One year later - I don't have my Musafia case
I ordered a Musafia Luxury dart-shaped case from Quinn Violins' website on Dec 31, 2013 and was told it'd take 8-12 weeks. I still haven't received it! Has anyone else had experiences like this? I understand Musafia's position - I just feel like the dealer hasn't been as communicative as I would like. Last they told me, after I sent them a couple emails, was that as of a week ago they'd received one of 3 boxes of a shipment that my case was supposed to be in. But not the right one apparently. I'm quite disappointed.
Replies (21)
Genuine complaints do us all a favour - so don't worry Bev. You are giving your US colleagues helpful information.
Bev is correct to pin the problems on management. The person who answers the phone is not at fault -- so don't get mad at them. It's the fault of their supervisor for not providing the proper training and oversight.
Just cancel your order and get your case directly from Dimitri.
A friend of mine who doesn't have a violinist.com login asked me to share this:
"Hi Enion,
I just wanted to share with you that I had the same experience with ordering a Musafia case from Quinn's Violins. After ordering a case in mid-October 2013, I expected a January 2014 delivery date. They advertised an expedited Musafia case service on their website so I specifically chose to order from them over other distributors. January passed, and when I contacted them in February, they said the case was completed and on its way from Italy. When it still hadn't arrived in March, I emailed again and got the same story about multiple shipments and it not being in the correct shipment. Every time I was assured it was arriving "any day."
In April, instead of contacting Quinn's, I emailed Musafia directly. They let me know the status of the case and were very prompt in returning my emails-much faster than Quinn. Musafia was great in their courtesy and response. It was just being built at that point in April. Someone at Quinn was not accurate in letting me know the case was finished in February. That was pretty upsetting to have been mislead.
Eventually, I received my case sometime in June 2014. I haven't looked back at Quinn's since. I love the case, and would gladly wait one year for a Musafia product. What I could not deal with is being strung along by a middleman distributor who promised an unrealistic delivery date.
Unfortunately, you're experience was not singular. Hopefully our stories can help others make informed decisions. I wish you luck in getting your case!!!"
The important thing here is, don't order it from an online shop unless you are sure already have it in stock.
If it has to be made to order, you might as well contact Musafia directly and customize the details of the case you want, then pay through whoever their recommended distributor/dealer happens to be that can accept your payment and guarantee a delivery date.
Andrew, why doesn't your friend have a violinist.com login?
Yours, Intrigued (not Tunbridge Wells).
Because he looks at this site, but never posts.
I have nothing personal against Quinn.
I would like to share my experience with Quinn on purchasing a Musafia case.
The only person who managed the e-mails to customers was very helpful at first when customizing my order. The website successfully showed that the payment was received and it should take 12-14 weeks. After 14 weeks, I e-mailed him that I have not yet received any confirmation, he replied it should be next in the production queue and should come in another month. The next e-mail I asked him, he replied that he would anticipate it to come another month after. I wrote back that I would like to know if he could confirm with the people in Italy to make sure when exactly the item will be shipped, instead of replying that the product will come the next month every time when I ask.
I have never hear back from him after that e-mail. I really hope I will get the case someday.
I am curious: Why would one order a custom Musafia case through a dealer rather than direct from Musafia?
You guys are a lot more patient than I would be!
Simply ask Quinn to give your money back. Feel free to mention this online forum - unless I hear from you, I will never have any business with them.
I believe Mr. Musafia monitors the website and posts occasionally. Maybe he has some explanation for what happened. ???
We reply to all email messages in a timely manner. The production time needed to have a Musafia case is not in our control. The estimate given by our website at the time of order is just that. An estimate.
Yes, a refund would be made if an order is canceled. Musafia cases are a custom made product, and therefore a payment is charged when the order is taken, as is our policy.
Then honestly, you should only list products for sale that you actually have in your possession and can ship in a reasonable amount of time.
About ten years ago I had saved enough money to buy a long coveted Musafia case. My first choice was to buy it from Quinn Violins but they had no master models in stock at that time but said they could probably get one for me in a month or so, they were very nice to me on the phone. So then I checked with Audubon String and they had some in stock and decided to order one and it was delivered within two days. It was a lot of money to me back then , about $1300 but it is a purchase I have never regretted and the case is a beauty to look at besides the extra protection features.
I am sorry Sherry to hear about your violin case purchase delay. I too had a difficult time ordering a case from Musafia via an U.S. website. So I contacted Musafia.com directly and Mr. Musafia's assistant is amazingly nice and prompt. We ordered a case for our daughter late last fall and I received confirmation of the final charge (the other half of the case's price) this morning.
My daughter is eagerly waiting for the case to place her new old violin won from last year's Tarisio auction!
Oh I forgot to add we ordered an older model case - a Gil Sharone. It seems to have everything our daughter's violin will need to be protected and safe.
Our daughter's is just about ready for this full sized fine Italian violin and has will study with the teacher who happens to be my old friend of 30 years. He also selected this violin for us from Tarisio and our daughter is giddy beyond description.
Thank you for everyone’s input. I truly appreciate your support. I finally have some time to give some updates. (Sorry it’s been a long time.) I ended up receiving the Musafia case after 7 months. I was really grateful that at least I get to have the case, it’s just the waiting and communication during the 7 months were not easy. The dealer could only expect that it might be next in the production queue (which is a monthly shipment), and later told me he did not receive it. After a few months, I contacted Musafia’s assistant and he told me very specific timelines, including that my case was waiting to be made (which makes it impossible to be “on the next shipment”), when my case was next to made, when my case was finished and when it was shipped from Italy. The Quinn’s was trying to be helpful, but I guess it was not easy for him to reach information to Italy quickly or clearly. I would appreciate if the Quinn’s website could take down the “12-14 weeks” so that customers would not have to expect so much. In the future, I would recommend to anybody who wants to buy a Musafia case to just order through the Musafia official website.
Lydia: I ordered from the dealer because Musafia recognizes these “Authorized Dealers” on the official website.
Rocky: Thank you for your input! Quinn’s might work well for other products on their website. I just recommend buying Musafia case directly from Musafia’s official website.
Chongwei: Thank you for sharing your experience, I used to go to Tarisio for violin repair in New York, they have some really fine instruments. Hope your daughter is enjoying her violin:)
As far as I know Tarisio does not repair violins, they are an auction house.
Something funny here: Chongwei "I used to go to Tarisio for violin repair" and Lyndon "Tarisio does not repair violins". Perhaps if you bring a violin in to them for repair, rather than telling you, "We don't repair violins", they take it and have someone they know repair it, making a very small profit, to keep the customer happy? That way they would give the customer the benefit of their knowledge of the repair business, whilst at the same time avoiding giving advice that would advertise one repairer over another.
It would be unacceptable for them to take it to a third party for repair. Then you don't know where it is, who is working on it, etc. If you are not talking to the individual who is going to work on your violin or at least to the shop foreman where the work is going to be done, then don't use that service.
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December 14, 2014 at 03:32 AM · This post is going to get me flamed, but I'm gonna say it anyways. I used to recommend Quinn Violins to my students and I also purchased various things from them. But over the past year they have become incredibly unreliable. Examples would include students ordering something from their website and never getting charged and the items were never mailed. Once I ordered a simple set of strings that were in stock and it took 3 months to get them, etc.
I've been happy with them for years but if they have had a staff or management change or something they need to evaluate their current service because it's not what it used to be.