Tone World in Administration

streethawk

I went into Dawsons in Manchester once and it was similarly staffed. Probably a few years back. 

Forsythes' staff seem nice and it's a cool place, always someone playing the joanna on the way up to the guitars. 

Adam_MD

Dawsons is the Dixons of the guitar world, especially the one in Belfast.  All of the staff were 16, the stock was terrible and rather expensive.

Deijavoo

I remember years ago applying for some sort of guitar department role at Dawsons when I was moving to Liverpool. Never even got an interview and I went in after I just transferred quite easily with my then job. I met the bloke who got the job i applied for and he was a totally ace guy with loads of knowledge, needless to say he didn't last long. 

Mystique

Mystique said:

As someone who has lost a substantial cash deposit and an instrument on consignment sale, I can make a few comments. If the instrument was still under consignment sale after declaring Administration, the owner can reclaim the instrument as it is not an asset of the business. In my case it was apparently sold on Dec 31st. Therefore the sale was a part of Tone World's assets. They did not inform me of the sale, nor pass on the money. I was informed on the 9th Jan that the company was in administration, by the administrators. I had contacted the shop by telephone and email between Dec 31st and 8th Jan and my enquiries were not answered.

Comment: it is very odd, that looking at the website (now down) after administration was declared, ALL the used guitars were declared as 'sold'. Comment: was it not apparent on Dec 31st, when my consignment instrument was sold, that the business was heading for the rocks? What happened that ALL the used instruments were suddenly 'sold'? Why was I not informed of the sale?

Comment: on repeated questioning on whereabouts of my long-ordered and overdue instrument, on which I lost a substantial deposit. I KNOW I was lied to. I am not willing to say how I know this but it was independent verification. My losses are substantial. Needless to say I am not happy. Others have lost substantial amounts on consignment sales.

For information, the business appears to have closed down in Manchester and is now registered in Birmingham.

Clarification: Toneworld does seem to have closed - the Birmingham address is that of the administrators

Mystique

Seeing as this thread is going a little off-topic, I will put in some good words for local NW stores.

Curly's were great on a web-order of a hard-to-find Ibanez hard case; Dawson's in Manchester city centre I have always found courteous and helpful. Sounds Great music were very accommodating when they agreed that a special-order Peerless guitar had a sub-standard finish, and accepted a return on it, as I had found a (better) alternative elsewhere. Fould's a little further afield were very helpful when I was trying out and comparing semi-acoustics.

Tone World. Well. On the face of it, they were knowledgeable and helpful. But the manager lied to me heinously, and all the evidence points to the administration of the company being visible to the manager in the Autumn of last year, and they kept the sale monies from my consignment guitar days before going into administration. They left me out of pocket by nearly £1,400 - avoidably so - that's how good the management was.

[Deleted User]

websites been down for 2 days now....this looks bad.

richardhomer

darcym;167166" said:

websites been down for 2 days now....this looks bad.

The website has been down since Friday 7th Feb, the day the shop closed....

SmutMonkey100

Mystique said:

As someone who has lost a substantial cash deposit and an instrument on consignment sale, I can make a few comments. If the instrument was still under consignment sale after declaring Administration, the owner can reclaim the instrument as it is not an asset of the business. In my case it was apparently sold on Dec 31st. Therefore the sale was a part of Tone World's assets. They did not inform me of the sale, nor pass on the money. I was informed on the 9th Jan that the company was in administration, by the administrators. I had contacted the shop by telephone and email between Dec 31st and 8th Jan and my enquiries were not answered.

Comment: it is very odd, that looking at the website (now down) after administration was declared, ALL the used guitars were declared as 'sold'. Comment: was it not apparent on Dec 31st, when my consignment instrument was sold, that the business was heading for the rocks? What happened that ALL the used instruments were suddenly 'sold'? Why was I not informed of the sale?

Comment: on repeated questioning on whereabouts of my long-ordered and overdue instrument, on which I lost a substantial deposit. I KNOW I was lied to. I am not willing to say how I know this but it was independent verification. My losses are substantial. Needless to say I am not happy. Others have lost substantial amounts on consignment sales.

For information, the business appears to have closed down in Manchester and is now registered in Birmingham.

This opens a very large can of worms, all I can say from my angle is that I did not even know the situation Tone World was in and I was part of the business as an employee, I knew of course we were struggling but did not foresee what happened, Am I naive, yes most probably,  as had I seen what was coming I would have taken actions to ensure I did not end up being landed with a substantial debt that I now have .  

Without going into too much detail I am pretty sure I know the guitar you had on order although I was not involved in the process, have you spoke to the UK distributor about the guitar at all, as my assumptions would lead me to think this guitar was coming from America?

imalone

Adam_MD said:

Dawsons is the Dixons of the guitar world, especially the one in Belfast.  All of the staff were 16, the stock was terrible and rather expensive.

Haven't been to the Belfast one, but Bangor has been okay when I've been in there.

shredguitarman

To be fair to Toneworld you would be surprised how quickly things can turn... Especially in retail where Christmas usually delivers a large peak in revenue. I would suspect the business knew Christmas was make or break and maybe a poor Christmas, combined with expensive legal fees, left them with only one option. They probably needed a little more investment to get them through... If they have now closed then I wonder if that means there were no suitable buyers for the business.. Or that the legal issues were enough to put prospective buyers off.

johnegan

I've known both Gary and Rick for years and have bought quite a few guitars from them at Sounds Great and latterly at Toneworld. They have always been helpful, honest and fair in their dealings and have gone out of their way to help whenever necessary. This is very sad news and I hope they bounce back.

badlydrawnbanjo

Turns out that Sound Affects have bought all Tone Worlds stock.

Fretwired

Just got this email:


In case you are not aware Tone World of Manchester recently went into administration. On the 8th January 2014 W John Kelly and Nigel Price were appointed as Joint Administrators for Tone World Ltd.
 
It was a great shop, with great staff but sadly it didn't work out and we wish Gary and his staff all the very best for the future.
 
Sound Affects has acquired the assets from Tone World including certain stock, the website and the customer database. The website is currently down but we will soon be relaunching it under a new name. Although the actual store has closed we have a great new shop opening in Ormskirk, Lancs that will be full of exciting brands presented in a very unique way. Watch this space….or go to our Facebook Page to see progress.
 
As a previous customer of Tone World we have added you to our existing database for news, reviews and exclusive special offers.

As a starter we are able to offer out some of the Tone World stock at this stage. Below is a list of some of this stock that has not yet been put onto our website so there is a good opportunity to acquire some new gear at great prices.

If you see anything you like, just call us on 01695-570023 or e-mail us sales@soundaffectsmusic.com. Shipping to UK is free on everything

lustycourtier

Did they buy the used stock I wonder....

StefB

lustycourtier said:

Did they buy the used stock I wonder....

Apparently so, but there wasn't a lot of it judging from the first e-mail I received from Sound Affects on Sunday afternoon.

I quickly snagged a used Blackstar ID:100 head off them, which is due for delivery any minute in fact...

sted

Only just got on to this, shame that, never went there but seemed a great shop, I have no experience of the former owners but I've shopped at SG loads of times and have been very happy and wanted to throttle them senseless in equal measure. One thing that is guaranteed there though is the ludicrous offers for part exchange gear, I actually laughed out loud at the bloke serving me once, he wasn't happy, I didn't give a rats.

Van_Hayden

Good news for Rick

http://www.mi-pro.co.uk/news/read/new-recruit-for-zoom-uk/018713?fb_action_ids=10151904887506082&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=[718553121500622]&action_type_map=["og.likes"]&action_ref_map=[]

richardhomer

Van_Hayden;194851" said:

Good news for Rick

Indeed it is. Rick's a lovely bloke and has a great passion for what he does. I'll really miss having the pleasure of dealing with him in a retail environment but I wish him every success in his new role. Few people understand guitars and guitar players as well as he does.

Homerun66

Wilko_Snatch said:

Sadly not! But I believe they do a pretty good humble pie, perhaps they can save a piece for you know who? 

And I'm not calling anyone out of anything just showing support for the one good retailer left in the area. If us lot don't support these retail shops there won't be anywhere left to buy decent gear and try it before you buy it rather than online.

There are probably only a handful of these type of retailers left in the UK, who have the balls to invest in expensive stock and hope that we occasionally turn up and spend some hard earned on it. And too few of them are anywhere near the North West so be grateful we've still got this lot at sounds great, coz you'd miss them if they weren't there and had to buy everything from Tesco.

Are you on the payroll

richardhomer

Homerun66;345630" said:

Are you on the payroll

I'm pretty confident I know exactly who this is - and if I'm right, the answer to your question is 'yes'.