nzsounds.co.nz ... here we go again ...

www.nzsounds.co.nz

Well ... after all the bad publicity, Musicthingz have rebranded. This time calling themselves nzsounds.co.nz

Same details ... just a new logo and a cut n paste of the name.

Ah well ... how long can he last?

New name? Same game? ...

Ever heard of www.globalsound.com.au? What about www.nzsounds.co.nz?

We have, it's Musicthingz. If you have a look at some of the email links, they now go to sales@globalsound.com.au ... and nzsounds.co.nz which is interesting. Why would you make a move to change your business name? Possibly because Musicthingz is pretty badly tarnished?

But it's nothing new, he's done that before with a company called www.phonicmusic.co.nz a few years ago. Initially he denied it in emails, but then started referring to them as their 'sister site'. Then suddenly, the site disappeared.

Here's another funny thing ... look at all the people on his Facebook site that have 'liked' them ... they are 90% foreign. I clicked on 10 people and didn't find one from New Zealand.

Jus sayin' ...

Musicthingz on FairGo ...

... well it had to happen. Eventually enough complaints got to FairGo and they investigated Musicthingz. Except that Musicthingz avoided talking to them like the plague. He's a link to the video ...

Click me ...

... now there's a few things here of interest.

1 - Confirmation he works out of his parents house.

2 - He blatantly refused an interview and his phone manner suggests someone who was worried. Why would he be worried? He hasn't done anything wrong, or diddled anyone? Or has he?

3 - The laughable 'chased down the street by a broom'? That is a windsock or a fluffy. And. He sells them. One such model is the Rode Dead Cat - slightly different colour but the same principle.

Another dismal customer experience ...

Have a read of this ... a disgruntled customer took the time to note his emails with Musicthingz. The most amazing bit is that he rang MT, someone said 'hang on' and he was on the phone for over half an hour listening to someone switching channels on the TV.

Professionalism Award Of The Year goes to ... Musicthingz.

Read it here ... http://www.box.net/shared/pir9b67974

Musicthingz stories ...

... if you have looked at Musicthingz facebook page, you will see a number of happy customers ... but not one bad one.

Why?

Because they only put the good stories up there.

If you have a true story, please send it to kiwisafetrader@gmail.com along with any emails so that we can post them up here.

Please do not exaggerate and pass on third party stories. We only want factual accounts of bad experiences to balance the bias on the Facebook page.

And watch out for Fair Go coverage this Wednesday night.

One of the latest people to have a bad experience with Musicthingz

This is exact way this user wrote their experience.  He hopes that "others will check first before entering into a dodgy deal with MT (Musicthingz)"

3/2/11

Paid by VISA through the MT website for an Akai Headrush Loop Pedal, $399.00

One week later, no communication from MT, reply to email was 'order being couriered out next week'...

Then further replies -

23/2 'This will be couriered out to you by mid next week or I'll do the refund immediately'

12/3 'If you are previous customer of Musicthingz and have not yet received your order we apologise for the delay - last week's shipment had to be delayed due to circumstances out of our control - your order (if unsent) is in transit to us now and all orders are being couriered out later this week. -Andrew'

13/3 'You paid by bank deposit?  Can you let me know when this payment was made I'm having trouble finding anything under your name -Andrew

16/3 'Your refund is being processed today'. -Andrew

23/3 Payment refunded - seven weeks after payment

I feel lucky to have reached this point, you will note from the above, that Andrew's 'immediately' means one month, and several legal threats later 

- I have sent many emails to Andrew, the ones that appeared to have some effect were titled 'URGENT, LEGAL ACTION PENDING

- T.Sanders

Updates and more bull from MT ...

Well it appears that MT have made some changes to their site so lets have a look at one particular page of the new additions. Particularly the About Us page which you can see here ...

http://www.box.net/shared/2v24e2lg8e

Let's have a look at a few things from that page (which is a bit small to read to be fair)

"Musicthingz opened in 2004 with a goal to provide New Zealand musicians with honest and fair prices. We noticed that other retail stores were selling products at hugely inflated prices compared to overseas markets (such as the American market). Products sold overseas at a given price were being sold locally for triple the price , in some cases more. Certain importers and retailers believe that they have a monopoly on the brands they carry and therefore set their own unrealistic prices at the expense of hard-working NZ Musicians."

This is utter bollocks and exaggeration to make themselves look better. Triple the price? Name one product that was like that. Manufacturers like Tama, Yamaha, Ibanez, Fender, Gibson vet the prices of their local dealers so that they couldn't scalp customers in their country even if they wanted to. If I wanted to truly expose the alleged huge prices, I would take an example and show how wrong it was. But no, he doesn't, he just says that they were triple the price and we all must believe him.

"Six years ago we began selling guitar pedals and have since expanded our catalogue to include microphones , monitors , instruments , recording and studio equipment etc. In 2008 Musicthingz became a NZ registered company."

Yep, prior to 2008 you weren't paying tax, filing GST returns and in the beginning you weren't even offering warranties. So you were acting illegally like a kid running a business from his bedroom with no idea about the real world.

"Because we buy from authorised overseas distributors at wholesale prices we are able to provide the best prices in NZ. If you find a lower price elsewhere please let us know and we will endeavour to match it (we are not able to match prices for second hand gear or prices listed on Ebay/Amazon)."

They're not the best prices, being cheaper than the RRP in NZ by $10 isn't the best price you can do. Today you have a Rode Stereo Video Mic for $389 - and the RRP according the Rockshop website is $399. So you haven't arrived at the best price you can do, you've just gone for $10 cheaper to make your price better than theirs.

Also, there are a large number of legitimate businesses that sell brand new product through eBay and Amazon, so why won't you consider their prices?

"Per capita , NZ has a large number of music stores which are all fighting to win your sale. There is a fiery competition between NZ Music stores ..."

Once again, utter rubbish. It's clear MT makes a lot of this stuff up because they have no actual idea. Let's call a spade a spade ... the big chains in New Zealand are The Rockshop, Musicworks and Music Planet. With the exception of a few brands, each company sells their own products. You won't find Pearl at Musicworks stores, and you won't find Ibanez / Tama at a Rockshop etc. So there's no competition between them at all. Since I believe The Rockshops and Music Planet are all owned by the same people (different people for each brand), they won't compete with each other, and they can't compete with Musicworks because they don't have the same product lines. Most Musicworks stores are affiliates so there might be some competition there but only on the MW products lines

"... this has lead to some music stores resorting to under-hand tactics to win your sale."

Boy, if this were true and you actually had proof, you should have contacted the Commerce Commission of the Office of the Fair Trading Act and let them know. And you know how they work because you've been contacted by them already, haven't you?

Since there is 'fiery competition' maybe you should take this to one of their competitors and see if you can get them onside with you. Surely they'd band together with you to see an illegal action stopped?

"Simply call your local store and mention you are able to buy a product for half the price from an overseas retailer (or a local one) and you will be given "reasons" not to do so - such as "no warranty" or "incorrect power supply".

Once again you are blinding people to your ways by missing out words, in an attempt to discredit others. Almost misleading. If you purchase internationally, you may well receive a power supply for the unit you purchased which is not meant for use in NZ. However, just about every product comes with a 110v-230v switch or is a switch mode power supply which allows you to plug it in via adaptors, just about anywhere, with relative safety.

If a customer purchases overseas there is no 'local' warranty. This means that the NZ importer for that product is NOT bound to help you in anyway shape or form. They may choose to, but why should they? Even if you pay for the service they are still draining their parts and service technicians time on something that they didn't sell. Not to mention the number of high quality counterfeit items coming out these days.

"At Musicthingz , when you purchase a product you are provided with a full one year warranty through manufacturer authorised repairmen and all units are intended for New Zealand 240VOLT operation."

MT might offer a warranty but it's not a NZ warranty. Meaning that the goods will have to go back to wherever he got them from (US / UK / CHINA / insert whomever has the cheapest price this week). Who pays for the freight back there, and then back here? And how long will the goods be away for? Days? Weeks? Months even? I've heard of months. I've also heard of goods turning up at the NZ supplier with a note pleading for them to fix it for an MT customer.

Shit costs more in NZ because it cost more ship here, sell here and also be able to offer a warranty on it.

"Because we import in bulk from authorised overseas distributors , our prices will fluctuate depending on the exchange rate. Although our listed prices are seldom changed , if the NZ Dollar is strong at any given time this will result in us being able to offer larger discounts than usual. Currently the NZD dollar is strong and our discounted prices are as low as they've been for some time."

When have you ever emailed a customer and said 'hey this product actually arrived cheaper than you bought it for heres a refund'? And why would you? You're in business to make money, not friends.

Here's something ... guitarcenter has the same graphic announces that it ships to 90 countries worldwide. That's a coincidence. Either you supply products from guitarcenter, or you have stolen the graphic which would be a breach of copyright. But it's not the only graphic that you have pilfered is it ... new series Mbox stuff from Sweetwater ... etc. These companies paid graphic designers to make the graphics for them and you just stole them. That's right, stole them. I'll have to let them know.