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Bought a bass from Guitar Center and....

K

Kusabi

Aug 12, 2009
61
0
Buffalo, NY
#1
Neglected to really look it over before I left the store with it. I traded in an Ibanez sr405 and paid $300 for a "new" Schecter Diamond Custom P.

My brother and I got the store about an hour and a half before close and I presented the guy at the desk with my bass and told him I wanted to trade it in. After their tech spent some time looking at it, the store manager informed me that one of the pots on it was "busted dude". He would however still take the bass at a "slightly lower" amount. Against my better judgement and because I never played the thing and just wanted something new I went with his offer of $200.

I put that money and $300 towards a Schecter Custom Diamond P. Because it was almost close I was only able to play it through an amp for MAYBE 5 minutes before the manager asked me to make a decision. Noticing nothing wrong I decided to go for it.

Flashforward a few hours. I get home and take my new bass out, excited as all get out to play it. As soon as I plugged it into my amp I was greeted with EXTREMELY loud 60-cycle hum. Furthermore, turning the P-pickup volume pot greeted me with the same staticy, "busted" pot noise. Adding to this was my discovery of several chips and scratches in the fretboard and a stripped out intonation screw on the g string.

Needless to say, I'm more than a little mad and I will be taking the bass back to GC tomorrow. Sorry if this comes off as incoherent and pointless but I've been drinking by myself and needed a place to vent :hiding::hiding:
 
#4
Never let them pressure you. Be ready to grab your old bass and walk away. It sounds like your old bass had no electrical problems and they BS'd you on the pot? I would've walked out at that point. GC is cool for a lot of reasons, but you have to approach it like you would a car dealership.
 
#5
I don't buy from GC if I can avoid it. The last bass I bought from them, a Squier Jag, had the bridge screws completely stripped out. I didn't notice til I got home. I returned it that day. They told me I had to take the matter up with squier. I actually had to read their 30 day policy to them to get them to give me my money back.
 
#9
satellite4 said:
Yeah, GC is a decent place to try out stuff, but I havent bought anything of real value there and probably never will. Just too many other options. Interested to see how the return goes.
Click to expand...

I'm also interested to see how it goes. The employee who cashed me out had to rub my credit card by hand because the computers were down and upon just checking the receipt I was given it reads "all sales are final pending manager approval". Since when does GC do that?
 
#10
Kusabi said:
Neglected to really look it over before I left the store with it. I traded in an Ibanez sr405 and paid $300 for a "new" Schecter Diamond Custom P.

My brother and I got the store about an hour and a half before close and I presented the guy at the desk with my bass and told him I wanted to trade it in. After their tech spent some time looking at it, the store manager informed me that one of the pots on it was "busted dude". He would however still take the bass at a "slightly lower" amount. Against my better judgement and because I never played the thing and just wanted something new I went with his offer of $200.

I put that money and $300 towards a Schecter Custom Diamond P. Because it was almost close I was only able to play it through an amp for MAYBE 5 minutes before the manager asked me to make a decision. Noticing nothing wrong I decided to go for it.

Flashforward a few hours. I get home and take my new bass out, excited as all get out to play it. As soon as I plugged it into my amp I was greeted with EXTREMELY loud 60-cycle hum. Furthermore, turning the P-pickup volume pot greeted me with the same staticy, "busted" pot noise. Adding to this was my discovery of several chips and scratches in the fretboard and a stripped out intonation screw on the g string.

Needless to say, I'm more than a little mad and I will be taking the bass back to GC tomorrow. Sorry if this comes off as incoherent and pointless but I've been drinking by myself and needed a place to vent :hiding::hiding:
Click to expand...

Few things...

1. That's why we have a 30 day return policy, if you don't like it, bring it back.
2. A stripped intonation screw would have been a factory defect...the chances of an employee, or customer for that matter, stripping a screw by hand is rather slim.
3. $200 for that bass used isn't terrible...look at what Link Removed
4. Each store is different on what their little message says on the bottom of each receipt, and FWIW anytime you return something you(the salesperson) has to get a manager to approve the return(in the system).

If for some reason the return doesn't go well, shoot me a PM and I'll get on the horn.
Also: got pics of the neck being chipped & such?
 
#12
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#14
Kusabi said:
Duly noted. I'm more upset that an instrument with several dings, albeit hard to see ones, a stripped intonation screw, and a defective pot was sold as new. Oh well, you live and you learn.
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One has to expect being low-balled when trading in an instrument at GC. Hey, I bought an 8 string bass that was selling the week before for $300 at Sam Ash for $150 and then took it right down the street to GC. They offered me $30! The sales guy who was rather cool even told me "Don't even THINK of trading in an instrument here!" I never have.

But you have to expect dings and thing for "off the wall" instruments. But you should ALSO expect a DISCOUNT to come with that wear! No I don't write off GC. I've gotten some AMAZING buys there. My OLP came "off the wall". Got it for $100. I've never seen a deal like that anywhere else. Dings were minor.

Personally considering GC usual trade-ins, I think you did not do bad on the trade. But what you need to do is take the new bass back. Whine about the dings, chips, and wiring and try to negotiate a rebate on it. Hey, if you do it right, pots are cheap and most dings don't matter anyway. And if they are obvious they often can be fixed.
 
#15
I empathize with you completely. Go ahead and vent and I hope this was the first and will be the last time something like this happens to you. I had this happen to me at Guitar Center a few times.

1st: Epiphone Les Paul Custom with broken pots, bought brand-new.

2nd: Squier Classic Vibe '60s Telecaster without the top-hat switch and a handful of dents throughout the body as if it was tossed out during a hailstorm for a couple of minutes, also bought this brand-new.

3rd: Squier Affinity Precision Bass, one of my first "I'm going to buy me a new bass" ventures since my other basses were pre-owned. The wires were separated from the pots and the lower half of the pickup cover was cracked, as well as one of the pole pieces. Also, brand-new and out of the box.

I ended up returning all of them bastards. The only time that I've ever walked out of Guitar Center happy was when I purchased used equipment and new strings. But even then... "Hey, can I get a pack of D'addario flats?" - GC clerk: "Why? Rounds are so much better."

...at that point, I just walked out of the store.
 
#16
Hi guys! Having delt with GC as well as Musicians Friend, I guess Ive been lucky. Here is the thing. I have purchased basses off the rack from GC and have had some issues. They were quick to fix and replace with no problems and threw in strings and stuff for my time. The screw thing may have come from the factory but I do know that some stores, will try to set the action before the guitar goes to the wall. How do I know this? I have worked at a music store. Its a selling point for the instrument. I would take the bass back and nicely tell them that you would like another or your money back. I am sure they will help you.
 
#17
PBnJBassist said:
I empathize with you completely. Go ahead and vent and I hope this was the first and will be the last time something like this happens to you. I had this happen to me at Guitar Center a few times.

1st: Epiphone Les Paul Custom with broken pots, bought brand-new.

2nd: Squier Classic Vibe '60s Telecaster without the top-hat switch and a handful of dents throughout the body as if it was tossed out during a hailstorm for a couple of minutes, also bought this brand-new.

3rd: Squier Affinity Precision Bass, one of my first "I'm going to buy me a new bass" ventures since my other basses were pre-owned. The wires were separated from the pots and the lower half of the pickup cover was cracked, as well as one of the pole pieces. Also, brand-new and out of the box.

I ended up returning all of them bastards. The only time that I've ever walked out of Guitar Center happy was when I purchased used equipment and new strings. But even then... "Hey, can I get a pack of D'addario flats?" - GC clerk: "Why? Rounds are so much better."

...at that point, I just walked out of the store.
Click to expand...

Very funny! I laugh at stuff like this because it takes all kinds. Just because they work at a music store, people always seem to act like they know better than you. The other day I was at GC and I asked the guy for a 1/8 jack to 2 RCA's. I wanted to play my Ipod through my mixer. Now I know for a fact that they have this cable cause I saw it on line. Well the guy was like here take 2 mono cables with this adapter and put them into a direct box and out to this and that and the other thing. I said "Thanks but thats very involved". "I'll go some other route". So I walked around, doubled back and found the cable myself. Needless to say it works perfect. It took my an hour to hold myself back from saying," Hey hammerhead!". " This is all you need!". What good would have that done? You cant change people, but I did not think of walking out of the store because I needed the F!@#$king cable!!! Know what you want and if its in stock. If someone asks you if you need help, just say just looking, and get the items yourself
 
#18
the GC by me bought in a used Alembic Spoiler for around $300. Then sold it for $800, so let that tell you how great their trade in value is. My last Aria Pro II Elite II they said $125 because it's old and Aria's a cheap knockoff brand. Anything older than 02 is old and worthless, unless it's a martin or gibson (to them). "Cheap knockoff brand" shows they high product knowledge. Needless to say I kept my bass.

Also the one by me I used to work at. If a customer wanted a discount because of dings, scratches, chips, or broken parts on a "new" instrument they trained us to say "well you put dings and scratches in it too to make sure you liked it". I worked in drums and the #1 people asked was if they bought a floor kit (there was never any in the back) could they get a free set of heads because these were dinged all to hell. Same response, well you tried it so you dinged it up too. "Ok, I'll buy online!"
 
#20
The thing I love the most is when they label a used item incorrectly. One time they had a 1978 MXR disotortion + pedal. They had it marked as an 80s. It was block logo but had the script print on the back. I bought it and opened it up to read the pots for the date. I know script logo was very early and block came later in the 80s as well as adding LED's. Block with script imprint was around the changing period. So anyways I returned it after not liking it and told them it was in fact a 78 (people would actually pay a lot more knowing it's a 70s and not 80s). They said ok and put it back up as 80s.

Another time they had a used Spector Euro5. They marked it for $1300 with no case. They also had it labeled as a Euro LX5 and said USA on the tag. I told them that Euro meant, Euro. They were made in Czech just like the back of the HS says. Still never changed it.

Another time I was wanting to buy a 90s Jackson Rhoads pro. They had it listed as a USA Jackson RR1 at $800 (I knew better) with no case which is too high. I called asking for the serial and any noticeable dings. They guy came back and said "whoa, I just looked and we have to clearance this. This isn't made in USA, it's Japanese". Well I already knew that so I didn't say anything. Never changed the tag or the price online but said I could have it for $500. Didn't take it because I could get one for $600 with a SKB case shipped. Still for sale with no price drop after 3 months.

Last one, a guy I know was at GC and happened to see a used Jackson RR3. They had it marked as a RR5 and for $700. The RR3 is bolt on with chrome hardware, a floyd and goes for like $700 new. The RR5 is neck through with gold hardware, string thru and like $1100 new. Also the TRC says the model. They guy told a sales rep that it was in fact a RR3 not a RR5. They said "no, because the guy we bought it from said it's an RR5". He said back, "well he's wrong" and then stated all the reason why it's not. The sales rep just said "well he said it's a RR5" and never changed the price or tag. AFAIK it's still for sale, it's been like 6 months, and not one price drop last I knew. Stubborn bastards.
 

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