Anyone Know Jim Laabs Music To Buy Stagi W15ms?

[terrier]

Help. I'm new and thinking about upgrading to a stagi W15MS. My fingers may not be long enough for the W15LN. jimlaabsmusic.com sells the MS for $390, which would make it possible for me to get sooner than elsewhere for around $700. I understand the wisdom of going with "The Button Box" for obvious reasons. But does anyone have any experience good or bad with the Jim Laab Music company?

[fkohl]

I purchased one from them about five months ago. Received it just a few days after ordering. Overall I'm happy with it. I didn't want to spend too much for a first box without being sure I'd "take" to the instrument. I apparently did, and spend an hour or two playing every day. One problem with mine is the low F# - the tuning seems a bit off to my ear and is somewhat wheezy. I expect I'll eventually upgrade to a Tedrow or Morse, but until then I'm enjoying playing the Stagi - and the price was right!

 

Fred K.

[pmmack]

Help. I'm new and thinking about upgrading to a stagi W15MS. My fingers may not be long enough for the W15LN. jimlaabsmusic.com sells the MS for $390, which would make it possible for me to get sooner than elsewhere for around $700. I understand the wisdom of going with "The Button Box" for obvious reasons. But does anyone have any experience good or bad with the Jim Laab Music company?

 

Yes, the price is too good to be true.

 

I just purchased a Corona II FBbEb accordion from them. Here are the problems, overchaged credit card, wrong case included, rancid moldy smell from box, no warranty card, box was totally unplayable and required extensive repair to one of the reed blocks, shipped to wrong address and refusal to make amends. I wanted to replace the case with a less expensive Hohner bag, but they wanted to charge and additional $34, for reasons I have no idea. They also avoided the problem of the broken reed block and warranty card. I just alerted Hohner America of these problems.

 

Buyer definitely beware, especially if you plan to actually play music with one of their boxes. I you just want to *doodle* around and don't care if the box really works or not, then these are your guys. I have found out again how dishonest some music stores are. This would be a total of four different shops, all lying about product, upgrades, repairs, et al. It is worth it to pay the extra money, just to get a box that works and will be backed up if problems occur.

 

Hope this sheds some light of truth for you!

[Tim Hall]

Sounds like there's a real risk here of things not going well.

 

Remember, if you're doing business over the net, your credit card company can be your best friend! Credit card companies have procedures in place for contesting charges. The Uniform Commercial Code (enacted in all 50 states, I believe) states that if goods received do not conform to the contract (this includes broken or damaged, as well as just receiving the wrong goods, both of which appear to have happened to other posters), you have the right to reject them. Document the problems, and contest the charges if the dealer refuses to give satisfaction. If I recall correctly, this dealer also sells on Ebay, which has its own set of dispute resolution procedures.

 

That said, only you can decide whether the savings are worth the risk of problems, as well as giving up the service and ethics you would expect from a known dealer, such as Button Box, Homewood (does Bob still sell Stagis?) or others mentioned here from time to time.

 

Tim

[Bob Tedrow]

That said, only you can decide whether the savings are worth the risk of problems, as well as giving up the service and ethics you would expect from a known dealer, such as Button Box, Homewood (does Bob still sell Stagis?) or others mentioned here from time to time.

 

Tim

 

Yes, I do but can't match the Labb price.

 

I do accept Stagi concertinas in trade for other instruments.

 

Bob

[bill_mchale]

I didn't want to spend too much for a first box without being sure I'd "take" to the instrument. I apparently did, and spend an hour or two playing every day.

 

I did this myself, but in retrospect I think it was a mistake. Ultimately the Stagis loose alot more value, and of course if you take to the instrument at all, you might find yourself in a situation where you want to upgrade after just a few days (well that is what happened to me) in which case, you have sunk a fair bit of the money you could have put toward a Morse, Edgley or Tedrow (or if you are in Europe, a Marcus, Norman or Guens-Wakker) into the Stagi.

 

Then again, buying everything twice is good for the economy .

 

--

Bill

[Dirge]

Given the huge saving to be made what about collecting it in person and giving it a very thorough once-over before handing over cash? Or are they too far away?

[pmmack]

Yes, the price is too good to be true.

 

I just purchased a Corona II FBbEb accordion from them. Here are the problems, overchaged credit card, wrong case included, rancid moldy smell from box, no warranty card, box was totally unplayable and required extensive repair to one of the reed blocks, shipped to wrong address and refusal to make amends. I wanted to replace the case with a less expensive Hohner bag, but they wanted to charge and additional $34, for reasons I have no idea. They also avoided the problem of the broken reed block and warranty card. I just alerted Hohner America of these problems.

 

 

OK, it is days later and I am still haggling with these people. This is like going to an inner city used car lot.

 

They have agreed to switch the case with the less expensive Hohner bag, but insist that the case get sent back first. Normally not a problem, but now their website has *mystically changed* to reflect this mistake, with a new accordion price of $599 (the price they charged me) with the Impact case included, even with a picture.

 

http://www.jimlaabsmusic.com/scripts/prodV...?idproduct=5062

 

 

But yet they have the accordion, new for $597, with no case at this link:

 

http://www.jimlaabs.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=6039

 

 

I ordered and received a floor sale model (obviously, because the accordion did not even work and was unplayable right out of the box, requiring extensive reed block repair). They still list the Floor Model Sale as $597, with the Hohner 12X case included. I wonder how long it will take them to adjust this?

 

http://www.jimlaabsmusic.com/scripts/prodV...sp?idproduct=68

 

Now either they are very unorganized (I highly doubt this or they would be out of business by now) or they are very dishonest. This is just one example of how they work and they are matched by 3 other companies in WI, IN and NJ. I am not sure who they think they are dealing with, but there is a good chance that the person spending the money is a real musician and deals with the music industry every day. They cannot just assume that we are all *hacks* and that they can rip us off as they see fit. I see some really big names in the box industry posting here regularly, really top of the class and industry! I highly doubt that you all would tolerate this dishonest behavior either.

 

I just cannot trust them to send the Hohner bag without addtional charges, which they still will not deny. I also cannot get a warranty card out of them--they "will see what they can do" is their response. That usually means no. Very, very dishonest shop IMO and perhaps the Better Business Bureau and my credit card company would like to hear of this as well. They are the only music store in their part of WI and I feel very sorry for the people that have no choice in buying their child's or their own instrument.

[m3838]

Really really sorry to hear this.

I remember wanting to buy 2 row accordion from Jim Laab Music years ago, but after email exchange decided not to. I don't think they are total liers, but just can't afford to stand behind their, usually cheap, goods. And don't care, really. They still are in business, so it obviously pays off.

[pmmack]

Really really sorry to hear this.

I remember wanting to buy 2 row accordion from Jim Laab Music years ago, but after email exchange decided not to. I don't think they are total liers, but just can't afford to stand behind their, usually cheap, goods. And don't care, really. They still are in business, so it obviously pays off.

 

I just could not take the haggling anymore and just told them to "forget it". They still have three different variants on their website, I have haggled for 4 days trying to get some resolve. Troy Laabs (that's the founder's son I believe) has stated that the warranty card was sent out today. I will find out next week.

 

Boaz Rubin from Hohner USA is good about backing up the warranty on new instruments, so if anything does arise, I am sure it will be taken care of. The box plays brilliantly now, after the extensive repair of the F reedblock and optimizing the other reedblocks. Thanks to Theo over in England for the tips of repair!

 

Let the buyer beware! Caveat Emptor!