Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Piano Owners hit with "Delayed Shipping" Club

I wanted to create a thread about folks waiting on their shipment of their purchased digital piano from any manufacturers, and have been hit with a barrage of delays, that they haven't been able to play any music.

I understand the delays are caused by the ongoing pandemic situation, but that's not what the purpose of this thread is all about.

This thread is about coping with the delays and their backordered purchases, and conveying to the owners to not struggle so much that they are to cancel their purchases and whatnot. I'm trying to cope with my piano purchase I made almost 4 months ago, so I'm undergoing the last stage of grief.

Me: I purchased a Kawai ES520 White. It's backordered for a while, so I haven't been able to do much.

Are there any other piano owners (or would-be piano owners) that are waiting for their pianos to arrive at their doorsteps?

I ordered my high end digital early January. It was originally to arrive end of April. This got pushed to End of May. I'm now being quoted first two weeks of June. This of course being provisional 😢 I've been counting the days and the pain of having to add even a single day onto the countdown clock is torturous. I just want my piano. The scary thing is not even getting to try before buying because there has been no showroom stock in the UK.

As to coping, I bought a guitar to start learning to quench the musical appetite as I count the days... 52 to be exact.

I'm waiting for an ES920 I ordered in December. Fortunately, I have other instruments to play . . . so maybe I'm not technically eligible for this club?

In the interest to avoid joining this club, I bought a floor model Roland FP60 instead of ordering and waiting...and waiting...and waiting...for the Kawai ES920 that I really want.

I’m not a good enough player to be able to experience the difference between these two in any case, so I pulled the trigger. When I read stories like these (waiting since December), I feel glad I went ahead and bought something rather than waiting for the perfect thing.

Good luck to those in the queue...and eventually (late this year? Or 2022? or even 2023 perhaps) I’ll step up to the dream ES920.

Marla

I'm getting a mp11se and I have to wait 8-12 weeks before they get it in stock and ships

I'm about to leave the club, but I have been here for some time. End of November last year, I ordered a Clavinova CLP-765. In hindsight, it was probably too much of an impulse buy. Anyways, the shop told me to expect a wait time of at least 7-9 weeks. Corona delays etc. So I waited. And I waited. In week 7 I called to check. They couldn't tell me anything. Then I got a mail, delivery would be postponed with two weeks. Two weeks later, another mail, another week's delay. And so on and so on. Four weeks ago, some 12 weeks after ordering, I decided to cancel the order. Fortunately, I never did a downpayment.

During all that time, I found these forums, and I looked a bit more into the CLP line. It seemed to me the 785 might be a better option in the end. I checked the Yamaha site for more shops, and lo and behold. I found a shop that had both the 765 and the 785 in stock. Or so they said. Long story short, I decided to order a 785 at that shop. Well. It turned out, yes, they had one in the shop, but I would have to wait for Yamaha to deliver mine. Yamaha controls the distribution of the flagship models, apparently. So they told me: 2 or 3 weeks. Yes, sure, fine. It was 4 weeks in the end. But today would have been the day that I received my CLP-785.

Were it not that there was a corona outbreak among the staff of the transport company. So delivery would be postponed to next Monday.

Which wasn't too bad after all the waiting. But the shop called me and told me they were unhappy that I would have to wait longer, and they will deliver my piano a day earlier, Sunday, the day after tomorrow. So, unless a war breaks out, or terrible road accidents happen, I will leave this club in 2 days.

In other news: my piano lamp did arrive yesterday. So there's that.

Also worth noting: I have another piano, a Petrof baby grand, so I was always able to play.

Edit: I work at a tech company and there seems to be a global shortage of electronic components in general. It also affects production of cars, smartphones, etc. Plus, a factory in China or Japan that produces chips for music instruments burned down to the ground.

Haha I thought I was a member of the Delayed Shipping club but it turns out I was hit by it.

Wait, what? This is news to me. I think the Kawai brands are affected?

This is affecting electronic device production worldwide. It's claimed that it's causing delays even in automobile production ... and price increases, too.

I think this is what my dealer was referring to: https://www.audioholics.com/news/fire-destroys-akm-audio-chip-factory

Whelp sign me to the list.
I'm a proud owner of a promise to deliver a piano sometimes in the coming... decade if ever Yamaha decides to service my backyard farce of a country. I know I know distance a d relative small market.

Bought early December 2020, still waiting on that sweet sweet 785.

Still I'm not without an instrument so I should actually count myself lucky.

In addition, there is that Evergreen ship that got stuck sideways in the Suez Canal (texting and driving ??) and queued up hundreds of ships.

I ordered a VPC1 just about nine weeks ago. The piano guys at Sweetwater now tell me that it's not expected to arrive before the end of May or beginning of June.

Which is to say, they really have no idea when it will arrive...

I'm in better shape than some, though, as I have another piano I can use while I'm waiting. If I didn't, I would already have bought (most likely) a StudioLogic SL88 Grand, or some other DP. I'm waaaaay too obsessive-compulsive to just sit on my hands for months!

I don't know if there is any other keyboard action with a competitive wooden key action below US $1000. The SL88 Grand is a very good and capable option. I believe it's selling at around US $900. It's capabilities extend beyond piano control.

I have no idea what I would have done if I was waiting like you folks. I am too impulsive and unpredictable

The wait had some adverse effects on my enthusiast about the upcoming piano.
It is pretty sad really. I used to be so excited. Now I'm just getting used to not having this new piano.
There are days I'm considering just forgetting about upgrading and getting my deposit back and just waiting for a time when the distribution channel is going to be back to normal again. I mean maybe when the dealership actually calls me back with good news perhaps my excitement will pop back. But these days I just don't care that much.

On a plus sides I've upgraded the P-515 with a dedicated pedal unit. And I'm almost getting used with the Bosie patch. Almost.

Aww. This happened last year prior to Black Friday, way way way before I even knew about digital pianos in general. This is going to last for a while, but the good news is that it's more than 6 months now.

I would not order a piano even in the best of times ... unless no pre-payment was required.

Covid-induced delays have made things worse, but even so I'm not inclined to deliver my money when the dealer cannot immediately deliver the goods.

I paid Sweetwater nothing when I placed the order for the VPC1. My credit card won't be charged until the product I ordered has shipped (or, in my case, the product has been picked up).

That's the way it should be when you're talking about general, fungible goods. If you're talking about a custom piece, where no one but you may be willing to buy the item in the specified configuration, at the quoted price, then a substantial deposit is warranted. There's no reason for the seller to be left holding the bag if the buyer reneges on the deal.

I'm in the same boat as well. I ordered the Kawai VPC1 back in early March from Guitar Center. I went with guitar center namely because all stores were out of stock(sweetwater, etc), so it didn't matter on that end, but also there are a few guitar centers in my home state, so if I need to return, I can drive a few miles to one.

But I'm also feeling the adverse side effects. It's like the excitement has worn off now, and I almost 2nd guessing my decision to purchase one. I've been using an SL-880 Pro for like more than 15 years, and while it acts up sometimes, there is nothing inherently wrong with it. The action is still good. I was tempted to go with the SL-88 Grand, but figured I should try the VPC1 first.