guitar center and markbass--%$@#!!

[snaverb]

I guess I'm luck. We have 2 G/C within 2o miles of the house and they both treat me good. Christmas eve I walked in to one and bought a Ampeg SVT-410HLF for $650.00 OTD.

Yeah, I got a brand new USA made Ampeg 810e for $750 OTD

 

[Son of Sanford]

Go check if they can get you Markbass gear (answer = No, get off the wagon)

If I ask if they have a ******** pricing policy that is executed incorrectly fairly often, the answer will be no also. Actually, I can walk into my local shop, find an amp I like and ask him for his "best price" and know I'm getting it. He won't start drooling at the register, either.

Maybe you do have a higher tolerance for slow policy implementation, but what's a good timeframe? How long has this product been in the stores that are still jacking this up?

Mike

 

[CraigG]

If I ask if they have a ******** pricing policy that is executed incorrectly fairly often, the answer will be no also. Actually, I can walk into my local shop, find an amp I like and ask him for his "best price" and know I'm getting it. He won't start drooling at the register, either.
Mike

+1. These are the very reasons I don't shop Guitar Center unless I'm desparate. I'm just sorry to see how much GC has hurt the local stores since they came into my area simply because they carry more product and people assume they're getting a better deal at GC.

 

[chadds]

I told the salesman this was discussed on TB a lot. I told him the regional rep said on TB that this was proper procedure. He said he would contact him because he had been overcharging customers. I told him I had bought an LMII for $599 two weeks before. He looked it up and agreed. I was trying an F1.
I told the salesman that you reduce the price by the service plan and then add it. He said let me see if it will let me do it. It did.
I also returned it without hassle. He said, "wasn't your sound?" I said yep and he credited my card.

 

[koobie]

I paid $520 out the door for my LMII, including the service contract (there is no sales tax in Oregon). The invoice showed the amp at $440 and the contract at $80.

 

[andrewd]

I paid $520 out the door for my LMII, including the service contract (there is no sales tax in Oregon). The invoice showed the amp at $440 and the contract at $80.

Now that's a deal.

 

[JimmyM]

+1. These are the very reasons I don't shop Guitar Center unless I'm desparate. I'm just sorry to see how much GC has hurt the local stores since they came into my area simply because they carry more product and people assume they're getting a better deal at GC.

Sorry, but you DO get a better deal at GC usually. Why do people hate the big box stores so much? Is it just because they make money and put mom and pop stores out of business? Let me tell you, some of these mom and pop stores need to go out of business, because they have no selection and they're expensive

I think instead that we should concentrate on the pluses of a big box store for a second...lots of available gear of most major brands available and ready to try out...not having to wait as long if you need to order something from them...internet at-home shopping and price comparison...other than the occasional idiot salesman (which can happen in ANY business, trust me), I'm really not seeing a downside.

And don't think that because a company like Sam Ash or GC is raking in the cash that it's easy. Do you have any idea of the risks involved in putting up the money involved in stocking a big box store? Multiply that by a couple hundred stores all over the country. Those gear companies don't send stuff to a new store on consignment, you know. Maybe they do now for some of them because they have a track record of success, but certainly not a startup. And it's really easy to lose your shirt bigtime. Ask the owner of MARS Music, who left a cushy job running Office Depot to start MARS because he loved music and had a dream of running a chain of big box music stores. Today they're gone, a victim of bankruptcy from trying to take on too much at one time.

And yeah, they do put mom and pop stores out of business, but not all of them. There are plenty of single-owner music stores left in Orlando. They have figured out ways to adapt, like carrying brands that the other ones don't carry, or concentrating solely on beginner gear, or concentrating on band instruments, or whatever they need to do to survive and make money. Hell, look at Bass Central. That's a tiny little mom and pop store in Casselberry, FL, a tiny suburb of Orlando. But they're the biggest bass-only store in the world because they were the first to find a niche that the big box stores weren't catering to...bassists who want high-end gear. It actually has made the local stores better and more competitive in areas not being serviced well by GC and Sam Ash. And the ones that got put out of business needed to go. Sorry, I know that sounds harsh, but it's true. Some of these mom and pops went out of their way to be difficult just because they could at one time, and now they're gone. Bye.

Larger companies moving in on smaller ones has happened since the beginning of the industrial revolution and it will never stop. One day a company even bigger and badder than GC will try to move in on them. And they will be forced to adapt to compete. But even with predatory business practices so common, the good mom and pop store can always compete by finding ways that the big box store can't compete. For example, I still use my local hardware store over Home Depot sometimes because it's much easier to find smaller items I need and get good advice from the owner. And it's easier to get in and get out. So don't think for one second that because a big box store rakes in the cash that it's easy. They're people, too, and they work just as hard as any mom and pop.

 

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Jimmy, I like you, but you have a habit of talking a lot about things that you don't understand. I was a manager for GC, and rest assured the hatred is MORE than justified. There's no need to derail this thread further, and to the OP, it sounds like an opportunistic salesman/manager is trying to take you for a ride. If you really want an MBII, find an honest store and deal with them.

 

[JimmyM]

Nonsense. I'm going to get you thrown off of here! But first, go to my resto thread and answer my relay question

Listen, I have had nothing but good experiences with any big box store I go to. Have I had problems occasionally? Sure. That's the price you pay for having to deal with people of varying competences. But other than one problem with MF, all my dealings with the big stores have been pleasant and fair. And really, how the internal business is run is of no consequence to me unless it affects my purchase. I don't know or care how the business is run, other than I want what I'm paying for and don't want to get ripped off. I am a consumer, not a manager.

I really don't think I said anything that was off base there whatsoever, or said out of ignorance.

BTW, the same thing happened to me when I bought my LM II head. The guy I bought the combo from wasn't there, so a guy in another dept. wrote it up and charged me extra for a second PG. I had thought that the PG was already added in, but I wasn't sure so I thought I'd look on here before calling for his firing. And as soon as I found it on here, the guy called back and said I was right and credited the money back to me immediately. So don't rule out the possiblity of an honest mistake, either.

 

[Son of Sanford]

Why do people hate the big box stores so much?

Generally, I don't "hate" a company or chain of stores. I stop shopping at them. Why? For the same reason I stop shopping at any place, regardless of size: because of repeated poor performance in areas that I find important.

But even with predatory business practices so common, the good mom and pop store can always compete by finding ways that the big box store can't compete. For example, I still use my local hardware store over Home Depot sometimes because it's much easier to find smaller items I need and get good advice from the owner. And it's easier to get in and get out.

...and you even illustrated my point for me. Thanks.

 

[JimmyM]

And you illustrated MY point as well. There is always room for a mom and pop store to compete. Maybe it involves a total restructuring of their business model. Maybe it takes a slight adjustment. If a mom and pop store tries to compete with GC or Sam Ash on their own level, they won't make it. But they can compete in other ways.

 

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Nonsense. I'm going to get you thrown off of here! But first, go to my resto thread and answer my relay question

I don't think you appreciate the value of the tech advice I've been giving you for free. Seriously,I know you're excited, but you've been monopolizing this forum lately commenting on a wide range of topics, and in most of them, you have little expertise. You said in a another thread you were ready to "move up" in the technical knowledge bit; you're not, and the fact that you think you are makes me reluctant to want to share any more. I've already had to 'argue' with you about your SVT more than once; to be blunt, that's annoying.

Listen, I have had nothing but good experiences with any big box store I go to. Have I had problems occasionally? Sure. That's the price you pay for having to deal with people of varying competences. But other than one problem with MF, all my dealings with the big stores have been pleasant and fair.

Then realize that your experiences are NOT universal and unless you have worked at both GC and a 'Mom and Pop' store, as I have, then understand that you are not the be-all and end-all authority on this topic, and your diatribe condemning people who dislike GC was unjustified and off-topic.

And really, how the internal business is run is of no consequence to me unless it affects my purchase. I don't know or care how the business is run, other than I want what I'm paying for and don't want to get ripped off. I am a consumer, not a manager.

Then also understand that your attitude will bite you in the end someday. If you are ONLY concerned with things that directly affect you, one day when you solicit the aid of others, it may not be their problem either.

I really don't think I said anything that was off base there whatsoever, or said out of ignorance.

Then how come you missed that the OP went to the store manager and he also supported the the salesman leading you to say this:

don't rule out the possiblity of an honest mistake, either.

 

[JimmyM]

Well if that's the case, he needs to contact the regional manager and let him straighten it out. Or just not buy the amp. Anyone holding a gun to his head to buy it?

Dude, seriously, I appreciate the advice you have, but back off. You're out of line.

 

[PB+J]

I'm the original poster. If you read the thread, you'd see that A: I contacted the manager, who told me again that I had to pay the service fee on top of the 599 the salesman quoted me and which I agreed to pay, and B: didn't buy the amp.

It wasn't an honest mistake, it was a sleazy attempt to get me to pony up another 80 bucks in pure profit to GC. It was dishonest--they quoted me one price, then, at the register, suddenly told me it was a different price.

It's the kind of thing car dealers used to do, and often still do. It's irritating and sleazy

So I went to my local privately owned store, where I almost always shop, and he, the owner, lent me an amp for the gig.

Tell me again why I should like GC?

 

[JimmyM]

OK, maybe not THAT GC...

 

[grooveguru]

Just bought a LMII last friday at the GC Monroeville, PA store. The amp was $599.00 and at the register the sales guy explained the warranty as follows:

Amp - $520.00 ("We won't sell the amp without the warranty")

Warranty - $79.00(2 year 3rd party insuranace that pays shipping both ways should the amp need repairs and if your amp is unfixable they issue you a check for the cost of the amp) Takes about 6 weeks to get the paperwork initially after purchase!

 

[grooveguru]

Has anyone ever had to use the warranty? Just curious on what the turn around time was on repairs?

 

[Freddels]

I remember that during the Labor Day sale there was a pricing problem at GC where they were selling all brands of strings for some low price (like $7.50 a set) and when it was discovered, all the stores got a message to stop selling particular brands at that price. It would seem to me that all the stores should know what the pricing policy is on a particular item. Especially, since they have to look it up in the computer to ring it up. It shouldn't allow for any markup just like it won't allow any discount if it's in the computer like that.

I have mixed experiences with GC. The closest one to me is pretty good if the manager is there or a couple of the sales guys. There's one that's not to good to deal with. At a couple of the other GC's in the area, I have had a few poor experiences. Each location depends on the knowledge of the management and staff. Some are just better than others. I also try to give business to the small stores in the area b/c I value their knowledge.

 

[jsingles]

i NEVER buy anything for the price on the tag at guitar center.. not even close.. I just bought a 450 dollar tagged cab for 300... I can't believe they wouldnt just knock out the 80 in the first place... despite that fact that it shouldn't be there anyway.

 

[PB+J]

I just got a nice email from Peter Murray explaining that the service charge should be included in the full price. I'll go back there tomorrow and try again, see what they say.


Thanks to all on this thread for your help