. Be Aware, there website is definitely unreliably & off the rails when it comes to updating what's in stock or not..

Have not received item ordered. No response to my emails. Placed order two weeks ago.

Ordered gear and it never came. Impossible to get customer service. Essentially they took my money and never produced the product I ordered.

Dont buy from this company. I certainly wont again.

Here's how it happened... 15 years ago I started ordering from MF and never had an issue. Sweetwater was sold out of the Taylor I wanted, so I got on MF m's app and it said in stock!! I ordered right then. Me being the review guru I am, I decided since it had been so long I would check their ratings (after the purchase, I know silly). I see what you've been seeing. Horror stories of packages coming beaten up and recycling restock items, customer service being terrible... etc.. etc.. So I get a little panic in my stomach. I figured I'd just have to ride it out now, and I'm so glad I did. I ordered on a Friday night and by Tuesday evening I was playing my flawless, perfectly packaged, brand new guitar. Now, I didn't have to deal with customer service, but on SUNDAY I repeat SUNDAY I recieved a call from Rick my "gear advisor" who left a message and email to make sure that everything was going smoothly with my order. He offered me the tracking info and gave me a direct line to get in contact

Maybe I just got lucky? Maybe they're getting their act together? Or maybe only people with bad experiences leave anything on here for them. I enjoyed doing business with them. Easy, and smooth

This online store sucks. Purchased strings (which we all know when you need them, you need them.) and with the shipping it says 3-5 days. It has been 7 so far. Just got off the phone with customer service and they told me the label had just been created. Before saying it, I heard the guy whisper quietly "oh fk". Guess I won't be seeing it for another week. Please people, go shop else where because this e-commerce store sure as heck aint it.