I’ve noticed a lot of people seem to buy gear to try it out and then just return it in the window. I’ve never really considered doing this, and I’ve felt a bit sketchy about the concept. I wondered if anyone who was experienced in this / considers it a norm had any tips on what the best way to go about it. I’m thinking about:
how do you handle packaging (plastic bags and the like). Are you super cautious about not ripping plastic bags (which can be hard when they are sealed closed), about opening the box itself, etc?
what about all the little cable ties around power supplies? Do you tie them back up as you found them.
do you factory reset when sending them back?
Essentially those to questions amount to “do you try to pretend they’ve not been used?”
Then also
anyone got any good UK recommendations of places people are lax about accepting returns
often you get asked the reason for the return, what do you give?
and other “watch outs” or tips? Anyone been burned (I saw the guy that bought the percons from Germany in another thread!)
I do, some don’t do it seems as I’ve obviously had a few things that have already been returned.
Andertons are good. Can arrange a courier for you! Handy as a big synth etc will cost you more than the £20 they charge (they deduct it from your refund).
GAK make you arrange your own courier for sending something back. Pretty sure PMT is the same.
Think SCAN arrange a courier but you need to check.
I do
Just say it’s not for you. I’m always polite. But it’s the law, so they don’t have a choice unfortunately.
BAX and DV247 would be off my list. Think Thomman are good though, again, a polite email will get you the answers you need - they’re all VERY used to it now.
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I always felt bad about this, but it’s just the way it is now. Any of these big box shifters, I don’t have a problem sending it back. I always keep the item clean and damage free, always keep ALL the packaging and return it in a state I wouldn’t mind receiving it in.
What I don’t get is people who want to be able to send anything back, but then don’t want an item that’s been returned by someone else. Cake and eat it etc.
Id actually prefer to order a Guitar online now so I can get to see if it’s right through my setup rather than the horrendous “try it out in a shop full of people” thing.
Everything you listed I do anyway lol. I don’t think there is any reason not to be honest, I never purposely buy gear just to try it with the intention of sending it back, but I think once or twice I just didn’t really like the product at all. I just emailed within the 30 days, said I didn’t like it, and that was all.
I don’t ‘like t’ to do it, but I have done it in the past. I know it’s a pain for retailers though. Certain places are pretty good about it if you don’t take the p**** but at the same time they are a small independent so I don’t really like to cost them money returning stuff. They are passionate about getting you the right gear though.
The big box shifters are all ok - gear4music are particularly easy and sort it no questions asked. Or Amazon….
The UK/EU law will probably be more specific but most instrument sellers in the US are pretty good with returns.
Vendor will generally re-sell as “open box”, and so long as you’re honest about the reasons being that you just didn’t gel you may have to pay restocking and return ship but won’t get hassled about acceptance.
Not tearing sealed plastic is good but sometimes difficult. I don’t care about twist ties with PSU but it’s not bad either. I generally keep all packaging and inserts until i know i’m going to keep the device just in case i encounter an actual failure.
I don’t generally run factory initialization since I don’t change settings very far if i’m returning outright, it’s usually more visceral whether i click with an instrument.
Definitely not rude to return something over dealing with something you don’t want in practice, if you’re finding that happen repeatedly you’ll need to address those patterns with yourself.
Here’s my (not trying to be contrary) take - but it’s how I operate.
Never done it, don’t intend to … don’t intend to defend my self retrospectively on this either, but I’m not pointing fingers
I’ve been stung by this (albeit not to the extent it wasn’t addressable and was resolved)
But my point is that there are no free lunches, we ALL pay for it anyway
I’ve had open box things which were dreadful misrepresentations or filthy and ‘new’ stuff that was clearly used etc
At the end of the day, the cost of covering for this is something we all pay like a micro tax on the gear
It is what it is, but buying stuff to sample it is bad form, buying it on a ‘I can send it back’ whim is gas gone too far imho - just do more research where possible/applicable
I have sent things back, when they were buggy or poor quality but the whole hassle of it means it’s not something I relish
So in a way, the thread kinda makes me sad - we have to return gear that’s not right, but planning for it is on the border of making it be an okay endeavour - we all know people who work in these stores, I dare say the cost of our beloved gear from Elektron factors in the possibly significant amount of avoidable returns they experience - I guess in the olden days wen I wur a lad you had to be committed and deal with it
I keep everything in the box and if it comes to a warranty situation it shows you take care - so no harm in just being careful when getting something anyway, it keeps your options open
I’m not pointing fingers, but it’s annoying that we have to be cautious about getting ‘used’ gear when buying new - each to their own
I’ve not had to return anything to them yet but you can see in the descriptions stuff like “Customer return as not quite what they wanted. In near mint condition, just a VERY faint mark on screen (shown above). Comes with all the original cables, stickers and packaging”. That was for a Model:Samples. Worth checking the Ts+Cs too -
“Once we have received the item we will check it over to make sure it is in perfect condition and has all original packaging and parts. If the item is damaged, not in perfect condition, or has any packaging or parts missing a return may not be possible or the amount available as refund, exchange or credit may be affected. Once the item is checked we’ll contact you with the refund, exchange or credit options available.” https://www.elevatorsound.com/returns-warranty/
I’m generally of the opinion that we should try to avoid returning stuff for the avoidance of hassle for the staff if nothing else. Like many I’ll do copious amounts of research and thinking before pulling the trigger on something, but sometimes it’s really hard to tell if a bit of gear will work out for you, either the workflow or some specific technical limitation in terms of integration with other gear that might be hard to predict. So I think it’s not too unreasonable to look for sites that offer a bit of a safety net with purchases that you might be really unsure about.
Something like the Torso T1 seems like a good example, it seems like a really interesting and potentially powerful sequencer but it’s really hard to gauge if it’ll be something that will gel with me, watching a bunch of videos about it doesn’t make it any clearer tbh. So it feels like a bit of a coin toss and for 500 quid it seems a bit much to gamble with. Living near a brick & mortar shop and getting hands on would always be ideal of course.
It’s all about whether it becomes a pattern, i think.
It’s not “anti-GAS” if someone keep something because you feel you have to, I made the exception to return a drum machine recently when it didn’t work with my flow as much as it did for others, spec matched, I’ve been in the studio and saw others using it fine, but it just didn’t click with my sound.
Nabbing things to sample is a bit odd though, seems like a waste of energy and creativity!
And if people make any money off of stuff like sample packs, developing relationships with local shops and working something out with demo synths would seem to be a more sane option
Yeah that’s what has always stopped me. The things I want to try are maybe more avant garde, things I have no experience of (rather than a case of “ooh would be nice to try a ply rite for a bit”… which it would, but I wouldn’t do that.)
It’s more like things which are experimental, but have no contact for fitting them in to a setup, and are too expensive to buy on a whim.
I live somewhere hundreds of miles from a shop where I could even touch a new synth, let alone figure out how it might work for me.
I’ve not bought anything I don’t intend to keep but have returned the odd thing that didn’t work out in my set up due to audio/midi stuff, not having a soft thru etc but I always rtfm first unless one isn’t available.
I’ve defo got used equipment as new before but as long as it works, doesn’t stink of dairy or fags I’ll keep it. Or fish.
It goes back if it smells of fish.
