ampwares... have you had problems?

[benoit]

My dad ordered dave funk's workbook from ampwares for me for christmas. No sign of the book, and he ordered December 15th. His card has been charged and everything.

He has called twice and got the answering machine (after business hours). He left a message both times but no one has called him.

He called the other day during supposed business hours and got the voicemail again except he couldn't leave a message because it was full.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had experience with them recently and/or knows who runs the store.

[EDIT]
Shoulda searched the forums first...

[paulster]

Well, by simple use of the search function, here's two threads:
http://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... t=ampwares
http://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... t=ampwares

You'll find exactly the same stories on any forum you care to take a look at.

You'll probably get your stuff ultimately but at some unknown point in the future and with no communication between now and then.

[Karl]

I ordered parts in October and in December after I had contacted the guy 2 times by phone. (The voicemail is always full but if you keep calling you will eventually get through). The guy first gave me a tracking number which wasn't real. Second time I call he tells me that the problem was USPS. I then told him if he couldn't show me any proof I would contact my credit card company, then he got rude. Next day I contacted my credit card company and they contacted him. 2 days later I got my money back. Ordered from Antique Electronic Supply the same day and I recieved that order 3 days later.

[Tubetwang]

a little Google/Forum background check is a must in my opinion, before ordering first time out...

You want to weed out the duds...

But that's me...i'm a hand's-on-duder and do not like to have folks waiting on me because i don't like to wait for others to move it...

[benoit]

I appreciate the feed-back. It actually wasn't my fault the stuff came from ampwares - my dad just picked the book of a christmas list and that was where he found it. And actually right after I posted I did do a search and edited my post to reflect it, but I never actually submitted that post til this morning.

It amazes me that anyone at all does business with them anymore given the horrible track record. For every one person who says they had no problem there are five more who waited months on a simple order. Honestly, even if you ship a book media mail, cheap as you can go, it doesn't take 50 days.

Grr.

[Tubetwang]

Yup...

I used to warned folks against a "slow hi-fi" mover...
Then they would all "feel sorry" for the dude and order "en masse"....

I don't bother anymore...

[Lonely Raven]

It boggles the mind that he's still around.

[drhulsey]

My dad ordered dave funk's workbook from ampwares for me for christmas...

I ordered ground buss clips from Ampwares, because that was the only place I could find them. I had heard the warnings, but ordered and decided not to be in a hurry. The merchandise finally arrived. I wasn't disappointed because I didn't expect much.

[Structo]

Yes, I have read the bad press about Ampwares.
So I avoid them.
I do use the technical info there but life is too short to be waiting on parts that are available elsewhere.

[CaseyJones]

It boggles the mind that he's still around.

Yeah but... Ampwares is home of The Fender Field Guide. It's an excellent resource.

I use the Field Guide, I order my parts somewhere else and leave the bitchin' to people who are good at it.

[skyboltone]

It boggles the mind that he's still around.

Yeah but... Ampwares is home of The Fender Field Guide. It's an excellent resource.

I use the Field Guide, I order my parts somewhere else and leave the bitchin' to people who are good at it.

Oh come on brother Jones. I think yer real good at it!

[CaseyJones]

It boggles the mind that he's still around.

Yeah but... Ampwares is home of The Fender Field Guide. It's an excellent resource.

I use the Field Guide, I order my parts somewhere else and leave the bitchin' to people who are good at it.

Oh come on brother Jones. I think yer real good at it!

Naw... those who are expert at it will tell you all about the problems and never offer any insight on the solutions.

[C Moore]

This is a very common story with them on every amp/guitar forum you might visit. TRUST ME. Contact the bank that owns the credit you used for that order and file fraud charges. There are many great books around and many places to buy them from.
Ampwares is a Black Sheep in a family of black sheep. Now go help your Father get his money back.

[Structo]

Like others, I wonder how in the heck in this day and age a business like that can continue to exist.
Unless it is a money laundering scheme ran by the Colombian drug cartel.
In this age of the Internet, one bad word can be magnified a million fold before long. Then to make it right it takes one bazillion words......

[CaseyJones]

Like others, I wonder how in the heck in this day and age a business like that can continue to exist.

Simple. There are a lot of people out there, hand 'em a yard of hard hose each and take their money! -I- expect to pay my money and get my tolex, books or whatever. It's about low expectations, I guess some people aren't as picky or maybe they're smokin' so much dope they just forget about it!

In this age of the Internet, one bad word can be magnified a million fold before long. Then to make it right it takes one bazillion words......

Acts not words. The same internet that spreads word of a non-performing vendor will bring fresh suckers to said vendor's website every day.

Don't take any of this to mean that I support scumbags or shady business practices, I don't. Back in my day we paid cash, if we didn't have cash we didn't buy and a man was as good as his word. Nowadays there are people who make their living writing bad checks, scamming PayPal, spoofing email addresses and generally thinkin' up a scam a minute. The whole freakin' economy is tied to wringin' cash outta bogus collateral and phony equity.

I'm gonna miss The Fender Field Guide if they pull the plug on it.