Mill River Music and Guitars — Attraction in Northampton

AVOID MILL RIVER MUSIC AT ALL COSTS - JON (the owner) HAS AN APPALLING LACK OF ATTENTION TO DETAIL. ADDITIONALLY, HE IS EXTREMELY RUDE AND DISHONEST.

In the past 25 years, I have over 2500 transactions on ebay and reverb. I have left negative or neutral feedback less than one 1/2 of 1% of the time. In this case, Jon richly deserved it. Many times over.

PayPal glitched my address on a Reverb Payment, resulting in Jon sending my guitar to the wrong address. This was DESPITE me giving the correct information to Julia prior to the sale AND having the correct information on file with Reverb. As soon as I saw the error, I contacted Mill River Music immediately -Julia was not there, so I had to deal with Jon.

Jon acknowledged the correct information WAS provided ahead of time, that he did not talk to Julia prior sending, and that he blindly went by what PayPal provided without contacting me first to verify. (Despite my primary address of record on Reverb being the one I had provided to Julia prior.) ALL OF THIS WAS NO BIG DEAL- LIFE HAPPENS-I GET IT. However, when I contacted Jon, instead of apologizing for his oversight, and immediately correcting the situation, he was incredibly rude and insulting many times over. OVER HIS LACK OF ATTENTION TO DETAIL. There is no excuse for this deliberate lack of customer service and accountability. None. He then said he would contact Fed-Ex to reroute my guitar. HE DID NOT. Again, there is no excuse for this deliberate lack of customer service and accountability. None.

Jon had several days to contact Fed-Ex prior to delivery and failed to do so. He had time to send me several obnoxious messages, but he couldn't make time to contact Fed-Ex and redirect the guitar prior to delivery.

This resulted in the guitar being delivered to a high crime area and left unattended in plain view in a box labeled as a guitar.

It is incredibly lucky that the new occupants were honest, retrieved it before it was stolen, held it for Fed-Ex and that Fed-Ex was ultimately able to deliver it correctly. (No thanks to Jon.)

Jon never once acknowledged his lack of attention to detail with my valuable instrument, or apologized for mishandling it. IF he had, that would have been the beginning and end of it. Instead, Jon's actions have forced me to leave this review as a warning to potential customers. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. THIS IS NOT SOMEONE WHO TAKES PERSONAL OWNERSHIP, PRIDE, AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE GOODS AND SERVICES HE PROVIDES. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

PS: 1. to be absolutely clear, Jon waited TWO days after i reached out before he contacted Fed-Ex. 2. I have screenshots and pdfs of everything. 3. i fully expect that instead of demonstrating basic customer service and simply owning his mistakes and apologizing for them, Jon will reply to this review with more gaslighting and personal attacks. AGAIN, Avoid...

I'm a bit conflicted because my experience with the employees here was that they were very friendly, but I regret saying that my experience was also characterized by total incompetence. I called to ask about an item they had listed on Reverb and whether I could come check it out. The guy I talked to said that it was in another building and he'd have to get it sent there which he was happy to do and that it should be there in a couple days at the latest. I called back a week later and he said that they forgot and that he'd definitely go get it that day and that he promised it would absolutely be there the next day.

So I drove an hour to get there and, big surprise, it wasn't there. I explained that I had driven an hour on the promise that it would be there. One of the guy's working there was nice enough to call and have the item brought over which took about half an hour. When it got there, not only did it look noticeably worse than in the photos (it was definitely the same item though), it wasn't fully operational. I told the guy working there what its faults were and advised he be aware of this if they have it listed online because they're just going to have to deal with a return if they sell it to someone else. I then asked to try another item in the store. The same guy then went looking for the power supply but couldn't locate it and then went off to help other customers.

At this point I just left. This was my first time actually visiting this store and I honestly wouldn't go back, nor would I ever buy anything that they had listed on Reverb or elsewhere because apparently they don't really test the items they have on there. The item I specifically told them wasn't working correctly is still listed as I type this, so they aren't even competent enough to remove stuff or edit descriptions on stuff they know has issues. I get that sometimes mistakes are made in a business, but the impression I got here from multiple interactions is that they just don't...

On this day, I was just browsing. But if there's one thing guitar players do NOT have anger towards, it's allowing for TIME for browsing equipment, and an on-site,on-demand set up spot to actually handle 'em animals!!- Nevermind a squint at a newsprint Manual! The Mill River people are obviously players, but they're specifically conisuers for the quality hardware meant to enhance a guitar player's performance, whether for the whole gymnasium, the whole graduating class, Shea Stadium or just a corner and whomever happens to pass. To that end, the collection of pedals for sale is truly impressive. Looking for the latest of Josh's channel? They've got everything from BOSS and Behringer to Walrus and Wampler. They'll actually stoked to let you sit and try pedals out, noodling on headphones because their goal is genuinely to make sure you buy something you love. While in the past they carried a decent amount of synthesizers and related, when I asked during the visit I learned they were 'pivoting a bit' away from hardware synthesis toward live sound reinforcement and accessories. Really who can blame them as synths represent the more fickle, fleeting, ephemeral and at least one other good adjective of markets, where pieces that consumers were begging for and praising the potentials for, only to have that enthusiasm disappear when a single feature fails to materialize etc. But what they are doing is so good right now, a great place that you feel welcome in! Plus, despite the huge pedal collection, it's nearly doubled by the used case! The benefits of which need no explanation, as even guitar ( although importantly pedals are great synth add-ons also) accessories can sometimes leave you with price tag shell shock.

Lastly, they're also available for REPAIRS on many devices and of course tune ups and new setups for performing musicians who just need to get into get out go. Next time you're in Northampton, make a...