Jeffran Music and Melissa

[Sonny Jenkins]

I'm not sure which category this goes in,,or if it's even OK to post,,but I'd like to relate my recent experience. As some others of you have done,,I received a promo email from Melissa,,and of course after all the ill will etc here on the forum I was very reluctant to order anything, so,,,I sent her a note expressing my reluctance,,and the reasons,,I mean,,if you think about it,,Jeffran ,,Jeff has probably done more for PSG community than anyone,,it just seemed devastating to see this happen to his legacy! Well Melissa wrote me back, I ordered what I wanted,,she got it out promptly and has since given me a refund of an inadvertent overcharge,,,anyway,,she has given me permission to post her response, which I'm doing in an effort to help heal this terrible blight on Jeff Newman.


""""Good afternoon Mr. Jenkins,
I appreciate you reaching out. I understand things got out of hand and I lost control of several aspects of the business. With this being said, we are no longer doing business with PayPal as this was the root of several issues I had with running the business in a smooth and timely manner. I was also doing every thing single handedly as well as handling all matters of the Newman estate on my own as well. Not to mention the trauma in my personal life of losing Fran(the closest person to me in life) three weeks before giving birth to a 2 month premature 3 pound baby girl. I also nearly lost my life right after her birth spending 2 days in the ICU to receive a complete blood transfusion due to a condition called DIC. Now, with all this, it took a couple years but now that I have my sister in the office to help, and the estate has been handled, Jeffran Is running very smoothly with every order placed since our reopening in November. We have several customers who would proudly serve as references and testaments to this. My sister and I together have maintained shipping quality Jeff Newman products in full order within 48 hours of Order receipt, most times even same day if possible. We are still working on getting in JF picks and getting all preorders refunded seeing that we no longer do business with PayPal, we are having to issue these by mailing money order refunds. Now, I will not be posting anything to the Steel Guitar Forum as it is a double edged sword and I found out the hard way that Jeff and Fran were completely validated in their decision not to support. It serves good to some but it also serves to a lot of gossip and harsh words. I just can’t keep up with that, and to be honest with you, my doctor has advised NOT to indulge in this. All I or we can do moving forward to honor Jeff and Fran is to continue to do business as we have for the past several months and prove our worth by our actions. I apologize for any grievance I have caused
You or any one. I honestly was just trying my best to keep too many balls in the air by myself, now that I have help, the world is a much easier place to be in. Thank you for your time.

I pray for your understanding. """""

Of course everyone can take this however they want,,and I know there are some very ill feelings,,,but let's please remember the legacy Jeff left behind. No flames,,,this is just my opinion,,to the honor and memory of Jeff Newman.

[Jeremy Reeves]

I've only had good dealings with her but will not do any more business until everyone here is made whole

[Dave Meis]

Thanks Sonny. Nice to have a little perspective..

[Brooks Montgomery]

Earned redemption is a good thing. I hope it works out for her.

[Fred Martin]

The forum is not to blame for taking orders and skating off with the money. Hope they get it worked out. I for one would have settled for some of their lesson material in lieu of the picks. Can’t cost too much to copy a DVD or book.of tab. They sure got off to hard start. I still put old Jeff on just to listen to his spiel.

[Jon Light]

And with that letter, any thoughts of ever doing business with her are done and gone.

[Sonny Jenkins]

And with that letter, any thoughts of ever doing business with her are done and gone.

for me Jeff Newman meant more to the instrument than that,,,as for not supporting the forum,,the forum was still in it's infancy (I think) when Jeff died,,,and from what I know of Jeff,,he supported whatever would help him make a living with the instrument he loved. And I have to ask myself,,,would I trash all that Jeff has done for PSG,,,and me personally,,,over $50,,or $100? But,,like I said,,,to each his own,,,,

[Jon Light]

imaginary letter

I am here to apologize for the extreme failings of Jeffran. Effective immediately, I am making sure that every person who was not properly served will either receive a full refund or the merchandise that is owed them. They will receive these in 5 business days. Then I hope to move forward, serving the steel guitar community. I will promptly respond to any problems involving missing pages or media etc.
There is only me to blame and I hope to regain your confidence and trust going into the future.

Now that is a letter. Notice that there are no excuses and that there is no finger pointing? If you don't accept responsibility, you don't take responsibility.

[Doug Beaumier]

I have to laugh every time I hear someone blame PayPal for their business failures.

It reminds me of a deadbeat I once knew who would blame the bank, the insurance company, the utility company, the IRS, etc, for his financial problems. It's like they were all conspiring against him!

[Doug Beaumier]

Jon, you fooled me with that "Quote"! At first I thought it was real.

[Jon Light]

Actually, Doug, I went back and added something. I don't take 'fake news' lightly. Not something to be played with.

[Doug Beaumier]

That's good, Jon. We don't want to give credit where credit is not due.

[Sonny Jenkins]

I think Jon's letter would have been very appropriate,,,but not for the concerns that I extended to her,,,she was addressing my concerns at the time,,,as I said,,,to each his own,,,I just posted my experience,,mainly because I hate this blight on Jeff's name,,,his life's work

[Danny Freitas]

Thanks Sonny I will place my order and hope all goes well

[b0b]

I just want to say a few things:

Jeff Newman and I had a very good relationship. The last time I saw him, he was playing in the Carter booth at ISGC. He saw me, stopped playing, stood up and gave me a big hug. Then he praised my work to the folks who had gathered around. That meant a lot to me. Jeff had his reasons for not participating in the forum, and I respected that. After he passed, I worked with Fran to keep people from selling illegal copies of Jeffran courses here on the Forum.

As for PayPal, I've been using it for nearly 20 years to run this business "in a smooth and timely manner". I've been with them before, during, and after their acquisition by Ebay. Problems are few and far between, their security is tight, and you don't have to be a member to pay through them. When I'm buying online, I won't give my credit card number directly to small web sites because few of them are really secure. That's where the option to pay via PayPal is a Very Good Idea.

I've always sympathized with Melissa's plight. I never knew the details until now but I suspected that she was in over her head. Now I see why. It can't have been easy for her, with a death in the family and a newborn. She probably made a few bad decisions because of the stress she was under. Jeff and Fran never accepted web payments for merchandise. They were old school mail order till the end. Melissa needed to learn the business and bring it up to date - not an easy task for a new mom.

[Pete McAvity]

Very well said, b0b. It's possible to sympathize with and mistrust a business owner simultaneously.

[Joey Ace]

I recall asking Jeff why he doesn't participate in the Forum.
He replied, "Because all people ever do on there is argue, argue, argue.."

I think he just didn't like anyone disagreeing with him.

I've been using PayPal for decades. Great service.

[Sonny Jenkins]

Well said b0b,,and from someone I hold in the same high regards as Jeff Newman,,in my opinion b0b and Jeff have done more to promote and contribute to the steel guitar community than anyone,,and I mean anyone. And in that vain let me say that should anything happen,,, that bob couldn't carry on his contributions,,and passed the torch on to someone else, who in an effort to carry on,,made a few bobbles,,maybe a train wreck or two,,,I personally could not bail out,,I would have to give some consideration and benefit of doubt,,,I would OWE that to b0b,,,(but that's just me,,to each his own),,and lets face,,we don't know who b0b will pass this torch too,,,or how many mistakes they will make,,or how many toes they would step on in an effort to keep b0bs legacy going.

And as for the mistrust vs sympathy for her,,,that is precisely why I communicated with her to begin with,,,I wanted to order some material,,but I was reluctant because of what had been said here,,I laid that on the line to her,,she responded with a response I accepted and I ordered,,and now have the material.

Like I said,,,I wish there could be some healing here,,for the sake of Jeff and his contribution to ALL of us.

and Joey,,let's face it,,there IS a whole lot of arguing here on the forum,,and Jeff was not the first nor will he be the last to drop out because of it,,personally I think b0b does a tremendous job keeping it down to a tolerable level,,another big part of his,,,(as only he might be able to do),,contribution.

[Pete Burak]

I hope to see a JeffFran Booth at Steel Conventions again.

[Donny Hinson]

I recall asking Jeff why he doesn't participate in the Forum.
He replied, "Because all people ever do on there is argue, argue, argue.."

I think he just didn't like anyone disagreeing with him.

Well, I can't argue with that.

[Rick Barnhart]

[Sonny Jenkins]

I recall asking Jeff why he doesn't participate in the Forum.
He replied, "Because all people ever do on there is argue, argue, argue.."

I think he just didn't like anyone disagreeing with him.

Well, I can't argue with that.

nor can I,,,I think Jeff, like most great thinkers, was of the opinion that "unless you've put in the time meticulously pouring over this subject,,picking it apart,,down to the bone (as Jeff could do),,don't question me!!!",,,LOL Jeff welcomed questions but he had his own special way of making you feel like a fool,,,I don't think it was intentional,,,it was just him

[Larry Bressington]

Well said b0b i agree, especially the pay pal being secure, i have never had any issues yet doing 100's transactions incl oversea's, it is the safest of them all i think, it's the grand daddy.

As far as what Jeff said; Yip that's true lol, all humans debate the same thing no matter what it is, i see it on automotive forums as well as bluegrass forums, any forums whatsoever where there is humans debating the topic to the last hair on their tooth.

I have high regard for every member here and enjoy a good debate and banter even if we are on opposing opinions, say yur bit move on, we're still friends.

[Dale Foreman]

I just wish they would send my picks I ordered and payed for, just like many of us I’m sure!

[Dave Mudgett]

I have no axe to grind here. I haven't sent money to Jeffran and thus haven't lost anything. I respect the long tradition that Jeff and Fran Newman upheld with the steel guitar community. I think that tradition is why many people were very patient when the problems started. And I sincerely hope that Jeffran can put things right again.

But I think the issue here is very simple. A lot of people have sent money for picks and probably some other things, and never got the goods, as promised. They have apparently been promised to be made whole - that's what I have read in other threads.

So all that needs to happen here is that people who sent money and didn't get anything should either get the goods they paid for or have their money returned. It's really that simple. Anything else is just not going to cut any ice with most people.

And none of this has anything to do with the Steel Guitar Forum. In fact, many people here have expressed empathy for the problems that have occurred since Fran's death. And I think many are still ready to forgive past issues, but only after things have been made right. Some things are just right or wrong, and this is one of them.