Dulcimer Shoppe — Local services in Mountain View

With sadness I have to say that I had a frustrating experience with The Dulcimer Shoppe, the maker of McSpadden dulcimers. It was the first time that I dealt with this company. I ordered a Ginger short scale dulcimer, and the instrument that was shipped to me had two nicks-dings on the top. Ok, just cosmetic, but it bugged me. I wrote to The Dulcimer Shoppe and added photos. The owner answered that when they check an instrument before shipping they “do not use a magnifying glass”… which I think it is not the right attitude towards a customer who has a problem. He also said that he offered to fix the dulcimer, or that I was free to return the instrument, as long as I was going to pay for the shipping cost... Again, I am not sure this was right because I was not returning a perfect instrument just because I changed my mind, but I was returning an instrument with a cosmetic issue. Anyway, before deciding to return the instrument, I asked the shipping department how much they were going to deduct from my refund because of shipping costs. The answer was: $25.81. So I shipped it back. Today I received the refund, and they deducted $84.25 from it, for shipping expenses… that is more than 3 times than what I was told. I wrote to them asking to explain. Response: “ Sorry for the misunderstanding. When I replied to you I was focused on the return shipping and not the previous one. Due to the fact that you are returning and not exchanging, our policy is that the customer pays for the shipping both ways. If you had elected to exchange or have it repaired, we would not have charged you the shipping”. I would have much appreciated if they had given me this detailed info upfront, which they didn't. If I knew that I was going to lose 85 dollars, I could have chosen a different option, as having the dulcimer fixed or having it replaced. I am sad to see that they didn't do any effort to put themselves on the customer's side and understand my frustration. It looks like, for the Dulcimer Shoppe, a few dollars are more important than losing a customer for life. I am sure that there are many customers who have been very satisfied with their experience with The Dulcimer Shoppe and McSpadden dulcimers, this is one of the reason why I decided to go with a McSpadden. But in my case, unfortunately, I believe that I have been treated very unfairly. In summary, let me summarize the 2 reasons for my frustration:

1. If a customer receives an instrument that it is not 100% perfect but it has an issue, even if only cosmetic, he has the right to decide if to have the instrument fixed, or replaced, or to return it for a refund. If he chooses this third option, he should NOT be charged for the two way shipping cost. In fact, this is what all reputable makers do.
2. Because I didn't want to keep the instrument or having it fixed, and preferred to return it, but the seller insisted about deducting the shipping costs, I asked how much they were and they told me: $25.00. So, even if I thought it was unfair, I decided to accept this deduction and shipped the dulcimer back. But...they instead deducted $85.00 from the refund! So they are retaining a whopping 15% from the amount that I paid! And they are refusing to honor the estimate of 25 dollars that their shipping department gave me. Basically, I am the one paying a price for having received an instrument that was not impeccable. That is wrong, and not what I should expect from a...

Absolutely lovely shop. When I visited in October while seeing family they allowed me to play one of their dulcimers and were very patient with teaching me even though I don’t have good shoulder mobility in one arm. My mother came in and bought one of their instruments for Christmas for me and they were very helpful to her— they even allowed me to call the next day and order a strap over the phone to send with my order! And when I needed the tracking number (my mother accidentally forgot it) and they couldnt reach me in a call, they actually texted me. Please do stop into this lovely shop— and don’t be afraid to ask questions and order online! I will enjoy my piece of the South in Washington when my dulcimer arrives.

EDIT: she’s here and everything I...

I ordered a capo from The Dulcimer Shoppe, then later that day, I realized I had forgotten to order an extra dulcimer case, so I placed another order. I realized I was paying too much in shipping by not having combined the order, but thought it would be a waste of time and effort to call them. Guess what? The next day I got an unsolicited Paypal notice that I was getting shipping credit for one package and they combined the order on their own. What vendor goes to that trouble on their own? Thank you, Haley, for your diligence and thoughtfulness. I am a forever customer of this shoppe because they do business the old-fashioned way! They are...