Music123.com -- No Longer a Mail Order Ric Dealer!

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue May 16, 2006 8:54 am

I've never had a problem with Music123. I think I've bought an Epi Casino, a couple of Vox cabinets, and a few guitar accessories from them. Very prompt free shipping and no issues.

winston · Post by **winston** » Tue May 16, 2006 10:11 am

I bought a pair of toaster pickups from them last year. They were great to deal with and I got one heck of a deal. Times change I suppose. Pity.

firstbassman · Post by **firstbassman** » Wed May 17, 2006 6:22 am

I disagree. Times have not changed. Music123 has been, IN MY EXPERIENCE, and continues to be, a reliable and responsible vendor.
[M123 should be paying me for all this good publicity I've been giving them.]
Like Randy and others, I also have purchased SEVERAL (many?) items over the past three years and have never had a problem. (Except for the one time mentioned previously of the broken case, which was immediately rectified.)

Incidents M123 might have had associated specifically with Rickenbacker instruments have already been documented. And representatives of RIC have already stated what their corporate relationship (or lack thereof) with M123 currently is.

Any company with as many customer interactions as M123 is bound to have numerous “horror stories.”

Turns out I had a bad experience with a DIFFERENT online instrument vendor ("Z"). But I'm sure they have many, many satisfied customers.

Here’s an analogy.
I would guess MOST people on this forum own an automobile. I would also be willing to wager that if we took a poll of makes that we would find every major automobile company covered here. And I can guarantee, that for every make, we will find a person somewhere who will swear that THAT car company sold them a lemon, was unresponsive and is the worst car company in the world.

winston · Post by **winston** » Wed May 17, 2006 4:42 pm

I should perhaps clarify my earlier post. It would seem that my chances of buying Rickenbacker parts from them on a mail order basis are gone. That's why I think it's a pity.

icelandair · Post by **icelandair** » Wed May 17, 2006 5:11 pm

Wow - my original post caused quite a discussion! I just wish I didn't have to lose 15 months waiting for orders (with deposits) which were ultimately cancelled. I didn't want my deposit money back -- I just didn't want to lose my wait in line. Anyway, the Rics have been reordered by a storefront dealer. If I was at Ric and one of my dealers wasn't paying their bills then I would drop them in an instant. As a consumer I was just caught up in the middle. Wouldn't it be so much easier if we were all into Epiphones?!

firstbassman · Post by **firstbassman** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:08 am

OK, Brian, gotcha.
Yeah, I'd say Ric parts from M123 are probably unlikely now.

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Thu May 18, 2006 7:41 am

I think the biggest problem with situations like this is that it is the customer that is ultimately shafted. If someone had paid up front or put a deposit on an instrument, especially a limited piece like a LK or a color of the year model, then had their order cancelled due to circumstances completely out of control, they have every right to be angry. In these cases it is up to Ric to make it right, since the dealer was authorized at the time of order. If dealers can be deauthorized at any time, even for legitimate reasons, then why should anyone bother to order, especially putting a deposit down (which I will NEVER do)?

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Thu May 18, 2006 8:15 am

"If dealers can be deauthorized at any time, even for legitimate reasons, then why should anyone bother to order?"

I guess the short answer is that life is fraught with risks, and this is a minor one.

It seems that the only time that the manufacturer/dealer relationship is severed IS, in fact, for a legitimate reason. That's what a contract is about. In this case, someone didn't perform, and the relationship was ended by the other party.

Up to RIC to make it right, because one of their customers didn't pay a bill? Their obligation under the contract, it seems to me, is to provide product in exchange for money. No money, no product.

It is up to M123 to make it right, in the only way they can--by refunding deposits. The agreement to purchase was between the retail customer and their dealer, not the customer and RIC.

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Thu May 18, 2006 12:40 pm

We'll have to diagree on this one. As far as I'm concerned, if I am buying through an authorized dealer, then what I ordered should be delivered. If that dealer falls out of favor, I should not lose my place in the queue or the item I ordered.

As for minor risks, I don't call putting money down on a guitar minor, especially when Ric is unable to meet the demand and can take years to deliver. Leaving end users out to dry is not a good way to encourage repeat business.

racket · Post by **racket** » Thu May 18, 2006 1:20 pm

Seeing that I have only made a few posts, I’ll try not to ruffle too many feathers.

I think something we have to remember is that as far as RIC is concerned, no individual customer has an order with them. Only dealers have orders. The fact that a guitar in a dealers order has already been earmarked to a specific end user is coincidental.

So we can’t get upset that we loose “our place in the queue” because we never had a place in the queue to begin with. Dealers have a place in the queue, and when their stripped of their dealership, all of their pending orders are cancelled.

winston · Post by **winston** » Thu May 18, 2006 1:27 pm

Great post Phil.

I don't want to ruffle any feathers either but IMO you're comments are on the mark.

Welcome to the forum BTW

drathbun · Post by **drathbun** » Thu May 18, 2006 5:51 pm

Gee I hope I didn't cause M123 any problems! I ordered a 4003 Bass from them and got ****** about their blatantly false arrival dates. I brought it up on the RIC site and JH told me their dates were so much fiction... so I cancelled my order. Now RIC drops Music123? Ooops... me and my big mouth! LOL

I just read this thread over at the RIC site:

http://www.rickenbacker.com/forum_view_ ... 0%20Orders

JH says "Music123 had a problem with their orders".... and that "problem" repeated so RIC dropped them as a dealer. It is clear the "problem" is lack of payment for product.

icelandair · Post by **icelandair** » Thu May 18, 2006 6:04 pm

M123 used to have a deposit policy for their Rics. Not all Rics, but the ones other than the 360, 360/12, and 4003 models with standard features. They eventually did away with the deposit policy. Since mine were under deposit I would have lost my 20% down deposit for each Ric on special order that I cancelled. Of course, I didn't know anything was up with their dealership status but even if I had I would not have been willing to lose the deposits.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Fri May 19, 2006 4:12 am

The law is pretty clear on this, and RIC is not obligated to do anything for its retail customers, as its contract was with the dealer, and the dealer didn't hold up its end, leading to the split.

Deposit money on a guitar is minor, compared to real life issues like illness or, God forbid, death at the hands of a foreign or domestic enemy.

86kubicki · Post by **86kubicki** » Fri May 19, 2006 4:31 am

I recall that the number of 4004LK's was expanded from 50 units to 60 due to the fact that some dealerships were yanked and RIC wanted to give those affected customers a chance to re-order. That was a special case though involving a limited run.