"This is a terrible company, period. Unfortunately, there are a few really good guys working there, but the overall company is out for one thing - to take your money, and then abandon all responsibility after that, from horrible packing to even worse shipping services. They simply don't stand behind the products they sell. Almost everything I've ever ordered from them has arrived damaged. Sure, they will return everything, but why not take more care before it ships out? We'd all save more money that way. I give up on this company, after many years of trying to give them more chances."

"Horrible experience twice. Both experiences were guitar purchase. The guitar I bought was on sale and arrived with damaged frets. Basically when I wrote an email about the issue the guitar had they tried to tell em different stories: We can't exchange because your payment was through paypal. When I called the other story was that: we don't have that model on stock which was later a lie. "

"I have to laugh reading these reviews. I have literally purchased thousands of dollars or gear, almost all new, and have NEVER had one problem. Never! Over the last four years. Just some of the stuff we bought:
Fender MIM Strat;
Martin OM;
Ibanez Mikro bass;
Luna Peace guitar;
Traveler Escape guitar;
Jasmine guitar;
Fender Frontman amp;
Peavey Max 185 bass amp;
Blackstar combo tube amp;
Fender travel amp;
Provia keyboard, etc.

As well as:

Drum set, high hat, E practice pad, sticks
Tuners, capos, strings, cleaning supplies, straps, tools, books, string winders, cases, gig bags, picks, music stands, pedals, cables, a microphone, iPad interfaces, etc. Even used pickups (Fender CS 69s).

I have NEVER, never had any trouble with MF. They beat every price, every time. And right now, they are even replacing the amp that I ordered when I ordered the wrong one. No shipping fees being charged either way. No restocking fee even though I opened it and played for five minutes. Even when the 15% code doesn't work, if you call or chat they will give you a code that does work. And if they can't give you the code, they will give you free stuff equal to the money that you would have saved. I actually don't know how they stay in business with such low prices, etc.

No, I'm not an employee. I doubt MF cares if I write this review. I'm just a guy with literally 12 pages of orders over the last four years. "

"This company is full of liars. There was a credit card promo but this company would not let me use it, they claimed that the number I gave did not match my card company's records, which is BS because it's NEVER happened with ANY other merchant in five years, and I haven't changed numbers in almost a decade.

I updated my cc anyway, then asked them to redo it. They said ok on phone, then nothing. I chatted online a few days later and they said that it was authorized but for some reason wasn't updated. I said fine just do it. Nothing for days, I send them another message and this time they simply cancelled my order.

And this was no fluke--my wife placed a similar order and they made up b.s. about how the credit card wasn't going through but they'd take a bank transfer. She said no, but could she give them the card number again over the phone. They refused and demanded a bank account number. AS IF we would give these crooks a bank account number!

Basically the company tried to weasel out of actually honoring their promo via my card company. I can't recommend these liars and will never do business with them again. Plus their prices usually suck anyway."

"I'm very unhappy about the way this company treats its customers. I've ordered a ton of things from MF over the last several years. Most recently I ordered a Q4 Zoom audio/video recorder for an upcoming gig which was advertised as new. The item arrived in packaging with tape on the outside that said "QA INSPECTED." Sure enough, the item was defective and split my test session recording into several segments. The recordings would stop midway through songs and start a new recording! I did speak with MF personnel and they have agreed to send me a new item after informing me that it was "clearly" advertised as used. Not true! Images of the item on the website were all from the manufacturer and nothing indicated that it was used. I received no apology. This is a huge inconvenience as I have an upcoming gig and wont have a way to record.

Also, last year, I ordered a guitar tuner. The item arrived broken in half and was placed in a plastic, ziplock baggy. They sent a new one but this is downright insulting as a customer. I wrote the guitar tuner off as a rogue incident but I know now that this is the way this company does its business. Beware if you need an item quickly. Merchandise is advertised as new but that may not be what you receive in the mail. They will replace defective items but this won't help you if you need something reliable in a pinch. You'll also be required to return items to the company which is an added inconvenience. I'm taking my business elsewhere. "

"I bought a Luna Guitar for my wife on November last year and I have to wait for almost a month to get it. I waited just because I needed for Christmas. It wasn't a good experience having to wait so long for the item to arrive.
On June I bought a Ukulele and I recevied an email saying that is a back order and I have to wait until mid July. After three email they reply saying that is expected to ship on August 15th.
MF has a very competitive prices but customer services is the worst and the delivery time is their weakness, so I decide not to buy from MF never again."

"Bad Business all the way around! I purchased what was supposed to be a new Tone King Sky King Amplifier. Item arrived poorly packed and without it's original packaging. After it's first use it was extremely obvious there was something wrong with the $2995 amplifier. Contacted Musicians Friend to find that the item all though listed as new was indeed used. Tone King has dropped them as an authorized dealer and the estimate on a replacement was over 6 weeks. Still waiting on the entire refund. Poor way to conduct business. Long time buyer moving on to a more reputable dealer. "

"I am really surprised why Musician's Friend is getting any bad review at all. After reading some of the negative reviews here, I wrote them off. MF had very good pricing, but not worth it to deal with problems to save some money.

But, I read some positive reviews on another website. I figured that it might be worth at least speaking with them on the phone. I called them several times and asked about all sorts of questions. Everyone of their sales staff were both knowledgeable and extremely nice.

I am glad I "took the chance" and placed an order for a Yamaha dgx650 along with a bench and a sustain pedal. MF told me that my purchase would be delivered in two separate packages and within the next 5 to 7 business days. Both packages were delivered sooner than what they told me.

I had to return the pedal and the bench (not MF's fault, I didn't need them.) They gave me no problem whatsoever with the return. They arranged the return process for me, sent me an email to let me know that they received the returned products, and then credited my card within a couple of days.

I have very high expectations, and seldom bother to write up a review to recommend a business. But, I am much pleased by their "performance" throughout the pre-order, order, delivery & returns process. Musician's Friend definitely surpassed my expectations, and I highly recommend them.
"

"Purchased 3 of the same item. One was new, the other two were open box. Actually, there was no box at all. Completely unacceptable for a new retail item."

"I ordered a refurbished Native Instruments Maschine Mk 2 for $100 less than retail from their website. They shipped me a Maschine Mk 1, which goes for much less online.

When I called in to tell them about the mistake, the customer service rep told me that refurbished items are often older models. When I pointed out that the picture on their website clearly shows a Mk 2 and not a Mk 1, he stated that they get their pictures straight from the manufactures and have no control over them. He rambled on for some time and said many outrageous things, and blamed me several times for their mistake.

I began to suspect that this guy had been coached on how to deal with customers who called them on their bait and switch operation. None of what he said made any sense from a business perspective.

Here's how the Musician's Friend Bait and Switch scam works:

* Musician's Friend buys old models at a steep discount (stuff that can easily be found at 50-75% of MSRP online)

* Musician's Friend sells it as a refurbished the new model at a modest discount (around 15% off MSRP)

* Musician's Friend banks on their customer service reps ability to talk upset customers out of refund.

DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM MUSICIAN'S FRIEND! It is not worth the headache.
"

"I have purchased 1000s of dollars worth of music equipment from Musicians Friend(?) in the past. I recently purchased an Epiphone PR-100 ($100) and an Epiphone PR-150 ($150) plus a Fender Squier Jaguar ($200) guitar. The Epiphones were purchased on the raving, positive comments of their telephone rep who said he had bought the same guitars himself and they were outstanding (MF probably gets "push" money from Epiphone). The guitars arrived (one box badly damaged) and were typical Asian (China, Indonisian) junky imports . I had originally planned to purchase a Yamaha, Recording King, or Washburn when I called, but the MF telephone rep gave Epiphone raves and convinced me they were the best deal/value for my money. I did expect better quality from the Squier Jaguar but it was another cheap, low quality import ($200)with concentric "click stop"(?)volume and tone controls. The click stop had little effect on the sound. No manual or warranty paper work in the box - it was probably a previously sold restock. The Squier also was badly scratched - I covered the scratch with a stick-on label. I called MF and their "customer support" rep informed me that I could return the guitars within 45 days at MY EXPENSE for an exchange. I hesitate to do this - who knows what they would send as replacements? MF has recently hired a new CEO - hope he can right the ship. Deceptive phone reps;cheap stock and shoddy business practices. Good-by MF! "

"ordered the sony mdr-7520 headphones on sunday jan. 26. received the item in perfect condition on tuesday jan. 28. can't ask for better than that!"

"Ordered a Tascam recorder and purchased a two year extended warranty. The next day I received an email saying that my order was canceled. I was at work and didn't have time to call and find out why, then I received another email stating my order was shipped. When I get a free moment to investigate, I see that my "shipped" item was the 2 year warranty. The warranty for the canceled item..... So I call them and the guy tells me that someone must've ordered the item faster than me and then tries to sell me crap II don't want. Never mentioned removing the warranty charge from my credit card. Used to be reputable, but it seems they are bait and switch now."

"I purchased the Line 6 Spider III amplifier several years ago from Musicians Friend. It never worked properly right out of the box. It is a stereo amp and one channel (the right side) has popped and crackled loudly from the very beginning. The thing has so many bells and whistles that I always just assumed that I must be doing something wrong and just did not use it or simply unplugged the speaker on that side to use it as a practice amp. No troubleshooting advice has rectified the situation and thus the amp continues to be useless as a gig amplifier. I understand that it is my own fault that I let the warranties run out before getting it serviced, but I also believe that circumstances are unique and that Line 6 should back up their products. The fix will be out of my pocket, at least $100 by anyones estimates. As a side note, I also purchased a Line 6 FBV Express effects pedal from Amazon around the same time. It also malfunctioned right out of the box (wah/volume toggle never worked), but Amazon still replaced it more than 6 months later. I guess the moral is: Do not buy expensive electronics online - especially ones that weigh more than 50 lbs. It is just too much hassle for the few bucks that you save. I will never buy another Line 6 product."

"I do have a problem with advertising 15 percent off products, then finding out when you enter the promo code, that it does not apply to that product. Why not put that information up front in the advertisement in the product or ordering description? I'm really disappointed. I understand that the manufacturer will have some agreement and/or mandate that there can not be any price below something they set in order to remain an authorized or licensed dealer. But again, my opinion only, it should be made obvious at the outset that the discount or whatever buyer's incentive does not apply to this product or brand. This exclusion was not prominently displayed on the advertisement... I had to hunt for it when it was discovered when ordering the 15% discount did not apply. Really hunt for it.

BTW - it's a made-up order number to get this posted. I did not order the product when I found out the "promo code" did not apply on this item on Labor Day and the price was the same as any other day, and for for the most part other places.

Again, my gripe - if you are going to advertise a discount, then for crying out loud DO NOT bait us and then put an asterisk next to the screaming ad with a disclaimer in microprint as far down the page as possible. That's chicken. Put the deal up front and center, clear up front terms, or do not do it at all.

When I see something like this, it is is a RED FLAG... at least to me. Reading some of the reviews below - there are a few good ones, but the 1-stars seem to predominate. I know that people will only post if they are really happy with the product, or if they had a bad experience. I see a lot of gripes. I'm not hammering MF on service or quality of goods. In fact, I know many who have used MF in the past with good results and experiences. And to add to that, to MF's credit, they do have a manager of customer service that responds to issues. I just wish the ad was up front to begin with."