Done with Sweetwater

[baileyboy]

Son of Wobble said: ↑
At age 56 I'm with you, but I know quite a few people older than myself who feel somewhat compelled to answer a phone call. Not to suggest it is a negative and Pavlovian impulse; taking the call and "dealing with what's coming at you" is considered being dutiful by some, particularly older, people. This is I concluded after watching my old parents insist on indulging conniving cold-call salesmen.

Many can’t not answer it.

 

[Mike Vee]

Sweetwater has been amazing for me. I have done a lot of poopie to them, like cancel orders while they were in shipment and other selfish things, and still they are super cool. I also get HUGE discounts with my sales person on every single item i purchase (if allowed by mfg). I spent a lot of money with them over the years, but it will slow down a LOT with the new tax laws.

In fact, they read forums like this. I did have one negative experience with a past salesperson there, and when they read my story on Gearslutz they offered the item that the salesperson turned me off from at cost - which was about a 600 dollar discount. They are a good company, but unfortunately a lot of sales people are just tools. That's the name of the game.

 

[Mike Vee]

Son of Wobble said: ↑
At age 56 I'm with you, but I know quite a few people older than myself who feel somewhat compelled to answer a phone call. Not to suggest it is a negative and Pavlovian impulse; taking the call and "dealing with what's coming at you" is considered being dutiful by some, particularly older, people. This is I concluded after watching my old parents insist on indulging conniving cold-call salesmen.

Haha this is so true. It drives me crazy how my parents are nice to cold callers.

 

[Mike Vee]

I heard from them that no discounting pays for their 50 point inspection, free shipping, support after the sale, and their extended warranties above and beyond manufacturer's warranties. I've had SOME discounts at SW but not enough to really make a difference.

I get massive discounts at SW. Massive.

 

[Mike Vee]

i've bought a *lot* of stuff from sweetwater over the years and never had any problem. in fact, they've even helped me out with stuff that was out of warranty. the experience you describe is difficult to believe. do you work for a competitor?

It's not difficult to believe. SW is a good company but a lot of salespeople are tools. SW has their fair share of them. However, my salesperson Ken is absolutely top-notch. Ask for Ken!!!

 

[bdplaid]

I have good experiences with SW too. I told them not to call and they stopped. I get discounts. They are my go-to for basses specifically because they list the weights. The 55-point inspection is worthless. They have a PLEK machine service that you can access for $200 if you're sure you are going to keep the bass.

I love the candy.

 

[buldog5151bass]

It's amazing to me in this day and age where everyone has cell phones that people are still complaining about unsolicited phone calls. How about not answering unsolicited phone numbers? Or blocking unsolicited phone numbers? How hard is this? Am I missing something?

Because you may want to take the call. My phone doesn't recognize every phone number. Could be related to your work/business, could be a headhunter about a job, could be a family member.

 

[jhm2112]

I have no issues with Sweetwater and will continue to buy from them. I don’t care if they call me, I don’t answer unless I know who’s calling me.

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

Never had a problem. The one time I had to send something back they were right on it and made it a very easy transaction. Doesn’t mean you’re upset for nothing , that’s just my experience.

 

[Mastermold]

I've had/used the same sales guy at Sweetwater since 2008. Sorry the OP had a bad experience.

 

[organworthyplayer337]

Sweetwater is cool. In the past, they've always been the first store I recommended to others. HOWEVER; I was in the market for a new mic recently. Asked my rep if he could cut me a deal. And instead of just saying no, he said that that specific brand doesn't even offer discounts of any kind, at all. Period. I believed him, said okay and made my purchase elsewhere (online site that doesn't charge that pesky tax). About a week later, I visit the Sweetwater site and there it is. The EXACT mic I was looking for, for $300 off

After that, I've felt a certain kind of way about Sweetwater. There's no way my rep didn't know about that sale. I've had several great experiences with them in the past, and I've been "burned" once. It's always hard to get over that one bad experience (IME, IMO, YMMV). I know I'm probably going to make another purchase with them, but I need some time haha. My rep emailed me late last month and I'm still to jaded to reply. Gotta let the wound heal I guess.

 

[Sam Dingle]

I probably will never buy a new guitar. Too many fine basses on the used market to justify ever paying new price.

 

[Nevada Pete]

Can’t beat the 48 months interest free promos tho!
I recently took advantage of this promo, they gave me a 50.00 gift card just for signing up, I bought 2 Speakon speaker cables with it for the new amp I ordered, if I don’t like any of this gear I just send it back, no problems, I’ve done it before with a Mesa D800+...

Curious. What didn't you like about the D800+.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Just curious if you asked for a discount on the Mustang. In my very limited experience they knock 10% off of the price shown on the site, or more.

I also had a problem with a defective bass that supposedly had been inspected. I discovered it fairly late - well past the normal 30-day return/exchange, but they took it back anyway. I exchanged down for a lower price bass, they exchanged the difference, no problems. I'm really happy with their service and prices so far (only a couple of transactions).

Not sure if they ever called me because I never answer my phone if I don't recognize the number.

If you're talking about Sweeteater, why would I ask them for 10% off when I knew I could get 23% off at Musiciansfriend?

Any time I ever asked them to price match or tried to haggle they wouldn't budge. I honestly don't have a single positive reason I would go to them as opposed to MF.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

This is very very uncommon to hear about Sweetwater.

Seriously, Get another person on the phone and report the rep that is jacking you around.

two sides to every story

 

[trevcda]

They won my heart when I purchased a Soundcraft Vi board from them and it turned out to be defective. Without a moments hesitation, they advance replaced that board with a new one and sent a call tag for the old one. I had the new board in a couple of days. With other companies, past experience tells me that they would have had me send it back for evaluation, lost it for a few days, finally got around to plugging it in and him haw around for a few days before admitting it had a problem and sending out a replacement. Most likely with several emails from me prodding them along to get something done. To not have that whole hassle is worth a something to me. Perceived or not, I think the collective equipment knowledge is better than most.

 

[eddododo]

If you call GC about a used item, they will weigh it for you, but their scales can be wonky IME

Having worked at one, something tells me that the human weighing it was the wonky factor in that equation

 

[Killed_by_Death]

It was off by a full pound when it arrived & the info UPS had was inaccurate, as well.

 

[Govner22]

I was done with them when they kept calling me, even after I asked them to stop.
Every time a new guy got hold of my number, I'd get a call. Eventually it stopped. Their catalogs took a while to stop as well, after multiple requests.
They're still the ONE for weight listings, however. Anything over $300 has the weight, which is a huge benefit IMHO.

Buy used from Sam Ash, they sometimes list the weight, but most of the time not.
If you call GC about a used item, they will weigh it for you, but their scales can be wonky IME.

What sort of diploma do you suppose "Sales Engineers" have?

Though I’m having trouble finding the weight for an SR500 I’m researching...do they list it separately from the specs?

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SR500EBM--ibanez-sr500e-brown-mahogany

 

[BwanaDust]

I was done with them when they kept calling me, even after I asked them to stop.
Every time a new guy got hold of my number, I'd get a call. Eventually it stopped. Their catalogs took a while to stop as well, after multiple requests.
They're still the ONE for weight listings, however. Anything over $300 has the weight, which is a huge benefit IMHO.

Buy used from Sam Ash, they sometimes list the weight, but most of the time not.
If you call GC about a used item, they will weigh it for you, but their scales can be wonky IME.

What sort of diploma do you suppose "Sales Engineers" have?

I have had a problem with them for years. I used to know the owner (Chuck Surak back in the mid-eighties. He owned a small studio in Ft. Wayne and I booked some studio time with him. He was a friend of our guitarist at the time. I was quite surprised to see what he'd built out of that small studio, when I looked him up years later.

That said. The sales engineer thing has always rubbed me wrong. You purchase a pair of 3ft xlr patch cables and they stuff a bunch of poopy candy into the box then call/email you weekly. You finally get that idiot to leave you alone and another one shows up. I haven't gotten their catalog in years, but I remember the ridiculous "recommendations" from the sales engineers on every page. Like they all could afford Manley Gold Reference mics, etc.

It's a freakin' cult.