This long-established, electronics-and-music vendor's web site repeatedly provided me enjoyable browsing and satisfying buying experiences.
Written: Apr 11 '08
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According to Wikipedia.com, "J&R stands for Joe and Rachelle Friedman, the founders, who established the company in 1971". To the best of my memory, my first purchase from "J&R Music World"--via their mail-order catalog--was around 1989, when I ordered a (then-innovative) six-cassette (tape) changer by Pioneer. The unit that I promptly received promptly "ate" one of my highest quality metal tapes, and so I phoned J&R to arrange a return for a refund, which was provided reasonably promptly, although I seem to recall that I was assessed with a "restocking" fee.
Two or three years later, I ordered a "replacement" Audio Technica magnetic "P-mount" phonograph cartridge for my Luxman model P-102 linear-tracking turntable (that I'd bought elsewhere in the summer of '88) and which I still use occasionally to convert obscure vinyl LP's into digital recordings (on CD-R media). That cartridge worked fine for many years (I was no longer playing "vinyl" all that often!), until I replaced it a couple of years ago.
Those were my first two purchases from the "old" J&R, and, all in all, I was quite satisfied, although I still recall that back in those days their fast-talking male phone reps (with their unmistakable New York City accents) sometimes seemed a bit impatient to make sales/commissions; their attitude back then was "you oughta already know what ya want to order; I'm here to take your order, not describe the merchandise". I feel that things have improved significantly in that regard since the early nineties. Besides, what with all the product information available via the web nowadays, I truly do have less reason to quiz the phone reps about product specs and features.
During the past two years, I've ordered several more "audio" products from "today's" J&R, this time via their powerful, multifaceted, easy-to-navigate web site. On the whole, "JR.com" has given me absolutely no reason to complain.
In 2006 I placed an online order for a Teac W-860R dual-cassette deck, as well as an order for a compatible Teac remote-control handset. Both items arrived securely packed inside the same shipping container. Transit time from J&R to my metro-Kansas City address took about five business days via J&R's standard "UPS ground" shipping option. I'd bought that tape deck merely to play an old assortment of "books on tape" that were never likely to be reissued in digital form; and that "high-end" Teac model appeared to be the very last such dual-well tape deck compatible with its own "dedicated" remote. I got good service out of that unit for barely over one year, when (with its warranty barely expired) it suddenly, totally broke. (MORAL: Think twice about buying any Chinese-made cassette deck in an era when "tapes" are deemed "yesterday's technology"!)
Anyway (getting back to JR.com per se), I've subsequently had several much more satisfying experiences ordering from JR.com. Specifically, I bought four Sony (model CDP-CX455) "Megastorage" 400-disc changers capable of playing both "MP3" and "CD" discs. Actually, I bought those four units "two at a time" via successive orders at JR.com. Both shipments were identically packed. Each pair of Sony product cartons had been set atop a couple of inflated plastic "pillows" within a much larger shipping box. No portions of the Sony product boxes or the shipping container had suffered any undue damage during their approximately five-day "UPS ground" transit. And all four of my J&R-derived Sony disc changers continue to work splendidly to this day. [I have a total of six Sony 400-disc changers interfaced with my PC via the SAVR-2 hardware and "TitleTrack" software that I reviewed at Epinons.com last year.]
J&R's web site (which touts itself as "Bringing People and Technology Together Since 1971") is easy to navigate and "search". For example, if you enter the phrase "Sony 400 CD changer" into JR.com's conspicuous, ever-present "search" box, the site promptly displays my aforementioned model along with just one other Sony product: the model DVPCX995V 400 DVD/CD changer [which, btw, I likewise own but don't warmly recommend due to the unreliability of its on-TV-screen user interface]. Clicking the first listed product's graphic (or text) takes you promptly to the product page for the appropriate Sony model. On the product page you can click the "medium-sized" image of the Sony changer to call up a separate window containing a nicely enlarged view of the product. Adjacent to the first, "medium-sized" image, there's a link you can click to "see product info", although this seems a bit superfluous, given that there's already a comparable "features summary" right on the main page for this Sony model. Although J&R doesn't deluge the shopper with a plethora of information about this product, they do pretty well answer all the most relevant questions that probably 90% of prospective purchasers would likely have in mind.
Additionally, without leaving the product page for the particular item you're viewing, you can view a handy "Shipping Information" summary indicating costs for the following options:
"UPS Ground (usually delivered 3-5 business days after shipped)";
"UPS Second Day (usually delivered 2 business days after shipped)";
"UPS Next Day (usually delivered 1 business day after shipped)"; and
"UPS Saturday (usually delivered Next Available Saturday after shipped)".
I myself always settled for the "UPS Ground" option, and I always received my shipment in about five days.
Shipping weight generally is also clearly stated for each product.
JR.com also provides a link (on any given product's main page) to their "Shopping Help" page, which covers pretty much everything from their "Privacy Policy" through their use of "Cookies" and their "Secure Shopping" (SSL) protocol to further details regarding their "Shipping Options and Policies".
On any given product's main page, along the right-hand margin you can generally find one or more products of (more or less) related interest beneath the following, "Amazon.com-like" banner: "Other J&R customers also bought these items..."
Similarly, for your browsing pleasure, near the bottom of any given product's main page you can find and click a link labeled with the following words: "Browse the following section for similar products".
And near the very bottom of any given product's main page you can find and click several helpful links beneath each of the following three headings: "Customer Service"; "Company Information"; and "Contact Us".
Conversely, near the very top (at the upper-right) of any given product's main page you can find helpful information pertaining to any of the following six clickable links:
Site Map | Order Status | My Account - Login | Policies | NYC Store | Help
On balance, while JR.com's format is plenty "busy" enough to delight the sensibilities of the avid online electronics-and-music shopper, it's not downright overwhelming or intimidating. And it might not be the "prettiest" site you'll ever behold, but it has its own characteristic charm that's reminiscent of those endlessly browsable old "J&R Music World" catalogs that I used to relish getting in my mailbox back in the eighties and early nineties. In fact, after placing my online orders, I thereafter received sporadic mailings of J&R's traditional mail-order catalog, which fairly closely resembles those vintage ones I recall from nearly two decades ago.
J&R's prices are generally about as low as--or, at least, competitive with--those of any other established, reliable vendor of its ilk. Based on my own repeated experiences as a J&R customer, I'd feel pretty confident in recommending them to anyone interested in electronics, not to mention recorded music, video, computer and videogames media.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Sony 400-CD/DVD changers, etc.
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Epinions.com ID:
henry_thoreau
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 in Music, Home and Garden, Books |
 in Electronics |
 - Top 500 |
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Member: Mike
Location: Olathe, KS USA
Reviews written: 180
Trusted by: 206 members
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"New" background graphic on my Profile_page borrows from Henry_David_Thoreau's sister's drawing of his Walden cabin.
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