Long and McQuade

Whatever doesn't fit anywhere else.

Postby Mathieu Benoit » Thu Jan 28, 2010 1:47 pm

UPDATE:

Potential resolution is in sight. Local management has finally contacted me and we'll be scheduling a meeting over the coming weeks. Until that time I do not wish to pursue this issue publicly any further. After the meeting I'll be making a new statement based on the outcome of our discussions.

I'd like to take this time to both thank those of you who have supported me in this matter and to apologize to those who've been inconvenienced by this thread. I still however stand by this thread and my opinions, regardless of how others may choose to view them. It's just unfortunate things weren't settled more quickly, as much of this could have been avoided. However, I do believe that at this time management is finally ready to have a real dialogue and I'll honour that by saying no more on the matter for the time being.

I look forward to moving in a new and positive direction from this point, as long as that direction benefits both parties involved.

Cheers,

Matt
"Volume automation takes time. You don't got that kinda time. You could be getting naked with somebody somewhere." -Slipperman

Mathieu Benoit - Fluid Productions
www.fluidaudiogroup.com
www.facebook.com/FluidAudioGroup
User avatar
Mathieu Benoit
Drumwaiter
 
Posts: 4707
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:55 pm
Location: Saint John, New Brunswick

Postby clinton » Thu Jan 28, 2010 5:04 pm

Superstore was out of Sushi Tuesday night....wait til you see MY thread!
"I came unarmed, they've all got knives, how can this song survive?" - Ron Sexsmith (Blue Boy)
clinton
Gold Member
 
Posts: 501
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2007 10:35 am
Location: www.januarythroughdecember.com

Postby Mathieu Benoit » Thu Jan 28, 2010 5:09 pm

I'll lend you my pitchfork!
"Volume automation takes time. You don't got that kinda time. You could be getting naked with somebody somewhere." -Slipperman

Mathieu Benoit - Fluid Productions
www.fluidaudiogroup.com
www.facebook.com/FluidAudioGroup
User avatar
Mathieu Benoit
Drumwaiter
 
Posts: 4707
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:55 pm
Location: Saint John, New Brunswick

Postby Mathieu Benoit » Thu Feb 25, 2010 7:49 pm

So, earlier this week I got together with management to discuss my concerns. I wasn't going to really get into it, but I promised to post the results, so here they are:

We came to the conclusion that there are certainly times when they failed to adhere to their mission statement with me (I saw a copy of it.) However we've decided that logistically it can't really be fixed and it's best if I do my complicated business in a store that is better suited for my needs. That is what I was doing when this thread started anyways, so I'm already on the right track. I said that I may still come in from time to time to window show or buy small things off the floor or check out a sale maybe though.

Now to be fair, I had to examine my part in this too. I suppose that I shouldn't have presumed that the store could have taken care of my specific orders just because they were now a big nationwide retailer, the way I thought they could. This put undue pressure on my relationship with the franchise because I did not clearly communicate my expectations in the beginning. Knowing this now I feel I am partly to blame for having been so arrogant as to make such a presumption.

Anyways, all is good.


PS Next time I'm in, I owe someone a large tea with milk. ;-)
"Volume automation takes time. You don't got that kinda time. You could be getting naked with somebody somewhere." -Slipperman

Mathieu Benoit - Fluid Productions
www.fluidaudiogroup.com
www.facebook.com/FluidAudioGroup
User avatar
Mathieu Benoit
Drumwaiter
 
Posts: 4707
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:55 pm
Location: Saint John, New Brunswick

Postby Cubical » Thu Mar 04, 2010 3:36 am

aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......end scene...
"he has more skids in his underwear than you'll find on an Indy 500 raceway folks.."
Cubical
Bronze Member
 
Posts: 118
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 5:47 pm
Location: Saint John, For Now....

Re: Long and McQuade

Postby Mathieu Benoit » Wed Jun 13, 2012 5:10 pm

So, here we are 2.25 years later.

I have to say that a lot has changed in my experiences with L&M in the past year. I was actually talking to Steve on the phone a few weeks back expressing how pleased I was with the service I had been getting there. Sure sometimes unexpected things happen but the overall accountability for everything is much better. I am quite pleased with their performance in general, I must say. I have also spoken to many people who felt as I did when this thread started who have also been very pleased with their latest experiences with them as well.

All is well that ends well.
"Volume automation takes time. You don't got that kinda time. You could be getting naked with somebody somewhere." -Slipperman

Mathieu Benoit - Fluid Productions
www.fluidaudiogroup.com
www.facebook.com/FluidAudioGroup
User avatar
Mathieu Benoit
Drumwaiter
 
Posts: 4707
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:55 pm
Location: Saint John, New Brunswick

Re: Long and McQuade

Postby macrae11 » Wed Jun 13, 2012 5:27 pm

That's awesome to hear.
User avatar
macrae11
Andrew MacRae
 
Posts: 2128
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Oromocto

Re: Long and McQuade

Postby Scott DeVarenne » Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:04 pm

"So many tears I've cried
So much pain inside
But baby ............................."
User avatar
Scott DeVarenne
mr distant
 
Posts: 557
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:03 pm
Location: SJ/NB/CA

Re: Long and McQuade

Postby Alain Benoit » Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:45 pm

There is definitely a concerted effort on their part to do the right thing by us at least.
The still don't tune their guitars or change the strings often.

A.
www.fluidaudiogroup.com

"No one has time to do it right, but we all seem to have time to do it twice."
User avatar
Alain Benoit
Self Biased Resistor
 
Posts: 1321
Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:21 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Long and McQuade

Postby macrae11 » Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:09 pm

Alain Benoit wrote:There is definitely a concerted effort on their part to do the right thing by us at least.
The still don't tune their guitars or change the strings often.

A.

Having worked many moons in a music store I get your complaint, but what you're asking is almost an impossibility. With close to 2 hundred plus guitars hanging on the walls with constantly changing temperature and humidity from doors opening and guitars that often come from the manufacturer with crappy strings and no setup. In order to setup every guitar with new strings and keeping things tuned would take a full time employee doing just that. Not particularly feasible.

My goal was always to keep the high end acoustics somewhere within reason, fix anything that was seriously out of whack before it went on the floor, and try to get ahead of the customers to tune things up either before they grab them, or before they plug in. Then when someone takes something home, a free setup and a new set of strings if they're bad enough is about all you can do.
User avatar
macrae11
Andrew MacRae
 
Posts: 2128
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Oromocto

Re: Long and McQuade

Postby Alain Benoit » Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:20 pm

macrae11 wrote:.............. fix anything that was seriously out of whack before it went on the floor, and try to get ahead of the customers to tune things up either before they grab them, or before they plug in. Then when someone takes something home, a free setup and a new set of strings if they're bad enough is about all you can do.


They are falling short I believe of even that much.
Case in point, there was until recently in stock a used Godin guitar, looks good, appeared to be of excellent quality.
A clerk approached a friend and myself with it touting it's virtues, clearly caught my friends eye, one feel of the blackened out of tune strings and it went right back on the hook.
This happens a lot. That guitar has been reduced at least twice and may still be there, the $5 and 10 minutes it would take to replace those strings would have moved that guitar a long time ago.
This is the number one guitar player complaint I hear about this store, although it may very well plague all stores, I believe there is room for improvement especially when during mid day slack time I've often walked in to find half the staff sitting around and chatting while the recently layed off guy was shipping and receiving.

But then again I could be completely talking out of my bungholio.

A.
www.fluidaudiogroup.com

"No one has time to do it right, but we all seem to have time to do it twice."
User avatar
Alain Benoit
Self Biased Resistor
 
Posts: 1321
Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:21 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Long and McQuade

Postby macrae11 » Wed Jun 13, 2012 8:30 pm

Alain Benoit wrote:
macrae11 wrote:.............. fix anything that was seriously out of whack before it went on the floor, and try to get ahead of the customers to tune things up either before they grab them, or before they plug in. Then when someone takes something home, a free setup and a new set of strings if they're bad enough is about all you can do.


They are falling short I believe of even that much.
Case in point, there was until recently in stock a used Godin guitar, looks good, appeared to be of excellent quality.
A clerk approached a friend and myself with it touting it's virtues, clearly caught my friends eye, one feel of the blackened out of tune strings and it went right back on the hook.
This happens a lot. That guitar has been reduced at least twice and may still be there, the $5 and 10 minutes it would take to replace those strings would have moved that guitar a long time ago.
This is the number one guitar player complaint I hear about this store, although it may very well plague all stores, I believe there is room for improvement especially when during mid day slack time I've often walked in to find half the staff sitting around and chatting while the recently layed off guy was shipping and receiving.

But then again I could be completely talking out of my bungholio.

A.

It's been years since I've been in the store so I can't really comment. Used guitars are a tough nut. Usually there's no margins, especially on the cheaper models which makes it tough to sink any more money into them. With a big company like this they might even have corporate dictates dealing with this stuff I don't know. I think Tony's in Fredericton is the best store in the maritimes for this issue. An accountant might say they're overstaffed, but things are generally pretty tip top in this department.
User avatar
macrae11
Andrew MacRae
 
Posts: 2128
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Oromocto

Re: Long and McQuade

Postby Alain Benoit » Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:05 pm

I'm sure that a company this size has a corporate manual dictating just this type of thing.
It was just a specific case of had this guitar been currently playable it would be SOLD.
Tough call I know.

Good for Tony's, shows it's doable.

Speaking of corporate manuals, I spent half an afternoon once at a MARS music store in Las Vegas, while browsing the pro audio department I was approached my a a sales guy in his early 50's, seemed real pleasant and he ended up spending over an hour helping me scour the store for used rack gear, ended up spending hundreds of dollars. He took my address and shipped everything to me. Got the gear about a week after I got back home. he is of a dying breed I assure you.
While he had me digging in some long forgotten closet near the staff room, I noticed a kid glued to a TV screen, he was watching a corporate sales training video made for the chain, I actually stood there for a while listening. The things I heard literally gave me goosebumps and made me sick. Everything was formulaic, gear towards volume, speed, not having customers waste time with questions and herding everyone towards the cash register with an armload of junk. MARS is now bankrupt. While in the pro audio section I overheard a girl who was just starting her shift explaining to a customer who had asked about phantom power on the Cardinal/Raven series of microphones displayed that it was something that "engineers at EV had invented to give those mics that extra voltage that made them more powerful" I nearly shit!

The older gentleman apologized to me for having heard such non-sense and assured me that jobs were somehow hard to fill there and she had only been there a couple of weeks and likely wouldn't last. He was originally from Boston and had played with Paul Revere and the Raiders in his earlier years.

A.
www.fluidaudiogroup.com

"No one has time to do it right, but we all seem to have time to do it twice."
User avatar
Alain Benoit
Self Biased Resistor
 
Posts: 1321
Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:21 pm
Location: Canada

Previous

Return to The Coffee Shop

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 32 guests

cron