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If you wish to buy a musical instrument online, avoid Jimlaabsmusic.com at all cost. I was looking for a cornet (a small
trumpet) and I found their web site where they sell trumpets and cornets "made by Schiller, Frankfurt, Germany", at interesting prices.
I bought a new Schiller trumper cornet for $ 252.00 plus shipping, and when I received the instruments I was incredibly disappointed.
The bell of the trumpet was as thin as a can of baked beans. The intonation was off. The trumpet's nouthpiece was unplayable. In summary, a real piece of junk. I did some research and finally discovered that the original "Schiller Music, Franklfurt, Germany" Company does not exists anymore, the rights to use its name have been bought by a Chinese entrepreneur who builds junk instruments in China and brand them "Schiller, Frankfurt, Germany" in order to rip off poor customers (like me) who are so stupid to trust the name written on a product. I wrote several e-mails to Jimlaabsmusic, both trough their web mail and using their personal e-mail address, and got no answer at all. Finally, after several attempts, I managed to talk on the phone to some rude guy who told me that they do not accept returns on what they sell, and then shut down the phone. By the way, They DO NOT MENTION that they have a NO RETURN policy neither on their web site, nor on the phone.
So I am stuck with this piece of junk and I have lost hundreds of dollars.,
I am posting this complain hoping, at least, to save some other potential customers from the same rip off. Thanks
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I sure wish that I looked at this before getting involved with Laabs. I can see the only way to get a refund for a guitar that was supposed to be in stock but then according to Troy someone must have sold it. I will order it and it will take a couple weeks. Ok Troy and now 2.5 months goes by no guitar that Laabs got paid $1,500. Now won't answer calls or emails. Troy is a deception artist, bate and switch.
I guess I will file with BBB Laabs is on file with them. Thanks Troy quite the business man. Honesty doesn't mean a [censored]in thing right Troy good job
I've know Mr. Laabs for over twenty years via business dealings and I can honesty say he's without a doubt the biggest Con Man, Charlatan, Fake, Fraud and Phony, so as the old saying goes, a leopard doesn't change its spots. Laabs underhandedly deals in the dark world of Gray Market pianos, these pianos have been beaten, battered and abused institutionally and Laabs unceremoniously restores them, but good'ol deceptive Jim and his henchman son Troy won't disclose that important information on to the buyer. And lastly, Jim pushes hard to sell the customer a brand called Schiller. First of all, Schiller is a fake, non-existent name, there is and was no Schiller of Frankfurt Germany. Schiller is actually made at the Pearl River sweatshop factory located in Guangzhou China. Jim will allege that Schiller is made with German parts, this is a hook to fool the customer into thinking a Schiller is German Engineered, but in reality, its a cheap, poorly-made piece of junk worth under 500 bucks and the customer is forking over 5-10k to the unscrupulous Jim Laabs personal investment fund. Stay away from this creep, he should be selling musical instruments to his fellow inmates at the local prison.
Laabs sells refurbished, reconditioned and retooled equipment. Jim is indeed a very cantankerous and rude individual, he even comes off as a racists and bigot. Stay away from this store, there are plenty of other places to shop at.
I purchased a Schiller pocket trumpet in 2016 from Jim Laabs Music. My experience was positive. I even traded in another new instrument that I was not satisfied with and was given a very good trade price. The entire transaction cold not have been handled any better. I'm surprised at the horror stories that I read on here.
I just ordered a piano bench from Jim Laabs Music, and I had a great experience--high quality merchandise, prompt delivery, helpful and courteous customer service. I feel the strong need to post a counter-message to these very negative reviews, because this site is one of the ones I looked at before deciding to order. I was in need of a piano bench. Laabs Music has a "house brand" artist bench (the Frederick) that got a very good and enthusiastic evaluation from several people at the Piano World forums. After several days of searching around, I decided to place an online order for it on Monday of this week. Later on in the day I got a voicemail from a gentleman at Laabs Music. Having read these comments trashing Laabs Music's customer service, I was worried. But when I returned the call on Tuesday morning, the gentleman in the piano department very courteously told me that the finish I had ordered, ebony satin, was out of stock. He offered the ebony polish finish instead. I said that would be fine. Today is Thursday, and the bench I ordered on Monday arrived in the Washington DC suburbs exactly as ordered. I would have no problem doing business with Jim Laabs Music again in the future.
I've just ordered a Holton Trumpet and given them my credit card details and now I'm reading all of these horror stories!
Troy Laabs was pretty persistent about trying to get me to change my order and get a Schillers instead., so thankyou Gerardo Pavone for the warning given above. I've just cancelled my credit card and sent Jim Laabs email notification of cancellation of my order. I don't know if I'm too late now and I live in Australia, so it would be hard for me to pursue a complaint.
Jim Laab's (also known as Jim Slob's) is by far the worst music store I have ever seen.
As a guitar player for the past 10 years, I haven't seen premier guitars treated so badly. They not only do they expect to get FULL retail prices, but they leave them out drying and cracking away, many for months, if not years at a time. Yes, they do have a humidifier under their guitar "showcase", but PLEASE, only consider purchasing a guitar that is sealed off within their own humid room, or directly from the factory.
Another problem is their guitar strings. They advertise "60%" off, but still charge you $9 a pack. Honestly, a good music store will charge you around the $5.00 range.
Jim Slobs stinks. And from the looks of other reviews, it appears others do too.
I feel sorry for you but thank you for letting us know! I contacted them serveral times before because I was interested in buying a piano. And their price seems unbelievably good. So I was suspecious and didn't make my move. And now I'm serching for an intrument again and I have the same feeling that maybe I shouldn't go ahead and do business with them. (I did talk to a nice polite guy back a few years ago in the Minnesota store though...) Anyway, I'm glad that I check about the complaints of a company before I buy from them...
I am so glad the word is finally getting out about these jerks. They ripped my off when buying a trumpet from them in 1998. I thought I was getting certain model and they sent me something different. I called to let them know and Mr. Troy Labbs indignantly and condescendingly said "Oh Jesus Christ, did you play the horn? Did you like it?" I guess he was trying to imply that I should just shut up and keep it even though it wasn't the one for which I paid them. After a little back and forth, and him complaining about the 30 minutes we spent on the phone when I was considering purchasing the horn he probably didn't even have, I asked if they were a legitimate business and his response was "Are you a legitimate customer? He then sighed and screamed "oh hold on!" I thought he was going to hang up on me, but he came back and calmly said that I was right and they made a mistake. He said he'd send me a UPS call tag for the shipping. I asked him for the number and he told me there was no number. That's when I knew I was screwed. I used to work for UPS and know they don't do anything without a number. So, I reported them to the Wisconsin BBB and received a copy of my complaint stating that they would investigate. A follow up came months later, containing a signed statement by Mr. Jim Labbs himself, saying that "... we even sent him a call tag..." Well, it's 2009 and I'm still waiting for it. How they continue to operate employing despicable, disgraceful, deceptive and downright BAD business practices is unbelievable. I also read somewhere that they have ripped of lots of people through Ebay, but you wouldn't know it because they routinely comment positively on their own listings that they "appear" to sell in order to make it look like they have legions of satisfied customers. They have also been banned from Paypal. Please spread the word far and wide about these clowns. In short, they don't deserve anyone's business.