I Got a Gift

I recently received an e-certificate for use at the online music retailer Musicians Friend. My brother sent it to me on 15 January. I immediately used it to place an order with the merchant. The order was to arrive in two to five business days.

By 24 January I’d not heard anything regarding the order, so I checked my order status online. The complete order shows in my account, but it shows as “Unknown (Not processed yet)”.

I wrote to the Musicians Friend customer service department using their online form process. I got a reply on the 25th that said “we’re sorry we are unable to locate this order using the information you provided. Can you please check that order number again?”

I immediately replied with the exact same order number that I had copy/pasted from my account screen. I also included an exact copy/paste of the entire order screen details and dropped that into the reply section. This morning I received another email from them that stated, “I’m sorry but, I’m unable to pull up your order with the information you provided. Please, contact us at the number listed below.”

Customer Service Phone Call

I called the number — waited for seven minutes on hold and was connected to a girl that was very friendly. She asked for my account info and attempted to locate the order. She was unable to do so and very earnestly apologized for the loss of the order. She asked if my card was charged. I explained that I had used an e-certificate to place the order and did not know if it was now “wiped.” She apologized and explained that she had to transfer me to a different person that handles those. I, of course, would have to provide all my account information and order information to that person, as well.

The other guy took all my info, confirmed that my order indeed did not exist in their system (it shows on my screen?!) and that the e-certificate number was no longer valid. He commented that it had been four years since I had ordered from them based on his screen.

He took my information, told me he submitted a request for a new certificate number and that I would receive and email within 24-48 hours with a new, valid number. I could then place the order online again.

No Phone Call Order Available

I asked if I could call the order in direct once I received the new certificate number. He explained that because it is an “e-certificate” that I would only be able to place the order online.

This is an almost exact circumstance as the order I placed in 2004. I explained to this customer service rep that these are the circumstances that helped me decide not to be a Musicians Friend customer in 2004 — and the reason that it had been four years since I had placed an order from them.

I will try this order again in a few days. I can only say that I’ve been recording more tracks for my project — and had really hoped to layer in some tambourine and shaker parts after receiving these items in my order.

I do appreciate the gift — absolutely! I just wish that Musicians Friend could get it right for once.

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