guitar center douchebaggery

[JohnnyDD]

I use this to my advantage sometimes. Less than knowledgable sales guy + slightly broken (but easily fixable) problem on used gear = cheaper price.

 

 

 

Yeah, after he confirmed it was f'd up, I asked him right away if I could get it for $200. Nonsensical low-ball ha-ha price but intention was to see what I could get. That's when he said it was an easy fix and ran away. I could have pushed it for something more realistic price wise but I don't have the $$ and even with a lowball price wife would have shot me. Object that day was tele research for eventual buy. And something was else was screwed as when I played open D and D9 it sounded the same. Not sure what would cause that.

[pink freud]

are you talking about the one in Appleton, WI?

 

 

it must be a common theme, because there is one in tukwila that has that same arrangement.

 

(of course, in washington, you turn in a 360* circle, you see at least 3 starbucks)

[No Soul]

anoter douchey GC thing happened today. went in to see if my special order from 3 months ago had come in yet. the guy who placed the order quit, so they canceled all his special orders and didn't bother to tell any of the folks like me who were waiting for their orders to come in. i had no choice in this one, normally i think their special order process is BS having to go to a DC then back to the store, but this was the only way i could get this certain discontinued item

Let me clear some thing up here, Im a guitar center vet. Id say Im not proud of it, but Im here talking about it on the biggest forum for musicians..

When somebody gets the can or quits, their orders DO NOT get canceled. That would be an absolutely stupid policy, and GuitarCenter did not become a huge evil empire by making bonehead moves like that.

Only one of a few things could have really happened.
1) the order simply was not placed, or processed correctly
2) the piece is still back ordered of the manufacturer

Either one is possible. Im STILL waiting to get Steinberger that I placed an order for almost 6 months ago.

Also, if its absolutely needed, a special order does not need to go to a distro center and then to the store. Most of my fellow GC drones do not know this..
However, I should point out, that this only adds 2 days to 3days TOPS to the whole process of getting a special order.

If you, or anybody is having problems with their local guitar center, please feel free to contact me directly, and Id be more than happy to help any of you clear any problems up.

I say this not because Im trying to save GuitarCenters good name, but because I just dont like seeing folks get jerked arround.

I dont have regular access to the internet right now, so youre best bet to get ahold of me is just to contact me at work directly.
I work at the Concord California location, just ask for Julian.

cheers

[Valtyr]

The local GC is decent, I've never had any problems with them.

[coachE]

Julian. Are y'all supposed to show the customers how you can move the prices around so that you tell the customer they are getting a discount on an item, but it shifts the $$ to another item. I'm not sure if that is the usual way to make customers think they are getting a deal. Either way, I'm sure the managers don't want the knuckle head to invite me to look at the computer to see how it shifts the money and think that would satisfy me! LOL He was not a teenager either, he was in his early 40s it looked like.

[wmcjhi]

Sorry for your guys' bad experiences

I've had nothing but good deals and friendly service at the Scottsdale and Avondale GCs here in AZ. When they take, say $20 off, it discounts a few dollars on each item. Maybe they 'accidentally' discounted '$-20' to get that across the board raise in price? I have no idea how the computer system works, I just know I've had no such BS.

[Mark Wein]

I think the key to shopping at GC is to only do it when necessary...I like going to the smaller mom and pop stores...they will usually try and beat the GC price just to take the deal away from them...if I have to buy something there (ands I did a couple of weeks ago) I know what I need, I get a couple of prices printed out from online stores like American Musical Supply and Zsounds and I go in and make them break that deal...I still got hose last week when they gave me the wrong sustain pedal for a keyboard I needed for my studio, and I an not educated enough on synths to know that there would be a problem..then they gave my wife the run around when she went into exchange the pedal for me...not even nice to her...customer service sucks pretty hard at the GC I go to.....

[putz1337]

i was at GC yesterday. went to play on a gibson sg standard and a fender american deluxe fat strat. i'm asking the guy questions about the fat strat and he proceeds to tell me it's a nitro finish. so right then and there, my questions stop and i just ask for the guitars and to set me up on a marshall half stack. moral of the story, do your research first. then go in and ask questions to see if the d00d is a tool or actually halfway intelligent. btw i went with the gibson sg standard natural burst, it should be in my possesion next week. and the marshall i played on was there newest line with 12 channels? it confused the hell out of me, but i'm an idiot.

[jetydosa]

In my experience, the amount of stupidity of the customers in GC is considerbly higher than the employees.

I swear 90% of the people in there are there just to see how much noise they can make.

[facefirst]

I've given up on GC. I go in there to try out stuff that I'm interested in and then go buy it online cheaper.

[Frets99]

After all that, they don't sell AA batteries, but they got plenty of 9 volt batteries.... that's funny!!:D

[Reuben]

Not all Guitar Center's are bad. I live about 10 mins from the one in Sherman Oaks CA and its where I picked up my 335. The benefit is that a friend of mine used to work in the corporate offices of GC and he introduced me to the guitar department manager who basically, 1) treated me very well and understood my needs both as a player and shopper and 2) gave me a superb deal that I have to see even come close anywhere else, including online.

 

The people at this particular GC, including the on the floor salespeople have always struck me as quite knowledgeable and very friendly. I only deal with one guy for the most part and this might explain why I have had only good experiences there.

 

Fortunately I am also privy to places like Amp Shop which sells more boutique equipment and is also just down the street from GC, Truetone, which is the mecca of guitar stores and Mesa Boogie Hollywood so my choices are plenty when it comes time to go shopping for equipment. They are all stocked with some of the best stuff you can buy and are staffed by the best people you can talk to.

 

My point is that a couple of bad sales people does not mean every store is like that. And you always have a choice, especially with the internet.

[wmcjhi]

Not all Guitar Center's are bad. I live about 10 mins from the one in Sherman Oaks CA and its where I picked up my 335. The benefit is that a friend of mine used to work in the corporate offices of GC and he introduced me to the guitar department manager who basically, 1) treated me very well and understood my needs both as a player and shopper and 2) gave me a superb deal that I have to see even come close anywhere else, including online. The people at this particular GC, including the on the floor salespeople have always struck me as quite knowledgeable and very friendly. I only deal with one guy for the most part and this might explain why I have had only good experiences there. Fortunately I am also privy to places like Amp Shop which sells more boutique equipment and is also just down the street from GC, Truetone, which is the mecca of guitar stores and Mesa Boogie Hollywood so my choices are plenty when it comes time to go shopping for equipment. They are all stocked with some of the best stuff you can buy and are staffed by the best people you can talk to. My point is that a couple of bad sales people does not mean every store is like that. And you always have a choice, especially with the internet.

 

 

Funny that you should mention that particularly GC. I know (presumably) that manager from another forum (he's a bass player). He's a very nice guy and got me some incredible deals for a father's day present and shipped them right to my door.

[NitroGtr]

Sorry for your guys' bad experiences I've had nothing but good deals and friendly service at the Scottsdale and Avondale GCs here in AZ. When they take, say $20 off, it discounts a few dollars on each item. Maybe they 'accidentally' discounted '$-20' to get that across the board raise in price? I have no idea how the computer system works, I just know I've had no such BS.

 

Same here. I'm in the Avondale GC all the time and have always been treated great. I'm sure there are bad stores and bad employees everywhere, but I've always had good luck at the Avondale store.

[Kerouac]

Breaking News: Retail guitar store has sales reps that don't know everything. This is nothing unique to guitar center. You can find problems with anyone at any store about anything. Sure I have seen sky-high prices on gear at GCs before. Byt I have also gotten my fair share of great deals too. (can you say Keeley ts9 for 70 bucks) Its all what you want to make of it. If you go in looking for a problem, you will find what you are looking for. I don't see the big deal.

Hey Boots...


Have you been to the newer GC down in Florence? I was wondering if they had anything the one up by Fairfield doesn't.

[Jerseyboy62]

GC in Cherry Hill NJ is in the same plaza as Sam Ash. BOTH stores have douchebags working there. At least in GC there is a chick who is cute that works the register. I did buy my LP special D/C there and got a good deal used. I must say though the setup they did on the guitar sucked. I know they lease out the repair space to Raritain Guitar, but those guys will NEVER touch LP again. My Dag will never cross the threshold of GC or Sam Ash. A young guy in my neighborhood was having some custom work done on his SG at Sam Ash, and the prick in the shop quits and took his SG and a few other guitars with him! It seems the Mgr was letting him bring guitars home to "work on" in his private shop. Douchebaggery at it finest. The kid got his SG replaced with a new one no questions asked.

[MickSlick]

I dunno. I like hanging out at GC to kill time...it's only 3 miles away and right next to barnes and noble/starbucks. I just make sure they know to leave me the {censored} alone. by now they know me, and I've bought a guitar and a cab from there, so they don't pester me...

 

 

A kindred spirit, Starbucks - for the fix, Barnes & Knoble - to read all kinds of magazines and books without paying for them, Guitar Center - To mess with stuff and check out equipment, and rarely buying anything, then go order from a website or go to a more customer friendly dealer. These are kind of my three essentials when considering where to live or wasting time when traveling.

[Jerseyboy62]

I was just in one that had the 60th ann tele nicely displayed on the wall. However, I discovered the neck p/u was dead. Told the dude, he thanked me, said it was probably an easy fix. Kinda makes me realize you need to fully check out any guitar there before plunking down your dollars. Also gotta wonder; if the p/u's fried will they replace it with same? I mean, who's to know?

 

 

Good point,. My luthier also tells me that they have FUH -CKED up humidity problems. He claims he can tell a guitar that was puchased from GC and was there for a while. Evidently they always keep it too dry for guitar storage. Let alone the D-bags who drop them.

[jhall]

I personally Love guitar Center. I'm a Professional guitarist and I make my living at it. Guitar Center is the Perfect store for me. I tend to be polite to the sales staff but know why I'm there and what I want. I don't ever try to talk them down on price as I don't need the aggravation and I frankly have the money for what I buy. Though to haggle with them is good for some, I'm turned off by that process and don't like to waste my time waiting around for the yes or no.
Their invetory is phenominal and I often buy guitars new that have obvious little problems that I fix myself. The managers appreaciate this and they are very accomodating to customers like me who spend thousands a year. Whole nuther ball game then.
I have seen the sales help jump all over soccer moms buying their teenage kids first guitar though.
All in all Guitar Center is the Best of the best as far as I'm concerened.

[59humbucker]

I don't live in the states, but my one GC experience was great. Went to the states for a trip, bought my LP, which was absolutely perfect, from the platinum room, got $700 off the sticker price:cool:

[T0MCAT]

GC is OK with me. Like I said before, GC > by a Gazillion times, over the local private store Huber and Breeze in MI. That later treat you like total {censored} are overpriced liars and cheats. . .they are evil period.

GC has competitive prices, and a great return policy. Would you rather maybe get a kid who knows a little less at GC, or some ass hole devil at a place like Huber and Breeze who may know more but lies through their fanged teeth, so what have you gained? And the private store's return policy is {censored} and treat you like {censored} after the sale when they already have your cash.

GC is OK with me.

[myway]

GC has been somewhat notorious for a bit now. A guy came in and bought a Schecter Exotic. It was gone for a while. He brings it back in to exchange or whatever. The guy has strings on it that were just short of telephone cables. The tension was so high that you could noticably see the tension bow at the neck/body area. GC policy? Put it back up on the wall as it is and try and sell it as brand new. I brought this to the attention of one of the very few salesman that give a crap he says'" Come here, I got a better one than that". Takes me to a Steve Vai Jem model hanging on a wall. Pulls it down and says, "Look at this!", in a quiet kind of way. Sure enough it was a Chinese fake. A decent fake, but still a fake. Being sold as a real Ibanez. I was told by an ex-employee that management was fully aware of the scam. I keeps my eyes open nowadays for such deception.

[Spudro]

GC in Nashville does me right. I buy things at other stores too, but I have gotten some deals at GC that are okay in my book.

I certainly understand jhall's opinion about the haggling process and I don't haggle much, but if I am buying a few items at the same time it doesn't hurt to ask if we could trim back the price a bit. Ya just gotta know when to ask. Fer instance, Monday morning they telephoned me to let me know that they had received 3 new Melody Makers. I had already had a bad experience x3 trying to buy one from Musician's friend. First one was damaged, second one was wrong color, third one was delayed. I talked to the GC store back in the spring about getting some in stock so that I could try, compare and select my favorite of the bunch rather than ordering online and getting whatever they send. All three were good and could be viewed as keepers, but I picked the one where the chords rang out the best. It was already tagged at $349. I didn't haggle a bit. Those guitars will be gone before the end of the week if they didn't get snatched up that day. The price is already fair.

OTOH, some weeks back I bought a Paiste Signature splash cymbal, 3 Pearl Boom Cymbal stands, and a Gibraltar Boom attachment. I asked if we could "show me some love" and he knocked off well above 10%, maybe even 15%. The reason I know this is coz I had a letter mailed to me by GC for 10% off any purchase, but my wife thought it was just a thank you note and tossed it. I called ahead and a manager told me to talk to him and we could swing it without the letter. After the sales guy trimmed the price, there was no need to see manager guy.

I still support the guitar stores I like, but I like GC too.

[Uma Floresta]

 

 

Because their stupidity is amusing. We all know they will continue to hire morons. That doesn't mean we can't laugh at them.

[jerry_picker]

For what it's worth: Four AA batteries are not the equivalent of a single 9V battery electronically. The 4 AA batteries provide more amps....which is why they take up more space and weight. A car battery is only 12 volts but don't expect eight flashlight batteries to start your car. Amps is the difference.

Also, 4 AA's in series are 6 volts, not 9 volts.