The Steel Guitar Forum

Silly me.

B0b’s cautionary post of September 2019 warned me not do business with Jeffran College. Unable to find a used copy of Jeff Newman’s Right Hand Alpha training video on PSGF or elsewhere, I took a chance and contacted Melissa at Jeffran about it. Who knows, maybe her bad business practices had improved. She is now doing business as Jeffran Music -- a clean break from the past, perhaps.

Melissa assured me she had the product in stock and ready to ship, so I bought it. $46. The 2-disc set arrived promptly. Yay! .... Or so I thought.

One disc was a CD of audio tracks, labelled as such. The other, however, was a duplicate of the audio tracks mislabeled as the DVD training video. When I contacted Melissa about the error, she indicated there had been production problems in labelling the discs, and that she would send a replacement DVD. My one-word response to her was “Excellent!”

The replacement DVD did not arrive as expected. With the press of holiday mail and COVID-related short staffing at the USPS, I was willing to be patient and track the package from my end. When I asked Melissa for the USPS tracking number of the replacement she had mailed, she emailed to me a copy of my original order (why that?), but no tracking number. Her strange response made me suspect Melissa never mailed the replacement DVD; thus no tracking number. Was the replacement DVD not sent because she has none in stock? And did she have none at the time of my original order, but took my $46 anyway? I do not like to darken my mind with such thoughts, but what else might explain this misadventure with Melissa? Has she learned nothing from her many past failures to provide good service to her customers?

I then asked Melissa to either a) send the replacement DVD as promised and email the corresponding tracking number to me, or b) refund my $46. All I received was c) silence.

Melissa’s silence continued even after I sent her a copy of the note above prior to posting it. I contacted her one more time. She send me a copy of a USPS 2-day Priority Mail label dated December 24, the day of my final complaint to her. Today, December 29, I learned from my local PO that the label was printed by Melissa Greer at Jeffran Music, but that "the package has not been entered into our [USPS] system”. I suspect it never will be, and that I will never be refunded my $46. B0b was right: Do not to do business with Jeffran Music.

Michael, I sincerely hope you get your replacement DVD, but at the moment I can tell you for certain that creating a label (which basically means it was paid for) may be all you see for days. I know from my own experience.
Suddenly it could show up at your local hub or Post Office. Or it could languish somewhere for a while.
I can't speak for Melissa or your PO, but keep that tracking number and keep checking it online.
(I worked 30 years carrying mail, and I never saw the Service as overwhelmed as it is presently.)

Best of luck.

Not saying don't be concerned, but when they had a 1/2 price sale @ Thanksgiving, the same thing happened. But Melissa DID get it to the PO eventually, and after a really long trip (the USPS is incredibly delayed from covid, volume and policy decisions rights now)it showed up.

So, don't lose heart.

Thanks for your suggestion, Daniel. I keep a PO box and chat with the USPS clerks several times a week. They tell me they are, as you said, overwhelmed. So I bring them donuts and scones to let them know we postal customer appreciate their hard work. Maybe I should send you some, too, huh? 30 years of carrying mail is a monumental achievement of service and dedication.

Thanks for the thoughts, Michael.
That's very kind of you,bringing treats to the employees.
I ordered some books from a guy here on the Forum.
He's ~1.5 hrs. south of me, but I decided to just pay to have the books shipped.
Well, it's a week and nothing yet (he did mail them).
He had his own horror stories of waiting for weeks to see any movement at a hub.
So as Jim said, don't give up yet.
We can also hope that Melissa realizes what she's been doing, and puts the shine back on the Jeffran name.

May I suggest that anyone who has a copy of this CD send Michael a digital copy to tide him over until his hard copy arrives (if it ever does)?

Douglas: Thanks for broadcasting your suggestion. A kind soul halfway around the world has a DVD he is downloading and sending to me. I mentioned to the sender that playing steel transcends all boundaries and unites us on the PSGF. I appreciate being a member of this great club of musicians who want to share their knowledge and experience.

And to Jim: Thank you, too, for your words of encouragement.

Melissa Greer of Jeffran College has lied and stolen from me and refused to send my materials or refund my money. The worst part of what she has done to Jeffran College is the way she lures people in to trust her through Christianity and steals their money.