Funny Music Store Story.

Woodchuck · #1 11-08-2004, 11:50 AM

I found this on another site, and thought it was funny.:

Years back, I walked into a bigger store in NYC with all intentions of buying a vintage Les Paul. After being ignored for 20 minutes (which was almost nice), I finally grabbed a salesperson and told him I was interested in the '54 Gold Top, pointing to high above the salesfloor. He said, "You mean the '56?" No, the '54, with the wrap tailpiece. He then proceeded to 'school' me on what the vintage was of the guitar. I knew the difference between a '54 and a '56. Instead of arguing with him, I walked over to his manager, showed the man the bank envelope I had containing $6000, and explained he'd lost out on a sale because his staff were rude, and more importantly, ignorant to vintage gear. And then told the prick on the floor to go %$#@ himself. Best money I never spent in a music store.

Matt R Miller · #2 11-08-2004, 12:11 PM

i lol'd

geshel · #3 11-08-2004, 12:52 PM

Heh. Though it's a bit hard to tell from his description if the clerk was actually rude, or just mistaken. I mean - if the poor kid really thought that was a '56, is he supposed to let someone buy it who thinks it's something else? That'd be a big mistake.

Woodchuck · #4 11-08-2004, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geshel

Heh. Though it's a bit hard to tell from his description if the clerk was actually rude, or just mistaken. I mean - if the poor kid really thought that was a '56, is he supposed to let someone buy it who thinks it's something else? That'd be a big mistake.

I kind of thought about that too. I'd love to have seen the interaction. However, everyone knows that if you try to tell a guitarist anything, you're being rude!

bassist4ever · #5 11-08-2004, 02:19 PM

the rude part comes from the 20 minutes of being ignored

Wood = Basses · #6 11-08-2004, 02:49 PM

On Saturday, I drove 1 hour to the Pittsburgh Guitar Center just to try out the Mesa/Boogie 400+ they had (only one in the area).

I get there, and it seemed like the head was not plugged in, so I asked one of the guys there if they could plug it in (It was in a rack, and there were tons of amps stacked on top of rack too. If I broke anything I could not afford to buy it.) He said that he could not help me (as he had other things to do), but would send a guy back.

20 minutes later I went to the front of the store and explained my predicament to some of the sales people there; 5 minutes they said (they never came).

15 minutes later I see the first guy back in the bass room.

"No one came back here?" he asked

"No"

So he runs off and comes back 5 to 10 minutes later, saying "Excuse me for my language, but I am surrounded by f*ck%ng idoits!." and he hooks up the amp to a SWR 6x10 and a SWR 1x18 (

). He says to just push the standby switch, and he runs off.

I set the bass's eq, push the standby switch, and watch the 1x18 rattle and emit a loud "POP". The guy comes back and asks if I got it to work. I say that I pushed the standby switch, I heard a pop, and the power light went out. He explains to me in detail what happened (that kids come in and try to use the speaker cables as instrument cables and it blows a fuse in the amp) as he runs off to get another fuse.

I wait another 15 minutes, and he comes back about 3 to 5 times ("2 minutes!") to tell me he can't find the part, but can get it.

Wait another 15 minutes, and I go to leave, and I see the guy again.

"Five minutes!" he yelled at me, and runs behind the desk.

He goes behind the computer at the counter and starts yelling at one of the guys there. I couldnt tell him that I was leaving as it was Guitar Center, so I just waited for a minute, and the guy he was yelling at starts to talking to me.

"I can get the fuse right now"

"No, I have to go."

"I will just take me a moment."

"No. I live an hour away, I came here just to try this amp, and I have waited here for over a hour and a half. You guys have been telling me that for as long as I have been here. I can't wait any longer, I have to go NOW."

And I walked out without ever trying the amp.

I try to be nice, and I know how hard it is to run a business (father owns an auto-repair shop), but that is just f%cking rediculous. I should have been able to walk in, try the amp, and make up my mind in 10 minutes. Now I am out of luck if I want a 400+, becuase the only other place (the "best" store in western PA) that stocks/will order Mesa/Boogie will not return my e-mails about the head.

And that is my latest "never shop at GC again" story. That story made me recall memories of last saturday. That guy in NYC is lucky; at least he got service.

Wood = Basses · #7 11-08-2004, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geshel

Heh. Though it's a bit hard to tell from his description if the clerk was actually rude, or just mistaken. I mean - if the poor kid really thought that was a '56, is he supposed to let someone buy it who thinks it's something else? That'd be a big mistake.

Yeah, but the gu*tar player said the kid "school"ed him on what the guitar was, so it is hard to believe the kid was mistaken. But it could have been , as ol' G.W. would say, "I think it's one of those... exaggerations".

bryan bailey · #8 11-08-2004, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt R Miller

i lol'd

Uh, you know that what you said translate into, I Laugh out loud'd.

Please people, if you're going to use internet acronyms, try to be grammarically correct with them.

Bassart1 · #9 11-08-2004, 03:02 PM

Was 6k a really good price for that guitar?

Diowulf · #10 11-08-2004, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bryan bailey

Uh, you know that what you said translate into, I Laugh out loud'd.

Please people, if you're going to use internet acronyms, try to be grammarically correct with them.

I actually lol'd when he posted this because it sounded like something Ralph Wigam would say from The Simpsons.

bassturtle · #11 11-08-2004, 03:57 PM

LOL good story. I feel for the kid, cuz it's hard with vintage gear sometimes to keep things straight. I have some customers who think they know everything about everything when it comes to vintage gear. "Vintage" guys are sometimes a bit more difficult to handle than your average customer. The guys who do know what they are talking about will usually never let on - It's like that with anything. The people who are good or knowledgable on a subject don't need to run around and let everyone know.

Any and every music store has it's share of blow hards who like to pretend they know everything. Maybe this salesman had just dealt with one of those customers before this guy walked in.

/shrug

At any rate great story and hopefully that store learned a valuable lesson on customer service.

bassturtle · #12 11-08-2004, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassart1

Was 6k a really good price for that guitar?

If it was what the guy said it was...then it's fair. They are neat and pretty collectable, but that wrap around bridge kind of sucks. There are much better playing/sounding vintage Gibsons than those.

I saw one on ebay like 6 months back that the guy was trying to get 10k for. Didn't even come close.

metron · #13 11-08-2004, 04:05 PM

This happens to me a lot... Almost every time Im in a music store (GC) some guy comes over and starts telling me about the amp Im playing through and giving me factiods, half truths, and general misinformation. I have a BS in EE!

bassturtle · #14 11-08-2004, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metron

This happens to me a lot... Almost every time Im in a music store (GC) some guy comes over and starts telling me about the amp Im playing through and giving me factiods, half truths, and general misinformation. I have a BS in EE!

I've found that bass players are usually a bit more educated on the gear they are shopping around for than most guitar players. I think it's just because most guitar stores don't have a bass player working for them, so we've all kind of learned to figure stuff out on our own. Plus, we're just smarter than any other musician.

Petebass · #15 11-08-2004, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wood = Basses

............And I walked out without ever trying the amp.
.

I've been in thin situation before. I'm not as patient as you. the 4th of 5th time he signaled "2 minutes", I asked him where he keeps his speaker cable for sale. When he wasn't looking I pulled one out of it's packaging, stole a fuse from another amp on the floor, pluged it all in and started playing. The next time he walked past he called out "I'll be there in......did someone else fix it up?".

"Yep. It's working now"

The amp sucked...............