zZounds.com Reviews 191

Stay far far away. In case you didn't know zZounds and AMS are the same company. That's not a problem. The problem is they are flat out lying to people and their site is full of false advertisement. Do not believe the "No Credit Check" payment plan. Both companies absolutely do perform a hard inquiry on your credit report. So get ready for it. It turns out the "No Credit Check" is just a scam to get you to buy something. They also say that everyone is pre-approved...Not!....They pick and choose. Most people get disqualified from their report which they blatantly lie to you about when they say there is no credit check. I had just paid everything off on my report to where I owe nothing. My score had went up about 75 points. Then these scammers add a hard inquiry to bring it down. So if you don't have good credit then don't waste your time. I can tell you from experience that they absolutely do perform a credit check whether your order total is $200 or $2000. I'm very disappointed in the blatant false advertisement of zZounds and American Musical Supply. I'm not disappointed because I wasn't approved. I'm disappointed that they lied about the credit check after I worked so hard to bring my score back up!

I’ve purchased only a few things from them and fortunately didn’t have any major issues with the product just minor ones that I felt should have been discovered before shipping them out.
Just purchased a $1000.00 EPI acoustic that had stripped screws in the tuners on 3 of them so they were loose & the guitar buzzed terrible. Seems common though except for Sweetwater that really checks out things beforehand & calls YOU to ask if everything is good.
I’m capable of setting up guitars & repairing so I just take care of things but for someone who can’t do these things I’m sure it’s frustrating. MF & Zounds I believe just ship guitars & such without ever opening the box it came in from the manufacture so you can get some real crap. That’s the downside of buying online these days. I’ve been lucky I guess but don’t want to push it. Go to a brick & mortar store & pick out the best.

Decent selection of good gear, but if I could give ZERO stars for their heinous "customer service", I would. Everyone I've ever spoken with (I've been an unvalued customer for several years) has had an attitude for no reason whatsoever... the chat people are mindless zombies who can barely cut and paste canned replies to questions, and their unwillingness to help is palpable through the chat window. And, if you have the slightest challenge with your order or need to return something -- good luck!

I have never had any issues with zzounds. Everything comes quickly and they are flexible within reason on payments. Being able to divide large purchases up over the years has been a godsend. Thanks for being awesome zzounds. Giving me an opportunity to stay sane by doing the stuff that I love in a more affordable manner.

Ordered a guitar which is extremely delayed. They don’t care about inquiring at all to find out what’s going on. When you spend $5,000 for a guitar , you expect there to be some customer service. People like Matt who work at zzounds couldn’t care any less if you get the product you paid for or not. Like literally couldn’t care any less. Awful employees and awful customer service experience even when you’re paying thousands of dollars.

I purchased a $1500 ESP guitar a few months ago, and was not able to play it for medical reasons. I left it in my closet for the two months, and pulled it out to find a weird issue with the wood separating. The ZZounds rep told me because I had passed the 45 day return mark that I was out of luck, and to go to ESP's non-existent customer service department. After a while I reached ESP's customer service and they told me the flaw was due to humidity issues. I measured the humidity, which sits at 45%, and nothing. How is this a humidity issue?

This is the 4th, and last, guitar I will purchase from ZZounds. On a side note, I have another ESP, identical configuration, except for the finish, and have never had an issue with it. Time to sell that one as well.

I don't know why there are so many negative reviews. I have been a customer of Zzounds for over three years now and think they are great. I have spent about $3000 with them. Very good customer service and they are open a good amount of hours each day. There are a few things that could be improved. They say "no credit check" but they do check your credit. What's worse is they don't give favorable reports to the credit agencies for paying on time, so that you can improve your credit score. Their low price guarantee cannot be used if you use Pay As You Play. They are higher than GC or Amazon on some items.

Ok So I call today to check on a order I placed a week ago and They keep me on phone for 22 minutes all the while telling me what they’re gonna do for me lady come back on the phone and told me to call back tomorrow ilmao This is Ridiculous !

This will definitely be My LAST DEALINGS WITH ZZOUNDS !

This isn’t Cool For Business
Two Days Has turned into over a week !

I recently purchased a "new" Ibanez from them. The guitar arrived in an open box, with a shipping label with someone else's name and address on it inside of the shipping box from zzounds, with a number of cosmetic issues, and a large crack on the neck, towards the headstock, that had the finish sanded off and been filled in with epoxy. I called them, and they informed me that it was a manufacturing defect, but that I could return it for a refund. They then sent me their refund policy, complete with the caveat that I would be charged for any damages to the (according to them new) instrument. I contacted Ibanez, and they confirmed that they wouldn't epoxy a cracked neck, and would have replaced the entire neck at their factory in the even that it was manufacturing defect. I would not recommend this company to my worst enemy.

Purchased Gator bag ... defective ... return? No ... they tell me I have to send the defective bag back to manufacturer on my dime. Bought next one from Sweetwater .. no problem.
So now I see they are selling OnStage Cajons for $30 off on Reverb. I buy one of the two left. Three days later no shipping ... no communication ... nothing ... nada. So I message them on Reverb when they were shipping. Oh ... so sorry ... we're all sold out ... oh so sorry. Yeah ... well here's your negative review as promised. They got out of a negative review on Reverb because they cancelled the order and Reverb covers for cheats like this by not allowing feedback on cancelled orders. My ... how convenient. At least I caught them in the act of selling gear they no longer had in stock.

I give Zzounds 5+ stars! The only thing I want to complain about is not about them! It’s about the Alesis Strike 8 amplifier that my boyfriend bought me for my Alesis electronic drums! From Zzounds! Personally, I hate it! I never use it! The sound is so muffled and the bass drum is extremely too loud, even when I lower the bass volume! This is the only product I’ve ever bought from zzounds that I was totally unsatisfied with! Unfortunately I’m sure it’s too late to return it! But buyers beware, I think next time I’m going with an electric piano amp. like I was told too previously! I love Zzounds, always will! Not a fan of the Alesis Strike 8!

As you can see Zzounds does not answer to all these complaints because they are very very unethical and break every consumer law they can get away with. I bought a item from them and they shipped it to a wrong address or was lost and showed delivered. I notified these thieves immediately and they did nothing so I refused to pay for the order. Well, almost 10 months later they hit my account for over 2300 without notice or fixing the issue. Of course I will be fighting the illegal charge and they can care less about following consumer law. They will have to answer to a judge because they are ruthless and despicable and a predatory B Stock online scam . Do not use these guys ever!!!

I ordered my first guitar from zZounds in 2013 I think, was not given any crap about my credit at all, it's not all that good. Since then I have purchased over $30,000 worth of merchandise from them using the payment plan. I only once had a problem with an item that I purchased and I had to send it back, which went about as smooth as it could be. I sent copies of all my zZounds invoices showing everything that I've bought, and that I paid for everything using their payment plans and never missed a payment, to Sweetwater when they refused to sell me a $59.00 item, Sweetwater refuses to sell to anyone that doesn't have an 820 FICO score. The only issue I have with zZounds is that they don't have the selection that other stores have, wanted a Yamaha mixer that was 12 channel and zZounds only sold the 24&36 channel versions, no Mesa Boogie, and other high ends brands. I remember a few times that zZounds refused to sell me items because I was under my limit, but the item that I wanted wasn't available in an 4, 6, or 8 payment plan because of some insane house rule.

Was lied to twice about when i would receive a back order product. Before i placed the order i called in and asked when the product would be shipped to me know it was on back order, had an order with another place that couldn't give me a date so i went with zzounds after then gave me a date and confirmed it would ship then. Date comes and goes call in and and get word that my order was now set for another month and some weeks longer, told them when i ordered i was given a date of shipping and they responded with " those were the next ones to ship out yes but i wasn't going to get those, nor the following ones to ship". Ok... i wait again even after reminding them of what i was told when i first ordered.

Date comes and goes again.... call back. They tell me its going to be ANOTHER MONTH. Was done at that point and canceled the order.
Found another site with the product in stock and ready to ship. Got it in TWO DAYS.

In short... Save your money, sanity and time. Dont order through them if you value those.

Zzounds is the worst place to purchase DJ equipment from! I had a hardship with my job due to the pandemic and one of my equipments that I purchased from them had went into collections. I had spoken with them about making a payment in the future to resolve the payment but when i woke up today i noticed a very large amount taking out of my bank account from them that i did not authorize! When i called them they told me that they did not need to have my permission to take out any payment and that they would not be refunding the money back in my account!

I have done consistent business with zZounds.com for well over a year now, and have nothing but great things to say about them! They have great prices and selection, great financing options, great refund policies, and absolutely stellar customer service. I'll never go anywhere else for our musical needs.

Bought a few items from zZound and they were fair. Prices a little high, but considered "average" when compared to other online dealers. Just remember, customer service matters too. So I give them a "C".

Ordered a Gibson Hummingbird Studio on 18 month payment plan and it arrived cracked at the rear plug-in. Clearly worked on bc buffer marks were still in finish.
They were quick about helping me return it but claimed my replacement was “back ordered” when there were clearly two in stock at the time.
After waiting for a refund I went to order an undamaged one and it turns out they lowered my credit limit so I could not purchase the guitar I wanted anymore.
My only explanation is maybe bc I dared to return the guitar after discovering the crack. I simply could not pay $3000 for a damaged guitar.
This would have been my third purchase from zZounds.com. A shame.

In 1981 I purchased my first guitar from a neighborhood music store. Back then we weren't forced to get a store "card" through a bank and pay interest and finance fees. Instead, I was given my dream guitar to take home and made interest-free monthly payments. That Music store encouraged me to persue my passion for music and worked with me to make it happen without squeezing for more money. It's a simple concept that I thought had been lost over the years. Thanks zZounds for bringing some integrity back to the music business, and making it easier to obtain gear without the hassle.
I was a little sceptical at first due to some of the reviews, but I gave it a try. My experience couldn't have been better. I was approved for nearly $1200 in gear, made the first payment, received the gear fairly quickly, and I couldn't be happier. I'm looking forward to doing lots of business together. Thanks again zZounds.

They sell a lot of garbage that you can't send back. My "new" Schecter was clearly used.