Musicians friend sucks!!!

[6942]

I've never had a problem with MF.
They ship fast, and have never screwed up an order of mine.

[Diggsy]

For all the kvetching we've done up & down this board about GC,you really have to admit;It's an establishment that for better or worse,has been quite a model in encouraging customers of every shape & size to"have at"their goods.I have to hand it to them......they're sneaky in creating GAS that way.I've plugged in just about every standard model of guitar there is over the past several years-Strat,Tele,Paul,SG,Explorer,V,jazzbox,doubleneck.......and I've brought out the bucks & plastic here & there as a result.Compare that with the vast majority of small shops over time that have more often than not been gruff,suspicious & cranky with anyone that gazes too long at a dust-covered copy hanging on their wall.Yeah,yeah......I know that some here are gonna say that's an unfair,outdated image.But again......you gotta give GC credit that way;"Get 'em to hold and touch that product.....make 'em fall in love,and the $$$ falls out of their wallets".It's called Business 101,guys.

[Treborklow]

Originally posted by chu2 I guess I was jsut in a negative frame of mind when I started this whole thing. But the thing that really got me going was taht the same salesguy tracked me throughout my whole trip. I walk through the fron door to the wall of electrc guitars. He walks up to me there. Then I walk to the acoustic room. He follows me there.

You must have looked like a buyer then. Usually they don't bother me when I dress in my casual garb. Sometimes on the way to a dinner party I stop by a GC and I'm all dressed up and have on an expensive coat. They are on me like flies when I do this. If you wear nice expensive clothers maybe they think you have money dropping out of your pockets and you're gonna buy something. They're just salesmen looking for the same signs as car salesmen. Signs of a sale and a buyer worthy of their attention.

[Punktkerbe]

They're only really trying to do their job, sell things. Most are only out for the commission, so I wouldn't not expect to be hassled. Hell, if I worked in there and saw some guy play and not be intimidated by the higher priced amps, looked like he had some money, I'd be all over him to buy it. One of my friends is a salesman at the local GC in RI, told me his basic shpeel when he tries to get someone to buy something.

"Hows it going? That's a really nice guitar you have there. (Insert company name here) are a great brand). Yeah, those (insert pickup config here) are great, great sound. I could go find some more by them that you might like"

Sure, some know what they're talking about. Some really love music and guitars. But at the same time you have to realize that they're there for a purpose, and it's not for you go home a happy camper.

[LavaMan]

I buy all my stuff from the small local dealers! Service and knowledge that can't be beat!

[jhall]

Originally posted by Alchemist MF is pretty good, they also get a bunch of exclusive items at great prices. If you boycott every company with stupid employees on the salesfloor, you might as well build yourself a cabin somewhere deep in the woods and avoid society:wave: Or you can get over yourself and just deal with it. Now theres a thought!

That my friends is a reasonable and intellegent reply!!
GC people are just makin' a living just like real humans should.


FWIW I Love the CG near me. And I was in the one in Scottsdale AZ recentely and found those folks to be tops

[misterhinkydink]

Originally posted by chu2 I hate that thing. ESPECIALLY considering they own GC. It's the wal-mart of music stores. Horrible. Good selection, crappy service by college kids who don't know anything about guitar. I walked in there once and a guy walks up to me and asks me if I need help and I tell him I'm just looking. I start checking out some teles, strats, etc. The dude walks up to me and asks me if there's anything I'm looking for. I tell him I'm just looking for something to blow my christmas money one and, since I'm not old enough to be considered as an experienced guitarist, the dude tells me that the first thing I have to decide on is if I like the two-pickup gibson system or the three pickup fender system, while I'm standing right here staring at a DISTINCLY TWO-PICKUP FENDER TELECASTER. I almost told him that I perfer two-pikcup telecasters and three-pickup Black Beauty 'Pauls, but I just walked out of the store. Plus the smoke on the water playing over the din in that place was annoying the heck out of me. So GC sucks, at least around here. And I don't like MF becase they support GC. I'll be shopping at my tiny local store from now on, which I like much better. Those guys actually somewhat know what they're talking about.

I hope he told you you were a craftsman.

[Suspicious Mail]

Y'know, I think really the OP's problem is that he let the salesguy know the following:

1. He had money, probably on him.
2. He had some intention of spending that money in the store.
3. He wasn't sure what he wanted.

To a salesman, all that adds up to makin' a sale. Which in turn can make some salesmen really irritating.

Next time, when the guy asks, "you need some help, bud?" tell him, "nah, I'm just looking around trying to kill a half- hour." Either that, or know what it is you're after before you ever set foot in the place. Try not to look like a fool and his money. Then when you want something, go ask.


Last time I was in a chain music store, I also got the "personal attendant" treatment -- it was about 1:30 in the afternoon on a weekday, I was the only customer, and those two guys looked bored stiff. And I gotta admit, it was a little creepy. I couldn't tell if dude was bored, or was genuinely trying to give good service, or if maybe he thought I was going to screw something up beyond repair. As it was, he was friendly and pretty helpful... but still, I'm not used to that. I'm used to my neighborhood mom and pop store, where everybody who works there is either on the phone, getting high with his girlfriend, or else "not the guitar guy. Sorry dude, he'll be in on wednesday."

I didn't blow my cool, though.

[Ace_2000]

Originally posted by chu2 And now I shop at my local Mid Michigan Music and am a happy man.

I like the Saginaw GC, but only because I go there about once a week to check things out. If they didn't know me they'd probably be a bother. On the other hand, I still prefer buying from Mid Michigan Music. Steve at the Saginaw store is great to deal with and I like Marco at the Midland store. I'm not sure about the Bay City store since Sean left though.

[SKYNETRP]

Originally posted by CompleteGuitard I think you need to take it easier on those guys. They don't know how much you know about gear, they can't read your mind and they don't know your past. I think he was just trying to help you, is that really THAT offensive that you'd treat him like that? Those guys make a living mostly off commission so of course they're going to try to push product on you, going in there you have to understand that. If it was how you fed yourself you'd do it too. And sales jobs aren't fun dude, customers with crappy attitudes only make it worse. They're already taking pressure to sell, as well as pressure on themselves to sell as much as possible so they can eat or pay rent, and here you come in knowing everything and don't even want to listen. Sounds like the problem is not with GC.

Good post..........sales is never a fun job, not when you only get commission, which may be the case for GC, I don't know. However, a good salesman always knows something about every piece of merchandise in the store that he/she is selling. It just takes some studying on his/her part.

Some people will not buy from an unimformed sales clerk, because there are always some little details about a product that can make the difference between a sale and a non-sale. I personally don't care, I usually already know what I need before I go in there, but some people are too lazy to do the research and want the sales person to know the info.

Now the flip side of the coin...............Sales people see customers every day that only come in to try out an item and then leave and buy it online.........using the store to only test new gear, and that gets very depressing for you if you make your living on sales. So some of then figure "WTF?" and let it get to them, thus, someone gets bad service because of it down the road that day.

I am sure it gets very hard to keep a good attitude when you have customers who come in several times before reaching into their pockets as well. You put in all the work and someone else gets the commission because you had the day off when that customer finally does come in and buy something.

So there is two sides to the coin, and it gets complicated sometimes due to circumstances. All in all, I have never had a problem at GC, but I have only been there once........LOL!!!!

[markas214]

Sounds like someone missed their nap today.

[No Soul]

Originally posted by adamrobertt Actually, Guitar Center owns Musicians Friend. MF is simply GC's online store.

more or less
thats true

it is run as a seperate entity and their own management considers the other as competition while the big wigs laugh and line their pockets (read: buy GC stock)

[supercow3]

Originally posted by No Soul more or less thats true it is run as a seperate entity and their own management considers the other as competition while the big wigs laugh and line their pockets (read: buy GC stock)

insider tip?

[bjcarl]

Really bored...thought I'd dig up this oldie-but-goodie! Maybe one of the new moderators will yank it this time!

[stratopedia]

Guitar Trader pwns.

[BlueStrat]

Originally posted by Mike Sr. I've used Musican's Friend for 6 years with no problems and have always been treated with respect. Of course it may have something to do with not being an ASS!

+ 10!

I've always gotten good products and great service from them and stuff shipped out quickly when I needed it.


(now, about that 23% interest rate... )

[TeleFromHelly]

Musicians friend= 12 months no interest=

[Duh1]

These guys totally suck! Lieing Dumbass’s!

I tried to buy a guitar >5k plus, they said was in stock and what, not......

 

then get caught talking to a totally LAME  AI assistant that could not understand anything.

do yourself a big big big favor, go somewhere else. These guys SUCK!!!!!

 

[Suk it]

I ordered a small amp. I saw delivery should happen on website 3 to 5 working days. So 5 days comes and goes. Musicians Friend sent a confirmation email 2 days into order saying it was on its way. I went to UPS website and they stated they have not received amp. I saw this after 10 days so?  10 days later I call Musicians Friend and they say well Guitar Center says that had it in stock. Let me call them. So I’m on hold 10 min and MF rep says Guitar Center has no idea. We have a few options. We can wait for GC employee to call us back or we can cancel and re order. So I said cancel and re order. He attempts to reorder and he can’t get it to process. I told him just go ahead and cancel the order. So I think that GC never had the item in stock. Wtf. Just piss poor. I learned a valuable lesson today. Just wait until Sweetwater has said item in stock. OMG. Never gain. MF. You’ve lost my business forever. MF and Guitar Center are same company , but apparently have seperate info. 

[wkendhacker]

Most employees of stores like that are miserable. They believe themselves to be days away from signing a major recording contracts, but are forced to sell picks in the meantime. 
Also, their band is better than yours. 

[Mikeo]

I like musicians friend and. I have done biz here and there with s couple of guys at the MF Private Reserve. They treat me extremely well. They will send me photos and do overnight shipping. Of coarse by the time I call them, I'm not trying stuff out or kicking tires. 

I haven't brought strat since the 80's and have 4 of them. Probably all I will need in my lifetime. I haven't been in a GC in ten years or more.

 

That's my experience, and yours may differ.