*WARNING* American Musical "EZ Payment Plan"

[sevendaysoff]

Hello,
just a warning to fellow GS. I purchased some dynaudio monitors from AMS (American Musical Supply-Musical Instruments, Guitars, Amps, Mics, Cables & Recording Studio Gear) . Under there "EZ Payment Plan" , 5 payments.

Well, the product was payed off this month and I receive an email stating that they were reminding me my next payment was due in 5 days. Being as that the monitors were already payed off, and I had a confirmation email of my last payment from the person I usually deal with over there; Dawn, I called AMS to see what was up.

They say they have no record of a payment on "9/2" and therefore are charging me in October. I ask why would they have just forgotten to charge me one month? and let them know I was looking at the charge right in front of me. She tells me to call my bank and have them contact her.

I called the bank (suntrust), they tried contacting her twice with me on the line. This was 5 minutes after I originally talked with "Melissa at AMS", and the bank rep told the person who answered the phone at AMS who she was, and who she was representing (me). both times we held for about 10 minutes until the line hung up. The representative for suntrust gave me the Authorization # sent to AMS for the transaction, and the Transaction ID that was issued to AMS once the payment posted. She (the suntrust rep) suggested that I try contacting them with this info as they obviously had no intention of talking to us right now.

So I hang up with the bank, wait 10 minutes & call back AMS. Melissa answers the phone right off the bat (only way I got to talk to her). I ask why she wouldnt answer the phone to which she responds she did not receive any phone calls. At this point she becomes extremely rude. I let her know that the bank has given me all the info she needs to find the transaction within their records. She tells me she is not interested in the info. I ask her why she cant do anything with the transaction ID and authorization #, she tells me that she "wont look into anything until she speaks with someone from the bank and receives proof on bank letterhead". So you're telling me you wont even look into my situation? I become aggrivated at this point, as I have to leave work to go to my bank and see what the local branch can do. I let her know after this I will not be doing business with her company. She gives me her # to have the bank rep call and the fax # to have the documents sent to.

I leave work right away, goto the bank. Suntrust verifys my issue and attempts to call Melissa. Rep that answers the phone asks who it is, my bank rep tells them who she is and who she is representing. They ask her to hold, she holds for 15 minutes, line disconnects. My bank rep faxes the documents along with her contact info to Melissa. Since then I have left about 10 messages for Melissa and her boss "Mark - Accounts Manager" . No one has called me back and the rep that answered the phone was able to tell me that there was still a scheduled payment to be deducted tomorrow. (in other words, neither Melissa or Mark had done anything to rectify the situation).

So I had to go into my bank again, the rep who previously helped me in the branch told me she had not heard back from AMS at all (her fax business card was included in the transmission). In the end Suntrust had to pull the direct debit from "AMERICAN MUSICAL" from my file, which is my only line of defense.

In the past when I had dealed with this company, it was "Dawn" who always helped me. Dawn was never rude and always helpful. Melissa on the other hand is extremely rude, and extremeley lazy. What kind of person tells their customer that they wont even look into it until they speak with someone from the bank and receive 'proof' on my end? I was planning on picking up another distressor now that these monitors are payed off, but that wont be happening now (atleast from them).

So I'm letting you all know to beware of these "EZ PAYMENT PLANS" , they might try to sneak one up on you.

I can only hope that someone higher up gets wind of this thread and trys to rectify my situation & relationship with their company. If not, oh well; I wont be doing business with them any longer either way.If anyone has nothing to do and wants to let them know that trying to rip people off is unacceptable; custserve@americanmusical.com

thanks for letting me vent

- BR

[sahiaman]

Thanks for the heads up. I hate companies that treat their clients like this.

[sevendaysoff]

yeah i usually always spend my money with jeff & mike at VK but I wanted to try the monitors and had just dropped some cash on a lynx aurora from VK, so I figured what the hell; i'll give them a try.

I mean, everything would have been fine had they simply looked into the issue. You really think they believed that they forgot to charge me one month? hell no. they just wanted to get some extra cash. i wonder how many times they do that to people a month as this service is pretty popular i believe (the ez payment plan).

Hell, even if they would have just told me that they'd look into it. I've never felt so unappriceated as a customer. Isnt it usually the prosecutions job to prove my guilt? In this case they wanted me to "prove" the situation existed before they would even look into anything. Thats completely ridiculous.

[sahiaman]

Report them to the attorney general and the Better Business Bureau.

[sevendaysoff]

Originally Posted by sahiaman

Report them to the attorney general and the Better Business Bureau.

already initiated. the sad thing is they probably do this randomly. i know ppl who have used this service with good results. if you are participating in this EZ Payment Plan make sure to keep records for yourself and always know where you stand on the payment balance.

thanks for your suggestions!

[dft3670]

Whatever the issue, what you need to do is forget calling customer service and don't "hope" someone higher up gets wind of it. You need to be proactive. Sh*t flows downhill.

Look up the main number for AMS, call it and ask for the general manager or better yet a corporate officer. Just keep calling. Make sure you have everything in written form and have all your reciepts. Corporate guys do not like bad press. Your email is a good example of something that will p*ss off upper management. Margins in this business a razor thin. They do not want to lose even one customer. They are not going to blow you off like some minimum wage cranky cusomer service rep who could give a crap if you ever buy from them again.

I doubt AMS as a corporation is randomly hosing EZ plan customers. That would be a very very stupid and costly corporate policy. It sounds like a billing SNAFU.

[sevendaysoff]

Originally Posted by dft3670

Whatever the issue, what you need to do is forget calling customer service and don't "hope" someone higher up gets wind of it. You need to be proactive. Sh*t flows downhill.

Look up the main number for AMS, call it and ask for the general manager or better yet a corporate officer. Just keep calling. Make sure you have everything in written form and have all your reciepts. Corporate guys do not like bad press. Your email is a good example of something that will p*ss off upper management. Margins in this business a razor thin. They do not want to lose even one customer. They are not going to blow you off like some minimum wage cranky cusomer service rep who could give a crap if you ever buy from them again.

I doubt AMS as a corporation is randomly hosing EZ plan customers. That would be a very very stupid and costly corporate policy. It sounds like a billing SNAFU.

I didnt send them any emails, I posted that here. And I dont care if it pisses them off as it is simply a log of activity from the time i noticed they had an error until the time my bank got it taken care of.

If they're pissed off about anything, it should be the way one of their customers was handled by their employees.

I dont suspect you read my entire post, which I dont blame you for; it's long. But to make a long story short, they tried to charge me $300 for something that was paid for. When I brought this to their attention, they wouldnt even acknowledge I had an issue until they spoke with someone from my bank and received proof on a letterhead. You mean they really couldnt have just looked into it?

Either way, the BBC has been notified, and Suntrust pulled the direct debit from American Musical Supply from my account and therefore will not authorize any transactions from AMS.

The problem has been taken care of, I simply wanted to warn those who may be using this service and tell them to make sure they have all of their paperwork and records together (as i did, which is why my bank took care of the situation for me). If you would have read my post you would have seen that I was anything but "inactive" , I was above and beyond proactive, from calling AMS numerous times to calling my bank to even leaving the studio to goto my bank so they could get it sorted as I got this email FRI and they are planning on charging me tomorrow. I went above and beyond my duties so I did not get ripped off, and I succeeded.

[sevendaysoff]

Oh and to add, Melissa is not a 'cranky customer service rep - minimum wage' . Although she is def. cranky, she works in the accounting dept and manages the credit accounts. I was lucky she answered the phone right off the bat when I was transferred to the accounts line, otherwise I would have never gotten to speak with her again.

Oh well, it's taken care of now.

[DontLetMeDrown]

Hey sevendaysoff, I know you are angry and all, but I think are misdirecting your anger towards dft3670. He is simply telling you to GO TO THE TOP. Screw accounting. They are obviously ****ing up. You need to go higher up-- that is all dft3670 was trying to tell you.

Good luck getting it squared away.

EDIT: I see you've got it taken care of now.

[Henchman]

Right away after getting that type of shitty attitude, you should have asked to talk to a supervisor.
Period.

[Spookym15]

I use to deal with AMS a lot, but then I stopped buying so much gear. I did purchase a Tascam DVRA1000 for $700 and did the 3 month easy pay. No issues on my end. Good thing you contacted your bank. I am sorry to hear about your trouble.

[donsolo]

Spoke.com

Go look up the CEO's name and fire the email. You won't get the email for free but with his name, you can find his email easy enough on google.

You'll probably get some good free stuff in the process.

You fire off an angry email to a CEO and things get taken care of.

[Meriphew]

Email AMS a link to this thread. That might get their attention.

[Animus]

I hate that shit. Good job standing up for yourself. I've had pretty good luck with retailers. Mercenary and Samedaymusic have been awesome to me.

[dft3670]

I didnt send them any emails, I posted that here. And I dont care if it pisses them off as it is simply a log of activity from the time i noticed they had an error until the time my bank got it taken care of.

If they're pissed off about anything, it should be the way one of their customers was handled by their employees.

I dont suspect you read my entire post, which I dont blame you for; it's long. But to make a long story short, they tried to charge me $300 for something that was paid for. When I brought this to their attention, they wouldnt even acknowledge I had an issue until they spoke with someone from my bank and received proof on a letterhead. You mean they really couldnt have just looked into it?

Either way, the BBC has been notified, and Suntrust pulled the direct debit from American Musical Supply from my account and therefore will not authorize any transactions from AMS.

The problem has been taken care of, I simply wanted to warn those who may be using this service and tell them to make sure they have all of their paperwork and records together (as i did, which is why my bank took care of the situation for me). If you would have read my post you would have seen that I was anything but "inactive" , I was above and beyond proactive, from calling AMS numerous times to calling my bank to even leaving the studio to goto my bank so they could get it sorted as I got this email FRI and they are planning on charging me tomorrow. I went above and beyond my duties so I did not get ripped off, and I succeeded.



Jesus dude. I tried to give you a little helpfiul advice and you want to throw it back in my face and act like I'm a dick. Maybe that's why you had such a problem with AMS. Try understanding what I wrote to you before you send off some shit ass reply. I was speaking in general terms.

Try understanding that multimillion dollar comapnies that handle thousands of orders occasionaly have a billing error. Understand that sometimes you need to go above lower level management and up to a corporate level because corporate officers are much more sensitive to customer complaints. They are more sensitive because they have bonuses tied to happy clients who keep buying gear from them. They have a lot more on the line keeping you happy than customer service or accounting departments.

Proactive means not leaving 10 messages and waiting. Someone puts up a wall go around it. As soon as these people became resistant at all, you go to the next level. It's not a negotiation. Believe me, when you hit the upper management level to corporate level, this horseshit would have ended in about 10 seconds.

The fact that your bitching and moaning that AMS is trying to rip you off is a good example off your flying off the handle about something that was without doubt an accounting error. That's proven by the fact that it's being taken care of quickly and your not on the phone with a laywer.

Your implication that AMS as a "corporate policy" is trying to screw their customers by double billing (Make sure they don't sneak one up on you) shows you don't understand of how a corporation runs.. AMS has offered this payment option for years. Do you really believe that AMS has been hosing clients for years and your the first person to trip them up.....That's federal wire fraud. Do companies pull crap like that. Sure. Is AMS? I'll take a paychecks worth of action that they are not.

I understand your getting upset because of poor service or bad accounting, but implying to everyone on this forum that AMS are thieves and trying to rip you off becasue of an accounting error is not very productive.

[sevendaysoff]

lol. its ok dtf, its all taken care of now.

it just seemed like you didnt read my post, if you had , you would have seen that it is taken care of.

[paultools]

I have nothing but good experience with AMS!

where else can you:

1) get reasonable prices (not always the lowest)

2) pay over time without a mammoth credit check

3) pay no interest

4) pay no sales tax

5) pay no shipping

6) return what you bought within 45 days and get a FULL REFUND

The shit music store down the street from me has higher prices, sales tax, and if I make a purchase, step outside the door, turn around and walk back in, they will not give me my money back!

[sevendaysoff]

i too have had nothign but good experiences with them, up until this point.

ive also never had any kind of problem with them up until this point. but when i did have a problem is when the sh*t hit the fan.

they did nothing for me, and my bank rep called this am to let me know that they did try authorize a charge this AM, but it was declined. so apparently they still did nothing to rectify the situation.

just because i had a bad experience doesn't mean everyone will, i did not mean to imply that nor can i see where that was implied. i just wanted to warn everyone, especially guys that do this all the time. if you've got multiple purchases out on the 5 month plan im sure you can loose track of time/payments pretty easily. had i not known that this purchase was already payed off i would have just sat by and let them take me for $300. and yes, no matter if it is a 'billing error', 'accounting error', etc. etc. it's still my $300 and if someone tries to take something of mine that isnt theirs i consider them to be attempting to rip me off. so error or not, they f'd up and didnt do anything about it.



luckily my bank is on my side, screw AMS (ymmv)

[paultools]

Originally Posted by sevendaysoff

if you've got multiple purchases out on the 5 month plan im sure you can loose track of time/payments pretty easily.

I didn't think that they allowed this, unless you did something unusual to get around their policy.

[sevendaysoff]

no i only had 1 purchase, i didnt know if they allowed it or not. this was my first, and last time using the EZ Payment Plan.

[Rokus666]

I hate the corporate system so much.
This is my greatest enemy. It's built in a way that is non customer friendly and twisted. Regular people that don't read two miles long terms gets screwed easily on the smallest things = more profit for a corporation...

Oh, enough talking if anyone interested please see this movie:
corporation - Google Video

[skiltrip]

I'm used AMS EZpayment countless times over the years. It's afforded me the chance to get my hands on gear I could not have done otherwise. But anytime you do any of that kinda stuff, it's good to keep an eye on statements, confirmation numbers, etc. People screw up all the time.

Sweetwater right now has 6 months no interest on their Sweetwater card. And a month or so ago there were offering 12 months no interest! It requires a credit check and all that, but that makes things even easier than AMS's easy payments.

[tysonviolin]

I love the payment plan at AMS....Use it all the time. I just wish they would carry better mic pres

[toneguru]

BBB has worked for me in the past.

GL

[MikeSV]

I had a similar situation with a "Nutrition Supplement" company. After days of fighting with them, I did a little research and found that the owner also had some other bogus businesses in the same "office" and was under investigation. I called one more time, let them know I knew the owner was under investigation and that I would be contacting the authorities (I also let them know I knew their real address, not the one they advertise). One hour later I had my money. It's amazing how easy it is to start a fraudulent businesses. My advise is to do a little research and digg for info. Contact BBB as well. Good luck.

[donsolo]

AMS isn't a fly by night operation.

It sounds like what happened was a mixup in accounting and someone who had poor cust service skills because they don't...deal with the customers...

There's a reason they lock accounting up in the back.

[Duardo]

First off...this thread was started three years ago (exactly...odd).

Having said that:

I have always shopped ZZOUNDS!, so I know nothing of this problem you have with AMS.

AMS and zZounds are the same company.

[Cb Media]

Sweetwater or VK all the way, (depending on cost and type of gear) all offer super flexible payment options and are solid operations. Sounds terrible buddy, sorry to hear.