GC knowingly selling defective merch?

[sloasdaylight]

The GC in my town (Tampa) has, or maybe had a fretless Corvette 4 string strung with rounds on display for almost a year now, and despite me telling the guys there they need to change the strings with flats because the rounds will eat up the fingerboard for about 6 months, they still haven't, and now when you run your fingers along the fretboard it feels like saws teeth, and looks like ****, and not just up close. The Sam Ash in town made a similar mistake, which I commented on, and fixed it like 2-3 days later when I stopped in for a new cord. The guys at the Sam Ash here also took a faulty J bass off the floor that I pointed out and repaired it later that day.

All in all, I've been to about 3-4 different Sam Ash's and prolly 2-3 different guitar Centers, and overall in my opinion SA is the better store to go to. Just my 2 copper.

 

[electracoyote]

Yes, whatever Sam Ash is doing to attract, hire, and retain good sales associates who know what they're doing and give a rat's arse, GC needs to start doing. Hard to believe the lack of concern at GC sometimes. My chief complaint, even though I do business there all the time. No Sam Ashes in my area.

 

[jkramer5]

July of 08 I bought a MIM Active Jazz Deluxe 4 string at the Sacramento GC. After owning it a short while, I started to notice problems. Mostly with buzzing frets. I brought it back to the store, and had the Tech they have there on Sundays only look at it. He pretended to do a setup, it was still the same, I then paid another, not affilliated with GC, tech to do a setup on it the following week, it was a litle better but not much. I then called Fender and they had me take it to an approved tech. He deemed the neck warped and wanted to do a factory return.

I was still within my return period at GC so I took it back there instead, and exchanged it for another one, without defects. I verified this by taking it back to the store in Davis that had the approved tech.

The bass that I had returned to the Sac store, went right back on the wall minus the plastic film on the chrome and pickguard. there were scratches above the G string in the pickguard from me and a dulled area next to the E string from where I rested my fingers.
It had not one single piece of information that it had been owned for 28 days, been to 2 techs, and deemed by a Fender approved one to have the neck replaced under warranty.

They had a full retail price tag on it and it's gone now. I joked with more than one sales person on my return trips about it being a ripoff and they just looked at me like a deer in headlights.

Oh, I left out this part. When I was buying the original bass, I wanted it in black which they had. The sales person said, no you don't want that one, it's got a dead fret. He then verified it by showing me. Since I didnt' buy it, it went right back up on the wall.

 

[jaywa]

The GC in my town (Tampa) has, or maybe had a fretless Corvette 4 string strung with rounds on display for almost a year now,

This is just a ridiculous lack of common sense and/or just not giving a d**n. Fretless basses should ALWAYS be sold with flats, not rounds. If the new owner wants to put rounds on afterwards it's his dime (and the store actually comes out ahead, selling not only the bass but a set of strings)... but as long as a fretless is on display, flats are the rule.

 

[Jazzman]

Yes, whatever Sam Ash is doing to attract, hire, and retain good sales associates who know what they're doing and give a rat's arse, GC needs to start doing. Hard to believe the lack of concern at GC sometimes. My chief complaint, even though I do business there all the time. No Sam Ashes in my area.

In my town the Sam Ash is literally directly across the street from Guitar Center. I am always amazed that GC has twice as many cars in the parking lot - Packed with people anything you go in. Sam Ash maybe has one person in each seciton max.

 

[frootbooty]

I have purchased used gear twice from GCs online. The first was an SWR Goliath which I was assured worked perfectly. I had to replace the entire crossover unit when I got it because the horn would not work. The second was an HK Bassbase 600 head. I was assured it worked perfectly. When the EQ section was engaged, the entire head shut off. I had to send it back to be repaired.
At the local GCs, most of the in-store stuff is set up horribly and the entire store is staffed by high school kids who may be in bands or just really love Fall Out Boy. In the guitar section, someone is always playing a metallica song as well, usually master of puppets.

 

[DudeWheresMy182]

what GC do you go to? haha

At the GC i worked at, we legitimately cared about everything, there were no high school kids working the sales floor (you have to be 18 to work there, usually 18 yr olds are seniors in high school or in college, so the chance of a high school kid working = not really.) Every store is different. i was proud that our store was trained properly and knew our material. That GC you refer to is obviously not up to par.

 

[BassyBill]

This is just a ridiculous lack of common sense and/or just not giving a d**n. Fretless basses should ALWAYS be sold with flats, not rounds. If the new owner wants to put rounds on afterwards it's his dime (and the store actually comes out ahead, selling not only the bass but a set of strings)... but as long as a fretless is on display, flats are the rule.

Hmmm - tricky one.

I like rounds on a fretless and wouldn't buy one without being able to try it that way. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to buy one with the fingerboard chewed up, either.

That said, I've been playing fretless basses with rounds for over 25 years and have never had a problem with wear. But I guess it could be an issue in a store environment.

I can't really see an answer to this one, apart from just shopping at a store where the instruments don't get massacred too badly whilst on display. I've played enough fretless basses with roundwound strings in stores to know that this isn't a universal problem.

 

[FriscoBassAce]

Everybody loves to bash GC. We are just regular folks like you guys who need to work in order to make a living. Some of you are good people that care, others of you are not.

Same goes for Guitar Center. We try to hire great people and retain them, but just like everywhere else, we sometimes get people that aren't the best people in the world. Remember this too...we hire people from the surrounding communities where the store is located. So it might just be your neighbor who put the bass back on the floor because of what he deemed to be a minor problem.

As for fretless basses, at the store I work at, we've only ever had two different models the entire time I've worked here. One was a Warwick, and the other is the Squier. Both of these came from the factory with rounds on them. Every time. It's not GC's fault that the manufacturer's don't put the strings on there that seem to be the best.

Also, when an item is returned, it's supposed to be put on a Repair Order if defective. Sometimes they get fixed and sometimes they don't. We had a MIM Jazz that had the neck and truss rod problem described earlier. We sent it off to repair and it was only slightly better. Fender won't give us our money back on it. We have to sell it at a loss.

As for the guys playing Metallica in the guitar department....what's wrong with that? We're a store that sells guitars and last I heard, Metallica was a very popular multi-platinum selling act that has inspired a lot of people to play guitar. Do you think 14 year olds are going to be playing Alan Holdsworth???

Geeez!

 

[Jim C]

I know for a fact that it happens on used gear.
One time on a used Trace Elliot head that wouldn't power up; sale reps agreed that it would be hard to demo or sell if it didn't turn on.
Another time with a Peavy 2x10 cabinet with a blown speaker; when I mentioned that the speaker was blown to an employee, he said "we priced it accordingly"

 

[rapturebass]

^^^^ someone one who understands!

I think most of the comments are just old farts w/ chips on their shoulders. Guitar Center is a chain, like Wal-Mart, and you don't complain about Wal-Mart and their shoddy service do you? its a chain, you gotta do your research. Demos get beatn up, so what, thats what a demos for. And BTW, you people offend me. Im 12 and listento metal. The one i go to in Orange, CT, is good. Its just hit and miss.

 

[FriscoBassAce]

I know for a fact that it happens on used gear.
One time on a used Trace Elliot head that wouldn't power up; sale reps agreed that it would be hard to demo or sell if it didn't turn on.
Another time with a Peavy 2x10 cabinet with a blown speaker; when I mentioned that the speaker was blown to an employee, he said "we priced it accordingly"

Yeah...that's right! We've been in business for 45 years by intentionally ripping people off. <sarcasm>

I don't know of any store manager that, if this was explained to him or her, he/she wouldn't take care of you.

Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the customers that sometimes come in with gear they KNOW doesn't work right, and then sell it to us. We test it, but it doesn't crap out when we're giving it a quick check. That guy is your neighbor too!

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

In 30 years I have not gotten a bad deal or a bad bass from GC.

G

uh... I'm guessing you've never bought anything from GC...

I have to say that I haven't been ripped at GC either - but that's because I REALLY check anything I buy there out. Okay, I don't go nuts on a cable or set of strings, but the one amp I bought (years ago) and the few basses I played the snot out of before I laid down my cash... You really can't trust these guys, since they don't much care if you ever come back - they make most of their $$ on mom & pa.

No matter - no low is so low that it would shock my from GC.

 

[Jimmy Bones]

Aren't you supposed to disclose in your title bar that you work for GC or other distributor/store?

 

[FriscoBassAce]

You really can't trust these guys, since they don't much care if you ever come back - they make most of their $$ on mom & pa.

No matter - no low is so low that it would shock my from GC.

Wow....all I can say is wow. I'm glad you're so business savvy.

 

[FriscoBassAce]

Aren't you supposed to disclose in your title bar that you work for GC or other distributor/store?

I've never heard of that before. I'm not trying to sell anything...just tired of people always trash-talking the place I work.

Mods? Am I supposed to list in my title bar that I'm an employee at a music store?

 

[jjk2007]

Yeah, GC is hit and miss, but they are a large chain. I've gotten some good deals there. I.E. I got a pair of new, in the box SWR Goliath III 410's for somewhere in the neighborhood of $500-$550 out the door a couple of years ago. My wife bought me the Squier fretless for my B-day and they got her one from the back that was still in the box. They could have easily given her a floor model and she would have been none the wiser. My local GC seems ok to me, but I've also been to a few that I'll probably never go back to as well.

 

[blendermassacre]

Everybody loves to bash GC. We are just regular folks like you guys who need to work in order to make a living. Some of you are good people that care, others of you are not.

Same goes for Guitar Center. We try to hire great people and retain them, but just like everywhere else, we sometimes get people that aren't the best people in the world. Remember this too...we hire people from the surrounding communities where the store is located. So it might just be your neighbor who put the bass back on the floor because of what he deemed to be a minor problem.

As for fretless basses, at the store I work at, we've only ever had two different models the entire time I've worked here. One was a Warwick, and the other is the Squier. Both of these came from the factory with rounds on them. Every time. It's not GC's fault that the manufacturer's don't put the strings on there that seem to be the best.

Also, when an item is returned, it's supposed to be put on a Repair Order if defective. Sometimes they get fixed and sometimes they don't. We had a MIM Jazz that had the neck and truss rod problem described earlier. We sent it off to repair and it was only slightly better. Fender won't give us our money back on it. We have to sell it at a loss.

As for the guys playing Metallica in the guitar department....what's wrong with that? We're a store that sells guitars and last I heard, Metallica was a very popular multi-platinum selling act that has inspired a lot of people to play guitar. Do you think 14 year olds are going to be playing Alan Holdsworth???

Geeez!

It's the company's job to do it's best to not sell defective equipment. Selling a fender bass at a loss is a part of doing business. There is a cost to having an inventory, especially one that every sticky handed 13 year old can mess with on a whim.

I work at a domino's in a ghetto area of kansas city (of which my father in law owns) and we have not had one day where we didn't have a canceled order. It costs us money, but we have to deal with it, because it's a cost of business. Not one customer is supposed to pity us because of it.

 

[thndrstk6]

I recently purchased a MIM Deluxe Jazz 5 from GC and found that it had a dead pole on the neck pickup at the E string. I made them aware of this when I returned it 8/11 and over lunch today I saw it on the floor!

I tapped the poles again to make sure I wasn't mistaken, and yep... not fixed.


???????

I use to work for that crap company. This story sounds like nothing new
to me. Quick fix. Don't go to GC for anything. You never know what you
will end up with. I got a pack of strings one time that was missing a
friggin B string. It was a 5 string pack. ***!

It's costs GC more to ship it out or have it fixed in store. They are most
likely to lazy as well so they just throw it back on the floor. Literally.

I've seen employees drop basses and put them back up with out checking
them first. Then I checked it and it's neck was messed up and it sounded
like crap. It was perfect before that incident though. Damaged gear comes
out of the managers bonuses so they are always hesitant to send out to be
fixed or swapped. Total BS!

 

[Jimmy Bones]

Only mentioning it cause I know a GC GM who does, and I recall there being a clause in the rules saying you have to disclose biases for whatever thing so others are aware of where you're coming from. Not trying to dig on you or anything, but hey, gives us all a chance to be sure of the rules.