Good point, witty. This thread should really be pinned at the top of the forum. How else would everyone know that random 3rd party online vendors who are selling Roland accordions at 80% discounts are not scam artists.
Roland Accordions on Alibaba
- Thread starter McSqueeze
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Do you have any photos?
I'm not an expert, but most accordions I've seen had basses arranged in rows of 6ths. Smaller models may have rows of 5ths, and some balkan boxes and concert bayans have rows of 7ths. Never seen basses in circles of 5ths - are you sure it's not a concertina or a bandoneon of some sort?
That's a bit harsh isn't it? I think what we have is a healthy mix of the fatuous (or at least those that specialise pointing out in the bleedin' obvious) mixed in with occasional pearls of wisdom. You can't have continual wisdom!
Valski
Well-known member
The general point is valid. However the responses were friendly and the people who answered did not deserve to be scolded. Yes as enthusiasts we tend to get excited when we discuss our favorite topic. Yes people can wander off topic, but this shouldn't elicit scornful retorts.
Just saying....
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kimric
Well-known member
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There is a lot of scammy stuff out there. I was looking for replacement bellows for a Hohner Bravo and ran into someone who supposedly was selling accordions and bellows among other unrelated things ,the big tipoff was a image of a custom Weltmeister I had made 15 years ago being sold "new" for $97. The picture among several others had been pulled from my Flickr page. It was supposedly based out of Tanzania.
Ventura
Been here for ages!
a healthy chat area is like a song.. it can focus on the core elements when
necessary, but then fly off into delightful improvization in an instant
and riff for awhile or even all night long when inspired by the other misicicians
jamming with you..
so much better than silence
are you not momentarily sad when you refresh this page and see there have been
no new posts ?
i vote for babel over silence
necessary, but then fly off into delightful improvization in an instant
and riff for awhile or even all night long when inspired by the other misicicians
jamming with you..
so much better than silence
are you not momentarily sad when you refresh this page and see there have been
no new posts ?
i vote for babel over silence
At $400 for a Roland FR8x, supposedly sold by a vendor in Botswana, I think that the chances of ever actually receiving this item is very very close to zero.
And they conveniently accept only methods of payment that ensure your money is gone for good with no way to retrieve it once you discover you are not getting what you paid for...
This isn't true for Alibaba in general. They sell a lot of stuff from and by reliable people. It's just sad they do not automatically reject ridiculous offers from dubious countries (not dubious in general per se, but dubious related to the type of item they are "selling"), and certainly also dubious in how they accept payment.
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Chris Laarman
Active member
My experiences are with AliExpress, the Business To Consumer website of AliBaba. They are limited to vendors from mainland China, including Hong Kong.
I have bought from quite a variety of vendors through Ali (which is more strictly a marketplace than Amazon), from all but perfect (a Huawei store where I had to invoke warrenty on one of two tablets, and got it replaced swiftly) to apparent buyers of leftovers who clearly had no idea of the properties of their merchandise and sometimes used photos that clearly showed another brand. (I'm referring to the oriental edition of a certain workstation synthesizer, some half year ago.) My first purchase was canceled by Ali due to the vendor not responding in time (although that reaction time was quite short, considering the time zone difference), the second was even aborted by Ali.
In between these extremes are many trustworthy vendors, but also some very questionable ones. (I mean: what's the point of selling if you are unable to deliver?) In all these cases I have started a dispute invoking Ali's customer service, and in all cases (10? 15?) I was found right and had the amount immediately refunded. In the latest case, I had to be angry with that very customer service, as they supposed that the goods could still be on their way, although the vendor had kept answering me (in website messages) that he couldn't send. That worked. (Note that your money is held by Ali until you confirm reception of the goods or until 30 days after delivery to you has been reported. - Oh, on one occasion some order of little things was merged with one of big things for delivery. I didn't find the little things, but they were "proven" to have been delivered to me. That's the one case where I dropped the dispute and lost my modest payment.)
It may be worth mentioning that at least some credit card companies and (as I remember it) PayPal and some banks also have a refunding clause, so you may have multiple safety nets. I have invoked the credit card service twice - against vendors from the Netherlands, and I should have invoked it long ago against a third Dutch vendor. The first time of the "twice" has been swiftly processed in my favor. The second time, the vendor (a big music store) payed after my deadline, but before my case had been taken up.
To be complete: I have also had a few occasions (with Ali, and one with Amazon) where I did receive the goods after I had been refunded. I still feel sorry for that Chinese vendor on Amazon.nl. He advised me to buy locally in the future.
Bottom line: be cautious, but not afraid.
Alan Sharkis
Prolific poster
Most recently, and out of curiosity, I did a search for dealers at the Roland site and noticed that Roland also posted a list of non-Roland dealers who sold Roland products but without the standard Roland warranty.
Ventura
Been here for ages!
some Roland products have pretty much always been available through Jobbers
like the Boss pedals and some small amps and other odds and ends, but they
are legit music stores or schools in some cases and the warranties are honored
for that kind of stuff
but yes only Accordion/keyboard/full line Roland dealer sales include
the full USA warranty.. like those old-new stock FR7B models Rose
officially liquidated for Roland came with the warranty, but when she passed away
Roxy's leftovers of those Factory leftovers ended up in another retailers hands,
and though "new" included no enforceable warranty
but pretty much everyone who grabbed one got it for waaaay less than $2000,
and it kind of proved another thread on the forum about the Chromatic
accordion's (lack of) popularity and acceptance in the USA
i mean those leftovers were from Roland's ORIGINAL usa "stock" order fill
and between the time the FR7 came out and the FR7x took over,
they sold next to none of the 7b models.. then they sat around the warehouse
for another what, 10 years until the 8 was on the horizon and still didn't sell
hardly any then Rose got them for 10cents on the dollar wholesale, but she
had to take them ALL every single one and she was sweating bullets until
she covered her investment
like the Boss pedals and some small amps and other odds and ends, but they
are legit music stores or schools in some cases and the warranties are honored
for that kind of stuff
but yes only Accordion/keyboard/full line Roland dealer sales include
the full USA warranty.. like those old-new stock FR7B models Rose
officially liquidated for Roland came with the warranty, but when she passed away
Roxy's leftovers of those Factory leftovers ended up in another retailers hands,
and though "new" included no enforceable warranty
but pretty much everyone who grabbed one got it for waaaay less than $2000,
and it kind of proved another thread on the forum about the Chromatic
accordion's (lack of) popularity and acceptance in the USA
i mean those leftovers were from Roland's ORIGINAL usa "stock" order fill
and between the time the FR7 came out and the FR7x took over,
they sold next to none of the 7b models.. then they sat around the warehouse
for another what, 10 years until the 8 was on the horizon and still didn't sell
hardly any then Rose got them for 10cents on the dollar wholesale, but she
had to take them ALL every single one and she was sweating bullets until
she covered her investment
Very Interesting Ventura. I am v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y absorbing your knowledge (will never, ever get it all -- I don't have your technical background) of the Roland Accordions. Who is "Rose"? Who is "Roxy"?
Rose was the owner of Roxy’s Music out near Batavia NY way, one of the biggest and most famous dealers in V-Accordions before she passed and the doors closed.
Ventura
Been here for ages!
and her Dad (Roxy) was a well known Pro accordionist, as was his
competition winning Wife, and founded the store..
he was, for a time, the biggest Cordovox Dealer in the World
our of nowheresville (Batavia) western New York State
the walls of the old store were covered with Photographs of
the famous and not so famous who had come to roost there
over the decades
Rose was a wonderful promoter and supporter of all things Accordion
competition winning Wife, and founded the store..
he was, for a time, the biggest Cordovox Dealer in the World
our of nowheresville (Batavia) western New York State
the walls of the old store were covered with Photographs of
the famous and not so famous who had come to roost there
over the decades
Rose was a wonderful promoter and supporter of all things Accordion
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I bought my new-old-stock FR-7b and some small items from Roxy's Music. It was sad to see it close for good.
Which is why you should never try to deal with a vendor who does not accept credit cards, PayPal or any other way of payment where it is absolutely impossible to get your money back!
Chris Laarman
Active member
Sidebar:
So "we" Dutch also founded a doughnut center in New York State. Former namesake of present-day Djakarta (Indonesia). "Batavia" refers to the tribe Julius Caesar encountered in the river delta that would become the Netherlands. They were supposed to have come down the river Rhine on logs. No accordions involved...
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