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Music Direct - Audio Hardware Seller?

First post.

I want to share a very strange exchange (telephone call) I had earlier this afternoon with Jasmine in the support department at Music Direct.

    I finally purchased a Roon Nucleus+ device from the Music Direct website on July 16, 2019 and received emails notifying me that the item would ship on July 17; Music Direct also added California tax to a later receipt. (NOTE: I purchased a Roon Life Membership in May 2016, but have not installed any software yet as I've been waiting for the "roon environment" to improve before wandering aimlessly spending thousands of dollars unnecessarily.)

    Two days later, my account indicated that the item was still “Unshipped” so I called and spoke with a gentleman in Sales who was likewise surprised that the order had not been filled because they have the item in stock – so he transferred me to Support and that’s where I had the opportunity to speak with Jasmine.

    Jasmine happily explained that for first time purchases that they will “email and call” the new customer to make sure they had placed the order. She also confirmed that while she had not emailed me, that she had called me and left a voice mail asking me to call and verify the purchase. I did not receive a voicemail message and my call log does not show any incoming or missed calls. This conversation then went from bad to worse and she offered to just cancel the order all together and I confirmed to cancel the order. I also stated that I hoped to speak with a customer service supervisor because this was a very distasteful exchange. I have received the Music Direct catalogs for a couple of years and their website looks legitimate. I do not know if they were “stalling” because they did not have the item in stock or if I just had a bad experience, so to speak.

    Has anyone else had bad experience with Music Direct? Are they a legitimate audio hardware reseller? I have a suspicion that something is wrong, but I cannot put my finger on it and wanted to share this experience with the hope of helping others or learning that my experience was not typical. Thanks in advance for the feedback. Sincerely, Mark L.

marklet
jackd
1,036 posts
 
Not only are they a legitimate first rate audio hardware dealer they in fact now own several brands themselves that they bought out.
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kingbarbuda
513 posts
 
I live in Chicago and have actually been to MusicDirect. They are absolutely legitimate. I have purchased a lot of equipment and accessories from them and had them shipped out of state with no issues. However, on your first purchase I think they go through extra steps which I think is to vet you as a legitimate customer and prevent fraud. Although, they don’t mention that. That is my thought. After the first transaction, everything happens a lot faster. I have also bought scratch and dent speakers which are not on their website. I have also attended many of their record sales and have spent time in their listening rooms. I have met many of their sales staff, as well. I think what it sounds like is you went through their first time buyer unspoken process. I would give them another shot especially if you are out of state. I don’t understand the charging of CA sales tax though unless they have gotten on that charge-everyone-sales Tax bandwagon. If so, and you are looking to avoid sales tax their are other vendors who are not on that bandwagon yet. 
jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
3,630 posts
 
Mark next time you call ask for Jim Davis that’s the owner, very nice guy, If Jim is not available ask for Josh or Bes, both will take care of you, I go there almost weekly, I have not dealt with any of the women there, Music Direct is legit, don’t let this strange experience bothers you, they will be there for you....
three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 
MD does charge everyone sales tax now including out of state sales.  I have overall had numerous good experiences with them.  They were a little weird recently about possibly returning a cartridge and indicated that if I did that (even within 30 days - I think they state they allow up to 60 days) that somehow I would use up my ability to ever return another item to them.  I ended up keeping the cart but thought that was a weird policy.  Not sure if it only pertained to carts.
artsam
2 posts
 
I have made multiple purchases from music direct  from $100 to $5,000. They are absolutely fantastic. Highly recommended.
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