Topic: Schoeps order from Sweetwater

[SClassical]

Still no word from Sweetwater on my part...I ordered my caps before you. Maybe Sweetwater didn't place my order straight away.

[su6oxone]

Still no word from Sweetwater on my part...I ordered my caps before you. Maybe Sweetwater didn't place my order straight away.

That's a pretty long time.  I would ask Sweetwater for an update, or if they're slow on that, ask Redding Audio directly.  They will oblige you if you ask/insist (I did, several times).  The main thing they can tell you is if/when they shipped from Germany, they won't be able to give you a better estimate on wait time from my experience. 

I would guess you'll get them pretty soon, hope you do. 

[it-goes-to-eleven]

Did they ever explain why they charged your CC, and did they refund the charges pending delivery?

Anything less would be disingenuous.

[SClassical]

They just wanted to charge my order up front. They also wanted to charge me shipping which I had to haggle my way to persuade them not to cuz most retailers in US don't charge shipping for Schoeps order. I was about to cancel my order when the seller agree to change his mind and give me free shipping. I went to their website and saw most items were listed with free shipping so I was a bit annoyed that they tried to add shipping to my order with phone orders. If you do a special Schoeps order from them on the phone you might experience the same thing ... maybe it's my sales person or maybe is their policy to charge shipping when you order a matched Schoeps capsule. They should contact me every month since I have been waiting since August but they seem to have forgotten about me. So I might call them end of the month to remind them I'm still alive and waiting. It's reaching a point if something happens (they go bankrupt) I cannot place a credit card claim because there's a time frame to place a claim. So from my experience with them now they seem to think about themselves more than the customers. Maybe they will call me and check if my order is okay after wards but I don't really want telemarketers to call me cuz if I do have problems with the caps obviously I'll contact them. So the whole experience before and after sales is going to be annoying.

[stevetoney]

Why are you waiting on Sweetwater?  It's your money that's at stake and you're the one who obviously is not satisfied with what's happening.  Until you call them and let them know, how can they know that you're not satisfied with their service, although I agree that it would be somewhat annoying to have to haggle over shipping fee's when their site says free shipping.  Why don't you give them a call and make them give you a status update instead of wondering about the status?

Regarding the concern about the credit card billing, you might request them to cancel the initial billing and re-initiate a second one with the current date to recover the month or two of idle time.  Since you haven't received the goods, it seems like they should be willing to do that.

It's also fair to tell them directly that you're in communication with tapersection members who have placed orders with their competitors since you placed your order and they've received their orders already...find out if they have a response.  If they don't give you satisfaction, I'd consider canceling your order.

That said, I ordered my MK22 caps from Sweetwater last month (unmatched) and I had great service and a great experience with them...I called regularly and they were very responsive.  However, I was the one picking up the phone and making the first call when I had a question/concern about my order.  While I understand your frustration over the amount of time it's taking, given that they're a large gear retailer, it might be a little unrealistic to expect them to initiate a call to you about status update on a backorder...which might be a good reason to deal with someone like Posthorn or Sonic Sense in the future.

[hi and lo]

I think tonedeaf is right on the money here. The onus is on you as the customer to ensure your expectations are met. Sweetwater is not going to rip you off in any sense but if they can't meet deliverable in a timely fashion or your credit card protection is in jeopardy, you must take action and not rely on them.

Good luck! I totally understand your concerns and hope everyone is happy once the mics are in your hands and pulling great tapes 

[it-goes-to-eleven]

You never know when any vendor will close their doors.   It doesn't have to be a situation where months are involved like this - it could just be a few days.

But charging customers up front is a warning sign.. I would have cancelled long ago, but it is your decision.

[stevetoney]

Company Overview

Sweetwater Sound Inc. operates as an online music instrument and pro audio retailing company. It offers high-technology equipment, including microphones, digital recording systems, electric guitars, electronic keyboards, electronic drums, studio and recording, computer audio, bass, soundware, remix and DJ, and accessories for musicians, recording studios, and broadcasters. The company also provides print and electronic publications, as well as gift certificates, and payment cards and leasing programs. In addition, it enables to buy and sell used music and audio gear person to person. The company was founded in 1979 and is based in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Sweetwater Sound Inc. announced sales results for the year of 2008. The company reported record annual sales of $140 million, an 8% gain over the $130 million reported for 2007. The increase follows four consecutive years with sales growth of 20% or more.

[SClassical]

On Monday I think i will ask them to refund my initial payment and charge my card again if they really want to so I have a new payment date. Hopefully that shouldn't be a problem for them but a benefit for the customer to be covered. Most companies have a re-stocking fee so there is no big loss. And as long as they hold on to my credit card info they shouldn't need to worry to charge it on the day of delivery or charge me a re-stocking fee. What really bothers me is they tried to get more money off me by charging me outrageous shipping fee up front for those little capsules via phone order when the whole website states free shipping even for massive items.

[jbell]

This isn't entirely related, but I contacted sweetwater yesterday about purchasing a new mic from them and they offered no price discount or price matching on prices that Full compass offered.  I was alittle dissappointed since FullCompass gave me almost a 25% discount on the mic.  If I had money tied up in Schoeps gear with them I would call and find out what's up. 

[rastasean]

You never know when any vendor will close their doors.   It doesn't have to be a situation where months are involved like this - it could just be a few days.

But charging customers up front is a warning sign.. I would have cancelled long ago, but it is your decision.

I don't think it is too uncommon of a practice. take a look at this $55 windscreen on b&h: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/387054-REG/Schoeps_B_5_D_B_5D_Hollow_Foam_Windscreen.html

This is a special order item and is non-cancelable and non-returnable. Est. arrival at B&H is 7-14 business days (subject to availability). You will be charged upon placing your order.


When you order things from b&h, you are charged before the item ships--even if it is in stock and even if your order won't ship for a few days because they are closed.

Does this mean b&h is going out of business?

[SClassical]

I think B&H situation is different cuz they deliver 7-14 days which is reasonable while holding your money. Also during that time u r protected by ur credit card company. If they send u a DOA item u can put in a credit card claim on the 14th day.

[stevetoney]

I think B&H situation is different cuz they deliver 7-14 days which is reasonable while holding your money. Also during that time u r protected by ur credit card company. If they send u a DOA item u can put in a credit card claim on the 14th day.

I don't mean to seem argumentative, but really it's not different because B&H can't guarantee a special order from Germany will arrive in 7 - 14 days, thus their 'subject to availability' caveat. 

I'm pretty sure that any Schoeps special order from any US distributor (whether Sweetwater, B&H, Posthorn, Full Compass, or anyone else in the US) comes to them via Redding Audio.  I've placed a Schoeps special order from both B&H and Posthorn, and in both cases the item gets delivered directly to me from Redding, although sometimes the retailer has the item in stock so they send it direct.  If Redding doesn't have it on their shelves, it has to come from Germany and the lead time can be a number of weeks. 

I think that the point Rasta is making is valid.  The concept that requesting advance payment is probably not so much of 'a warning sign' as it's a business practice that many retailers use for special order items.  Granted, if you don't like the practice, it seems that there are some retailers that don't require the advance payment, so you may prefer to order from them instead. 

I'm not a retailer, but I'd assume the practice is tied to the fact that retailers don't want to get stuck with excess inventory that might sit on the shelves....something to do with accounting practices and paying taxes on your inventories.  I'd also guess that another factor behind this goes to the fact that people can be very fickle (especially with high dollar items).  Without requesting some form of advance payment, lots of people will cancel and leave the retailer stuck holding the bag.  This probably happens far less when advance payment is required.

[su6oxone]

I'm pretty sure that any Schoeps special order from any US distributor (whether Sweetwater, B&H, Posthorn, Full Compass, or anyone else in the US) comes to them via Redding Audio.

That's correct AFAIK, Redding is the US Schoeps distributor and the others that you mentioned are Schoeps dealers.  Except for the higher volume products (cmc6, mk4, etc.) at larger dealers, many Schoeps items will be drop shipped from Redding.  If it's special/back order then they'll ship from Germany to Redding and then ship it to the customer from there.  I guess you can buy some items in store as H20 mentioned, and you can order the Schoeps t-shirt at least over the phone.

[SClassical]

I'm pretty sure that any Schoeps special order from any US distributor (whether Sweetwater, B&H, Posthorn, Full Compass, or anyone else in the US) comes to them via Redding Audio.

That's correct AFAIK, Redding is the US Schoeps distributor and the others that you mentioned are Schoeps dealers.  Except for the higher volume products (cmc6, mk4, etc.) at larger dealers, many Schoeps items will be drop shipped from Redding.  If it's special/back order then they'll ship from Germany to Redding and then ship it to the customer from there.  I guess you can buy some items in store as H20 mentioned, and you can order the Schoeps t-shirt at least over the phone.

knowing that my order wil b shipped from redding makes me wonder why the hell sweetwater wanted to charge me extra for shipping if they r not shipping it.