How To Order
Introduction
There are two parts to our business here at Maple Leaf Music. We sell things to the wonderful folks who visit us here at our “brick and mortar” store and we send our products to folks from all over the world. We do not have a “shopping cart” type site as we like to get to know our customers. Give us a call and we can talk instruments, amps, books, or… anything else! While the web offers incredible information, we strongly feel that nothing beats getting details and opinions from a real person.
The Money Part
When you decide to buy an instrument from us, you can send us a check or use your credit card. For instruments sold outside of the US, we require a bank wire transfer. If you use your card, we will run it on “approval”. This holds the funds for approximately 7 days. Your account is not charged at this time. The instrument gets shipped; after the approval period you call us to let us know how much you love it, then we charge the purchase. This method avoids those very expensive credit card fees for a returned instrument. If after the approval period you decide for any reason that this is not the one for you, you are responsible for shipping charges both ways. All orders shipped to addresses within the State of Vermont or picked up at Maple Leaf Music are subject to the 6% state sales tax.
The Shipping Part
Our freight carrier is Federal Express. For instruments worth over $1000, we prefer to use Fed Ex Air. For instruments over $3000 we require that they be sent by air. (The only damage we’ve ever incurred by Fed Ex was the time they put a forklift through a guitar. This was via Ground service and fortunately it was a $300 guitar; yes they compensated us for the damage but after that we decided not to take chances). There are three levels of Air shipping- overnight, 2 day, and 3 day express service- cost of course increases with speed of service. As it is very difficult to get an accurate cost on shipping from Fed Ex, we charge a flat $60 for ground. For Fed Ex air we charge the shipping directly to your credit card. This eliminates both refunds and embarrassing requests for more money from you. Books and accessories we will send through the U.S.Post Office.
The Approval Part
We offer a 24 hour approval period for items shipped from the shop. If we send an instrument in cold weather, we request that you let her sit in the box in your kitchen for at least 24 hours before unpacking; this is to let the guitar or mandolin warm up gradually and avoid damaging finish checking. Your approval period will start then when you unpack to give you time to become acquainted. If you need more approval time for any reason, just let us know before we ship; we are reasonable folks!
Instruments purchased at the store of course do not have an approval period because you’ve had the chance to play them personally in person! We do not give refunds at Maple Leaf Music; any item returned to the store will be exchanged for another product or for store credit.
We do our very best make accurate and complete descriptions both on our site and over the phone. Used products are especially tricky because descriptions about condition are often subjective; we encourage you to ask any questions you can think of concerning both the sound and structural or cosmetic state of any instrument. Just be assured that all necessary repairs are done before a used instrument gets hung on our wall! For returns, we request you use the same service (air or ground) used for the original shipping, as well as the packing materials. If for any reason you decide to return an instrument, you are responsible for shipping costs both ways.