thomann - any catch?

fourmations

hi all

a guitar i got costed at 1100 in town (jap fender jazzmaster reissue)
is 645 on thomann

any catch? taxes, handling, etc it say shipping free over 199euro

(BTW i did search as this is probalby a reccuring question
but thomann returns a load of results)

rgds

4

Karl Hungus

Nope, Thomann is in the EU, so there's no taxes to be had, the price you see is what you pay, barring what your Credit Card company might charge.

I've ordered from them a few times myself, as have loads of people here. They're good.

fourmations

thanks karl

is that the usual sort of saving or unsually good?
i'm still suspicious, its the guts of half price

rgds

4

Voodu Child

fourmations wrote:

thanks karl

is that the usual sort of saving or unsually good?
i'm still suspicious, its the guts of half price

rgds

4

Youre looking at it backwards. The shops in town are suspiciously expensive rather than THomann being suspiciously cheap.

Karl Hungus

fourmations wrote:

thanks karl

is that the usual sort of saving or unsually good?
i'm still suspicious, its the guts of half price

rgds

4

No, it's not half price, it's just that shops in Ireland like to charge double price. Anywhere else in the world is going to be significantly cheaper than shops in Ireland.

I would say to shop around on a few different sites though, for example, if I was to buy an Ibanez guitar, www.gak.co.uk and www.guitarbargains.com have better prices on Ibanez than Thomann. So depending on what you're buying, you might want to check a few sites and which offers you the best value. But just keep in mind Thomann's free shipping offer, so point in saving a few euro on the guitar itself if the shipping's going to push the price higher.

Anyway, nothing to be suspiscious about.

jcoote

yeah i have bought from gak and thomann and musicstore.de.

they have all been spot on.

only ever had hassle with a strap nut being broke on a guitar which they replaced within a week so happy days

Yakult

voodoo_child wrote:

Youre looking at it backwards. The shops in town are suspiciously expensive rather than THomann being suspiciously cheap.

Nothing suspicious, They just order in bulks, so they get them cheap and can easily afford to sell them cheap unlike local store. they would only order in a few so they wouldnt get any deals so you know!

crosstownk

I've ordered from Thomann countless times and never had one problem. I've about two grands worth of stuff to order in the next day or so and I'll be using Thomann for definite.

Yakult

Yeah thomann is great for delivery. tho sometimes if your parcel hasnt arrived for a week its hard to find where it it..

When I orderd my Marshall from GAK.co.uk I would come home early hoping it was their. They left a note saying its at the side of the house, when I went around it was a guitar, a fender at that. It was a Tele 79 reissue with a bigsby.. worth 1200 compared to the 800 of the amp.. well monday they collected it and brought my amp.. just thought I would add that!

Kenny_D

Did you contact them about the guitar or did they realise the mistake themselves? I would have kept the tele if possible lol

fish-head

They do have that 'Soul Possession' Clause.. you should watch out for that.

Johnny Storm

The only problem I had is that according to the little traffic light thingie on each item they had the amp I was ordering in stock at the time I ordered it. But when it came to ship it (next day) they were out of stock and it took a very long time to get more in.

I've never sent anything back (although I should have) but people have hinted on this forum of problems in that area.

Also - no biggie - but they sometimes ship with German-style round pin plugs on mains powered items.

feylya

I've had some trouble with Thomann. Not delivering stuff, not telling me when stuff was out of stock etc. Just soured my experience with them unfortunately.

shamster29

I used them - brillant - any issues you can return - I bought two Drum kits from them perfect! - most shops in Ireland need to pull up their socks! cos thomann etc are the way to go

dublinario

feylya wrote:

I've had some trouble with Thomann. Not delivering stuff, not telling me when stuff was out of stock etc. Just soured my experience with them unfortunately.

I'm having trouble too. Everybody else on this thread has good things to say, which I don't dispute. But when you've had a bad experience, all the positive anecdotes in the world won't calm you. Below is an email I sent to Thomann over two weeks ago. They never responded. So I forwarded it to another of their email addresses two days ago. Still no response.

It seems to me that when they're fully stocked and you're buying expensive goods, everything's grand. If they're out of stock, or you're buying smallish items, a shoddiness becomes apparent. Similarly, they don't seem readily contactable by email, despite the dozen odd email addresses they publish on their site. My order is of small value, hence ringing Germany in office hours would add a nonsensical percentage to the order total. But, it's looking increasingly like I'll have to do so.

---

Hello,

Could I have some kind of estimate on when I can expect arrival of the goods which I have paid for? My experience with Thomann so far has been bitterly disappointing. I ordered the "Wolfe Forte Secondo" violin shoulder rest initially sometime around the 12th or 13th of January, and a couple of days later received an email saying that the order had been cancelled because it didn't meet a minimum order amount. Is there a logical reason (other than a deficiently built site) why you don't validate the orders at order-time? Why not check the order value the moment I press the button, and display a message saying 'Sorry, your order did not meet our minimum value', instead of having me sitting around thinking everything is fine for 2 days? That kind of appalling shoddiness, at this stage internet development, is about 5 - 10 years out of date. Are you happy with that level of service?

I (regrettably) decided to press on with the order, and I threw in a few sets of guitar strings to bring my order over your (undisclosed) threshold. The order went through, and I thought everything was fine. I should have known it wasn't. The goods never arrived, and I logged back into your site today to see that my order has the following status:

Backorder - Order cannot be shipped, because some items are out of stock.

So I've been sitting at home like an idiot again for the last week or more, thinking my order was en-route when it's actually not even in stock. You couldn't of emailed me to let me know? You know, automated email technology has been around since, well, the dawn of email?

Could you please deign to enlighten me when I might hope to receive the goods that I have so painstakingly jumped through hoops to order through your hopelessly outdated and deficient site? I want to wrap up this sorry affair so that I can visit my regular music forums and tell others of my experience,

Sincerely,

*******

LundiMardi

dublinario wrote:

I'm having trouble too. Everybody else on this thread has good things to say, which I don't dispute. But when you've had a bad experience, all the positive anecdotes in the world won't calm you. Below is an email I sent to Thomann over two weeks ago. They never responded. So I forwarded it to another of their email addresses two days ago. Still no response.

It seems to me that when they're fully stocked and you're buying expensive goods, everything's grand. If they're out of stock, or you're buying smallish items, a shoddiness becomes apparent. Similarly, they don't seem readily contactable by email, despite the dozen odd email addresses they publish on their site. My order is of small value, hence ringing Germany in office hours would add a nonsensical percentage to the order total. But, it's looking increasingly like I'll have to do so.

---

Hello,

Could I have some kind of estimate on when I can expect arrival of the goods which I have paid for? My experience with Thomann so far has been bitterly disappointing. I ordered the "Wolfe Forte Secondo" violin shoulder rest initially sometime around the 12th or 13th of January, and a couple of days later received an email saying that the order had been cancelled because it didn't meet a minimum order amount. Is there a logical reason (other than a deficiently built site) why you don't validate the orders at order-time? Why not check the order value the moment I press the button, and display a message saying 'Sorry, your order did not meet our minimum value', instead of having me sitting around thinking everything is fine for 2 days? That kind of appalling shoddiness, at this stage internet development, is about 5 - 10 years out of date. Are you happy with that level of service?

I (regrettably) decided to press on with the order, and I threw in a few sets of guitar strings to bring my order over your (undisclosed) threshold. The order went through, and I thought everything was fine. I should have known it wasn't. The goods never arrived, and I logged back into your site today to see that my order has the following status:

Backorder - Order cannot be shipped, because some items are out of stock.

So I've been sitting at home like an idiot again for the last week or more, thinking my order was en-route when it's actually not even in stock. You couldn't of emailed me to let me know? You know, automated email technology has been around since, well, the dawn of email?

Could you please deign to enlighten me when I might hope to receive the goods that I have so painstakingly jumped through hoops to order through your hopelessly outdated and deficient site? I want to wrap up this sorry affair so that I can visit my regular music forums and tell others of my experience,

Sincerely,

*******

If i read that email i probably wouldn't reply either.

Unfortuntely, i deal with complaints on a daily basis, and let me tell ya. If i had that email, or was talking to some guy with a condescending tone in his voice, i'd be less inclined to feel any sympathy for him.

Would it hurt to be nice? You'd probably get a lot further.

I have never had a problem with thomann, i've always received my purchases within a week and wheneve i have had to return something i have always found them helpful. When i do need to email them, my email is short, to the point and shows courtesy. When i get a reply i say thanks for the help.

Whatever your problem is, it's not the fault of the person on the other end of that email.

fourmations

hear, hear lundi!

4

steveland?

dublinario wrote:

I'm having trouble too. Everybody else on this thread has good things to say, which I don't dispute. But when you've had a bad experience, all the positive anecdotes in the world won't calm you. Below is an email I sent to Thomann over two weeks ago. They never responded. So I forwarded it to another of their email addresses two days ago. Still no response.

It seems to me that when they're fully stocked and you're buying expensive goods, everything's grand. If they're out of stock, or you're buying smallish items, a shoddiness becomes apparent. Similarly, they don't seem readily contactable by email, despite the dozen odd email addresses they publish on their site. My order is of small value, hence ringing Germany in office hours would add a nonsensical percentage to the order total. But, it's looking increasingly like I'll have to do so.

---

Hello,

Could I have some kind of estimate on when I can expect arrival of the goods which I have paid for? My experience with Thomann so far has been bitterly disappointing. I ordered the "Wolfe Forte Secondo" violin shoulder rest initially sometime around the 12th or 13th of January, and a couple of days later received an email saying that the order had been cancelled because it didn't meet a minimum order amount. Is there a logical reason (other than a deficiently built site) why you don't validate the orders at order-time? Why not check the order value the moment I press the button, and display a message saying 'Sorry, your order did not meet our minimum value', instead of having me sitting around thinking everything is fine for 2 days? That kind of appalling shoddiness, at this stage internet development, is about 5 - 10 years out of date. Are you happy with that level of service?

I (regrettably) decided to press on with the order, and I threw in a few sets of guitar strings to bring my order over your (undisclosed) threshold. The order went through, and I thought everything was fine. I should have known it wasn't. The goods never arrived, and I logged back into your site today to see that my order has the following status:

Backorder - Order cannot be shipped, because some items are out of stock.

So I've been sitting at home like an idiot again for the last week or more, thinking my order was en-route when it's actually not even in stock. You couldn't of emailed me to let me know? You know, automated email technology has been around since, well, the dawn of email?

Could you please deign to enlighten me when I might hope to receive the goods that I have so painstakingly jumped through hoops to order through your hopelessly outdated and deficient site? I want to wrap up this sorry affair so that I can visit my regular music forums and tell others of my experience,

Sincerely,

*******

I certainly hope that's the draft and you did some sort of grammar check before sending?

Nothing worse than someone getting on their high-horse and saying "couldn't of" in an e-mail of complaint...

It wasn't me!

Yeah, my response on reading that was that if anything, someone would put in a word with his mates in the warehouse that order XE732050B was to be fecked in the nearest canal, rudeness is not the way to go. To be honest, your best shot at this point is to send a polite e-mail, apologising for this outburst, and be nice about it, then they might send the lads down to the canal with a net.

Omnipresence

I've been dealing with Thomann for years and have bought an awful lot of stuff from them from the cheap to the expensive...

Never had any problems apart from having to send back one peice of equipment but got a return sorted...

Saved a fortune though....

Why oh why would anyone buy any electronic equipment on the high street in Ireland..

Remember Germany has 2 advantages:

You can normally get 17.5 vat instead of 21% (I know that places shipping in volume to Ireland normally get told (cough) i mean charge the correct 21% ...

Most hight street places in Dublin buy from england (Yamaha etc) where they have to purchase in sterling .. before the whack their margin on top...

-A

Also for other consumer type stuff :
http://www.technikdirekt.de/

Of course everyone knows about Pixmania, Komplett etc...

p.s. I don't work for any of these places but I am an avid believer in getting best value for money... unfortunately thats no where in Ireland at the moment... pity.. i would prefer to be spending the money here !

dublinario

LundiMardi wrote:

Would it hurt to be nice? You'd probably get a lot further.

If I was dealing with an actual person at the end of a phone, or a specific individual, my tone would be different. However, when I'm dealing with international@thomann.de (or any impersonal catch-all receptor), and when there are multiple things to complain about relating to fundamental flaws in a system (as opposed to individual human error), I think it pays (although admittedly not in this case) to be forthright. Who have I insulted? I've berated a site and an email address.

steveland wrote:

I certainly hope that's the draft and you did some sort of grammar check before sending?

Ah the grammar Nazi, every forum has one, but do any actually need one? Scouring posts for typos and other inconsequential flaws, smugly highlighting them out in utterly limp demonstrations of non-existent superiority. I have to say Steveland, even as grammar Nazis go, you are fastidious. An email written in exasperation, with a single grammatical error, and you are aghast? And people of lesser education, whose emails might be riddled with more than 1 such cataclysmic mistake? Should they refrain from contaminating the net with their malformed prose, lest they offend your delicate syntactic sensibilities?

steveland wrote:

Nothing worse than someone getting on their high-horse and saying "couldn't of" in an e-mail of complaint...

That's right Steveland, there's nothing worse. I watch the news everyday, and I read the papers, but nothing presents itself of such base, indigestible horror as a rushed email that contains a single grammatical error. Right on the money, pal.

dublinario

It wasn't me! wrote:

Yeah, my response on reading that was that if anything, someone would put in a word with his mates in the warehouse that order XE732050B was to be fecked in the nearest canal, rudeness is not the way to go. To be honest, your best shot at this point is to send a polite e-mail, apologising for this outburst, and be nice about it, then they might send the lads down to the canal with a net.

Apologise to who? A company? If my machine crashes, and I curse it, I don't get a pang of guilt afterwards and ring Microsoft to apologise. I haven't dealt with a Thomann person yet. When I do, there will be no rudeness.

I think there are two facets of their site which are inexcusably sh*t:

1) - if you order under a certain value, the site doesn't tell you there and then. You get an email about 2 days later informing you of the fact.

2) - when your order is delayed, you don't get an email about it.

I sent a bombastic email (admittedly written in anger) to no person in particular. Nobody's been offended.

LundiMardi

dublinario wrote:

If I was dealing with an actual person at the end of a phone, or a specific individual, my tone would be different. However, when I'm dealing with international@thomann.de (or any impersonal catch-all receptor), and when there are multiple things to complain about relating to fundamental flaws in a system (as opposed to individual human error), I think it pays (although admittedly not in this case) to be forthright. Who have I insulted? I've berated a site and an email address.

I never said you insulted anyone, i said you'd get a better response if you would show a little respect. You are dealing with someone, the person who reads your email, it's not his or her fault that you feel hard done by. If you were to choose your words more carefully the person who received the email would feel more obliged to answer. But you didn't, they didn't reply and now you're here complaining about it.

Being forthright isn't getting you very far at the moment is it?

Also, maybe you should pay more attention to the thomann site?

Important note on emails to thomann.de:

Every day we receive more than 30.000 emails. Sometimes several team members work on the same request. Therefore, you can make things easier for us, if you include your phone number and - if possible - your customer number in your emails. Some things can be handled much faster by phone.
In cases of longer email exchanges, please include all previous communications with your new email, so we don't have to bother you with the same explanation twice ;-) Thanks a lot!

All lines busy?:

Even 90 lines can sometimes be engaged at the same time, but don't worry: just call our front desk at +49-9546-9223-0 and leave your number. We'll call you back as soon as possible.

It wasn't me!

It's people behind it all, frankly, and people don't like being shít on over things that aren't their fault, so don't expect any help from people if you're going to be aggressive or nasty. Don't berate the site, why bother? Something went wrong, and you got stroppy, not something they want to hear I imagine. Also, yeah, grammar helps, and if you want to call an asshole an asshole, you should have spelt "one" in that last post, not used the digit. It's a bad attitude, and don't go getting up at the people who correct you either. If you want customer service, don't be a dick to those you're asking it from. If you come on an internet forum, don't expect people to side with you on something stupid like this, then get angry when they don't. I imagine if my job consisted of poring over complaint e-mails, I'd get damn sick of crap grammar. Also, the artificially eloquent post above is neither funny nor intelligent, and does nothing to make you look more of either.

LundiMardi

By the by, thumbs up for thomann, ordered something last week... Was shipped on Thursday and received on Wednesday. Nay to shabby for free shipping.

dublinario

LundiMardi wrote:

Being forthright isn't getting you very far at the moment is it?

In fairness, you're probably right. Like I said, the email was written in anger.

dublinario

It wasn't me! wrote:

It's people behind it all, frankly, and people don't like being shít on over things that aren't their fault, so don't expect any help from people if you're going to be aggressive or nasty. Don't berate the site, why bother? Something went wrong, and you got stroppy, not something they want to hear I imagine. Also, yeah, grammar helps, and if you want to call an asshole an asshole, you should have spelt "one" in that last post, not used the digit. It's a bad attitude, and don't go getting up at the people who correct you either. If you want customer service, don't be a dick to those you're asking it from. If you come on an internet forum, don't expect people to side with you on something stupid like this, then get angry when they don't. I imagine if my job consisted of poring over complaint e-mails, I'd get damn sick of crap grammar. Also, the artificially eloquent post above is neither funny nor intelligent, and does nothing to make you look more of either.

Wow, a diatribe! Lots of apparent commands in there too. Don't do this, don't do that. My posting was not artificially eloquent: I write how I write. I concede defeat on this topic anyway. On reflection, I think it was an overly-aggressive email. But....nobody likes a grammar Nazi. It's pathetic one-up-manship that serves no useful purpose other than smugness. It's disingenuous to suggest that the pedant is truly concerned with the state of the world's comprehension. It is meant as a "zing" (and it's the most stupidly elitist variety). Nothing more, nothing less.

feylya

aloleary wrote:

You can normally get 17.5 vat instead of 21%

Thomann charge 21% for Irish orders.

Everyone, be nice or bannings shall happen

Johnny Storm

If I may try to be constructive?

All this is just my opinions and not ment to provoke any response.

I never got any reply to any of my emails to Thomann after I placed an order. They were quite responsive before I placed the order. I got more results with phonecalls. Always get the guys name and keep calling the same person back otherwise its a waste of time.

IMHO - nothing wrong with a good rant every now and then although I think the tone in one's first email / phonecall should be kept civil/factual. Keep the aggro in reserve for when that doesn't work.

I think receiving emails with arguably less than perfect grammer in them is the least of Thomann's problems especailly since English is not the main language of most of their employees.

deaddonkey

i ordered stuff from thomann a week before christmas, it took them 2 weeks to ship, they didn't reply to emails, and when it arrived something didn't work. sent 2 more emails with no reply, and finally heard back 3 weeks after the second email to arrange a simple return.

not good enough on a 300 quid order, they better sort it out pronto if they want me to go back. I think there's every reason for snooty emails if they can't sort themselves out when you've given them 300 quid. that's a week's wages for me. I don't have the time or the means during the day to call german numbers during office hours over there, sorry, but it isn't going to happen. they seriously need to step up their customer services. angry emails are fine if you're not getting a response any other way. the customer has a right to good service, and if it isn't provided, then there's no reason to hold yourself back over it.

Laserface

DeadDonkey...it states plain as day all over the site (thomann.de) and all over the email they send after purchase "Please contact us by telephone as we are usually inundated with emails"