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A Tale of 2 cities...another GC complaint thread! Warning .....long post
- Thread starter basspraiser
- Start date
happens. frustrating, but not the end of the world. OP: good luck getting it sorted out! 
....but you've got an instrument to play on sunday, right?
I've ordered from two midwestwen stores and in both instances had very patient personnel answer all my questions and even do real-time in-hand examinations for me. Great guys, laid back, mellow; I would trust them.
If it makes you feel any better, I ordered a used guitar head through a local GC 2 months ago... it arrived broken.... so they ordered a different one but wanted to charge me more and said "the manager at that site is willing to meet you half way on the difference". Seriously? Me getting a broken product and then paying an extra $50 for the same thing... is not half way. So the really nice manager at my local shop worked it out for me. Well, that head showed up broken as well. So we ordered a different model instead and it wasnt broken!!!! Until a week later when it had the same issue as the first two.
The dude at my local GC was super nice and really really tried for me. But what kills me is how they act like the stores are different businesses. If I ordered a head, and it was broken... you pull one from a different store. But they always act like each location is a franchise and say stuff like "ill see if theyre willing to match the other price". Dude... its all GC.
The dude at my local GC was super nice and really really tried for me. But what kills me is how they act like the stores are different businesses. If I ordered a head, and it was broken... you pull one from a different store. But they always act like each location is a franchise and say stuff like "ill see if theyre willing to match the other price". Dude... its all GC.
I really hope I don't run into that. I have had nothing but great experiences with GC. But I guess theres a first time for everything.
I've bought a ton of stuff from Music Go Round with no problems. But then the Store manager is a decent smart guy who knows me well because I'm in there all the time, which makes him well aware of my GAS which always has him giving me the personal attention you would any sucker!
I know this depends on the store and its staff, but I can also say I've bought a number of basses from GC that were killer basses and killer bargains. All my horror stories come from Sam Ash. But then getting stuff sent from other stores etc. is probably asking for trouble. Favorite Sam Ash story. I special order something (forget what it was, maybe bass case or Conga bag?) anyway they tell me when it will be in. So I come back. 'Not in yet" they say. I drop back every couple weeks (no big hurry) and keep getting the same story. Finally after a couple months I figure something is up so I go in and ask, get the "not in yet" story and proceed to throw a major fit right in the middle of the store screaming for the manager!
Manager comes out and I explain the problem. Hmmm. So he gets on the computer. Clickity clickity. And after about 5 minutes he "explains" the "problem" to me. It seems that the associate who took the order no longer worked there and Sam Ash policy was to cancel all orders taken by employees who left! Of course they never told the customer that and just pretended the order was still valid. Swell. I never did get the stuff.My local scam ash is a testament to the negative aspects of commission. Bought gear and its jacked up? ".....he works again on tuesday... (goes back to cell phone)"I've bought a ton of stuff from Music Go Round with no problems. But then the Store manager is a decent smart guy who knows me well because I'm in there all the time, which makes him well aware of my GAS which always has him giving me the personal attention you would any sucker!
I know this depends on the store and its staff, but I can also say I've bought a number of basses from GC that were killer basses and killer bargains. All my horror stories come from Sam Ash. But then getting stuff sent from other stores etc. is probably asking for trouble. Favorite Sam Ash story. I special order something (forget what it was, maybe bass case or Conga bag?) anyway they tell me when it will be in. So I come back. 'Not in yet" they say. I drop back every couple weeks (no big hurry) and keep getting the same story. Finally after a couple months I figure something is up so I go in and ask, get the "not in yet" story and proceed to throw a major fit right in the middle of the store screaming for the manager!
I once brought in a used combo that I had bought and it was making a weird sound so I brought it back and the dude immediately asked who i bought it from, told me the next day they worked, and promptly went back to playing on his phone.
When I order online from guitar center I have them ship to the nearest store, then I'll pick up from there. I've never had any problems going that route.
I did have a bass delivered to a wrong address when I ordered off reverb though. I called USPS and they said they would send the driver out to find it. It showed up the next night... Stuffed into a snow bank sticking out about half way.
I did have a bass delivered to a wrong address when I ordered off reverb though. I called USPS and they said they would send the driver out to find it. It showed up the next night... Stuffed into a snow bank sticking out about half way.
+10000. This way if its bogus, you dont even leave the store with it. If they try to stick you with the shipping cost, just say that you never accepted delivery and will contest the charge with your CC if they don't refund you.
I bought a used cabinet from GC. Had it shipped to the local store. It was lost for 3 days before it showed up.
GC owns them. That takeover happened even before that d@n of th@#ves venture capital firm founded by a guy who once ran for president bought GC.
Everybody makes mistakes. I bet if do the math, GC makes a smaller percentage of mistakes than Walmart. I would never wish ill will on anyone. I would save my wishes for "I hope GC makes some good command decisions hence forth". That way, we can all continue to have the option to order nicely used basses, amps, and guitars at great prices. Like I said, I'm sorry you had a bad experience but given that GC sells a great deal of merchandise every single day, I'd take it for what it is, a mistake, not a policy.
Cheers folks.
Cheers folks.
I will echo this. I think they are 3 for 3 for me. The stuff comes playable and with decent strings.
I meant to say if "you" do the math.Well, go ahead...we're waiting.
If I'm buying a used bass or something big-ish, I do the same. However, in the case of a used item, I always call the store-of-origin first. I wanna make sure what I'm looking at is still available and to get a rundown from a GC employee on what to expect should I buy it. To wit…
I once bought an Aerodyne over the phone, but opted to pick it up at it's home store. Said store was normally way, waaaaaaay far away, but it was kinda-sorta along the path of a road trip I was taking with my wife. The site had it listed in good condition (at least, I think it was…this was a handful of years ago
), but when I got it, there were a bunch of tiny dents up and down the back of the neck making it feel a bit like a rumble-strip. I wasn't sure about keeping it or not, so I gave it a few days to mull it over. Ultimately, I brought it back to my local store to be returned…no fuss, no muss.Outside that hiccup, the vast majority of my experiences ordering from Guitar Center have been positive.
As for the OP's situation, it sounds like someone put the wrong shipping tag on his box. It's rare, but it does happen. Sorry if that's cold comfort, but sometimes "random chance" bites one in the patootie.
Its disappointing, but mistakes happen--shipper sounds like they screwed it up. If one wants a reliable overnight bass, best to go with sweetwater--if they offer that service. My thought is that if GC refunds the expedited shipping cost and OP gets the bass within a week, not the end of the world, and lesson learned about relying on overnight shipping vis a vis a gig. In my area, there is sort of a have and have not of GC stores. There are some sad tatty little ones that get almost no stock--there is one that I bet doesn't even have one american gibson anymore, and there is the mother ship which is reasonably well run and stocked--for a guitar center.... I will personally drive farther to get to the good one--but I do avoid GC unless there is some sort of emergency--as another poster already said.
The sad tatty ones are so pathetic now that they don't even pay an employee to treat you like a criminal at the door after you make a purchase any more...
Checking the serial number against the receipt and so on--ensuring that any joy you felt with your new purchase was eliminated by the time you got out the door.
The sad tatty ones are so pathetic now that they don't even pay an employee to treat you like a criminal at the door after you make a purchase any more...
Checking the serial number against the receipt and so on--ensuring that any joy you felt with your new purchase was eliminated by the time you got out the door.
