Subject: [Harp-L] Harp Depot

EGS1217@xxxxxxx · Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:50:45 EST

Clearly you didn't notice the  'products' button at the  bottom of the 
page...any page on their site?   A simple click on this  link refutes your entire 
post. 

_http://www.harpdepot.com/index1.html?ext177.html&1_ 
(http://www.harpdepot.com/index1.html?ext177.html&1) 

Here's their product list updated in August (right before SPAH)...with  
plenty of Hohner harmonicas, as well as Suzukis, Herings, Lee Oskars, etc,  etc.  
CD's from some of my favourite players who were at SPAH, books,  etc...

I was specifically looking for more of the CX-12's which I wouldn't buy  from 
any other source since purchasing three from Richard and Doc at GSHC in  
November, 2007.  I was very disappointed about The Garden State Convention  not 
having sufficient attendees to make their quota this year because Shelly  Lulov 
puts on a helluva convention..but part of my disappointment  was because I'd 
been looking forward to purchasing more of my beloved  CX-12's in different 
keys from Doc for an early birthday present to myself,  since I can drive to GSHC 
and didn't buy them at SPAH because my luggage was  already too heavy. 

I've mentioned this before...the Tenor C CX-12 I wished to buy then had a  
problem with the 6 draw...even though Richard could find nothing wrong with  it 
using the bellows despite it still proving a problem for me. It was most  
likely simply gapped wrong at the factory for my playing style...but rather than  
automatically dismissing it as 'the player's fault'..he decided to ask Bill  
Price (who had a table set up to work on attendees' harmonicas) to check it 
over  ..and we both agreed to abide by Bill's take on whether or not the  harp 
was 'flawed'. Richard didn't have to do any of this, but spent an  inordinate 
amount of time to resolve this issue for me, his  customer. 

He then decided to return the chromatic to Hohner and sold  me a different 
one instead. Over the past 4 years they've treated me with  nothing but respect 
and great service and have given me the best price  possible.  I find both 
these men to be  friendly and honourable in  their dealings with customers, since 
I've been present when many other people  including friends of mine bought 
harmonicas over the last few years as  well.

 I did not get service like this from a major musician's online  source. The 
harps I bought from them (3 at once) came in damaged because someone  'forgot' 
to include packing materials, so the harps (one of them a Super 64)  bounced 
off each other in their far too big box in transit, completely  crushing a 
tremolo box, took chips out of the comb of the  tremolo, broke the hinges on two 
chromatic cases (so the harps fell  out)...bending the slide on the smallest 
chromatic. Luckily the most  important (and expensive) instrument, the Super 64 
was still intact and played  fine when it arrived as I needed it for my very 
first Buckeye Convention the  following week.

 When I called the company immediately upon receipt of the box they  told me 
it was impossible that they'd forgotten to include packing materials  because 
their system simply doesn't allow it...they have scanning machines to  check 
the boxes for number of items included (guess someone was too busy  counting 
items to bother looking to see if bubble wrap was in there as  well?)... ergo I 
must be ...lying?  They had no solution to my  dilemma. I had no recourse. It 
was a case of he said/she said.  And  harmonicas cannot be returned...so to 
their minds I'd just come up with a not  very creative way to return unwanted 
harmonicas.

I will never purchase anything from that musician's online source  again, 
but..I'm also not about to trash them online...call their business  practices 
'deceptive' or accuse them of being 'crooks', as people seem  to feel so free to 
do here to Harp Depot.  Someone in the mail  room of the company I dealt with 
made a mistake. I can't prove my side of it,  and I'm stuck. Stuff happens. 
That's the way the world works. Not everything  always works out perfectly in 
life. I haven't yet ever met a perfect  person...nor do I expect to, since I 
think they'd be the most boring individual. 

I simply will never buy from them..and told them exactly why.  From  now on, 
I prefer to see the instrument I'm buying in person anyway (so  to speak).  So 
Harp Depot works for me..and for the thousands of attendees  at the various 
conventions who also purchase their instruments/books/CD's etc.  when they go 
to the shows.  

Because of the last round of Harp Depot trashing (and if I recall  correctly, 
one person who had gone on a bit of a rant later retracted his  comments 
after realizing he had indeed Not pre-paid for something he hadn't  yet gotten 
from them after consistently making that claim here).... I did a  bit of an 
informal 'survey' at last Buckeye, and this last Spah. Asked people I  ran into and 
didn't already know very well, if they knew about Harp-l and  if comments 
here affected their buying practices and opinions.  

The great majority of people I spoke with had no idea that the  list even 
existed... looked at me a little 'funny'...as if maybe I was making it  up that 
there was such a thing as a harmonica 'list'.  Most didn't want to  know about 
it, didn't want to talk about anything that cut into their enjoyment  of the 
convention... many of them don't own a computer, let alone want to know  about 
'wasting my time writing on the computer when I can be  playing' was the 
oft-expressed opinion.  They'd rather be playing  their harmonicas,indulging in 
their other hobbies and living their lives.  Their harmonica lives revolve around 
harmonica clubs in their towns.  This  is how they learn about SPAH and 
Buckeye and the other conventions.  Their  friends attend and they sometimes save 
up en masse to go to a convention. They  don't get involved in the 'other' 
aspects of on-line harmonica 'stuff' (I was  told this several times).  

They're not all 'small-town' people either, as one might think.....quite  a 
few of those I spoke with  were long-time famous  name players who'd been 
around for many years but couldn't imagine getting  involved in 'something like 
that'....shaking their head in bemusement at the  very idea.  

Check out YouTube videos of Harmonica playing. Mention Harp-L to them in  the 
comments as I do  - to suggest they join up, or join SPAH...and they've  
almost uniformly no idea what either is, and usually don't care.   I had hopes 
that the Pocket Full of Soul Documentary might bring more harmonica  players to 
SPAH...perhaps it will...but haven't heard much lately about  distribution of 
the film.

Harp Depot is by far the most straight-forward store I've  ever dealt 
with...probably why they continue to be the vendor of choice at SPAH,  Buckeye, GSHC, 
and other harmonica conventions. 

I refuse to allow someone like you to dissuade me from buying from people  
who have always treated me well.  I've also bought a Seydel chromatic from  
Rupert Oysler in person at a convention and been treated equally wonderfully by  
him as well, and have to give props to Oz Leguizamo...who runs the Suzuki  
store, although I haven't yet bought anything Suzuki, they are invariably  
friendly and very helpful to any customers perusing Suzuki's wares at the  
conventions.  

I've read recently about there being somewhere around 10 million harmonica  
players in the U.S.?  If so, this list is then only a very faint (and  small) 
voice among all those people. European players  - a lot of them  French and 
brilliant - (I can name 10 or so right off the bat) ...South American  players 
are young, hip and play Brazilian jazz better at a younger age than  anyone has 
a right to....Asian players also outnumber us thousands to one. Ask  the 
people who just came back from the PanAsian conference.  "We" are a  mere drop in 
the bucket of the harmonica world, and need to get the collective  egos in 
check.  Nobody gives a rat's butt outside this very limited world  about the 
opinions expressed here, other than the core group..the immediate  reader....  So 
get over yourself...as well as this idea that America is the  center of the 
Harmonica playing Universe and nobody else should dare  express their opinions to 
and about us. 

Elizabeth

*******

"Message: 12
Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2008 03:05:38 -0700
From: jaybird  coleman <jaybird33066@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Harp Depot
To:  harp-l org <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID:  <BLU105-W58AB42741A0FA47102DB11901B0@xxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain;  charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi all,

I checked the Harp Depot web site  today to check their price for Suzuki 
Bluesmasters (my favorite harp).  

After my horrible experience in doing business with Harp Depot in the  past, 
I did not intend to make a purchase,  just check their price.  

Well, it seems that Harp Depot changed their website quite a bit, and  now 
offer ONLY Hering Harmonicas. No Hohner, Suzuki, Lee Oskar, or any other  
harmonicas are offered... only Hering.

Could it be that all the negative  comments and negative publicity about Harp 
Depot has prompted the major  harmonica manufacturers to revoke Harp Depot's 
dealer status? 

If this is  so, then Harp Depot got what it deserved! 

Goodbye DOC. Your devious  business practices have finally caught up with 
you."

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