Evanston Band & Orchestra

Avoid this business. I returned a rented flute in September 2021 and I am still being charged in May 2022.

They are awesome. My reliable location! I don't mind driving 1 1/2 to get our instruments repaired here. They are worth it!

I paid $68 by check January 8 to rent a flute for 3 months (J, F, M). The check cleared January 10. I gave them a credit card number at their request which I did not mind doing. I returned the flute early on March 9 in the same good condition: well before the 3 months rental was up on April 8. On March28, they charged my credit card for $68. I called when I noticed it on my April statement and requested a refund on my cc.

The owner apologized sheepishly and offered an excuse, but did credit my card $68 on April 30. Then he charged my card again (!) on May 1. I have requested another refund. He charged me three times for $68 and credited me once. In other words he tried to steal money from me. Avoid.

I'm not using my real name for a reason. BE WARNED! Instruments are ridiculously overpriced and you will NOT get the bang for your buck! Look for a different store that sells instruments at their REAL price or LOWER. I've recently used Facebook Marketplace or Amazon. Take this seriously! Don't waste your money on instruments that aren't worth their price!

Can you believe that after this tragic PANDEMIC they had the audacity to run my card with no notice or reaching out to inform me that the store is even open(keep in mind all businesses were closed for over 3 mths aside essentials). Mind you we didnt even have possession of the instrument it was still at the school til just 2 weeks ago. Then when i call and talk to JIM who says he is the manager.

He attempts to not only talk over me but demand i return the instrument before he can refund what they took (without my permission and earlier than i agreed ) Even after i called them earlier this year to stop auto pay before because they took the payment earlier than authorized as well. No Customer or Common Courtesy at all. NEVER AGAIN!

I rented an alto saxophone from Evanston Band and Orchestra and found their staff to be friendly and helpful on my journey to playing music again. They were accommodating in letting me try different horns as well as recommending different reeds to get started.

I rented a clarinet for my son for over seven years from this company. I always feel like they gave me excellent service, and the few times I needed the instrument repaired they always took care of it quickly and in one case even giving us a loaner instrument so my son wouldn't miss a performance. We finally bit the bullet and bought him a really nice high-end clarinet and I needed to return the rental clarinet to Evanston band and Orchestra.

Not only was returning the clarinet super easy, they gave me a $56 credit that I wasn't expecting because of the time in which I returned the clarinet relative to my rental agreement. I thought that was very nice of them to do that because I'm sure that they knew it would be a surprise to me that I was getting a credit back. I definitely would trust this business if I ever needed to rent an instrument again, and they are still our go to for clarinet accessories.

I went here to rent a trumpet and the price for a rental was surprisingly low. I think the reason some people gave this place one star is because they are too sensitive to talk to a blunt person. So what if an employee speaks their mind, the service is good.

Had a great experience with this place. Brought in my 20 year old clarinet to see what kind of repairs it would need to play it again. Jim was very upfront and honest about the work needed, but I also received a very reasonable estimate. The repairs were done in a timely manner and the instrument plays like new. Also, Jim was very courteous and gave me some extra reeds at no charge. I thought his customer service was great! Look forward to working with them in the future!

I have been renting my bass from here for two years. They are competitively priced, and beat prices from other local shops. They are more than willing to meet needs that the customer has. Kerry is a phenomenal manager and even makes it a point to personally deliver the bass to me. Thank you to this local dynasty.

Guy who works at the front desk is pretty rude and clueless. Complete waste of time. I was hoping for a seamless experience, but i got the run around about renting an instrument.

Stopped in for a difficult to locate key plug for a flute. Service couldn't have been more helpful and pleasant! Left with the plug. I place I will do business with again.

I've been a customer for 12 years and acquire their services every time we need to repair band instruments. We spend $6-10k annually, and the services meet my standards. They've been great when I needed Drumline sticks and mallets, solo ensemble music for IB music students and Caribbean instruments, repairing/threading pegs for violins, ordering new equipment, and they regularly pick up from our school in a timely manner.

The owner, sales rep at the front desk, repairman, have all been fabulous. It's a pleasure to have them around, since I consider Chicago to be a music store desert, compared to the Seattle/Tacoma Ted Brown Music (Music 6000, and Yenneys) scene. They fit our needs. Thanks guys!

Although they do good repair work, I can't go back there. The employee who usually works the front desk is ornery and rude. He has caused many of us to leave. The other employees/repairmen seem nice. I just didn't like the attitude from the one person which was enough to lose my business.

Terrible place to learn music. I tried getting back into trumpeting in my 50s and I met a rather weird mentor that always made sure I paid first and started a sloooooooooowwww teaching process as if i were a 10 year old. I played before but please it was just to juice me for money.

Staff is very helpful and willing to assist in many ways to make the customer satisfied. I've gotten great book suggestions for teaching various subjects, great help with instrument rentals, and got an old horn that was unplayable fixed in a jiffy within a day. I recommend them to all my students looking to rent or buy books/music.

Didn't know what exactly I was looking for, they were kind enough to help me find it. I always after asking was appraised of the current situation of the local High School Bands and music departments. Which ones needed help to the ones that were the best. I then asked how I could help em.?

I rented an instrument though this company through my daughter's school. I paid $68 to rent it for three months. I signed a contract after standing in line and requested the receipt, which was denied. I was told I'd receive a copy via e-mail. I did not. The day after signing the rental agreement I informed the band teacher that I did not want the instrument and was told that I needed to wait until the instrument came, then I could return it. (The rental agreements are signed and then the instruments are delivered to the school at a later date.) I received the instrument about a week later and returned it to the company the same day.

I spoke to someone there who said he didn't understand why I returned it. I explained that we didn't need it because we had received another instrument. He was rude and we hung up. I was told I would not receive a refund despite returning it unused the same day we got it. This occurred in a separate phone message left about 10 days after we originally spoke about the return.

I don't believe that it's great business to charge a customer for something they don't have, especially a rental, especially when there's a long contract of adhesion that you're not given a copy of, and especially when the return policy is not explained. I would not recommend. I recommend Quinlan & Fabish. Not only do they have month to month instrument rental. But, they apply any amount paid for rent to be used as credit for the purchase of an instrument. My other daughter's school uses that company and that's who we chose to do business with.

Spoke with the owner, Kerry, about selling him my tenor sax. He advised me to do more research and try to sell it online to get the most money for it. He explained to me that if he bought it from me that he would end up doing that himself and to cover his margins he wouldn't be able to offer me as much. Makes sense. Thank you for your honesty.

We rented a sax for 2 years for my middle schooler. During the course of 2 years, I had to bring the sax in for repairs several times. Each time, the front desk representative blamed my child for the poor condition of the sax. The sax itself looked pretty worn and beat up when we got it. When I asked about a sax in better condition, the response was that it was one of the better saxes that they had and was in great shape.

We rented from a different music shop for a year prior and never had any issues with the sax during that time. We switched because Evanston Band was closer, the price was less expensive, and I wanted to support a local business. The last repair was for one of the keys. We brought it in and got it back for my child's concert to discover that the problem was not fixed.

I decided to return the rental and terminate our rental agreement. When I returned the rental, I was never told anything about being prorated the cost of the rental as I paid several months ahead of time. After looking over my contract, I called to inquire. The individual on the phone responded as if I was bothering him. He told me I could be prorated the rental rate which should have been done when I returned it, as if it was my fault.

Then I was told they would have to keep $12 to get the sax ready to rent to someone else. Even before I had the opportunity to ask about this cost, he stated several times that $12 was not much money. I told him that $12 may mean a lot to others and no where in my rental agreement did it say that a fee would be kept for this purpose. To which the response was that he would prorate one month of the rental, $33 when just a few minutes before it was $39/month.

I agree with the review from 9/2015. The representatives from EB&O that I encountered over the past 2 years were rude and arrogant. If they do not want to deal with renting to students, then they should not do it. Well, I got what I paid for. I'm sorry that it took me 2 years to decide not to rent from them anymore. If you want bad customer service, poor quality instruments, insufficient repairs, and to be talked down to every time you go in to inquire about your instrument rental, then by all means go to EB&O.

This is my go to place for my kids' instrument repair work. They are quite reasonably priced and make sure they get the work done. Last year, I had some issue after they fixed our flute my child was not satisfied with the final alignment. I had to bring it back three times to get it to my child's satisfaction, and they did it without charging extra or any bad attitude.

Always helpful, able to answer questions. Wish my kids were still playing instruments so I could continue our business relationship with Evanston B & O!

I took an old, beat up cornet I had started playing again in to get cleaned and rehabbed. It was playable, but had a few dents and dings, a bit of rust on the valve slides, and more than a few missing and tired parts. I brought it in to the shop on a Monday, and by Thursday I had an astonishing instrument. No more dings, rust-free valve slides, new felt on the valves, new pads on the water keys, a shiny mouthpiece, and even a new finger ring on the third valve slide--something that was missing when I brought it in.

All of this came in just under my budget (which was a little over an hour-and-a-half of their service rate). Plus, when I went to pick it up they even threw in some ChopSaver lip balm. The band commented on how good the cornet looked when I brought it out. Looks are nice, but it had it where it counts--it plays great. A quick turn-around, just under budget, friendly people, and quality work! I've got a few more horns that will be seeing the inside of their shop! Thanks, guys!

My bf started playing the cornet again and took his old, beat up one in to get fixed up. It had some dents and dings, rust on the valves, and other issues. He got it back 4 days later with the dents hammered out, not a spot of rust to be found, new felt and pads on the keys and valves, and a new piece that was missing completely when he brought it in had been added on.

It was all done at a a great price and they threw in some lip balm when he went to pay. Best part is he says it plays great (I can't comment, I don't know how a cornet is supposed to sound). He will be going back for his other instruments.

We rent my son's trumpet from them. Our experience has been good and the rates are reasonable. When I've called, they have been friendly and helpful.

My go to place when I need reeds for my clarinet, swabs, etc. My sister rents her saxophone from here (it is not a rent to own program), and it is in pretty good condition for a beginning instrument. I have had some repairs done here on an old clarinet, and as long as it is a name brand clarinet, they can fix it and have the parts for it. For example, if you bought an instrument off the internet for an unusually low price, chances are it's a no name brand, and they cannot do anything about it since it's of cheap quality/ a knockoff.

10 years ago they had 3 stores. The one in Des Plaines was the best. Unfortunately due to mis-management, all but the Skokie store remains open. I tried to support them as the business evolved to a shell of what it once was. I gave it 5 plus years. but the downhill slope kept getting steeper until rock bottom was reached. Quality of repairs and ability to keep promises has diminished. a $500 repad job was rushed at the last minute even though ample time was given to do the repair. Half of the pads did not seal and leaked air.