Jesse Winslow

Review of J.L. Smith Co

Years in the past I have had great service with J....

Years in the past I have had great service with J.L. Smith; however, this past time I have visited will be my last. I called the front line on the phone and asked if my clarinets could be brought in for a Clean, Oil, and Adjust service (yearly maintenance). The receptionist said that the repair shop would give me a call later in the afternoon because they were on lunch. So I waited and never received a call back; that day or the next. I decided to bring them into the shop myself. I spoke with Jamie and he explained to me that they were backed up in the schedule and he would have them ready in two weeks. So I agreed and left both my A and Bb clarinets with him.

Two weeks and one day later I called the repair office again to check in on them, only to find out that neither of the instruments had been touched at all. He told me that he was going to call me later that day and tell me that they were not ready. I understand that the summer may be a hectic time for a repair shop, but I was left in the dark the entire time and had to call them myself in order to find out what was even going on. When I talked to Jamie on the phone he asked if I was on the schedule .. I didn t understand what that meant. But to me, if I give you both of my instruments to be repaired and you tell me that they will be done in two weeks, I should be on your schedule. I was also told that they wouldn t be able to work on them For another week when ANOTHER repair technician comes and can work on them. Obviously I declined.

When I went to pick them up, the repairman didn t come to the door to explain what happened. Instead, the secretary delivered a message from him saying if you want these repaired just call and have it scheduled.

I am a music performance student and these instruments are what my education depends on. The more time away from practice, the more time that s wasted. And in this case I have wasted two weeks waiting for this company to tell me that they haven t done anything to my instruments. Now I will have to wait even more time to get them actually cleaned and adjusted by another company because J.L. Smith has failed.

I used to recommend this company to everyone for any woodwind repair or anything. I can see that someone else in these reviews has had the same problem so I know it isn t just me. This is inexcusable and disloyal to customers and for the price they charge, their service is NOT worth it.
Be cautious