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Coupon Exclusions - why even bother?

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ack

Why Can't We All Get Along?
Nov 19, 2006
1,740
671
Somewhere near Raleigh
If this rant has been beaten to death, I apologize.

I found the cab I wanted and I got an email yesterday from one of the big box chains that had a 15% off coupon attached to some giant banner proclaiming some "Halloween Guitar & Amp Blowout..."or some BS like that.

They don't have this cab in stock at any of their 240 stores in the US - I checked while I was at the local store last week.

So, I find the Coupon Code, load the cabinet into the Cart and...
Coupon is rejected - I check the "exclusions list" only to find:

Promotion Exclusions
The following manufacturers have chosen not to participate in this promotion:

3rd Power Amps, 65amps, A Designs, ADAM Audio, Aguilar, Akai Professional, AKG, Alesis, Allen & Heath, Alto, Altus, Alvarez, American Audio, American DJ, Ampeg, Antelope Audio, Antoine Courtois Paris, Aphex, Apogee, Apple, Armstrong, ART, Arturia, Audio-Technica, Audix, Auralex, Avalon, Avanti, Avid, Axl, Azumi, B&S, B3 Guitars, Bach, Bad Cat, BAM, BeatKangz, Beats By Dre, Bedell, Behringer, Belkin, Benchmark, Benchmark Media Systems, Benedetto Guitars, Besson, Bixonic, Black Cat, Blackheart, Blackstar, Blue, Bogner, Bosch, Bose, Boss, Breedlove, Bricasti, Brio, BSS Audio, Buffet Crampon, Bugera, Bundy, Carl Martin, Casio, Cerwin-Vega, Chameleon Labs, Chandler Limited, Charvel, Chauvet, Cleartone, Cloud, Conn, Cordoba Music Group, Courtois, Crate, Crown, Cusack, Daking, Dangerous Music, dbx, ddrum, Dean, Death By Audio, Diamond, DigiTech, Disney by Washburn, DLS Effects, Drawmer, Dunnett, Drum Workshop, EBS, Eden, Edirol, Elation, Electro-Harmonix, Electro-Voice, Elysia, Emerson, EMG, Eminence, EMMA Electronic, Empirical Labs, Empress Effects, Engl, Epiphone, ESP, Euphonix, Eventide, EVH, F. Loree Paris, Fano Guitars, Fargen Amps, Fender, Fender Custom Shop, Fishman, Focal, Focusrite, Fox, Friedman, Fuchs, Fulltone, Furman, G7th, Gallien-Krueger, Galway, Gator, Gemeinhardt, Genz Benz, Getzen, Gibson, Gibson Custom, Gibson USA, Giffin Guitars, GNI Pedals, Godlyke, Gold Tone, Golden Age, Golden Age Project, Grace Design, Great Divide, Great River, Gretsch, Gretsch Drums, Gretsch Guitars, Guild, Guyatone, Hagstrom, Hans Hoyer, Hao, Harden Engineering, Harman, Haynes, Hercules, HHB, Hohner, Holton, Ibanez, ISP Technologies, J Puchner, Jackson, JamHub, Jasmine by Takamine, JBL, Jet City Amplification, Jody Jaz, Jupiter, K&M, Kanstul, Kawai, Keeley, Keilwerth, Keith McMillen Instruments, Kemper, King, Koll Guitars, Korg, Kramer, KRK, Kurzweil, Kush Audio, Langevin, Leblanc, Lexicon, Line 6, LovePedal, LP, LsL Instruments, Ludwig, Luna Guitars, M-Audio, Mackie, Mad Professor, Malekko Heavy Industry, Manley, Mapex, Markbass, Marshall, Martin, Martin-Leblac, Maxon, Meinl, Meinl Weston, Mesa Boogie, Millennia, Miraphone, Mixosaurus, Mogami, Mojave Audio, Moog, Morgan, MOTU, Music Man, MusicXPC, N-Tune, Neumann, Neve, Nord, Novation, NS Design, Numark, Olympus, On-Stage Stands, Option 5, Orange Amplifiers, Ortofon, Ovation, P. Mauriat, Pacific Drums & Percussion (PDP), Paiste, Parker Guitars, Pearl, Peavey, Pelonis Sound and Acoustics, Perris, Phonic, Pigtronix, Pioneer, Powell, Prelude by Conn-Selmer, PreSonus, Propellerhead, PRS, Purple Audio, QSC, Quik Lok, Radial Engineering, Rainsong, Randall, Rane, Reunion Blues, Rickenbacker, Rivera, RME, Roc-N-Soc, Rockbag by Warwick, Rockbass by Warwick, Rockcase by Warwick, RockStand by Warwick, Rode Microphones, Roland, Royer, Rupert Neve Designs, Sabian, Sample Logic, Schecter Guitar Research, Scherzer, Schilke, Schreiber, Schroeder, Schroeder Guitars, Selmer, Selmer Paris, Sennheiser, Serato, Shure, SKB, SM Pro Audio, Softube, Solid State Logic, Sonare, Sonivox, Soul, Soundcraft, Squier, Stanton, Steinberg, Steinberger, Stephanhouser, Sterling by MusicMan, Summit Audio, Sweet Sound Electronic, SWR, T-REX Engineering, Takamine, Tama, Tapco, Tascam, Taylor, TDK, Tech 21, Telefunken, Thermionic Culture, Toadworks, Tobias, Toca, Tone King, Tortuga, Traveler Guitar, Traynor, True Systems, Tube-Tech, Two Rock, Ultimate Support, Universal Audio, Vestax, Violet Audio, Vito, VMI, Voodoo Lab, VOX, W. Nirschl, Waldorf, Wampler, Warwick, Washburn, Weber Speakers, Western Digital, Xotic Effects, Yamaha, Yamaha Band & Orchestra, Yanagisawa, Zildjian, Zoom, ZVex Effects

I called the Store and asked the Mgr. if he could, off the top of his head, name me a brand that isn't excluded from this Blowout Sale. He couldn't. I guess if I needed an Ocean bass, I could have used the coupon.

Why bother putting out a coupon, am I the only person who gets pissed off at this kind of bait/switch tactics?

Oh well, I feel a little better now having ranted a bit.
 
If this was Guitar Center, and the exclusion list makes me think it is, call or live chat with a customer service rep (not the store manager) and they will often give you a coupon code that will be valid for any item. just tell them what you tried to purchase online and that the coupon/sale price was declined.
 
If this was Guitar Center, and the exclusion list makes me think it is, call or live chat with a customer service rep (not the store manager) and they will often give you a coupon code that will be valid for any item. just tell them what you tried to purchase online and that the coupon/sale price was declined.

Yup - funny you mention that - yesterday afternoon, I found the cab (with a coupon code) online at MF. The coupon didn't work, but automatically launched a chat session. I told him what I was buying and that the coupon didn't work. Apparently, Markbass is also excluded from MF coupons as well. The rep asked me to wait while he tried to get approval - he came back a minute later and said that they would not honor the coupon for that cabinet (the cabinet, to me, is not cheap - it costs $700 for me to purchase, plus a warranty) you'd think that they'd they'd find a discount somewhere.

Oh well, I'm still $800 (or so) richer for now. I've been scouring CL and eBay for weeks trying to find a used 102HF, so I will continue down that road.
 
Keep trying, they will take the coupon eventually. Or just give you 15% off. I once had a GC employee tell me he can't just lower a price out of thin air, I promptly walked out of that store as I wasn't trying to buy a load of bs.
 
I agree that the exclusions are stupid - better just to list the stuff that IS covered, the list would be shorter. But I've been pleasantly surprised at how willing managers at the nearest GC have been to accommodate. One time I had a coupon for 10% off or something and wanted to buy a pedal that was already on sale. I turned out official policy was that the coupon couldn't be used for that item. The manager went and gave me a gift card for the amount that the coupon would have been worth to put towards the purchase, so I got it anyway. That's how you win customer loyalty. I like mom-and-pops better than GC in general, but I've got to give them props for that.
 
...and whine on the phone?

:hmm:

If the person working values your business they will offer to help you and most likely give you a discount. I hate GC in general but some of the people there actually DO try, in a good way. When I bought my 8x10 one of the guys there (not even the one I bought it from) offered to help me get it into my car. If it weren't for him I wouldn't even know I could fold my seats flat!
 
I've seen this a lot, and each time I've called and talked to someone they've given me the discount.

Same here. I think that long list of "exclusions" is probably a
legal thing (e.g. perhaps their agreement with the manufacturer
does not allow discounting below the manufacturer-set street
price). However, every time I call, I get the discount. I even
get discounts when there is no advertised discount.

You don't need to be a shrewd negotiator to get a discount with
these guys (I know I'm not). They want to sell to you. Tell
them what you want (i.e. the discount on the item) and you'll
get it. Don't accept the counteroffers (usually strings or a stand).
You should be able to get 15% off every single time.
I have even received 20% discounts on some big ticket items.
 
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