Experience of LIFE GUITARS CO in Exeter

Grumpyrocker

I sometimes look at the website and see they have some nice things in. But the prices are often too high for used gear, when sometimes the same models are available new for not much different. 

ICBM

From another thread...

https://lifeguitars.co.uk/products/1981-roland-cube-60-electric-guitar-keyboard-amplifier

"This amplifier is in fantastic used condition. It has only a few signs of wear or use, none of which impact on the health, playability or tone of the instrument."

Absolute bollocks. It's very heavily used, and pretty knackered - it may well still work OK as these amps are fairly bombproof, but it's *not* in "fantastic used condition" - in fact, I think it's the worst of any I've ever seen.

OK, they do go on to say "Please look at the photos thoroughly as they constitute part of the product description" - but there's still a big difference between that and an honest written description, which this is not.

It's also wildly overpriced - they don't even go for that in *genuinely* fantastic condition.

Moe_Zambeek

They seem to be selling MXR carbon copies used for £175 when they’re only £150 new. That seems odd…

DrCornelius

I was sitting in a cafe right next to them a month or so ago and was fighting rhe urge to go in and waste money . Luckily I pulled up their website and saw how crazy the prices were - I didn’t go in after that .

Im sure it’s the same place that was originally about half a mile away in a small shop in a less trendy part of town - they were more realistic price wise then / I’m guessing with the move to the bigger site they need to up their margins a bit but if they need to sell stuff at those prices to survive I’m afraid to say they won’t be lasting very long

CavemanGrogg

JezWynd said:

Their feedback rating is particularly poor for a Instrument store of relatively small size. 95.7% is concerning...


Feedback is dropping by the hour...



IME any eBay seller with a rating less than 99% is to be avoided. Exceptions can be made but as a rule of thumb it usually works.

This, though personally, if the seller has less than 99.5% positive from selling, only, not the combined feedback from both buying and selling on eBay, I won't go near them, I've been burned just too many times on eBay.

Offset

ICBM said:

From another thread...

https://lifeguitars.co.uk/products/1981-roland-cube-60-electric-guitar-keyboard-amplifier

"This amplifier is in fantastic used condition. It has only a few signs of wear or use, none of which impact on the health, playability or tone of the instrument."

Absolute bollocks. It's very heavily used, and pretty knackered - it may well still work OK as these amps are fairly bombproof, but it's *not* in "fantastic used condition" - in fact, I think it's the worst of any I've ever seen.

OK, they do go on to say "Please look at the photos thoroughly as they constitute part of the product description" - but there's still a big difference between that and an honest written description, which this is not.

It's also wildly overpriced - they don't even go for that in *genuinely* fantastic condition.

I mentioned they were lazy in an earlier post - well I didn't realise they use the same generic description for their amps as well as their guitars!

"This guitar is in fantastic used condition. It has only a few signs of wear or use, none of which impact on the health, playability or tone of the instrument."

"A few signs of wear or use"?!  That Roland looks absolutely fucked.  I'd say a price of £50 would be optimistic.

RevMatt

I'm glad it's not just me that has reservations about the professionalism of the company - in the end it all worked out ok for me, and I'm assured that the refund is in progress but I won't be buying from them again.

Hurling_Fruitmig

DrCornelius said:

Im sure it’s the same place that was originally about half a mile away in a small shop in a less trendy part of town - they were more realistic price wise then / I’m guessing with the move to the bigger site they need to up their margins a bit but if they need to sell stuff at those prices to survive I’m afraid to say they won’t be lasting very long

I could have sworn that they were mentioned on another thread quite a while back, and that the original place had sold up and the new owner moved it across town.

Sassafras

ICBM said:

From another thread...

https://lifeguitars.co.uk/products/1981-roland-cube-60-electric-guitar-keyboard-amplifier

"This amplifier is in fantastic used condition. It has only a few signs of wear or use, none of which impact on the health, playability or tone of the instrument."

Absolute bollocks. It's very heavily used, and pretty knackered - it may well still work OK as these amps are fairly bombproof, but it's *not* in "fantastic used condition" - in fact, I think it's the worst of any I've ever seen.

OK, they do go on to say "Please look at the photos thoroughly as they constitute part of the product description" - but there's still a big difference between that and an honest written description, which this is not.

It's also wildly overpriced - they don't even go for that in *genuinely* fantastic condition.

They don't mention whether or not it's been "electrically cleaned" like their guitars.

My mistake, it has been electrically cleaned.
Maybe that accounts for it's dreadful condition.

RobG3294

Sassafras said:

I notice their guitars are "electrically cleaned", whatever that means.

Quite obviously means they've used either battery powered or mains powered cleaning equipment! 

CaseOfAce

sev112

Jet wash 

Penn

Offset said:

ICBM said:

From another thread...

https://lifeguitars.co.uk/products/1981-roland-cube-60-electric-guitar-keyboard-amplifier

"This amplifier is in fantastic used condition. It has only a few signs of wear or use, none of which impact on the health, playability or tone of the instrument."

Absolute bollocks. It's very heavily used, and pretty knackered - it may well still work OK as these amps are fairly bombproof, but it's *not* in "fantastic used condition" - in fact, I think it's the worst of any I've ever seen.

OK, they do go on to say "Please look at the photos thoroughly as they constitute part of the product description" - but there's still a big difference between that and an honest written description, which this is not.

It's also wildly overpriced - they don't even go for that in *genuinely* fantastic condition.

I mentioned they were lazy in an earlier post - well I didn't realise they use the same generic description for their amps as well as their guitars!

"This guitar is in fantastic used condition. It has only a few signs of wear or use, none of which impact on the health, playability or tone of the instrument."

"A few signs of wear or use"?!  That Roland looks absolutely fucked.  I'd say a price of £50 would be optimistic.

It’s £200 of Mojo. 

Philly_Q

Wow, I had an orange Roland Cube 60 like that (not fucked up though).  Even in 1982 or whenever it was I could tell it sounded shite.

digitalscream

I don't know if you're all aware of this, but it's actually pretty easy to speak to somebody at eBay - they're pretty responsive and give good support. You just have to go through the help pages and scroll down to find the "chat with us" box. Then just go through an automated chat response bot, and it'll give you the option of somebody calling you. I've done it a couple of times lately, and they've been great.

That's a good way to prioritise, for example, "My return hasn't been accepted yet but they've relisted it" and "This seller is using heavily misleading descriptions" - and actually being able to properly describe the level to which they're duping people.

RevMatt

Yes,  I've found eBay to be helpful by phone as @digitalscream suggests.

In the case of my refund, technically they were still within eBay's prescribed timescales so no breach there, but nonetheless unprofessional and poor service 

Sidsky

I’m having real trouble in getting them to pay me the money that they owe me for several items that they’ve sold on my behalf for a commission. Let’s of emails, very few replies, promises of money that doesn’t turn up. Any advice other than to make a scene at the store and talk about them negatively all over social media? 

ElectricXII

Tell them, in writing, that you're going to start a small claim against them in court. Preferably write them a formal letter to that effect. Have a look on the Citizens Advice website about how to go about this.

hollywoodrox

ICBM said:

From another thread...

https://lifeguitars.co.uk/products/1981-roland-cube-60-electric-guitar-keyboard-amplifier

"This amplifier is in fantastic used condition. It has only a few signs of wear or use, none of which impact on the health, playability or tone of the instrument."

Absolute bollocks. It's very heavily used, and pretty knackered - it may well still work OK as these amps are fairly bombproof, but it's *not* in "fantastic used condition" - in fact, I think it's the worst of any I've ever seen.

OK, they do go on to say "Please look at the photos thoroughly as they constitute part of the product description" - but there's still a big difference between that and an honest written description, which this is not.

It's also wildly overpriced - they don't even go for that in *genuinely* fantastic condition.

It’s had severely heavy use in its life ,crikey it looks every year of its age 

Dave8

I bought a used Gator hard case from them recently, used but good condition - it arrived with a big crack in the plastic - it had been sent in a thin layer of bubble wrap and some plastic wrap over it. no wonder it arrived damaged.

They accepted a return and I got my refund.

Looks like its back for sale - and from the photos it looks to have been repaired, but no disclosure of the repair