If you believe in karma, it sure does suck to do bad things to people.
I don't need a fear tactic to make me be nice to my fellow man, I just like seeing people smile.
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Another Guitar Center Fiasco
- Thread starter sandmangeck
- Start date
If you believe in karma, it sure does suck to do bad things to people.
I don't need a fear tactic to make me be nice to my fellow man, I just like seeing people smile.
How many of you will admit that you go into GC with an attitude?
How much of that attitude isn't based on personal experience?
It's weird because most of the local musicians here don't bitch about GC. They use it for what it's good for and go elsewhere for other stuff. It's convenient and the prices are good. They don't consider it to be the Great Satan or whatever and on a regular basis find what they want with relatively few issues. Until recently, in the MD/DC/VA area we had an appalling lack of music gear because the local stores only carried what they felt like carrying.
If you go in ignorant and have to rely on a low paid salesperson for expertise... yeah, you bear none of the blame for the results. Car shopping must be a hoot.
People make mistakes and it's seen as some nefarious plan to screw everyone. Be informed, pay attention to your receipts (that's supposed to be why you get them), know what you're buying, read up on things and you might find like I have that things get remarkably more easy after that. And those are all things you did, not GC, to address the "problem". Because as much as many of you would probably hate to admit it, a big part of the problem is you.
Or maybe it's just a coincidence that I seem to avoid many of the same problems many of you experience AND I know what I'm doing.
Just saying. And no, I don't work for GC. I just use it for what works for me. Without the drama.
How much of that attitude isn't based on personal experience?
It's weird because most of the local musicians here don't bitch about GC. They use it for what it's good for and go elsewhere for other stuff. It's convenient and the prices are good. They don't consider it to be the Great Satan or whatever and on a regular basis find what they want with relatively few issues. Until recently, in the MD/DC/VA area we had an appalling lack of music gear because the local stores only carried what they felt like carrying.
If you go in ignorant and have to rely on a low paid salesperson for expertise... yeah, you bear none of the blame for the results. Car shopping must be a hoot.
People make mistakes and it's seen as some nefarious plan to screw everyone. Be informed, pay attention to your receipts (that's supposed to be why you get them), know what you're buying, read up on things and you might find like I have that things get remarkably more easy after that. And those are all things you did, not GC, to address the "problem". Because as much as many of you would probably hate to admit it, a big part of the problem is you.
Or maybe it's just a coincidence that I seem to avoid many of the same problems many of you experience AND I know what I'm doing.
Just saying. And no, I don't work for GC. I just use it for what works for me. Without the drama.
+1How many of you will admit that you go into GC with an attitude?
How much of that attitude isn't based on personal experience?
It's weird because most of the local musicians here don't bitch about GC. They use it for what it's good for and go elsewhere for other stuff. It's convenient and the prices are good. They don't consider it to be the Great Satan or whatever and on a regular basis find what they want with relatively few issues. Until recently, in the MD/DC/VA area we had an appalling lack of music gear because the local stores only carried what they felt like carrying.
If you go in ignorant and have to rely on a low paid salesperson for expertise... yeah, you bear none of the blame for the results. Car shopping must be a hoot.
People make mistakes and it's seen as some nefarious plan to screw everyone. Be informed, pay attention to your receipts (that's supposed to be why you get them), know what you're buying, read up on things and you might find like I have that things get remarkably more easy after that. And those are all things you did, not GC, to address the "problem". Because as much as many of you would probably hate to admit it, a big part of the problem is you.
Or maybe it's just a coincidence that I seem to avoid many of the same problems many of you experience AND I know what I'm doing.
Just saying. And no, I don't work for GC. I just use it for what works for me. Without the drama.
thats the truth behind all this hatred.
worked in retail myself for a while, and people with negative attitudes or just plain being asshats got treated that way. My biggest peeve was people who would be asking you something, and then tell you "hold on" as they answered their phone to talk to someone else
I like guitar center. Everyone leaves me be and if I need or want someone I've got a few go-to guys who know enough if I've got questions on stuff. They treat me well
I would recommend watching Akira Kurosawa's movie Rashomon, same situation in the forest, four totally different interpretations by four individuals. --Kent
That was their karma getting handed back to them...trust me, I've been ripped off plenty in the past.
I agree that the setups on their basses vs. their guitars is questionable, likewise I admit that their bass inventory vs. guitars, etc. is somewhat unbalanced, and I know that some are better than others. But, IME, do some real, friendly business there, and they'll treat you well.
Went in last december, not looking for anything in particular, walked out with a great deal on my first real amp, an old peavey rig. Ever since, they call me by name, ask if they can get any basses down for me if I'm looking way up top, and one interesting thing: before I had bought my peavey from them, their bass inventory had pretty much been the same for months at a time, and the basses would stay in the same spots. The same day I bought my amp, I suggested that they might have some luck rotating the basses around on the wall, and they've been doing so weekly ever since. They've also been getting more and better ones in stock, and actually giving them decent setups.
Now, believe that it was my doing or not that caused them to do this, but it seemed to me that the idea hadn't occurred to them prior to my suggestion. I've also noticed that more recently, basses that had been there for awhile were starting to move. Kind of disproves this theory that all GC's are absolutely unwilling to change anything ever, eh? Still no Markbass anything though
Went in last december, not looking for anything in particular, walked out with a great deal on my first real amp, an old peavey rig. Ever since, they call me by name, ask if they can get any basses down for me if I'm looking way up top, and one interesting thing: before I had bought my peavey from them, their bass inventory had pretty much been the same for months at a time, and the basses would stay in the same spots. The same day I bought my amp, I suggested that they might have some luck rotating the basses around on the wall, and they've been doing so weekly ever since. They've also been getting more and better ones in stock, and actually giving them decent setups.
Now, believe that it was my doing or not that caused them to do this, but it seemed to me that the idea hadn't occurred to them prior to my suggestion. I've also noticed that more recently, basses that had been there for awhile were starting to move. Kind of disproves this theory that all GC's are absolutely unwilling to change anything ever, eh? Still no Markbass anything though
That was their karma getting handed back to them...trust me, I've been ripped off plenty in the past.
How so?
Rickett Customs
Commercial User
I was in the guitar center in 7 corners,VA last Saturday, ended up buying a Sansamp PDDI, it definitely seemed much different than it did the last time I was there (2 or 3 years ago). Some of their prices did seem kind of high compared to some M&P's I frequent.
/Jason
/Jason
+1
thats the truth behind all this hatred.
worked in retail myself for a while, and people with negative attitudes or just plain being asshats got treated that way. My biggest peeve was people who would be asking you something, and then tell you "hold on" as they answered their phone to talk to someone else
I like guitar center. Everyone leaves me be and if I need or want someone I've got a few go-to guys who know enough if I've got questions on stuff. They treat me well
I never said gc is a bad place, it just sux that they kinda kill mom n pop places. I was in gc last week and had a good experience, for the most part anyway, I was kinda pissed that i couldn't try out the head I wanted to try cuz they wired everything wrong er something, but i did get to try a bunch of basses for about an hour, and nobody bothered me at all and thats how I like it, after that visit, I know exactly what bass I want now, Ironically, its a spector, even though gc doesn't usually carry them, I played a used one at a gc a while back and its the best sounding bass I've tried out so far. I guess what Im trying to say is Im sure not as many folks think gc is evil.
Rickett Customs
Commercial User
+1, Thats where I bought My Spector euro 5. They usually have some good upscale leftys hiding upstairs.
I usually frequent another--HOT LICKS (Southern MD), and no, I do not work for Chucks or Hot Licks.
Brad, I'm with you brotha,
I'm another one in the MD/DC/VA area that uses GC as a tool (Too easy
). See, with the MD/DC/VA area, theres other places than just GC though./Jason
Around here the M&P stores that really seem to have been affected are the ones that had issues IME. Like Zavarella's.
When I was about 20, I bought a new GK 4x10 cab and a new 400RB.
Seemed like a perfect matchup to me. GK + GK =
, right? It was my first non-combo amp, so my knowledge of impedance was extremely limited. The (first set) of speakers blew within 33 days of purchase (was about my 8th time ever using the head/cab). Probably due to them selling me a head that was improperly matched for this cabinet, but was a "perfect" match according to the salesman. I called them to see if it was covered under my warranty and they said no, because it was passed the 30 day return policy or something. they would have to contact a GK distributer order the speakers and they would fix it for me - for a service charge. Or I could call GK and have the speakers shipped to my house and fix it myself/get it fixed at a no-name repair shop for a much larger charge. I had GC do the service, since I bought it there in the first place. They had it for 3 weeks.
What happened at a gig right away? Speakers blew during a set.
Next day, I called GK. They claimed it was a "bad batch" of speakers that they sent, and would send another set of 4 for free. Great, but I still don't know how to put them in...I contacted GC the next day to see if it was covered under their "service warranty" they said no, and had no record of me bringing it in and suggested I bring the cabinet in to get fixed - for another full service charge - and it took another 3 weeks to fix!!!
The best part!? They suggested I bring the GK 400 RB in as well because that "probably needs repair too". So I did, and they took my money, and 3 weeks of band rehearsals.
And my head clipped out during practice a month later and the speakers blew a third time. Ended up selling the cabinet back to them for $150 w/ blown speakers.
What I'm saying is, they took advantage of my lack of knowledge about something and used it to make more money. Maybe I'm the dumb one, but why would a "reputable" store have to make you feel like that in the first place???
huh, the guitar center i go too has a very well stocked bass room with stingrays, warwicks, fenders (a couple jaco fretlesses too), and other brands. They were all on display rocks and were all (mostly) in tune and clean. The bass guy was rely helpful and knew what he was talking about, and they had new corvettes going for $850. Nothing was outrageously over priced, and i sat there for almost 2 hours trying everything they had. Maybe its just the location but i prefer guitar center over most of the other shops in the area.
Hey Brad Johnson, is Bill's Music House still open in Baltimore, or have you ever been there when it was? I used to love going in there. Everyone in there seemed to know what they were talking about and everyone in there seemed to be a really good musician too.
Back on Topic:
I used to hate going into Sam Ash because everyone there seemed to be a snob and they treated people like they were doing you a favor by doing their jobs so when the GC showed up 1/2 mile down the road from Sam Ash I quickly became a convert. 8 years later and I'm ready to go back to Sam Ash, or better yet start my own BASS ONLY shop here in central Ohio. I'll show both of those stores how to treat their customers.
Back on Topic:
I used to hate going into Sam Ash because everyone there seemed to be a snob and they treated people like they were doing you a favor by doing their jobs so when the GC showed up 1/2 mile down the road from Sam Ash I quickly became a convert. 8 years later and I'm ready to go back to Sam Ash, or better yet start my own BASS ONLY shop here in central Ohio. I'll show both of those stores how to treat their customers.
When I was about 20, I bought a new GK 4x10 cab and a new 400RB.
Seemed like a perfect matchup to me. GK + GK =
I called them to see if it was covered under my warranty and they said no, because it was passed the 30 day return policy or something. they would have to contact a GK distributer order the speakers and they would fix it for me - for a service charge. Or I could call GK and have the speakers shipped to my house and fix it myself/get it fixed at a no-name repair shop for a much larger charge. I had GC do the service, since I bought it there in the first place. They had it for 3 weeks.
What happened at a gig right away? Speakers blew during a set.
Next day, I called GK. They claimed it was a "bad batch" of speakers that they sent, and would send another set of 4 for free. Great, but I still don't know how to put them in...I contacted GC the next day to see if it was covered under their "service warranty" they said no, and had no record of me bringing it in and suggested I bring the cabinet in to get fixed - for another full service charge - and it took another 3 weeks to fix!!!
The best part!? They suggested I bring the GK 400 RB in as well because that "probably needs repair too". So I did, and they took my money, and 3 weeks of band rehearsals.
And my head clipped out during practice a month later and the speakers blew a third time. Ended up selling the cabinet back to them for $150 w/ blown speakers.
What I'm saying is, they took advantage of my lack of knowledge about something and used it to make more money. Maybe I'm the dumb one, but why would a "reputable" store have to make you feel like that in the first place???
I'm not following the part where that head was a bad match for that cab. It wasn't. Why do you think it was? I don't know of any single cab that's a bad match impedance-wise for that head.
How loud were you playing? Did you not get receipts with each repair?
Yeah, Bill's is still there. I stopped there for the first time in years a couple of weeks ago.
Back on Topic:
I used to hate going into Sam Ash because everyone there seemed to be a snob and they treated people like they were doing you a favor by doing their jobs so when the GC showed up 1/2 mile down the road from Sam Ash I quickly became a convert. 8 years later and I'm ready to go back to Sam Ash, or better yet start my own BASS ONLY shop here in central Ohio. I'll show both of those stores how to treat their customers.
Good luck with that
+1, Thats where I bought My Spector euro 5. They usually have some good upscale leftys hiding upstairs.
I usually frequent another--HOT LICKS (Southern MD), and no, I do not work for Chucks or Hot Licks.
Brad, I'm with you brotha,
I'm another one in the MD/DC/VA area that uses GC as a tool (Too easy
/Jason
We have Jivesound and there's not much overlap between Jong's and GC. Hot Licks is down in Waldorf and I don't get down there often. There's Action Music in VA (haven't been there in years either), The Guitar Exchange in Catonsville across from Bill's... I've had much better luck buying new/used on the internet than frequenting the local stores other than GC and Jivesound. So yeah, there are other places but they leave a lot to be desired.
For the number of musicians in the area and the amounts of money they spend, it's amazing we don't have better.
Rickett Customs
Commercial User
That's for sure.
Atomic usually has some decent used stuff (any time i've ever visited)
Some others i've been to in the past (M&P), maybe not as big as GC.
Bender music--Elkton,MD
KB Music-- Martinsburg,WV (Not too far from Hagerstown)
Not sure how I left out Atomic, I go there more than anywhere else. Duh. Guess I was thinking more new than used.
- Dec 29, 2004
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Wow. Sorry you guys have had bad experiences. I've also had experiences like that in Chili's, Sears, the grocery store, and Home Depot. My point is that service in general is pretty poor these days. Retail sales employees don't make a lot of money, so you don't always get the best of the best employees.
That being said, I recently started working at Guitar Center and I haven't found any incidents like you guys are describing here at my store. Everyone who works in my store is friendly and nice, and we try to be as educated as possible. However, when there are something like 400 guitars on the wall and 100 amps, not to mention all the basses and other gear such as accessories, it's a very difficult challenge for a new employee to learn. I find that most of my customers don't have any problem when I say "I don't know the answer to your question, but I will be glad to find out." Most people are very patient when they are treated with respect.
On the other side of the coin, I have been to other music stores before where I felt like if I wasn't buying anything, than I was not worth the salesguy's time. I think this could happen in any sales environment. The honest truth is that salespeople have to eat too, and if one customer is just looking (and not asking questions or giving any indication of buying today - or even next month), and another is ready to buy, it's kind of hard to justify spending a lot of time with the looker and not getting the sale. The other part of that too is we get so many guys who don't come to buy, but just to check out the cool gear or sit down and wank on a guitar for an hour. We have one guy who comes in every evening after he gets off work and plays the same guitar every night from 7-close.
Poor customer service is inexcusable. I refuse to do that to my customers. I was hired specifically because I'm a bass player. If you live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and want to deal with someone who is knowledgeable about bass guitars and amps, please come see me. While we don't have the biggest selection in our stores, we can special order practically anything out there. I'm also working with my manager to do more with the bass room. I've already reset all the basses by brand, type, and price, as well as making sure everything is plugged up and working. And I've only been there for two weeks.
My name is Wayne, and I'm proud to work at Guitar Center in Lewisville, Texas.
Come see my Rumble Room! There's enough wattage in there to blow your hair back!!!
That being said, I recently started working at Guitar Center and I haven't found any incidents like you guys are describing here at my store. Everyone who works in my store is friendly and nice, and we try to be as educated as possible. However, when there are something like 400 guitars on the wall and 100 amps, not to mention all the basses and other gear such as accessories, it's a very difficult challenge for a new employee to learn. I find that most of my customers don't have any problem when I say "I don't know the answer to your question, but I will be glad to find out." Most people are very patient when they are treated with respect.
On the other side of the coin, I have been to other music stores before where I felt like if I wasn't buying anything, than I was not worth the salesguy's time. I think this could happen in any sales environment. The honest truth is that salespeople have to eat too, and if one customer is just looking (and not asking questions or giving any indication of buying today - or even next month), and another is ready to buy, it's kind of hard to justify spending a lot of time with the looker and not getting the sale. The other part of that too is we get so many guys who don't come to buy, but just to check out the cool gear or sit down and wank on a guitar for an hour. We have one guy who comes in every evening after he gets off work and plays the same guitar every night from 7-close.
Poor customer service is inexcusable. I refuse to do that to my customers. I was hired specifically because I'm a bass player. If you live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and want to deal with someone who is knowledgeable about bass guitars and amps, please come see me. While we don't have the biggest selection in our stores, we can special order practically anything out there. I'm also working with my manager to do more with the bass room. I've already reset all the basses by brand, type, and price, as well as making sure everything is plugged up and working. And I've only been there for two weeks.
My name is Wayne, and I'm proud to work at Guitar Center in Lewisville, Texas.
Come see my Rumble Room! There's enough wattage in there to blow your hair back!!!
