GC Rants Informative or a Chronic Problem?

[MadMan118]

A certain topic has come to mind recently. There seems to be a noticeably large amount or CG (and like wise companies) rant threads. One argument presents that GC rants, Ill call them GCR's, are seen as unproductive discussions based on limited experience, and personal feelings. The rebuttal to this argument is that GCR's are a positive force, useful for conveying individual experience, and that they prove informational. TB is a community so what do YOU think?

[Stumbo]

Hey, it's the interweb. As long as you keep it clean, Misc. and OT cover a lot of ground. If GCR's bother you, I suggest you move on to one of the other thousand millions threads available on TB.

[mjwhit]

i voted informative. but really i just find them amusing.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

As I live outside of said companies grasp, I find those threads amusing too.

The way I see it is that people treat GC like McDonalds or any other chain that has strict uniform standard and policies. WYSIWYG where ever You go, bad/good you decide.

The actions and views of employees are often adressed like those are the actions and views of the company. with McDonalds chain it may be the case, with a music shop chain like GC: hardly.

I'd ignore the rants about certain individual employees (95%) and concentrate on the rants about the company policy. We vote with our feet and wallets after all.

A bit like my policy to not create an ignore list. The people who would be on that list provide the greatest, never-ending amusement for me, but I won't ever post in those threads.

Regards
Sam

[Implosion]

I'm with Sam here, allthough I have once (!!!) been at a guitar center in Hollywood Florida. I didn't buy anything, just played through some amps and in my experience the people who worked there were friendly and knew their stuff. And everything was CHEAP, I mean CHEAP. Seriously, you guys got it good

[The BurgerMeister]

as a manager at the GC in Sherman Oaks, CA, i find GCR threads very informative. many times i'll find myself cringing at reports of what i feel is reprehensible customer service. reading GCRs has helped me train my crew to always be as accommodating as possible, and to always be listening attentively to what the customer is saying.

that being said, GCR threads are a bit repetitive.

[P. Aaron]

Originally Posted by The BurgerMeister

as a manager at the GC in Sherman Oaks, CA, i find GCR threads very informative. many times i'll find myself cringing at reports of what i feel is reprehensible customer service. reading GCRs has helped me train my crew to always be as accommodating as possible, and to always be listening attentively to what the customer is saying.

that being said, GCR threads are a bit repetitive.

Buying a GC is just easy. They usually have what I want at a price I am willing to pay. Only once in 12 years did GC disappoint me...just once.

I like the store (Southfield, MI). I cringe at the treatment/condition of some of the inventory though. I imagine some bean-counters & managers also have choice words regarding the treatment of their stock by ostensible customers.

[Phalex]

Who cares?

GC is a big company with locations all over the place. The more people you hire, the greater the likelihood of hiring an idiot or three. Nobody writes about a positive experience, that's just human nature: we like to complain.

Personally, I consciously try not to shop at GC, but I have no problem ordering from Musicians Friend.

The pimply faced kid behind the strings counter that felt it necessary to give me the benefit of his many years of experience (and trying to be funny about it the whole time) really made me shake my head in disgust. The fact that the same kid was there the next time I gave GC a shot, made it apparent that I should stick to my locally owned music stores.

Oh great! See?? Now you've got me to do a little GC bashing.

I'm out!

[pointbass]

I don't find the rants at all informative since the larger majority of the time it seems that the rant-originator is simply letting off steam because the outcome of their visit to the store was not what they expected. I could start a rant after every single GC visit because they never have a used-but-in-mint-condition-9-string-fretless-Conklin marked at $350.00, and that's what I want to see when I go in there ...

But it's also not any more chronic of a problem than the "ERB's suck" threads or the "SX is better than MIM" threads or the "don't buy Behringer" threads ...

[RED5]

It's a retail chain doing good retail business. I spend some money there,and have gotten decent treatment, and been surprised sometimes by the lack of retail skills of the staff, but hey, we're musicians,after all. Passionate involvement in your art can be pretty intolerant of store clerks having a bad day.get over it. I find most of the rants to be people just looking for chinks in the image. You want the obvious? You get the obvious. thanks to GC for at least having an outlet nearer than Sam Ash, to my home, heh!

[stflbn]

I feel just as many people could go on rants about individual sales or individual local stores, but people don't because no one would be familiar or care.

Guitar Center is in most big cities so they're a good target for abuse. I also feel that many times things that people are complaining about can tend to be their own failure to address problems or to pay attention when buying something.

Not to mention the problem with people thinking it's 'all right' to 'rent' stuff from Guitar Center by buying it, using it, and returning it because they 'don't like it'. Which is abusing a good policy of guitar center.

[Brad Johnson]

Originally Posted by pointbass

I don't find the rants at all informative since the larger majority of the time it seems that the rant-originator is simply letting off steam because the outcome of their visit to the store was not what they expected. I could start a rant after every single GC visit because they never have a used-but-in-mint-condition-9-string-fretless-Conklin marked at $350.00, and that's what I want to see when I go in there ...

But it's also not any more chronic of a problem than the "ERB's suck" threads or the "SX is better than MIM" threads or the "don't buy Behringer" threads ...

Bingo.

[tplyons]

I read them all, especially if they're around my area.

It's more of a what not to do, if you ever end up in a management situation.

Though they are a bit too common.