ProAudioStar- The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Joe, thanx so much for taking the time to express your views on this company, and also to alert us of "the bad". Im staying away and will stick with a reputable, basically an efficient company. We all appreciate you here. Thank you.

I just received a blonde classic vibe telecaster guitar in open box. It looks brand new. Received in 4-5 days. I contacted them couple times about the guitar and they got right back to me. Got the guitar even less then what they offered to me the first time. Bob

I was just looking at a Squier contemporary on Proaudiogear for $229 and thought it was a scam… then happened to pull up YouTube and this popped up. Thanks for the review on them.

Sound like best to leave alone.

I've bought two Squier guitars from ProAudioStar in the past three months. One was labeled "open box" and the other was labeled "new." Both were fine so I had no reason to interact with customer service. Both appeared to be unmolested factory packs -- i.e new. If you do some web sleuthing on that outfit you turn up two bits of information that get repeated enough by different people who seem to know what they're talking about that they carry the ring of truth. One: Their "open box" and "used" labels are often just ways to do an end-run around manufacturers (such as Fender) who enforce MAP -- minimum advertised price. Do I believe this? Yes, I think it's probably true. Probably -- I have no inside knowledge. However, use of the "open box" and "used" labels allow them to sell stuff returned by others without being untruthful. ("Hey, we told you it was open box.") So it's a case of, "Do you feel lucky?" You might get something someone else returned for a good reason (which might be what happened with your neck-cracked guitar) or you might get a spanking new item. Two: The other point you see repeated is that they are simply a warehouse operation with no showroom or store front. You've just got a few guys in blue jeans and T-shirts who are pulling guitar boxes off pallets, slapping labels on them, and stacking them on the loading dock for UPS pickup. Do I believe that? Yes, I believe that's almost certainly true. Which explains the lack of customer service. In other words, Sweetwater they ain't. That said, I'm almost as exceited as you are to see how the Affinity Tele works out!

3:21 I've never used pro audio star, but it's stuff like this that makes me wanna stay away from them... good customer service is a BIG factor when considering who I shop with. if they don't have it, I won't bother with them lol

Thank you for your honesty Joe we love you for that. Dealing with online sources are kind of a crapshoot anyway because you never know what's going to happen. yeah big corporations like Amazon eBay you can pretty much depend on them although I've gotten bad stuff off of eBay but you just take your chance it's not like a regular store where you can walk in and purchase something if you have a problem you can just take it back and look them in the face and get things taken care of. online man you're just you know kind of out there. people can just do what they want say what they want and get away with what they want it's kind of a sad world we live in sometimes. I'll make sure I do not do any business with Pro Audio star not now or in the future.

I've bought their stuff through ebay. No problems with any order so far. I'm sure ebay would help if there was an issue.

Did you pay for these with a Credit Card like visa? You can call visa and dispute the charge because of the poor quality and Visa will reverse the charge as they then dig in with PAS and get the issue straightened out. Just a thought. Good luck, “AJ” stay well brother!🥁🎸👍

Would you recommend Adorama over ProAudioStar? I’ve never ordered through PAS but have had good luck with Adorama. BTW, congratulations on getting Verlander signed to the Mets. As an Astros fan I hate to see him go but it’s time for him to move on and make the $$$ before his career ends. Besides being a great pitcher, he’s a great teammate as well. Not afraid to light a fire under other players behinds if necessary.

Thanks for the video Joe. Not worth the aggravation buying from them in my opinion. I'll only buy from Sweetwater and Amazon only.

Did you have to sign for your package?

I'll never order from them again. The way they ship makes it very difficult to receive. They require a sig, but you can't change to pick it up. I can't sit at home 24/7. Never again.

Do you know their corporate address? Are they incorporated in New York? I want to file a civil and criminal complaint against ProAudio Star. First, contact the State Attorney General's Office Consumer Division and The City District District Office. And in the civil complaint for nothing less than $25,000 in punitive damages. They are engaged in WIRE FRAUD across state borders----a federal offence