WARNING, Amazon music equipment

    I purchased a Shure KSM 44a microphone from Amazon (it was listed as being sold by them) for $999.00 ish.  It arrived, I was eager to open the box.  When I got out the microphone I noticed there were no switches on it.  Something on the inside also rattled like it was horrible construction.  I took out the chord and observed it was a SPDIF to USB connecter.  'Shure' enough the bottom of the mic had a SPDIF connector and the end of the chord was USB. 
 
    Well, something doesnt seem right.  The mic was labeled with a kind of tape across the front that said "Shure"  KSM 44A/SL.  So I double checked the mic from Amazon and confirmed I ordered the correct one.  I triple checked the one I was holding and it was labeled right but was a different mic.
 
    I called Shure immediately and asked them what the deal was.  They requested photos and believed I got a "fake".  After I sent them photo's they responded within 5 minutes and confirmed I was sold a fake "Shure" microphone and to get my money back from Amazon.
 
    I contacted customer service at Amazon and informed them that they had sold me a fake product and questioned how many other people were being swindled.  They offered to refund my entire purchase once they receive the cheap replica back.  I asked what they planned on doing to resolving the issue.  She said she could credit me $30.  So I responded "I was not asking for money or credit, but since you just offered me 30 dollars for trying to swindle me out of a $1000 dollar microphone now I am insulted."  I explained I wanted to know how the company was going to look into this issue.  She said she would contact the warehouse and tell them there was a mistake in the order! lol
 
    I spoke to a supervisor who told me the same thing.  They did not seem overly concerned of their legal and ethical violations.  So I will be returning my cheap knock off microphone and writing a letter to the coporate office.  I made Shure fully aware of the situation and they were not happy.  I am writing here to warn my brother and sister musicians to be wary of purchasing musical equipment from Amazon and to inspect whatever you get.
 
Happy Holidays
-Mike Lizotte
 

+1 to what Jeff says.  I don't think I'd order a $1k mic from Amazon myself anyway - I'd go with sweetwater or someone.  besides - they have sales all the time.  I think musiciansfriend just had a 15% off sale for black friday.

I buy a few things from time to time with Amazon and they are for the most part, shipped from 3rd party companies too.

Counterfeiting is a serious problem in ALL aspects of the manufacturing world. Some are rip offs and the unsuspecting get swindled, some are dangerous and people get hurt or killed because of the inferior fakes. 


So far, everything I have purchased through Amazon have been (to my eye anyway) the genuine thing. 

That story does have me wondering about some DVD box sets I ordered for Christmas from them. The local store had them at over $100 while the same set on Amazon we 45% less. 



BTW: If you have a smart phone, you can get the Amazon app. Scan the item barcode in the store and Amazon searches it instantly and shows the price on their store. I saw that for a limited time, when you order it then, you get an additional $5 off the item. The stores HATE this...... but in fairness to them, business is business..... I would ask to see a supervisor and show them the online price and ask if they could try to match the price and I'd buy it from them if they made a serious attempt to match the price. 

I hear you about Sweetwater Beagle.  The wife and I were purchasing other items for xmas at the same time and the price on the mic was the same everywhere I looked, so I figured what the heck. 

My luck with with Amazon prior to this was very good, I had purchased software several times and it was usually filled by 3rd party vendors.  This time, as stated and quoted above was filled by Amazon themselves.

My biggest problem is when they were notified, their apparent complete lack of caring or desire to do anything about the problem. 

Well, that is sad, but then I take another approach, and it could just be an error by a worker in a warehouse somewhere. But then, I haven't really bought anything from Amazon anyway, since to me they sell too much. All well and good if they replace your money and all of that, but still I would think to give Amazon a poor rating as to not be trusted. But then I had an error from Sweetwater too on a couple of musical cords, but then I let it pass, for I could use them anyway. Sometimes, the order just gets wrong somehow, and then it is a hassle just to get it all settled out. I tend to go local then, and know in one of the places, the same price probably still will apply.

Hope it works out for you, and you have it in your hands soon.
Mix-up probably no doubt, but then some businesses have turned that way with some of what workers or management may do there. Just know they can not get by with it in the end, and repeated failures soon makes the business go "Out of Business".

buying direct, from guitar center, musicians friend, zzounds, bananas, sweetwater, or any other known entity like that, is MUCH safer than dealing with amazon and all their 3rd party suppliers.

me, i have a guitar center in town, that will match ANY deal i find anywhere else, so that's what i deal with.

fireberd

Many items listed on the Amazon site are actually fulfilled by a 3rd party and not directly from Amazon.

But apparently Amazon is responsible for the item description.
 
I have normally had good experiences with Amazon, both with direct and with 3rd-party purchases.  But there was one instance where I purchased a book that turned out to be identical to another book that I had purchased previously, due to the description being misleading and the absence of a picture.  Amazon offered me a voucher as compensation, which was ok.  The 3rd-party vendor give me another voucher, which was even better, but urged me to remove the negative comment that I posted about my experience with this purchase.  I agreed to remove it on condition that they amend the item's existing description.  They said that this was up to Amazon and outside of their control.  I had already contacted Amazon about this issue but they had not done anything about it.  I asked the vendor to take up the issue with Amazon, but they ignored this.  The misleading description was never amended.

Another prop for Sweetwater here.  If you get a sales rep that you consistently do business with, they will almost always match prices. I have had great luck making a purchase fit my budget with them.

Vintage King is pretty good about this too. An outfit named Wind Over the Earth in Boulder, CO will adjust prices too. Unfortunately, Guitar Center has pretty much stopped this, but I have been very happy with their fulfillment of online purchases.

Sorry to hear about your experience, and I hope that it was resolved to your satisfaction. Thanks for letting us know.