"My order took quite a while to fulfill because the instrument manufacturer lost the order. While Instrument Alley tried to straighten this out, the manufacturer discontinued the model I ordered and replaced it with a new, improved design. So Instrument Alley was able to change my order and send me the new model at no additional cost as soon as it became available, making me one of the first customers to receive the new model instrument! Instrument Alley's service on this was first rate. There could have been better communication to explain the initial delay, but this is minor. Instrument Alley gets my recommendation. "
"Their prices are hard to beat. However, after several purchases from this company, I will not be returning. Their customer service representatives are slow, rude, and decidedly unhelpful. Returns are halfway to impossible, their "in-house" setup is terrible, and all of the items I ordered from them brand new needed new string when received. Take your business elsewhere! "
"It would take to long to explain my experience, however, all I can say is, buyer beware.
DO NOT UNDER ANY CONDITION DEAL WITH THE "MERCHANT"!
Proceed at your own peril!"
"I try very hard to be fair in my reviews, so I will do my best here. I did have problems with getting my Deering Eagle 2 Banjo, but it may be that the biggest problem is the communication from the store. The banjo arrived today and I ordered it twelve days ago. It came in perfect condition except there is a small tear in the case. I am not hard to get along with and I do not feel that I am impatient, but of coarse I was anxious to get my new banjo and a little worried with the negative reviews that I have read for this vendor. I ordered it on a Thursday and almost immediately started receiving emails from them stating that the payment did not go through and then they sent me an invoice to pay through paypal. By the time I got to check it, they had canceled the invoice because the payment had cleared. I knew it would not ship on Thursday and was not really expecting it to ship on Friday. But on Friday I received an email from stating that the banjo had shipped and it was scheduled to arrive on Thursday with a signature required. I checked the status of the shipment on the weekend and it still stated that only the label had been created. Checked it Monday and Tuesday and got the same results. So late on Tuesday I sent them an email to inquire the status and to find out if it had really shipped. I was told that it had been processed and was just waiting for FedEx to pick it up. I was a little confused as I know I can call FedEx and they will pick up a shipment the next day. I asked him about that and was told that he only has FedEx pickup on Tuesday and Thursday. I thought that was a little strange and it was the end of the day on Tuesday and still not in the system. I asked him if he actually stocked this banjo and he said he did and had three in stock. I asked if I could cancel my order and was told I could not because it had been processed. I pointed out that indeed they told me it had shipped, but now he tells me that it is still there and I can't cancel the order. I said that you are telling me then that it will definitely ship on Thursday. I got an email back stating that he did not say it would ship Thursday and would be leaving today (Tuesday). I sent an email back telling him that when I first inquired about the shipment, all he had to say was that he only ships FedEx on Tuesday and Thursday and that it would indeed ship today. I pointed out that we could have avoided a lot of confusion especially if I would have any idea that it could not be picked up until five days after the purchase. To make matters a little worse...not his fault, because of the later shipping date, the arrival was pushed to Saturday. I made it a point to hang around for FedEx and was home all day, around 4:15 I checked the status online and it said there was an exception, that no one was home to sign for it and they would try again on Tuesday (today). Apparently FedEx came up to the walk-in basement door and may have knocked, but apparently not loud enough for any of my three dogs to hear them and of coarse they did not ring the doorbell that is right there also, they just left the call tag. So it took the additional four days to get it and I wasted a Saturday. As I said this is not the music store's fault. I mentioned earlier that I think that the only down side is their communication. On their website, they state most orders ship in 24hrs and I did receive shipping details within 24 hrs., but no where do they state that FedEx only picks up on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If they had this on their website or even sent me an email to let me know that it wasn't shipping on Friday like they said, but would ship on Tuesday, then I think everything would have been fine.
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"Very dissatisfied with Instrument Alley. I had the SAME experience as helou21 below. Ordered an item they didn't even have, they told me it would take four months to fill my order. Tried to cancel, got treated very poorly. I advise you to make doubly sure that what you want from this store (or website) is actually in stock, or even better pay extra money and go elsewhere for faster and better service!"
"After reading all the reviews about INSTRUMENT ALLEY, thought would write about my experience with INSTRUMENT ALLEY. The service was top notch and very professional. E-mailed a question or two and received reply in a timely manner, all items received were as pictured on their web site, well protected in heavy duty boxes, arrived a head of scheduled date, order was complete, EXCELLENT SERVICE, GREAT PRICING. Will be placing another order with INSTRUMENT ALLEY very soon.
Second order placed to INSTRUMENT ALLEY with the same overall great service. The results were almost identical to review submitted above. Well packaged, ahead of expected delivery date and fully complete. This has made me become a regular customer of INSTRUMENT ALLEY for any of my instruments or accessory needs. Thanks again for the EXCELLENT SERVICE and GREAT PRICING.
5/06/2016
Placed 3rd order(5/06/16) and within 3 days received order for guitar and gig bag from INSTRUMENT ALLEY. Merchandise was well packaged , complete, no back orders, no damage, all merchandise was exactly as pictured and described on their website. Third order placed thru INSTRUMENT ALLEY for units and accessories with great satisfaction. Will continue to be a regular customer of INSTRUMENT ALLEY.
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"The product and delivery were fine. Customer service was poor. It took a long time to get a Return Authorization."
"well they may sell good guitars at a fair price but the customer service sucks! slow delivery charge for set up but the guitar comes not set up at all, and if you mention anything like this to them they are like little kids "did not did not" but if you don't mind rudeness and waiting they do sell god guitars at a fair price"
"I ordered an item that was listed on their website as "in stock" and "ships in 24 hours."
"Ships in 24 hours" is apparently deceptive and meaningless—the fine print says that there is a "1-7 business day processing time for all orders." Mine took even longer. Their shipping policy states that they will contact the customer by phone or email in the event that there is a delay. No one contacted me at any point.
I even tried to call customer support (during business hours) to inquire about the status of my order, but no one answered. I left a voicemail, but no one ever called or emailed me back. The next day, I tried their live chat, but no one answered that, either.
Furthermore, I opted to pay extra for a basic instrument setup, but the instrument was unplayable when it arrived. The intonation was a full semitone off at the 12th fret."
"Bought a Blueridge 341 Parlor Acoustic Guitar. It was out of stock and was backordered but they communicated when it was expected and offered to refund my purchase if I wasn't willing to wait a few weeks. I decided to wait, they delivered when promised, and I am very happy. This guitar is exactly what I hoped it would be. Slightly wider neck for finger style playing. Looks great, plays better. I was very surprised that this 0 sized Parlor would have as much volume as it does. Mahogany for a slightly warmer tone. Bone saddle and nut give great sustain, and the ebony fingerboard and fret finish is a bit better than my Martin 000-16. The size is much more comfortable than a dreadnaught or 000. Nice case. It has become my most played guitar. Just one mild complaint was there was a slight finish build up by the edge of the neck that was missed at Blueridge and Instrument Alley was able to obtain a satisfactory adjustment in price for me.
Would have bought locally, but they didn't set it up at all, and in fact the frets were protruding a bit leaving a sharp edge. Further, the local price was significantly higher with no case included. I ended up saving about 25% through Instrument Alley. Was able to buy a better guitar than otherwise I would have been able to afford. Blueridge's are high quality guitars and Instrument Alley is a convenient and cost effective way to procure a guitar."
"Very Prompt Service. Excellent Customer Service. Price was amazing. When they didn't have my exact item available they contacted me immediately and suggested s better model at only $10.00 difference. Delivery was fast and on time for a birthday party. The drum set I purchased was of great quality. Delivered Fed Ex - Everything about this experience was first class. Ben ( the owner?) even contacted me later to make sure everything was ok. I would definitely buy from them again. Highly recommended. "
"I ordered an Oscar Schmidt OE30 from them thinking i was getting the model with the Washburn 421 and 423 Humbucker pickups and trimmed in a little darker blue than the main body of the guitar. What I received was an OE30 trimmed in black and standard chrome Humbuckers. When I tried to contact them I received no reply, (guess they just want money and then screw you). From where my guitar was shipped from I can reasonably assume that this site is simply a broker taking your money an then getting the product shipped from somewhere else. I don not recommend buying from them, buy from someone more reputable like Musicians Friend, Ebay, Amazon, just to name a few and you may pay a little more but at least if something goes wrong they will help resolve your problem. "
"I have the impression that this company takes orders then rings around to manufacturer's to see if they have any stock, if not they say the item is on Backorder. After a 7 week wait I started my quest to cancel my order and have my cash returned to my PayPal account. It wasn't easy.
I had to pester the life out of them with telephone calls, emails and 'chatline' conversations. The chatline conversation were all mysteriously cut short, none of my telephone calls were returned, one of my many emails was answered with a terse "It's been cancelled". I feel very fortunate to get my money back, but I had to work hard to achieve it.
The moral of the the story is find somewhere else to buy your instrument even if it means paying a little extra. Phone the seller to find out whether they actually have the instrument in stock by talking to a person, this is not possible with Instrument Alley.
To deal with Instrument Alley is being lead up a Blind Alley."
"I ordered a Blueridge BR-180A with basic setup & what a beauty! I received the guitar & case in just a few days & it was perfectly set up. Not only that, but a brand new tuner was included. The price, service & communication were all outstanding! I'll buy again soon! "
"No static shopping.. like most other online retailers. Got exactly what I paid for, fast shipping. Delivered conveniently on a weekend. Oh and did I mention it was cheaper than any other advertised price.. I'd gladly recommend them to friends and others. If I need anything else instrument related they definitely will be my first stop. "