Yet another reason to hate GC's new non-discount policy.

Benjamin Strange · #1 07-09-2008, 03:54 PM

I wandered into my local GC to avoid the rain (I was out on my bike, coming back from seeing Hancock (don't bother; it's boring)), shortly after their barely ballyhooed July 4th sale. I've been going in there on a regular basis oggling this horribly pink Playboy guitar for the past year now, waiting for the ridiculously high price to come down ($899 for a no-name Korean made guitar? Come on.) Everybody at the GC knows me, and knew that I wanted that guitar for one of my microtonal projects, and also knew that there was no way I was going to pay close to a thousand dollars for it. As it had been sitting, unwanted, for over a year , I had asked their management several times to discount it for me so I could take that albotross off their neck. Even though each store is alloted a good bit of devaluation dollars per month (which allows them to discount items even below cost), they couldn't do it due to upper management being very strict about discounts now. I was patient, so I waited, and waited, and waited....

I walk in today and it's gone. They marked it down to $99 for their July 4th sale, and sold it to just some guy who wanted a cheap instrument. One of the asst. managers told me he tried to call me, but I never received the call. This just plain sucks - they've got a customer who really wants a particular piece, yet they refuse to work with him for over a year, only to blow it out to some yahoo that just wanted a cheap instrument. Sure, I didn't go down to the sale - but why should I have to wake up at 6am to attend some mysterious sales even that rarely ever pays off?

Hooray, GC - you made a sale. Hooray, mystery shopper - you got a cheap pink guitar. Am I wrong to think this is bogus? Whatever happened to the ideology that it's better to make a customer than a sale? Everybody there knew I wanted it, and everybody agreed it was way overpriced. I would have been doing them a service by taking it off their hands (it becomes a taxable asset after a year), and it would have made me very happy. As it is, I'm feeling a little betrayed that it got sold out from underneath me - this isn't just a simple "you snooze, you lose" episode. This is lame. They could have discounted this instrument anytime they wanted, and perhaps gained some of my loyalty.

Hrmph. Not happy.

fourstringdrums · #2 07-09-2008, 04:00 PM

I don't see why you're surprised. It's guitar center, they don't care about individual customers, they care about the sale. If they are allowed to mark it down one day out of the year, they're going to sell it to the first person who wants it. They're not going to try and track down a regular who has been eying it.

mjolnir · #3 07-09-2008, 04:40 PM

I can see your point, Ben, but in the end I have to agree with fourstringdrums. This is GC we're talking about, and their employees don't have the power to hold an instrument just because a regular is jonesing for it. Some shmuck walks in off the street and offers up the cash before you, he's going to get it.

As for the discounts, that's just how things happen. I wouldn't blame the guys on the floor who know you, their hands were very likely tied.

In the end, if you want preferential treatment for being a regular, look for a mom-and-pop shop to lurk around in.

koobie · #4 07-10-2008, 12:50 AM

Maybe you'd of gotten a different level of service at an independently-owned store. Like where the owner might have cut you a deal and dealt with you as a member of the community. That level of one on one is just not going to happen with a 250-location chain store. Now that GC has a no-discount policy, it's a much more level playing field, the smaller specialty stores can go head to head on price.

chadds · #5 07-10-2008, 05:21 AM

In the past I've had GC staff discount something before or after a sale when they knew I couldn't get there. They may have changed their policies.
I don't shop there anymore. There is a lot of gear out there and they have a small portion of it. They don't carry DR Sunbeams. They certainly only have certain amp brands that have no resemblance to the ones I played when vintage was new. You do find a genuine fellow salesperson once in a while. I often deal directly with the companies themselves if it's software. Strings? I go to Just Strings on line.
I am far from fond of the "car dealership" vibe in those stores. As a bassist there are so many reputable small shops nationwide who ship, so for me, why go there?

nsmar4211 · #6 07-11-2008, 07:02 AM

It's a store.....if someone walks in with the cash, they have to sell it to them.

I gotta imagine "Hey let's hold this guitar in case that guy comes in" wouldn't go over well with management

And whether or not they tried to call you.... maybe they did. I know I've had plenty of times I've tried to call customers and couldn't get through and it doesn't show up on their phones!

I saw that pink guitar at my GC and thought it was ....bleh... since it was still there Saturday afternoon I guess I wasn't the only one. That thing was originally 800 bucks?!!?

Remember.....they are a big corp. now. You don't ask walmart for favors

. Stinks buttttt the other option is befriending a little music store (if there's any left)....

Benjamin Strange · #7 07-11-2008, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsmar4211

It's a store.....if someone walks in with the cash, they have to sell it to them.

I think you misunderstand me. I've been asking to buy this guitar for over a year - they refused. Then they put on some magical one day sale - the kind of sale that we've all come to expect as being lame - and they blow out the guitar for under $100. I wasn't asking them to hold it, I was asking them over and over and over again to sell it to me in the first place. I shouldn't be asked to come in at 7 am on the 4th of July just in case a special deal comes up.

bobba66 · #8 07-11-2008, 10:17 AM

Maybe they sell stuff cheap during 4th of July sale. Might be a good time to check out the gear you want. Worked out good for the guy with the pink guitar.

Benjamin Strange · #9 07-11-2008, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobba66

Maybe they sell stuff cheap during 4th of July sale. Might be a good time to check out the gear you want. Worked out good for the guy with the pink guitar.

But they can sell stuff cheap anytime they want! Why should I, the customer, be asked to inconvenience myself getting up at the crack of dawn to go down to a sale just on the off chance they might have discounted the guitar I wanted?

nsmar4211 · #10 07-11-2008, 11:34 AM

Have you ever worked in a retail store? There's no selling something at a certain price just because somebody asks in most corporate stores. That's a fireable offense. Personally I wouldn't lose my job just so someone else could save money. They (corporate) do track the items being discounted and "he asked" is not usually a good reason.

You're mad because they didn't tell you that the guitar was going to go on sale. Maybe they didn't get "the list" until the day before when they got the new price tags. Maybe telling customers that something is going to go on sale is grounds for immediate termination.

Maybe.......you're just like the rest of us and have to get up early at the crack of dawn to have first chance at the "special" sales. Keep in mind that chances are pretty good the employees aren't even allowed to buy stuff without getting in line themselves! And if you happen to be on the opening shift, you get nothing.

I think your expectation of guitar center is a little skewed...it's a store. The registers ring up a price. That's the price you pay... it's not a flea market (anymore at least).

Now the real question is.......couldn't you find another guitar that would work for your project in your price range? Seems to me there's plenty of guitars out there......and if it *has* to be pink might be cheaper to refinish it

winston · #11 07-11-2008, 11:37 AM

That's annoying, but to expect good customer service from GC is setting yourself up for disappointment.

The thing is, they probably could have gotten more than $99 for it if they had made a genuine effort to contact you.

The new no-discount policy is weird. The tools at GC corporate don't understand their own company's core competency, which used to be price. GC doesn't care about service, and the steady string of yokels abusing gear on the floor means it's foolish to pay full price on anything not in a sealed box.

Benjamin Strange · #12 07-11-2008, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsmar4211

Have you ever worked in a retail store? There's no selling something at a certain price just because somebody asks in most corporate stores. That's a fireable offense. Personally I wouldn't lose my job just so someone else could save money. They (corporate) do track the items being discounted and "he asked" is not usually a good reason.

You're mad because they didn't tell you that the guitar was going to go on sale. Maybe they didn't get "the list" until the day before when they got the new price tags. Maybe telling customers that something is going to go on sale is grounds for immediate termination.

Maybe.......you're just like the rest of us and have to get up early at the crack of dawn to have first chance at the "special" sales. Keep in mind that chances are pretty good the employees aren't even allowed to buy stuff without getting in line themselves! And if you happen to be on the opening shift, you get nothing.

I think your expectation of guitar center is a little skewed...it's a store. The registers ring up a price. That's the price you pay... it's not a flea market (anymore at least).

Now the real question is.......couldn't you find another guitar that would work for your project in your price range? Seems to me there's plenty of guitars out there......and if it *has* to be pink might be cheaper to refinish it

Not only have I worked in retail stores before, I've been heavily involved with the MI industry for over 10 years. I've been a sales peon, managed stores (including Guitar Center), ran the purchasing and inventory departments as well as functioned as systems management for multi-million dollar music store chains, built amps for Mesa/Boogie, and generally have been VERY plugged into the scene. I know the score, and I know how the whole system works (and should work).

I was willing to pay more than double what they ended up getting for this guitar. Taking it off their hands would have been doing them a favor - stock that's over a year old becomes a taxable asset, plus ties up inventory dollars and space for something that they could turn much faster for higher profits. GC flat out refused to work with me, even when it was in their best interest. None of these sales people or managers would have lost their job asking if I could get a deal on this guitar - the worst they could say is "no".

jive1 · #13 07-11-2008, 11:56 AM

The biggest error of GC was telling you the price they sold it for. It's really no-one else's business but the the customer that bought it. If it sold for $899, I doubt you'd be pissed about it.

LP75 · #14 07-11-2008, 12:13 PM

Don't patronize the store - it's simple. They refused to work with you, and so you now know they don't care about you as an individual customer.

I am fortunate because I have a choice - Bass Northwest is about a 15 minute drive from my place. There is no other place I will go for bass guitars or bass amplification.

About 5 miles away there are TWO independent guitar shops on the same road. One is small but has some decent bass equipment and does very personal service, the other is probably the best guitar store within 1000 miles (Bellevue American Music) with a huge selection and they cut great deals when they get to know you (not as much in the bass dept though). Plus, on that same street, Mike Lull's Guitar Works is my local luthier.

So I have NO reason to go into a GC unless it's after 7:00PM and I need a guitar strap or a cheap stand, or a set of strings for a gig.

soong · #15 07-12-2008, 06:23 PM

At the end of the day GC is a business. and They don't care.

sigh

Son of Sanford · #16 07-12-2008, 06:40 PM

I don't know how GC works internally, but I have been a saleman. We kept a log of regular cutomers and thier preferences. Many would tell us that they wanted to be contacted if a particular item was going to be put on sale. If it were allowable and I worked there, I would have made a call to the OP a few days before the sale to help out my bottom line. There was no way to garantee it would sell on the 4th, so I'd have gone for the sure sale. In the end, I guess it didn't matter to them.