Posted by Rick Denney on February 12, 2004 at 12:33:27:
In Reply to: Re: Baltimore Brass posted by David Fedderly on February 11, 2004 at 21:50:08:
Personally, I wish you'd pick your store up and move it about 1000 miles to the west. It's too dad-gum expensive living so close to your store.
I've walked into Baltimore Brass three times. I've bought three tubas (one for a relative). Not only are they a pleasure to work with, but they often have an interesting and effective selection of instruments for players of all abilities.
Folks, when I bought the Holton, I got a phone call from Dave Fedderly two days after drooling on myself in pleasure on this forum, to ask me if I was satisfied with the purchase. He was holding the check until I was happy. I think he knew the answer, heh, heh, but he still called and checked.
Ditto last week. I got an email from Mike Russo asking me if the B&S was meeting my needs. Again, they were holding the check until I was sure I was happy with it.
I don't know how anyone could ask for better service than that.
In the tuba world, we are blessed with dealers who just flat love tubas, and who love to help others who love tubas. I could tell stories that would emphasize the integrity of guys like Matt Walters and Lee Stofer, and others could tell similar stories about the dealers with whom they've worked. The Internet has made it possible for these dealers to reach the small tuba market without working through local stores, and that has been enormously good for us because it has made it possible for them to specialize on our needs. But we come to believe that the Internet is the preferred medium for conducting business, and I think that's a bad assumption. If I want to find out if, say, Matt has a hole in his schedule a month out, I'll send him an email because I can wait for him to find a convenient time to respond, and the response requires only a sentence. But when I need something more urgently or when my question needs a complicated answer, I'll always call. Why? Because it gets me my answer faster and takes up less of their time. Not everyone can type at 120 words a minute.
Rick "who spends a large share of each day answering emails" Denney