# Sweetwater. Good customer service, but I lost ~$360. Found GREAT service elsewhere.



## rxh5015 (Jun 4, 2013)

*Short story is on bold:* made purchase, used them for 5 hrs to test them, sweetwater charged me restocking+shipping charges because of "used and scuffed" condition. Had a more enjoyable experience at iDJnow.

I just had a* bad experience making a purchase with sweetwater.* Feeling really down because I thought it would be an exceptional company. 

I recently posted a thread in which *I was deciding on which fixtures to invest on.* It took a while till i got a response and the information I needed so *I ordered 2 Cahuvet intimidator 450's *(since it was the fixtures I was leaning more into and the forum recommended them. *I ordered them Tuesday, sweetwater said I should have them by thursday. They actually came Friday.* Ok, not a big deal. 

Tuesday, the thread started getting better and more informative. And *I eventually opted to invest into 4 intimidator 350's; it was more suitable for my needs. *

*I call sweetwater to cancel* the purchase a few hours later and left a message. Next morning *the representative told me that the fixtures were already shipped and that they couldn't take it back* .I really think he was lying because when I told him I wanted to purchase more lights he said to give him a call in 15 min and they will see what they can do about it ( *he probably thought i was going to cancel the purchase and decided to send them anyway)*. He couldnt cancel it, so I told him*I would try the fixtures out and if I we like them, we would keep them*_*.* _He said that fine that I have 30 days to return them and *I should get all my money back as long as they can sell them as new*. OK, perfect. 

*I told him to also send me 4 intimidator 350's beams*, and if we like them all, we will keep them all. *He couldn't, because they didn't have them on stock* and I needed them by Saturday, so i didn't order them.

Thursday morning comes and after looking all night for the right place i found *iDJnow.* They had both the same price, but here is where it gets different. A box chat appeared so I gave it a try (more websites should have this service). I went right to the point and told them that I am looking into buying 4 fixtures but need them by Friday (Saturday event). We negotiated and ended up getting a *GREAT deal. I ended up paying $4500 for what sells on their website for $5000, with free next day shipping* so I would have them by Friday. Was completely happy with the purchase, their knowledge on the lights and customer attention.

We test the lights out and saw that the *int450 were not suitable for us* and we would rather invest in 4 beams. We *returned the lights to sweetwater* since only a few days have gone by. Paid 80 dollars in shipping and 60 for their shipping since its their policy. *We were fine with that until, they also charged us for a restocking fee of $112 for each light.* They said that the lights *looks like they were used* and had scratches and scuffs, and the brackets were scratched also. *We only put them on the floor! and used them i would say a total of 5 hrs.* I received the lights with blemishes already on them, but it didn't seem important to me. I could tell that some was due to the Styrofoam. I really didn't care as long as they worked fine. Now they are trying to say that they have scuffs and really bad marks and could not sell them as new. *I told him i received the lights with scuffs and even a really big one in the handle* (that could fairly be seen that it was done by packaging). He sent me pictures and the marks were not different than the ones I received them with. Not only that, but* now its more of a pain in the but to set up a call with him* (he is never on the phone)

ugh, anyway...

*I paid 60 (their shipping) + 80 (my ship) + 214 (restocking) on fixtures I really was not satisfied with even after telling him I am going to make a larger investment.* I guess this is a learning experience. I know where I am going to make my purchases from now on...


Will post pictures up later.


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## NickVon (Jun 4, 2013)

*Re: Sweetwater. Good customer service, but I lost ~$360. Found GREAT service elsewher*

I'm going to defend Sweetwater here because i think you have unrealistic expectations for their services and products. They are not a rental house like 4wall or PRG. They are a retailer or distributor the likes of Best Buy. If you go into Best Buy purchase 2 TVs to have delivered then decide you want something else and they've already been put on a truck/charged your card or dropped off to you, YOU ARE paying a restocking fee. What it sounds like you where looking for was a "rent to own" along the lines of things that PRG and 4wall will do. Even they will probably charge you if they've already loaded up a truck or shipped you something and you change your mind. Taking them back and restocking them, is still going to be on your Dime.

The case with Sweetwater being an online retailer is the only way to take it back is UPS/Fedex and not by popping on over to the local shopping center.

I recommend you look into setting up an account with them if you make frequent purchases and get on terms with an actual Account rep. I have a guy and he's great. He knows his stuff or knows who to talk to for the right info, and working through a person for large orders you are unsure of will get you a little more leeway then just clicking "add to cart."

I personally love Sweetwater and my Account Rep, and have always had excellent service even with incorrect orders on my part, their part, damaged goods, warrenty support and the like. There personal service on our account has always been spectacular.


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## Footer (Jun 4, 2013)

Your dealing with the low end if the market where margins are slim. Your also dealing with a product that people buy the gear, use for a weekend, then return. Either start buying better gear or develop a relationship with your retailer, whomever that is. In the mean time theory are just trying to protect their bottom line. 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD


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## rxh5015 (Jun 4, 2013)

*Re: Sweetwater. Good customer service, but I lost ~$360. Found GREAT service elsewher*


NickVon said:


> I'm going to defend Sweetwater here...There personal service on our account has always been spectacular.



No, I was not looking for a rental. Investing $9,000 on lighting doesn't seem like a rental to me. Sorry, I am small business and that is a huge investment for me. 

I never said they have bad customer service. As I stated earlier, they have good costumer service. I have a good relationship with my representative (these are sales people, they have to be that way).

I was about to invest on 4 chauvet int450 and decided that ordering 2 would be better to see if I like them. I was going to pay shipping cost and i was aware of that. Isn't that why they have a return policy? for customer satisfaction as well? The representative made me feel confident that it wont be a problem returning the fixtures as long as they were in new condition. I never said "oh, i don't like them, therefore I don't need them". I wanted to buy other products and MORE of it. I was exchanging the lights because I really was not satisfied with them not because I didn't want them anymore. 

To me iDJnow gave me a better service. I mean, we negotiated the price of my purchase. That to me is WAY better than just clicking "add to cart" as you said. That is one-on-one customer sale and not just a post purchase check-up call . Not only that, but iDJnow has more to offer on their website and as they told me they stock most of their stuff (It really irritating when a store have products that they advertise). I was about to order trussing from them the same day, but had to think it over. 

I understand your preference for them because my brother recommended them to me also. He is surprised about this as well. I guess I am just one unlucky customer.


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## rxh5015 (Jun 4, 2013)

*Re: Sweetwater. Good customer service, but I lost ~$360. Found GREAT service elsewher*


Footer said:


> Your dealing with the low end if the market where margins are slim. Your also dealing with a product that people buy the gear, use for a weekend, then return. Either start buying better gear or develop a relationship with your retailer, whomever that is. In the mean time theory are just trying to protect their bottom line.



I really cant afford better gear than the one I ordered. This was actually a bigger investment than I intended. I know most of you guys are professionals and probably work with 3K-5K fixtures, but to someone entering the music entertainment industry, its quite hard to make an investment that big.


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## DuckJordan (Jun 5, 2013)

*Re: Sweetwater. Good customer service, but I lost ~$360. Found GREAT service elsewher*

Sweetwater doesn't seem to handle fixtures well, that said I've never been dissapointed with their audio gear.


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## josh88 (Jun 5, 2013)

*Re: Sweetwater. Good customer service, but I lost ~$360. Found GREAT service elsewher*

The problem is they have to return as new. The risk you run with ANY company when dealing with large packages is that they handle them poorly in shipping and get dinged up. is that your fault? no, but when they get returned they are no longer "new" because of the dings, Anything large that I order I assume something cosmetically will have happened because I've never gotten a box that isn't at least smashed or punctured in one place. 

I think what Nik meant as far as rental was that because of the risk I just mentioned if you're going to "try something out" to make sure you like it, it makes better sense economically to rent a couple of the fixtures for that test run and then if you're happy go order the full lot you intended because it removes that return risk.


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