Why do people shop at the Walmart of musical instrument retail stores and then get surprised when they receive sub par service or products? I feel like theres at least one thread a day made by someone who got burned at a GC yet people keep going back for more. When will people learn?
You're way overthinking it (with a touch of elitism thrown in for good measure).
1) Places like GC, Wal-Mart, McDonald's, etc. offer cheap, readily-available, goods and services (with a few higher-end products thrown in to keep it interesting). Duh. They also usually get things right (or, at least their version of right). In other words, they do the same things over and over again in order to keep it simple...and cheap. They are what they are. There's no need to expect extraordinary service when you go in there. That's not their business model. But the strings are always there. The picks are always over there. You can count on being able to play models you won't find everywhere in most locations.
2) I would bet you the bass of your choice that GC actually has a much higher customer satisfaction rate than your local mom n pop. But you're not the universe. You can't look at that through @primusfan1989 glasses. It's simply a numbers game. GC literally gets THOUSANDS of customers walking in and out every day. The vast majority of them walk in and out with zero drama. They get exactly what they expect/want/pay for. We never hear about those people (or rarely do anyway). Your local mom n pop is lucky to get a couple dozen customers per day. And not every single one of them leaves the place 100% completely satisfied. But we won't hear the stories of people NOT being satisfied by a local mom n pop here at TB because....
3) Why the heck would ANYONE ever share a story like that on in international bass forum????? Nobody would be silly enough to start a thread berating Fat Sound in Raleigh, NC or Fat Cat Music and Sound in Goldsboro, NC, or PC Sound in Washington, NC. Because you guys wouldn't be the least bit interested in hearing about a shop you'll NEVER go into! That's for local Facebook groups and whatnot. But, make no mistake, those places piss off customers daily. Their customer service is much more personal. Their attention to detail is much greater. But they STILL manage to piss off people every single day. However, we ALL know (here in the US anyway) where the nearest Guitar Center is. We've all been there. We can RELATE to what a poster saw when they went in. So a story about GC is relatable to almost ALL of us. That's why you see the stories here.
In short, I think you're basing your analysis on your limited world view. MOST customers go in and out of GC completely satisfied, or at least getting exactly what they expected. SOME customers leave your favorite mom n pop feeling like they got screwed, but we'll never hear about that....ever. But GC is everyone's favorite punching bag here (or at least tied with UPS). So a "GC sucks!" story will get attention and affirmation.
By the way, every single day literally MILLIONS of packages are delivered with ZERO drama by UPS, FedEx, and the postal service. And yet, everyone LOVES to pile on in a thread telling the story of ONE TIME they get it wrong. It's the same thing.
Simple as that.
