As a former employee (twice) of guitar center, I am going to set you all straight about what it takes to get good service at GC and why.
Fact 1. Guitar center pays minimium wage.
and a commission so small that only someone very frugal or someone who lives with a roomate to split bills can afford work there, unless they are a VERY good salesman. ( I was living with a roomate, and I was a good salesman, so it worked out all right) Because of this there is high turnover.
Fact 2. Guitar Center employees are taught to make sure every customer gets a greeting at the door as well as when they enter a new section of the store. But due to fact 1 most employees haven't been around long enough to perfect this and other sales techniques, and many are punk kids who don't care.
Fact 3 The key to good service and good price is having a "guy". This is wheree it get's tricky, because in our gimmie gimmie world, most customers don't want to invest in a relationship with a salesperson. Here's how it works: within a couple of visits to your local GC, it will be clear which salespeople are knowlegable, professional, and interested in making sure you get the best product for your needs at the best price. When you find this salesperson, buy all your stuff from them. (you may have to find different salespeople in different departments.) When you want to get a bass/amp, etc call ahead. Find out if they are in and when they are, go in and make your purchase.
Fact 4 Being faithfull to your salesperson has big rewards. It is not out of line to ask for a hook-up from a salesperson you have bought from before, but be honest and actually make the effort to buy from the same salesperson and you will see significant rewards in terms of customer service and price.
Fact 5 Even if your "guy" quits...(which is probable)
let another salesman know that you bought all your stuff from so and so (they probably already know this as most employees remember the faces of which regular customers go to which salesman) and chances are if you have been a faithfull customer, they will offer to hook you up the way your old "guy" did, and voila you have a new "guy"
Fact 6 GC will always give you the best price.
You can get that best price by being a dick, harassing the salesman until he cries or by complaining to a manager. But if you have some dignity as a person, you can print up the lowest internet (authorized dealer of course) price you find and just show it to them. (if you have a "guy" this is not always necessary)
A few other tips.
1) If you are looking for a certain bass, and you don't want to special order it, (or it's used) GC can often search other stores for that instrument and will bring it into the store for you. Even though they will require money down you can still return the bass if you don' t like it and get your cash back. (bud don't be a jerk and do this if you aren't serious)
2) Some GC's do alot of vintage and used bussiness, and if you find a good salesman, let them know what you are looking for and if one comes in they will call you (this only works with long term professional GC employees each GC may only have a couple of these)
Conclusion. The service the person who started this post recieved was crap, and there was no excuse for it. GC should have done better, but by following the above steps, this incident would not have been an issue.
Sorry this went so long, I've been thinking alot about customer service, and this was my chance to collect my thoughts.
