Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/27/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 9/1/23, I submitted a request to rent a baritone saxophone. I paid $395.00, which included the first month's rent ($125) and a security deposit ($250). I also paid $20 dollars for expedited shipping. We received the instrument on 9/6/23. My son immediately tried to play it and was quickly disappointed at the quality of the sound. He has been playing this instrument for 2 years and plays quite well on the school-owned horn he usually uses. So it is not as if he is a beginner who would be expected to struggle. My husband who also played the bari for years also tried to play it with little success. There was a lot of squeaking and overall poor sound quality. The instrument went back in its case after less than an hour of use and stayed there until I was able to pack it up and take it to the *** store. It was shipped out on 9/21/23 via *** ground and cost me an additional $81.74. At that time, I reached out to the company to give them the tracking number for the shipment and inform them of the situation with the instrument not being satisfactory. The terms and conditions of the rental indicate that if a person returns an instrument in less than one month, they must reimburse the company for their initial shipping cost, and this is where the dispute arose. I kindly indicated in my message that I felt it was unfair that I should have to pay even more than I already had when the ONLY reason I was returning the instrument in less than one month was because it was poor quality and not playable. I did not dispute the month of rent paid, only the fact that I'd have to pay the shipping both ways when we were not given a satisfactory product. The owner responded that all instruments are inspected and that the terms of the contract would not be altered. He then deducted $81.75 from my deposit to cover his shipping cost as well as a $50 cleaning fee (not listed in the terms). I only received $138.25 of my deposit back, and I'm asking for a refund of the full deposit.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/11/2023

  The customer had lodged a complaint soon after receiving the instrument. The instrument was indeed in good working order. The customer simply did not prefer the instrument that we sent. She had made a claim that the instrument was not working, however, all of our instruments are cleaned and inspected prior to shipment. Upon return receipt of the instrument from the client, we play tested and sent the instrument to the shop for further inspection. No Damage was incurred to the instrument, and the instrument was in perfect working order. Because the instrument was played by the clients, it did need to go into the shop for cleaning and inspection which are listed in the terms of agreement. ********************************************

  Here is the letter we sent regarding the charges associated with the deposit.

  Hello *****
  
  Thank you for your  Baritone Saxophone Instrument return.
  
   The shop has inspected your instruments
  
  The shop charged the following repairs.
  
  Shop charges included:
  
  1. $50 cleaning/inspection/ sterilization/cleaning of case/
  2. $81.75 reimbursement for intial *** ** shipping charges for rentals 1 month or less.
  3.-$20 credit payment for *** ** in the beginning
  
    TOTAL OF ALL ITEMS:  $111.75
  
   TOTAL REIMBURSED TO CARD ON FILE: $138.25
  

  We did in fact reimburse the client the initial fed ex charge of $20 and  did hold accountable the client for all other charges according to the terms and conditions of our agreement. 

  Thank you

  IQInstrumentRentals.com

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/16/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Nowhere in the terms and conditions does it specify the cleaning fee is $50.00. I've attached a photo of the only fee mentioned, which is a repurpose fee with two conflicting dollar amounts listed. 
  

  Also, that has consistently been the response that I received as far as stating the instrument was inspected and in working order. As I mentioned, my son has been playing a better quality version of the same instrument for years and plays with no issues. The sound quality achieved with the rented instrument was poor and unusable. It has nothing to do with preference.

  Its clear the business does not care about customer satisfaction given that the customer bears the full cost of receiving an unsatisfactory product. What we requested was simply to split the expense placing some liability on both parties. 

  Regards,
  
  *****************