Disappointed with Pearl Roadshow but it all turned out ok!

Glad to see things are getting better, my friend. I'm curious what kit did you order? Another Midtown?

I think I'm going with the club jam. It was my first decision but I went with the roadshow due to it having hardware. That kit won't be in until April so I could change my mind lol.
 
Yeah, I was surprised they took this long to get to the "Send you some boxes out decision". They ship free, pretty much to everyone all the time. How in the heck can a stack of more boxes cost them a few pennies in the long run. I don't know if Grant mentioned anything to anyone, but he was a bit disappointed in how things started for you. He certainly passed things on to someone. But whomever led you to Chuck!!! You da Man!
 
*big update*

Ok, as I mentioned last night I sent an email to Chuck (and a few others) from Sweetwater. He responded in less then 5 minutes and about 10 minutes later I got a call from 'Justin', their director of customer service. Super nice guy, not in a cheesey corporate customer service voice 'nice'... He genuinely was a down to earth cool guy.

To sum it up:
They are sending me boxes to ship the kit back and they already sent me a prepaid shipping label for the return. They took the information I gave, the pictures I provided, and our ongoing conversation here and are putting together a report for Pearl. While they understand QC issues can slip through the cracks they are not pleased at the multitude of issues with one kit as well as Pearl's dismissive handling. They also acknowledged areas for improvement in their internal handling (making me call back, repeated lengthy holds, etc). We discussed which kit I would like to get in it's place, that kit is unfortunately on back order until April. So, I'm sending the pearl roadshow back, getting a refund for it, was put on the wait-list for the other kit, and will buy that once it comes in.

In the meantime... I'm going to get over my 'mood' about the cocktail jam and beat it like it owes me money lol.

There you go.

Squeaky wheel!
 
That's probably the kit they drove the truck over in their advert.
Lol, right? I recall that being a Tama ad. The strongest name in drums. Lay the shell on it's side and do the car test. That would impress me.

That same type of ad, with any other instrument, no one saw, ever.
 
@roncadillac I am completely new to drums (as of June)
I also bought the roadshow set from Sweetwater. I don't recall if it had the Sweetwater tape or not on the packages. The only issue I had was there was a bent 16" crash.
I contacted Ian (my agent there) and my replacement cymbal was at my place of work in three days. (Sure it's a piece of crap cymbal, but that's not the point).
Advice I got here had me shortly upgrading my cymbals and heads and this set is good for me...at least for now.
They didn't want the bent cymbal back, so it's got a set of 12 Sabian rivets in it now and sounds a lot better than it did originally. (I also drilled eight 1/2" holes in it).
Sweetwater is the best!
Sounds like Chuck is doing the right thing for you...unfortunately, he can't know everything that goes on in real time.
 
*final update*

Just a quick one to give some 'closure' on this thread for those who followed along:
After a few issues with FedEx I can confirm that sweetwater received the kit back today and issued my refund immediately.

So that's that... We'll call it case closed.

On a final note, I sincerely hope this thread and my experience doesn't shy people away from trying pearl drums. I still say that the roadshow is one of the best values for a budget kit in that it includes hardware, I think I just got a dud. Had the kit not had the issues that it did, I certainly would be playing and enjoying that kit as we speak. As for Pearl's dismissive customer service? That's unfortunately just the norm these days. If I bought a masters kit, where the floor tom alone cost more then the entire roadshow package, I'm sure they would have been a bit more helpful.

Thanks for the support and advice everyone!!
 
I did just get some Roland headphones from Sweetwater and the box did not have the Sweetwater tape on the outside.
Still had the candy, sticker and flyer, so...
 
If I bought a masters kit, where the floor tom alone cost more then the entire roadshow package, I'm sure they would have been a bit more helpful.
That, is what is unacceptable to me. I don't care what you spend, the CS should be the same. If you won't stand behind a lower tier product, why would I want to try a higher tier?
 
This.



That, is what is unacceptable to me. I don't care what you spend, the CS should be the same. If you won't stand behind a lower tier product, why would I want to try a higher tier?
 
Glad you have a resolution that works, and glad Sweetwater eventually came through for you.

It's too bad you had to go through this, but it's good you have the ability to step back and assess the kit apart from the usual Pearl offerings. That said, Pearl really dropped the CS ball here, imo, and did you a disservice that could have easily been avoided, if just in attitude, if nothing else.

Thanks for the update, and great good luck with your next choice.





*final update*

Just a quick one to give some 'closure' on this thread for those who followed along:
After a few issues with FedEx I can confirm that sweetwater received the kit back today and issued my refund immediately.

So that's that... We'll call it case closed.

On a final note, I sincerely hope this thread and my experience doesn't shy people away from trying pearl drums. I still say that the roadshow is one of the best values for a budget kit in that it includes hardware, I think I just got a dud. Had the kit not had the issues that it did, I certainly would be playing and enjoying that kit as we speak. As for Pearl's dismissive customer service? That's unfortunately just the norm these days. If I bought a masters kit, where the floor tom alone cost more then the entire roadshow package, I'm sure they would have been a bit more helpful.

Thanks for the support and advice everyone!!
 
Glad you have a resolution that works, and glad Sweetwater eventually came through for you.

It's too bad you had to go through this, but it's good you have the ability to step back and assess the kit apart from the usual Pearl offerings. That said, Pearl really dropped the CS ball here, imo, and did you a disservice that could have easily been avoided, if just in attitude, if nothing else.

Thanks for the update, and great good luck with your next choice.


That was my thing. I wasn't expecting pearl to just up and send me a new kit, especially when I bought it through a third party retailer and there are return/refund procedures in place regarding these situations. HOWEVER, a very simple verbal "sorry about that!" from the Pearl customer service guy and I probably would have just bought a midtown again. That's ok, I've given tama my money for twenty years... They can have some more lol.
 
*final update*

Just a quick one to give some 'closure' on this thread for those who followed along:
After a few issues with FedEx I can confirm that sweetwater received the kit back today and issued my refund immediately.

So that's that... We'll call it case closed.

On a final note, I sincerely hope this thread and my experience doesn't shy people away from trying pearl drums. I still say that the roadshow is one of the best values for a budget kit in that it includes hardware, I think I just got a dud. Had the kit not had the issues that it did, I certainly would be playing and enjoying that kit as we speak. As for Pearl's dismissive customer service? That's unfortunately just the norm these days. If I bought a masters kit, where the floor tom alone cost more then the entire roadshow package, I'm sure they would have been a bit more helpful.

Thanks for the support and advice everyone!!


This is a huge point. ALL COMPANIES have QC problems. In the last 6 months here, we've seen threads about Pearl, Tama, Sonor, Ludwig, Gretsch. . .
They ALL make great drums, and they all make mistakes--there are humans involved. And we make errors.
 
This is a huge point. ALL COMPANIES have QC problems. In the last 6 months here, we've seen threads about Pearl, Tama, Sonor, Ludwig, Gretsch. . .
They ALL make great drums, and they all make mistakes--there are humans involved. And we make errors.
I ran small craft breweries for the last decade... For every 1000 cans of pristine quality liquid, there always could be 1 that was half full. I'm totally on the same page.
 
Ron, sorry you had to put up with all of that! Wow!
Sweetwater will always take care of your needs; they're the best!
Why Pearl even inserted such flawed items into a box to begin with is beyond me.
Whenever I purchase anything new I always save the boxes for a while, just in case.
Drum on, Dude!
 
Glad you have a resolution that works, and glad Sweetwater eventually came through for you.

It's too bad you had to go through this, but it's good you have the ability to step back and assess the kit apart from the usual Pearl offerings. That said, Pearl really dropped the CS ball here, imo, and did you a disservice that could have easily been avoided, if just in attitude, if nothing else.

Thanks for the update, and great good luck with your next choice.
Like I said. I bought Pearl back in June because I had never heard anything bad about Pearl. Now I have.... reviews and word of mouth really do affect things.
Just from one dude's experience I might have went other than Pearl and/or other than Sweetwater.
 
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