Another Guitar Center Fiasco

[sandmangeck]

So, i'd been thinking about trying out the G&L L2000 for awhile, and saw it at a Guitar Center. So i sat down, played it, and was pretty much blown away by the beast. I glance at the headstock, and it's a tribute. (basically the squier of fender) and than glance at the price tag (899.00) which would be a good price for a used Legacy series, not the tribute series as they go for about 500.00 new. so i call the sales person over, mention this mistake in pricing, and they say they know. i ask what they would sell a USED tribute for and they said cost..............ummmm.............so baffled i asked about the gig bag, they said none. so they basically wanted to sell me a used tribute for a new price with no gig bag. they told me they wouldn't eat the cost. haven't changed the obvious overpricing on the tag, and are currently awaiting a uneducated newb to get the "STEAL" of a price. i shook my head and walked out the door. never going back. not even for strings. i think they have sunk below pawnshops.

[iplaybasstexas]

Originally Posted by sandmangeck

i think they have sunk below pawnshops.

+1.
i think the same. I go in there to to try out equipment and look for a used deal, maybe. Much rather go to Bass Emporium, Sam Ash, Brook Mays, anything.

and honestly,
i'm more satisfied with Craigslist.

[fenderhutz]

DON'T EVER HAVE THEM SHIP YOU A USED ITEM!

Unless you are willignt o deal with UPS on poor packing claims and damage.

[RiddimKing]

GC definitely has taken a turn for the worse with the new ownership. In the past, the store managers had a lot of discretion on pricing: they could deal not only on new merchandise, but on used as well. My understanding is that they can no longer discount used gear from the price set from on high. It's bad business, especially since we're in or heading into a recession of some sort. Basically, GC is willing to sit on inventory indefinitely, holding out for some ideal margin, rather than moving merchandise at a reasonable profit. This is a prescription for failure in the retail business.

[JehuJava]

Originally Posted by iplaybasstexas

I go in there to to try out equipment and look for a used deal, maybe. Much rather go to Bass Emporium, Sam Ash, Brook Mays, anything.

and honestly,
i'm more satisfied with Craigslist.

Honestly, they don't even have anything worthwhile to try out. Their bass department is despicable. "OOOOOH..the Rumble Room!!!" What they me to say is that the bass room is so empty you can hear a mouse's fart echo off the barren walls.

[Mr. Kitty]

Originally Posted by JehuJava

Honestly, they don't even have anything worthwhile to try out. Their bass department is despicable. "OOOOOH..the Rumble Room!!!" What they me to say is that the bass room is so empty you can hear a mouse's fart echo off the barren walls.

+1!

haha yeah i really don't like guitar center...
to say the least

[lefty1979]

Glad you mentioned that, I was thinking about it.

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

DON'T EVER HAVE THEM SHIP YOU A USED ITEM!

Unless you are willignt o deal with UPS on poor packing claims and damage.

[jhintx]

You will continue to see GC discount what we call "aging" Used gear. If you see something in a store for 6 months + (at least one of my stores) we will be ready to let it go. We are working harder to price it right the first time, and sell it fast. In my territory, we are also being proactive about repricing our used gear on a monthly/bi-monthly basis. Although we have become more disciplined to our price protection policy, we are not stupid, we will still agressivley price aging used gear and other gear that we are discontinuing out of our system or gear vendors have discontinued. I would venture to say there are hundreds of people out here who have scored incredible deals on basses becase the color has been discontinued or something like that and this will continue.
jh

[JehuJava]

JH

This is not a personal gripe, but one of GC in general. Why does the GUITAR Center catalog have more pages of drums/keyboards/live sound than...ummm let's see... guitars? I'm really not attacking you...just curious.

Do you ever report back to your supervisors, regional managers and higher I assume, the general disdain for GC by the bass player community? I used to really like GC about 7 years ago, but now it really is bad. I mean the customer service is THE worst of all the stores I frequent.

This one time I went in to buy a cable, and the guy wanted my address. I don't care to get a 20 page catalog with 2 pages devoted to junky bass gear, so I declined. He insisted saying he can't sell me the cable without an address. The shift manager concurred. No address...no cable. Seriously...the address is more important than the $45 monster cable? Yup. So I bought it at Rudy's instead. No address needed.

I have to admit that the website has considerable inventory...cool stuff too. I just can't bring myself to go into that dumb store anymore. Manhattan store is terrible. Go in there after school. 13 year old day care and the staff does nothing.

Sorry for the rant. It isn't personal...I swear.

Alan

[lefty1979]

Originally Posted by jhintx

You will continue to see GC discount what we call "aging" Used gear. If you see something in a store for 6 months + (at least one of my stores) we will be ready to let it go. We are working harder to price it right the first time, and sell it fast. In my territory, we are also being proactive about repricing our used gear on a monthly/bi-monthly basis. Although we have become more disciplined to our price protection policy, we are not stupid, we will still agressivley price aging used gear and other gear that we are discontinuing out of our system or gear vendors have discontinued. I would venture to say there are hundreds of people out here who have scored incredible deals on basses becase the color has been discontinued or something like that and this will continue.
jh

First, it's cool to hear from someone on the other side of the issue so thanks for hopping in on this thread. Second, as a customer who frequents one of "your" areas stores (OKC) I don't see the evidence yet. From what I've seen, used stuff gets priced through the roof, and then maybe gets adjusted ...if you ask politely... on a good day. Case in point, there's a used Polytone mini-brute sitting at my local GC that I'd very likely go buy tomorrow if it were priced anywhere near what it should be, but its (in my opinion, based on my research) at least $200-300 too high. I know you guys are out to make a profit, so there's no confusion on that point. I just see stuff like that all the time, especially on used bass gear (but guitar stuff, too) and I just have to shake my head and walk away. Sorry to rant, and please don't take this the wrong way. I'm a customer whose just putting my two cents in. I actually like the store, and almost all the guys I've dealt with there have been great (not the stereotypical GC employee you tend to hear about). Things like this just frustrate me and quite honestly, make me go spend my money somewhere else. If you have any questions, or would like some more customer feedback please feel free to shoot me a PM.
Thanks,
Sean

[sandmangeck]

thank you for your input, but the bass in question is a tribute l2000. it was traded in at the store. one of the employees assumed it was a legacy series. gave said customer too much money. they know its a tribute now, but are still trying to sell the said bass at retail cost, WITHOUT the gig bag. that's just poor business ethics. the store should eat the cost because of this mistake. not the customer. they are still trying to get at least 700 out of it, with the wrong labelling on it? bass is worth 350 used at the most. there waiting on an uneducated buyer.....some would call this FRAUD.

[mothmonsterman]

I'm not sure why people even go their anymore.
Literally everything i need they have to special order and they still jack up the price.
I hate guitards trying to sell me **** i don't want or need.
the old "yeah that's ok, but if you're going to be playing shows, you want this, it's pro!"
Yes, mr. idiot sales man i would love to purchase this 600$ pedal (which BTW is 400$ online) to have another piece of equipment to keep track of when playing shows on the hood.

screw guitard center
It's mom and pops for me from now on. and if for some reason they can't get what i want i'd rather take my chances online with ebay.

[rappa29]

Haven't had too much trouble with GC. Then again, I hardly buy any bass stuff from them except for strings if I need them right away, else I order them online.

The only major bass thing I bought from GC was my GK700RBII. I could've done better waiting for a used one here but needed to get it right away.

Otherwise, I've gotten most of my bass stuff from the Classifieds here!

[bassphreak]

Originally Posted by rappa29

Otherwise, I've gotten most of my bass stuff from the Classifieds here!

+1 on that. I've moved most of my business to the classifieds here.

I've recently found that GC pricing isn't as competive as before. Strings, straps, etc are usually MORE at GC. This is just in the last 6-12 mos.

I have found a gem in help department though. My local GC hired a bassist who is both knowledgable AND helpful! And he has actually set up the basses on the wall. I almost feel bad that I don't buy anything.

[troyus]

Ah yes, Guitar Center...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=a_JXKVUY6e8

[Lesfunk]

I was checking out six string guitars in GC awhile back and came across two used instruments of the same model. The salesman took me aside and said " I just want to warn you, Don't buy that Black one because it has a hairline crack running the full length of the head stock. I'm not supposed to tell anyone but I can't knowingly sell that to somebody in good conscience."
I thought that was very cool of him. I didn't buy either instrument anyway.

[The Tyler]

Originally Posted by JehuJava

Honestly, they don't even have anything worthwhile to try out. Their bass department is despicable. "OOOOOH..the Rumble Room!!!" What they me to say is that the bass room is so empty you can hear a mouse's fart echo off the barren walls.

THIS!

I was in the market for a new bass this week, and wasn't 100% sure what I wanted, so I went down to GC to take a few test-drives.
I was really rather shocked at what I saw. I hadn't been in to GC in several months, and in that time their selection shrank by about half.
They had a ton of low end squiers, high end fenders, lots of ibanez and a smattering of wicks, GLs, and used basses they were trying to sell for new prices.
I probably won't be back either.


(for the record, I ended up buying a Spector Legend 5 at a fairly new mom n' pop type operation closer to home )

[Rota]

The GC that I occasionally go to is terrible too. The bass section isn't as bad as most others, as they have an entire wall dedicated to bass, but the customer service is god awful as well as the used prices. Their stock of used basses has barely fluctuated in the last year. The prices are insane and the stuff isn't even that great. Occasionally they'll discount a whopping 10%, but if they want the stuff to go it's gonna need to be more. The amps and cabs are generally garbage, and many of their used prices are substantially higher than the mom and pop store I frequent. Any more I have no reason to go to GC because I get better prices, MUCH better customer service, and a better selection to choose from when I go to my local mom and pop shop.

In fact, they also do online orders, so if anyone here wants to check them out, their site is www.thebassplace.com

[peterbright]

Glad I don't have those problems with the GC here.

[Incognitus]

Kinda wish I had one up here just to see if it really is that bad.