So my father asked me what I would like for Christmas. I told him to get me a patchbay. I am really tired of crawling back behins my A/D converter every time I need to repatch something when tracking at my house. I tell him to just get me a gift certificate for a music store and let me handle ordering what I need, but he wants to physically give me something on Dec. 25th. So off he goes to Guitar Center where they sell him...
A used Behringer PX2000 patchbay.
OK, 1) it's used, so I am questioning the condition. 2) It's Behringer, so I am questioning the reliability. 3) They charged him $50 which is what they sell them for BRAND NEW. 4) They talked him into purchasing the extended warranty, $30 for 3 months, because it was used. I could be wrong but I am pretty sure that a new one would come with some sort of manufacturer's warranty, and it would most likely be longer than 3 freaking months.
This really pi$$es me off. Now I don't care if you rip me off, but to overcharge my retired father is just farking wrong. He called me to let me know what he had gotten, because he wasn't sure if he had gotten the correct thing or not. I went ahead and told him that I really appreciated him getting me that patchbay, but that the moron at guitar center had taken him to the cleaners on it. Yeah, yeah, I know. Buyer beware. Still crap like this is why I only deal with Guitar Denter if I absolutely need to. They saw an older fellow walk in who clearly was not informed about what he was looking for, so they screwed him. Commisioned salesmen are sleazy. And yes, the salesmen at guitar center are on commision. I don't care if they call it a reward point system, or whatever name they stick it under. It's a freakin commision. They still get rewarded for preying on the uneducated consumer.
At this point I am not sure whether I will be exchanging this patchbay for another, or if I will just get the money back and tell them they can forget getting any more money out of me in the future (which I've sworn I don't know how many times in the past already). I really wish my father had just gotten me the gift certificate like I'd suggested.
I know I went off on a bit of a rant, but I don't like seeing my family get dicked with.
