Guitar Center at it again

[logicman69]

So you would give preference to someone in person versus someone online, even if the online person was the first to make the purchase? That makes no sense to me.

Depends on the timing of when the order came in. If the order came in the morning, and we just forgot to pull the bass... then yes, Online wins. Often what would happen though is I would have a client actively engaged in the instrument (sitting down, playing it, expressing interest) and the order would come through. In that situation, at least for me, the client in the store was engaged and gets preference.

 

[BJMtz]

But how do you know the online buyer hasn't been sitting that their computer all morning doing research on the bass and expressing interest in it, but they live miles away, or maybe in a rural area where online is the only option, and don't have the opportunity to go to the store? I get that it's a tough situation but to me it seems like whoever put the money down first should get the product. I'm not in sales and have no sales experience though so maybe I just don't know the game.

 

[ianuaditis]

"Until he puts it down, he's buying it."

this is the worst post in this thread.

"Until he puts it down, he's buying it."

this is the worst post in this thread.

so suppose you're at the grocery store with some steaks in your cart. While you're picking up a bag of potatoes, a store employee walks up and pulls your steaks out.
"sorry we just sold these to a guy in Topeka."

what would you say? "no, I'm buying these?," or "well, gee-whiz I guess he got to them first."

 

[electracoyote]

so suppose you're at the grocery store with some steaks in your cart. While you're picking up a bag of potatoes, a store employee walks up and pulls your steaks out.
"sorry we just sold these to a guy in Topeka."

what would you say? "no, I'm buying these?," or "well, gee-whiz I guess he got to them first."

The latter. If a store has customers shopping on-line and in-store, this is a possibility both sets of customers should be prepared for.

It works both ways. The guy who sees the steaks on-line goes to buy them and gets a "SOLD" message. "But wait! The steaks are still on my computer screen! They can't be sold!"

Welcome to the new paradigm, shoppers.

 

[logicman69]

But how do you know the online buyer hasn't been sitting that their computer all morning doing research on the bass and expressing interest in it, but they live miles away, or maybe in a rural area where online is the only option, and don't have the opportunity to go to the store? I get that it's a tough situation but to me it seems like whoever put the money down first should get the product. I'm not in sales and have no sales experience though so maybe I just don't know the game.

You don't. That is what makes the situation so hard. Someone is going to be upset. There is no way around it. It always ended up being a sticky situation. I will still stand behind my policy that if my customer has the piece in his hands when that order came through, then I want to give my client every opportunity to buy that piece.

 

[Nev375]

"I'm willing to hang some blame on GC for this one. Objects that are on sale through another medium should not be on sale on the floor."

yes because it is good business practice to limit sales oppertunities

More important to not piss off your customers.

If you do customer service right, you will turn them into walking talking evangelist advertisers ala Jason at bassstringsonline.com.
If you do the opposite the same thing happens with posts like these. A lot of people are reading this and it is affecting folks outlook on GC.

A businessman is wise to structure his products and services and policy around the needs of his customers. GC's focus seems to be around the need for profit via large scale marketing. As I understand it, according to what I've read, they aren't doing well financialy.

 

[BJMtz]

You don't. That is what makes the situation so hard. Someone is going to be upset. There is no way around it. It always ended up being a sticky situation. I will still stand behind my policy that if my customer has the piece in his hands when that order came through, then I want to give my client every opportunity to buy that piece.

If that's the store policy and it's consistent then I have no problem with that. If I were one of your online shoppers I would like to see a disclaimer stating that on your website though. They should be aware that even though they enter credit or debit information and attempted to make a purchase it might be canceled if there is an in-store sale going on at the same time.

 

[electracoyote]

If that's the store policy and it's consistent then I have no problem with that. If I were one of your online shoppers I would like to see a disclaimer stating that on your website though. They should be aware that even though they enter credit or debit information and attempted to make a purchase it might be canceled if there is an in-store sale going on at the same time.

Agreed.

And then I would avoid that on-line retailer for discriminating against good on-line customers like me who are serious about making a purchase.

 

[ianuaditis]

If that's the store policy and it's consistent then I have no problem with that. If I were one of your online shoppers I would like to see a disclaimer stating that on your website though. They should be aware that even though they enter credit or debit information and attempted to make a purchase it might be canceled if there is an in-store sale going on at the same time.

I would not be shocked in the least to find that any retailer had this in the fine print or the terms and conditions paragraph.

 

[electracoyote]

More important to not piss off your customers.

Agreed. But along with "the customer is always right" goes the equally-true saying "you can't please everyone."

If you do customer service right, you will turn them into walking talking evangelist advertisers ala Jason at bassstringsonline.com.
If you do the opposite the same thing happens with posts like these. A lot of people are reading this and it is affecting folks outlook on GC.

Not fair. Jason doesn't offer one-off used instruments to both in-store and on-line customers. An on-line supplier of renewable accessories has a much better chance of making all his customers happy.

As I understand it, according to what I've read, they aren't doing well financialy.

I've been "reading" and "hearing" this for ten years while three GC's dominate the music retail market here in Denver, similar scenarios in most other cities where they exist.

 

[Plutonium244]

I'm not trying to be snarky, but what exactly is the 'it' that GC is 'at' again?

Not selling a bass that was already bought and paid for?

That sounds like good business practice to me.

Leaving a bass that is sold up on the wall without a "sold" tag on it sounds like a bad business practice to me. AND, in the same vein of bad practices, not tagging a sold bass (so as to fool the consumer into thinking they have more basses for sale than they do) can lead to confusion, and mistakes by staff, and angry customers. Again, not a "good business practice" in my book.

So, to me, that is the "it".

 

[bongostealth]

I'm not trying to be snarky, but what exactly is the 'it' that GC is 'at' again?

Not selling a bass that was already bought and paid for?

That sounds like good business practice to me.

If the bass was sold, then why in the world did they have it out? Sounds like bad business practice to me. If anything would have happened to that bass, it would have been on GC's dime. The OP had no way of knowing it was already sold if it was still out there on the floor with a price tag on it still.

 

[bearhart74]

say you were the net customer found the bass on their site, completed the purchase and someone from gc contacted you saying they sold it to an in store customer. either way someones pissed. Dennis Leary said it best when he said "life sucks, get a helmet."

 

[electracoyote]

You don't. That is what makes the situation so hard. Someone is going to be upset. There is no way around it. It always ended up being a sticky situation. I will still stand behind my policy that if my customer has the piece in his hands when that order came through, then I want to give my client every opportunity to buy that piece.

Well, I respect that you acknowledge the realities and have made a conscious choice which customer to show preference and which to risk alienating. If that works for you, that's all that matters.

There is an on-line retailer here in the Denver area, a small brick and mortar, and he has foot traffic too, even though his store is small and packed with merchandise. He makes a killing on-line, is a "preferred retailer" for several big brands, and ships merchandise all over the world. I am certain that if someone purchased a guitar on-line and a customer was looking at it in the store, he wouldn't hesitate to tell the in-store customer it has been sold. On-line sales are his bread and butter and he has to stay loyal to that customer.

For retailers, it's a choice. I have joined that legion of on-line shoppers, and from what I can tell, that's the trend. Which customer do you think the GC/MF conglomerate depends on most?

 

[bassrich]

I had the opposite happen saw a Peavey 412 bass cabinet online bought it and a couple of days later the order was cancelled. I called to see what's up and was told it was already sold

 

[Charlzm]

Being an ex-GC employee, I never purchase anything there any more. Last time I tried late last year (2015), I just wanted a strap. Couldn't even buy one of those because of the 15+ minute wait for a sales rep. I literally just left the strap on the counter and walked out.

 

[DigitalMan]

I will give the benefit of the doubt and assume that I did not adequately explain the arcane details of how online retail transactions are processed. In addition to what i explained in the first post there is this point:

If you order anything online, the merchant does not actually take your money until the product is shipped (if it is ship to home) or until you come to pick it up. This is to allow for a variety of out of stock scenarios, one of the most common being what the OP described.

The store management has (or should have) the option of saying "someone online just put down money to reserve that. If you're interested I can sell it to you now, but otherwise I have to ship it out."

And then if the OP buys it, the online guy gets an email saying "we're sorry, but at the time you placed your order that merchandise was being purchased in store. Please peruse our selection of comparable instruments available online." (and if you bitch about it, here's a coupon.)

The online guy's transaction is no more complete than the guy in store, and the person who bothered to show up is ahead of the online guy in line.

Thats a bunch of BS. The guy who placed the order online completed the transaction from his end as has every right to expect the product is his. From a contract law perspective it doesnt matter that the merchant processes the transaction later. The fact is that the requisite information has been provided by the online customer which is both clear and positive affirmation of purchase along with compensation. Why you feel one person has more standing than another based on their physical location is beyond me. The principle of choosing which person you screw over based on the fact that you dont have to do it face to face is a cowards move. What you are advocating is plain old fashioned douche-baggerey at its finest.

Saying "someone was in the process of purchasing it in the store" is really saying "someone was ABOUT to purchase it in the store." The online buyer legally owns the bass and the store has no right to cancel the transaction.

 

[electracoyote]

Leaving a bass that is sold up on the wall without a "sold" tag on it sounds like a bad business practice to me. AND, in the same vein of bad practices, not tagging a sold bass (so as to fool the consumer into thinking they have more basses for sale than they do) can lead to confusion, and mistakes by staff, and angry customers. Again, not a "good business practice" in my book.

The OP had no way of knowing it was already sold if it was still out there on the floor with a price tag on it still.

It sounds like a coincidence to me, the item sold as the OP was looking at it, or in close proximity.

In my local GC's, I know for a fact they try to get the item off the floor as soon as possible in this scenario. I have also called out-of-state GC's before making a purchase to inquire about a used item I saw on-line, and as soon as the transaction was complete the sales person said they were taking the item off the floor to the stock room to be packed for shipping.

Either way, regardless of how long it takes the sales staff to get the item off the floor, if you're shopping the used section in a store that does on-line sales, this is a possibility.

You will notice in the OP, he didn't have to go to check out to learn the item was sold. So it wasn't a matter of a sales person only noticing it had been sold when OP went to buy it. They knew it was sold and went out on the floor to inform OP and retrieve the item, probably within close proximity to seeing it had sold on-line. They do have a notification system in place about on-line sales of their used gear.

 

[fourstringgirl]

The three times I've bought used basses from GC I always talked to an employee to verify the condition of the instrument and based on this information we proceeded to credit card info. So from the beginning of the phone call they have always had my intended purchase in THEIR hand, never to see the sales floor again. I have no idea if they ever snatched it away from another customer for this.

I bought a used SBMM SUB from the Austin, TX store that had a broken battery compartment door. They fessed up to this, told me that the bass was scheduled to be repaired and asked if I wanted to delay shipment as they were waiting on the part. They also offered to send the bass as is and then send the part to me when it arrived. That's the option I chose and sure enough, three days after I got the bass the battery compartment arrived.

I like GC just fine.

 

[Mosstone]

If the bass was sold, then why in the world did they have it out? Sounds like bad business practice to me. If anything would have happened to that bass, it would have been on GC's dime. The OP had no way of knowing it was already sold if it was still out there on the floor with a price tag on it still.

Granted, but saying things like: "GC is at it again" implies some deliberate (and consistent) malfeasance. At worst, the only thing GC is guilty of is not removing a sold piece of merchandise before the OP laid his eyes (and hands) on it. We don't know when the bass was purchased online and its unreasonable to expect the employees at that store to be aware of every online transaction the very second it happens.

Nobody got screwed here... We live in such a culture of immediate gratification and undeserved entitlement that people need to throw a freaking temper tantrum when they don't get what they want the second they want it. That's really all this thread is about.

Better to learn to accept the fact that sometimes in life, you're GONNA get disappointed. Just deal with it and move on. You'll be a lot happier.