Typical GAK...returning to old ways? (wish I'd never started this....just having a rant and whoosh!)

mark_random

Hey all. As you know, I'm no longer a GAK employee, but I still see @yoseph because we still do a podcast together. I'll pass on this feedback.

underdog

meltedbuzzbox;648142" said:

To be fair if it says to available to order on an item and GAK orders it for you upon purchase is that bad customer service or the customer being a bit of an idiot?

As mentioned previously this sort of thing can easily be addressed by a phone call. GAK are GREAT to deal with over the phone, they price match Thomann, they do try to make a deal better and they are based over here. They even got themselves a presence on this very forum and Mark was great to deal with. I dont see Andertons, GuitarGuitar on here and PMTs interaction is purely to drive their own promotions. 

As always the knee jerk reaction train has pulled up to the station and the passengers are climbing over each other to get aboard. 

If they can't run a website why have one? And the fact they are "over here" means what exactly? If you're buying online it makes no difference where they are located.

If something isn't in stock it should say so, if it says in stock then it bloody should be. If you can't keep your website stock updated don't list anything about availability on the site, it's simple really.

Rockhopper

Just to be clear when ordered everything was listed as being 'In stock'.

It would be so much better if there was just 'In stock' and 'Not available please call/contact etc.'

It just means I will not be ordering from them in the future. Maybe if I get enough bad service I will run out of shops and Gas!

guitargeek62

Rockhopper;647631" said:

@guitarfishbay If only there were local shops that stocked what I wanted. I live in Cornwall the only decent shop nearby is Modern Music but they are small and unfortunately didn't have what I wanted.

Andy's great at price matching and ordering in what you need, not always as fast as ordering online (should be) though.

Yoseph

Hi guys,

@mark_random thanks for giving me a shout on this, I'm not really on this forum as much as I should be. @rockhopper I'm really sorry your order got split and that you've decided not to shop with us as a result. No-one at GAK is trying to be misleading or deliberately offer bad service or hold onto people's money or anything like that. As @meltedbuzzbox said we do really try to whatever we can over the phone, and I think the guys we have working on the phone lines do a great job. 

Our website, like I'm sure everyone else's is, is linked to our stock system, every item we sell either states 'next day' 'available to order' or it gives a rough amount of days that the order will take. It never actually says 'in stock' as such, if it says 'available to order' then it means we need to order it from a supplier. I'd much rather it said 'out of stock' but Google won't let us list items as available for order if they are out of stock, it's a bit of a catch 22.

I guess one of a few things happened, either you read 'available to order' as being in stock (which is easy to do) or someone bought the last one at the same time as your order went through, either in the shop or over the phone. We are not ever trying to be misleading. Our website updates virtually realtime, and we do everything we can to keep people informed of what is in and out of stock. What would be the point in us doing business any other way?

We're not a big faceless company, we're 1 shop in Brighton and I'm sorry for any bad service anyone has had by using our website. I'm sorry that's it's made some of you so angry, it's not that nice to read from my end either. All we're trying to do is make shopping with us better than shopping with places like Thomann, so that guitar shops in this country stay open so you can try things out. 

If any of you ever have trouble then give me a shout either here or joe.branton@gak.co.uk

usedtobe

It's bad enough when websites are half full of items marked available to order, when you want to try something, rather than buy it without trying first, but marking stuff as in stock when it isn't, is a pisstake!

General rant, not directed at any particular business!

Bogwhoppit

Tesco's are the same. I was looking forward to beans on toast last night.  My beans were delivered, but my bread was on back order.

Sassafras

Is GAK still owned by a guy called Gary Marshall?

I knew him when he started up in business in what was little more than a booth in Kensington Gardens. He was a very decent bloke and I bought several very nice guitars, amps and pedals from him over the years when I lived in Brighton.

To me, "available to order" doesn't mean the same "as in stock" so they're not trying to bamboozle anyone.

Rockhopper

@guitargeek62 I have to agree Andy is great to deal with at Modern Music. Last guitar I got from there was not supposed to be available to the UK but he pulled as many strings as possible (pun not intended) and managed to get one for me at a better price than I could have imported it.

Yoseph

Sassafras said:

Is GAK still owned by a guy called Gary Marshall?

I knew him when he started up in business in what was little more than a booth in Kensington Gardens. He was a very decent bloke and I bought several very nice guitars, amps and pedals from him over the years when I lived in Brighton.

To me, "available to order" doesn't mean the same "as in stock" so they're not trying to bamboozle anyone.

@sassafras GAK is still owned by Gary. He doesn't manage the shop anymore as such, but he still owns it, and still very much involved in the shop. We've got a bit more space than we did back when it was just a booth, but we're still the yellow shop in The Laines

stonevibe

Sassafras said:

Is GAK still owned by a guy called Gary Marshall?

I knew him when he started up in business in what was little more than a booth in Kensington Gardens. He was a very decent bloke and I bought several very nice guitars, amps and pedals from him over the years when I lived in Brighton.

To me, "available to order" doesn't mean the same "as in stock" so they're not trying to bamboozle anyone.

Yup.

I bought many things from that little side shop in there.

usedtobe

I don't see the point of 'available to order', though.. I'm looking for a new acoustic. I want to try guitars in a shop, until I find the one I want to buy. I don't want to order a guitar (make and model) I haven't tried.

I don't think anyone would think 'available to order' meant 'in stock', would they..? Surely it means 'out of stock', no..?

Bogwhoppit

usedtobe said:

 'available to order'

Available def : to be had, ready for use, at hand, to hand, at one's disposal, at one's fingertips, within easy reach,

Order def : request (something) to be made, supplied, or served

Its available, but only if you order it

Yoseph

Fortheloveofguitar said:

Hertz32;647980" said:

I love GAK but their website is fucking shite, Available to order delivery isnt the same as Out of stock but it is according to their website. Their website also lacks the ability to sort by price, and the pictures are realllly tiny.
Yoseph not using the forum is a bit of a bummer too, Mark was ace and PM'ing him was practically as good as calling them up.

Too much like actually doing some work and customer relations.

Fortunately for Mark his job allowed him the time to monitor forums. Mine doesn't so much, that's not to say you can't PM me or email me or tag me in a post on here. 

But there is no need to attack me like that, I haven't actually not responded to anything on here. The reason that most shops stay off forums is because of how aggressive they tend to be. If you feel that getting hold of me on here is easier than phoning or emailing then please do I will always respond. 

underdog

Bogwhoppit;648886" said:

usedtobe said:

 'available to order'





Available def : to be had, ready for use, at hand, to hand, at one's disposal, at one's fingertips, within easy reach,Order def : request (something) to be made, supplied, or servedIts available, but only if you order it

Or easily misconstrued by the shopper as its available for them to order from the web site

guitargeek62

Rockhopper;648850" said:

@guitargeek62 I have to agree Andy is great to deal with at Modern Music. Last guitar I got from there was not supposed to be available to the UK but he pulled as many strings as possible (pun not intended) and managed to get one for me at a better price than I could have imported it.

I've lost count of the great deals he gave me there, I do miss living close by as it was nice to drop in and have a chat while trying out the new arrivals.

usedtobe

underdog said:

Bogwhoppit;648886" said:

usedtobe said:

 'available to order'





Available def : to be had, ready for use, at hand, to hand, at one's disposal, at one's fingertips, within easy reach,Order def : request (something) to be made, supplied, or servedIts available, but only if you order it

Or easily misconstrued by the shopper as its available for them to order from the web site

I always assumed it meant 'we can order it in'. It hadn't occurred to me that people might think it was in stock.. 

lloyd

Yoseph said:

Fortheloveofguitar said:

Hertz32;647980" said:

I love GAK but their website is fucking shite, Available to order delivery isnt the same as Out of stock but it is according to their website. Their website also lacks the ability to sort by price, and the pictures are realllly tiny.
Yoseph not using the forum is a bit of a bummer too, Mark was ace and PM'ing him was practically as good as calling them up.

Too much like actually doing some work and customer relations.

Fortunately for Mark his job allowed him the time to monitor forums. Mine doesn't so much, that's not to say you can't PM me or email me or tag me in a post on here. 

But there is no need to attack me like that, I haven't actually not responded to anything on here. The reason that most shops stay off forums is because of how aggressive they tend to be. If you feel that getting hold of me on here is easier than phoning or emailing then please do I will always respond. 

Fair play. not all of us can be on here 24/7 some people have work to do...poor bastards

underdog

usedtobe;648910" said:

underdog said:

Bogwhoppit;648886" said:usedtobe said:



 'available to order'











Available def : to be had, ready for use, at hand, to hand, at one's disposal, at one's fingertips, within easy reach,Order def : request (something) to be made, supplied, or servedIts available, but only if you order it

Or easily misconstrued by the shopper as its available for them to order from the web site












I always assumed it meant 'we can order it in'. It hadn't occurred to me that people might think it was in stock.. 

Easily misunderstood though when you look at it the other way isn't it? I don't see why it can't be updated with a delivery time/wait like Amazon, instead of available to order it could be delivered in 5 days or 21 days or whatever. I get the feeling businesses don't want to be that honest.

Yoseph

underdog said:

usedtobe;648910" said:

underdog said:

Bogwhoppit;648886" said:usedtobe said:



 'available to order'











Available def : to be had, ready for use, at hand, to hand, at one's disposal, at one's fingertips, within easy reach,Order def : request (something) to be made, supplied, or servedIts available, but only if you order it

Or easily misconstrued by the shopper as its available for them to order from the web site












I always assumed it meant 'we can order it in'. It hadn't occurred to me that people might think it was in stock.. 

Easily misunderstood though when you look at it the other way isn't it? I don't see why it can't be updated with a delivery time/wait like Amazon, instead of available to order it could be delivered in 5 days or 21 days or whatever. I get the feeling businesses don't want to be that honest.

The decision to use the phrase 'available to order' was one of the only ways we could keep out of stock products available for pre-order on Google. There certainly wasn't from our end any aim to be misleading, what would be the point? All it's gained us is threads like this. 

I'd love to update every item with a lead time, but it's not that simple. Most manufacturers don't give specific delivery dates and often those dates change. Look at Pedal Train for example; they changed the design of their board 3 months ago and still haven't got any over to the UK. Every month or so they get hold of us and tell us that the boards still aren't ready, it would be very hard for us to put a set date on the product without us coming under loads of flack when the item doesn't meet the deadline.

That said, I'm up for feedback, and I'm happy to pass on suggestions if 'available to order' isn't obviously enough different from 'available next day'. Would changing it to 'available for pre-order' be better? I'd rather not end up in this situation so any feedback is welcome.