audiolines and the open-box mpc500

so i made the decision to order the open-box mpc500 from audiolines. looked like the best deal around, and one of the dudes that said he worked there said the open-box MPCs were mint.

i also had a coupon from another board for 10% at audiolines so that brought it down to $450. sweet.

turns out there is some new thing about sales tax, and even though it was shipped from IL and i'm in MA, i was still gonna have to pay sales tax. oh well, with the tax it was still under $500 shipped.

sweet.

no so fast.

i get a call from audiolines a few minutes later. first they said that in fact the coupon does not work for open-box items (it did on the website) next they say they are in fact out of the open-box mpc500s. then they change the story to: "we have one left, but it isn't working correctly, but looks mint on the outside"

I guess i was glad that they called me to talk instead of sending me the junk mpc500 (not that they would have even if it was fine, cause of that coupon thing...) but now i don't own an mpc500, and i only have $500 right now.

they tried desperately to sell me a new one, offereing it first for $600, then $575, then $550. which is a great deal on a brand new mpc500. i just don't have it right now so i had to cancel my order.

too bad, but these guys seems honest and seem like they have good deals if you ask. don't take my word for it though, i haven't actually bought anything from them (yet)

Before I copped mine on eBay I called Audiolines a few times about that open box deal.

They were neither clear nor responsive so I let that go.

I got my 500 exactly one month ago today from audio lines. I intially called them to ask about the Open Box thing and they said they were sold out. I emailed them a few days latter and ended up getting my MPC 500 for $550, with shipping and C.O.D fee I ended up paying $584.

I didnt have to pay any sales tax though. I think they were just trying to get some extra money out of you. Or maybe the state that you live in makes you pay tax on internet stuff, Im in PA.

That $499 open box MPC 500 has been on their website for well over 2 months now... it had been up there for a month when I bought mine 1 month ago. I think they are using it to attract people and then when you call up tell you they are sold out and will give you a new one for a good price. But actually you make out pretty good anyway because you only end up paying $50 more than the "open box mint" one. I'll definitely consider them again the next time I buy some equipment

read about my full experience with Audio Lines below.

http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?p=589970&highlight=#589970[/url]

Bait and switch.

Zzounds used to do that all the time and camera stores in new york do that constantly with digital cameras: they list an amazing price so they get listed on sites like price grabber and when you call they upsell you, tell you it isn't available but wouldn't you like it for $XXX.

They just list that low price to get people to call and it certainly works!

Thats exactly what it is, but I didnt feel ripped off at all because they only Up'd the price fifty more dollars and for the price that I got it for, I felt it was a good deal,

4000is1monster wrote:Thats exactly what it is, but I didnt feel ripped off at all because they only Up'd the price fifty more dollars and for the price that I got it for, I felt it was a good deal,

yeah except i had a coupon so the difference was $100 (450 to 550)

Since when does a 10% coupon equal $100 off of a piece of gear that cost $550? you would have gotten $55 off. And like you said it was open boxed so you wouldnt have been able to use it anyway. Plus coupons and all these kinds of things are always up to companies discretion to refuse to honor them.

I realized the $499 open box thing was Bull *ish when I called up after it had been on the site for over a month and they said they were sold out. The way I look at it... I got it for $250 less then what most people paid for theirs, so who got ripped off?

I'd have paid full price if I could afford it, but the reason I was attracted to audiolines was because $550 was just about as much as I could afford right now, $699-$799 retail was definitly out of the question and $650 from vst was also, $500-550, right up my alley.

4000is1monster wrote:Since when does a 10% coupon equal $100 off of a piece of gear that cost $550? you would have gotten $55 off.

He was talking about 10% off the $500 open box price, so $450, vs $550, $100 difference.

SimonInAustralia wrote:

4000is1monster wrote:Since when does a 10% coupon equal $100 off of a piece of gear that cost $550? you would have gotten $55 off.

He was talking about 10% off the $500 open box price, so $450, vs $550, $100 difference.

ding ding ding!!!

i found one on ebay for $520 shipped with an extra 1GB CF card.

Yeah but that wasnt going to happen anyway you sliced it because Peyote said Audio Lines doesnt accept coupons on Open box items and you said hat it said that right on their website. They arent going to allow a double discount, you already got a discount for it being open box. Most companies do this, if they are having a sale it usually only applies to New units, not Used or Blemished or B-stock or Open Box.

That is of course if they actually had an "open box mint" to begin with, which I doubt.

$520 is a good deal, I never even considered ebay though because there is too much fraud with Hot New items like this. I do buy things off ebay just not things that are newly on the market because Half the time its just dealers trying to sell you units for the same price that you could get it for at the store yourself, If im getting something off ebay then I want a discount. The other half of the time there are just alot of flat out fakes that are trying to rip people off that want a cheap price on something thats hot and new.

audiolines just called and said they could sell me one for around the same price.

but i had already bought one

but then i wen ton to discuss the bait and switch and how many other people had been experiencing the same thing as I, adn they got very defensive.

i agreed that they offered me a good price but after using a bad business practice. the salesman kept going on and on and eventually i hung up. i would call them in the future if i were to buy some new gear, because i know they will cut deals to get sales...

same thing happened to me. i got it for 600. i ain't mad though.