An observation

Doctor J

Looks like congratulations are in order to x-music, given the nature of the shill posts for other shops which we're seeing in the forum these days. It used to be that Thomann was the target but now they're all targeting x-music in terms of prices to beat which, in a curious way, suggests the rest of the shops here see x-music as the new benchmark.

It's taken a long time and many, many years of overpricing and truly ****ty customer service but have we finally got a shop doing it right in this country? It appears the competition think so :pac:

Zangetsu

Yudaballlllllllll

Gwan d'xmusic

(so wheres my free guitar?)

Paj

thats true Xmusic has set the bar for the other shops to compete with.

good for us.

Dord

I'll hold back my congratulations until after they get someone to answer emails.

Welease

Doctor J wrote: »

It's taken a long time and many, many years of overpricing and truly ****ty customer service but have we finally got a shop doing it right in this country? It appears the competition think so :pac:

Or maybe they know they can't match the UK prices, so they just go for X-Music :pac:

Eoin Madsen

Dord wrote: »

I'll hold back my congratulations until after they get someone to answer emails.

Businesses not answering emails is one of those things that drives me crazy.

Doctor J wrote: »

It used to be that Thomann was the target but now they're all targeting x-music in terms of prices to beat which, in a curious way, suggests the rest of the shops here see x-music as the new benchmark.

Or possibly it just suggests that they've settled for more realistic goals. :pac:

Dord

Eoin Madsen wrote: »

Businesses not answering emails is one of those things that drives me crazy.

Yeah, well... I'm not one to talk really considering sometimes I'm a couple of weeks behind on my mails. But any urgent or external mails I get I deal with asap.

For a shop, they should at least have someone who takes 30mins or 1hour out of their day to follow up on any sales inquiries. Even less if there aren't many mails.

Voodu Child

I went in to them to pass on the congratulations but they were closed

Rigsby

voodoo_child wrote: »

I went in to them to pass on the congratulations but they were closed

That'd be par for the course alright. :P I'll give them credit where it's due for their prices, though to quote the Fianna Fail slogan during the elections : "A lot done, more to do".

Dord

Rigsby wrote: »

That'd be par for the course alright. :P I'll give them credit where it's due for their prices, though to quote the Fianna Fail slogan during the elections : "A lot done, more to do".

Ain't that the truth!

It's certainly a lot of progress but they need to keep working on it and improve on a few things.

Doctor J

Nobody is saying they're perfect but from my own perspective, I've found myself going there a lot more frequently than I used to go to the ones in town and I'm actually buying stuff too :pac:

If anything, my own gripe would be that they need to set up the guitars before they hang them on a wall. There's nothing as off-putting as trying out a guitar and the action is stupidly high.

Still, it's an imporovement, it's up to the rest of them to catch up and, hopefully, raise the bar themselves.

Dord

Doctor J wrote: »

Nobody is saying they're perfect but from my own perspective, I've found myself going there a lot more frequently than I used to go to the ones in town and I'm actually buying stuff too :pac:

If anything, my own gripe would be that they need to set up the guitars before they hang them on a wall. There's nothing as off-putting as trying out a guitar and the action is stupidly high.

Still, it's an imporovement, it's up to the rest of them to catch up and, hopefully, raise the bar themselves.

I agree, they need to ensure that the guitars are setup and at the very least tuned up! Myself and my brother went out there recently because he was interested in a guitar they had. He took it off the shelf and it was completely detuned.

Johnny Storm

FWIW the only time I ever sent them an email was at 7 in the evening and they replied before 8 same evening. Maybe it depends how complicated the question is?
My only other comment on the place is that the guitar section seemed a bit bare.

Welease

Doctor J wrote: »

Nobody is saying they're perfect but from my own perspective, I've found myself going there a lot more frequently than I used to go to the ones in town and I'm actually buying stuff too :pac:

Yeah fair play to them for setting up and doing something. Ireland has been a long time waiting for something like this, and they should be applauded for doing it. They are not 100% perfect, but hopefully (and I assume they are) they are working towards getting there.

I am not a customer, and they are not my first port of call when I look to purchase, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see them succeed, cos if they do then it's good for everyone.

Dord

Johnny Storm wrote: »

FWIW the only time I ever sent them an email was at 7 in the evening and they replied before 8 same evening. Maybe it depends how complicated the question is?
My only other comment on the place is that the guitar section seemed a bit bare.

"Do you sell x? If so, how much is it?" :pac:

Johnny Storm

Dord wrote: »

"Do you sell x? If so, how much is it?" :pac:

That's a tricky one, all right.

Smiler

Dord wrote: »

I'll hold back my congratulations until after they get someone to answer emails.

Hiya man.

What address did you send it to? If someones not answering their mails we'll sort it out.

Mail me directly at mick@xmusic.ie

Cheers

Mick

Dord

I sent it to guitars@xmusic.ie, but that was a few weeks ago now. I got fed up of waiting after a few days and ordered the item elsewhere.

Smiler

Dord wrote: »

I sent it to guitars@xmusic.ie, but that was a few weeks ago now. I got fed up of waiting after a few days and ordered the item elsewhere.

Absolutley no probs.

I'll now go and find out why no one replied to you.

Cheers

Dord

Thanks!

DeadSkin

Boo! Dord! Boo!
So you were the kid that told on eveyone in school tut tut :pac:

Dord

DeadSkin wrote: »

Boo! Dord! Boo!
So you were the kid that told on eveyone in school tut tut :pac:

Naw, but when you want something and just got paid it's kinda annoying when nobody responds. :pac:

Unless you say something the shop can't do anything to fix the problems.

Smiler

DeadSkin wrote: »

Boo! Dord! Boo!
So you were the kid that told on eveyone in school tut tut :pac:

Ah no he's right. It helps us provide better customer service and that gets us more customers. It's a win win situation

No one's gonna get into trouble or anything, just wanna find out why he didn't get a reply. See if we can improve things.

It may even be a technical issue with our email.

Mick

fret_wimp

I agree with the OP, a hearty congratulations to them. I too find myself taking the time to drive out there, whereas if i was in town I would not bother to drop into the stores there. I find the staff really helpful and pleasant. You are not made feel an idiot when you ask a question, like in some other Irish stores, and they are quite knowledgeable, at least in areas that I have questioned them on.

The prices, at least on some things though are not that competitive. I rang about a piece of kit a week ago that was 400 on the Thomann site, and 460 on xmusic, and 340 after conversion from GAK. They had the item in stock, but would not match the Thomann price.

I was totally willing to spend the few extra quid make my purchase there instead of buying from the UK, but as they would not even meet me half way, and match even Thomann, what could I do? Perhaps it was just the particular item in question and they are cheaper than Thomann when it comes to other items.

A price match promise, against other European stores with similar vat rates would certainly help them out. I do not expect them to match UK prices, and am willing to spend a bit extra on an item from Xmusic, provided they give me the incentive to do so.

Smiler

fret_wimp wrote: »

I agree with the OP, a hearty congratulations to them. I too find myself taking the time to drive out there, whereas if i was in town I would not bother to drop into the stores there. I find the staff really helpful and pleasant. You are not made feel an idiot when you ask a question, like in some other Irish stores, and they are quite knowledgeable, at least in areas that I have questioned them on.

The prices, at least on some things though are not that competitive. I rang about a piece of kit a week ago that was 400 on the Thomann site, and 460 on xmusic, and 340 after conversion from GAK. They had the item in stock, but would not match the Thomann price.

I was totally willing to spend the few extra quid make my purchase there instead of buying from the UK, but as they would not even meet me half way, and match even Thomann, what could I do? Perhaps it was just the particular item in question and they are cheaper than Thomann when it comes to other items.

A price match promise, against other European stores with similar vat rates would certainly help them out. I do not expect them to match UK prices, and am willing to spend a bit extra on an item from Xmusic, provided they give me the incentive to do so.

A fair enough point, were a bit away from a price match on every product. Getting there though.

As you've said we have matched other online retailers on a lot of products and some we are cheaper on and some were not.

It really depends on the product. Some things we can get great deals on and we'll pass those saving on to you guys. Other things we can't - it's just the nature of Ireland.

The bigger we get, the more our buying power grows and the more we can buy in bulk.

And bulk buying means cheaper prices.

Dord

Smiler wrote: »

Ah no he's right. It helps us provide better customer service and that gets us more customers. It's a win win situation

No one's gonna get into trouble or anything, just wanna find out why he didn't get a reply. See if we can improve things.

It may even be a technical issue with our email.

Mick

Cheers Mick, and thanks for the PM.

It's great to see that you guys are striving to be great and actually working at it. Kinda the opposite to the other shops in Ireland. I think some of those may be going backwards. :pac:

BTW, kinda off topic a little (hope not too much!) but the Musican inc site is still up as it was before. Have you thought about putting a splash page up telling people to go to Xmusic.ie? If you have it in text it'll show up on google.

DeadSkin

Smiler wrote: »

Ah no he's right. It helps us provide better customer service and that gets us more customers. It's a win win situation

No one's gonna get into trouble or anything, just wanna find out why he didn't get a reply. See if we can improve things.

It may even be a technical issue with our email.

Mick

Was just havin' a larf . Back o' the class I goes.

Smiler

DeadSkin wrote: »

Was just havin' a larf . Back o' the class I goes.

Ah I know dude...... no worries.

Fingers Mcginty

I was in the Soundshop in Drogheda last week and they are adopting the approach of matching online prices for lots of merchandise . There are some products they simply cannot beat in price for ex yamaha but at least they are trying and for a shop that's been in the business a long time and is quite traditional ...hats off to them for moving with the times

OK-Cancel-Apply

You know, I got a PM explaining why the shop was closed during the Paddy's day sale. I was also offered vouchers. I told the PM'er that it was probably best to post the same explanation on the thread I started about it, as others were wondering what the story was too, but that was never done. I don't know... Maybe it'll be open when I venture out there next time...

Also, I think they might do more online business if they accepted Laser...

darrenw5094

Sorry X-Music, i live in Dundalk.....so it's GAK for me.
Closer for me to go on the laptop......unless you start a delivery sevrvice like Thomann.......;)

Smiler

OK-Cancel-Apply wrote: »

Also, I think they might do more online business if they accepted Laser...

We do....

Neo#

Ive been out to X music a couple of times and its great. Its nice to have a bit of space and time to check out gear instead of that pressure and distrust you usually get in most music shops.

Smiler

darrenw5094 wrote: »

Sorry X-Music, i live in Dundalk.....so it's GAK for me.
Closer for me to go on the laptop......unless you start a delivery sevrvice like Thomann.......;)

We have indeed.
Delivery is free once you spend over €150

darrenw5094

Nice one:)............that's put me in my place.:mad:

felim

Dord wrote: »

"Do you sell x? If so, how much is it?" :pac:

Mentioning illegal activities is not allowed on this forum.

feylya

felim

felim wrote: »

Mentioning illegal activities is not allowed on this forum.

feylya

Lesson learned..I'll keep my sense of humour in check in future.

feylya

I was out there earlier and I gotta admit, they've finally gotten their act together. Some nice instruments that didn't seem to be afflicted with crap-set-up-itis (although that may have just been the ones I played). Long may it last.