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Guitar Center - no complaints from me

#61
dbsfgyd1 said:
Our local store has a great staff as well and will go out of their way to helpful. They've also been flexible dealing with them on used gear as well. The only thing they don't have is an over abundance of top quality gear, unless it's used.
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I always make it a point to browse the used section. That's how I got my first Lakland bass- my US Lakland 494 Deluxe some 16 years ago. I just happened to walk into the GC in downtown Boston and way up in the corner, like WAY out of reach, almost out of sight, seriously it was near tbe ceiling...was this cool looking red bass. "Hey, isn't that one of those Laklands?" Done. I couldn't put it down. Still own it and never selling it.
 
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#62
I've bought plenty of instruments from GC, both in store and online, always used. I've never had any complaints, but then I'm Gen X: I don't like attentive customer service or chitchat, I do my homework before I go, I know my prices, and my disposable income is lean.

The sales folks are seldom pushy. And when they are? How hard is it to say, "No, thank you?"
 
#63
Smooth_bass88 said:
The last several times I've gone to my local Guitar Center, I've had absolutely positive experiences. I needed a small mixer for my in-ears, the salesperson found me exactly what I needed and it was cheaper than expected. The other day I stopped in there to buy a new cable. I was about to purchase a nice BOSS right angle, but the salesperson recommended I check out their store brand because if there's ever a problem you can exchange it for a brand new one, no questions asked. I was impressed with the quality of the cable so I bought it. They also had the correct battery for my Snark tuner. Aaaaaaand I almost waked out of there with an SVT! They had a used SVT 2-PRO head (all tube) for $749!!! If I didn't already have one, I would have grabbed this one. I was thinking it would be cool to have a second one as a back up... but I just couldn't justify spending the money so close to the holidays. I know GC gets ragged on alot around here, but it's really not fair. They're not all bad!!
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Please keep your positivity to yourself. This is Talkbass, not a Cub Scout convention. :D

Seriously though, don't know why it seems we trash GC so much, they must employ a good percentage of us. Be wary of the condition of used basses, but I don't consider it their total fault. Definitely try before you buy. But other than that, their retail policies seem more than fair on my end.
 
#64
My GC is mostly disappointing. They never seem to have what I'm looking for when I go in for cables or to shop pedals. They usually have a decent bass selection (never any fretless though), and I'll use them to try out new brands or styles. I've bought a couple from them (my first two) and would buy another used one from them if it fit my needs. I was in there a couple of weeks ago checking P basses and happened upon the best person I've ever dealt with. He was bass knowledgeable and sent me down a path for a bass they didn't have stocked. If it hadn't been for Sweetwater's free 2 year coverage and no sales tax, I'd have given him a sale (price of bass will be matched, but not other services, not so much).

There are a couple of guys in the store that I just hate having to deal with, but I won't be rude about it. I do wish they'd be a little more generous on trade ins - I tried one bass and they were pretty insulting. I know they need have room for some profit when they turn it around, but it's a pretty big hit (something like 75% of what they find on ebay).

I sure wish Sweetwater would take over the local market...
 
#65
Smooth_bass88 said:
I always make it a point to browse the used section. That's how I got my first Lakland bass- my US Lakland 494 Deluxe some 16 years ago. I just happened to walk into the GC in downtown Boston and way up in the corner, like WAY out of reach, almost out of sight, seriously it was near tbe ceiling...was this cool looking red bass. "Hey, isn't that one of those Laklands?" Done. I couldn't put it down. Still own it and never selling it.
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I got my German made Warwick Corvette STD from them online for under $600, shipped to the local store. It was listed as in excellent condition, and it wasn't. It needed a neck adjustment, and the bridge, tail piece, and pickup covers needed tightened down. When I showed them it wasn't in "excellent "condition, they tossed in a Roadrunner semi hard case.

The trick to buying used gear from GC is to always have it delivered to the store. This will help a lot if something arrives in less than advertised condition. If nothing else, they don't want to incur costs to ship the item back to the store of origination. From a negotiation standpoint, you know what the shipping cost are, and I would under the circumstances, have no problem asking to share in that savings if I accepted the item as is. Depending on weight, could be as much as 20% of the purchase price.
 
#66
dbsfgyd1 said:
Our local store has a great staff as well and will go out of their way to helpful. They've also been flexible dealing with them on used gear as well. The only thing they don't have is an over abundance of top quality gear, unless it's used.
Click to expand...

Same as the store I go to. Each used bass I ordered I had shipped to the store. When I went for pickup they opened the box and let me inspect and play each one to be sure that I was pleased with my purchase. I also traded in a bass last year for an amp and the employee was very fair on what he gave me for trade in value. Like any business, they have employees that are not highly motivated and not very helpful. Everyone I have ever dealt with have always been helpful, nice and attentive to my wants and needs.
 
#67
I've only been in a GC store a few times, as the nearest one is now 90 miles from me. I've had great luck with them and MF online, especially with used gear.

The local stores are locally managed, so things are hit-or-miss. I know the set up guy in the Wilmington DE GC, and he used to be a precision model maker before that. He's quite a good guitarist, and his son is an excellent bassist. He gets a lot of customers and referrals from the surrounding states. He'll also come out when you pick up your instrument to see how you like it and do any final adjustments so you're happy.

I'd wager that for every GC store setup complaint I see here there's someone like my buddy in another GC (possibly nearby), but you never hear about them.
 
#68
All I need from a music retailer is a no question asked return policy because I cannot properly evaluate, say, a bass unless I set it up to my liking and play through my own rig. I don't need a sales engineer calling me. In that sense I have been happy with GC, MF, zZounds, etc.
 
#69
I have had such a bad ratio of terrible VS positive experiences with GC, I have not been in one, or ordered anything from them on line in 2 or 3 years.
I did buy a case from musicians friend (same company) this summer and that was a torment to get them to honor the price on their website. I'm glad the OP and others are having good experiences, but I've learned my lesson. They won't be seeing any of my ca$h anytime soon.
 
#70
It HEAVILY depends on which one you are doing business with. I've had some great ones and some real stankers I dealt with. On the whole, it's hard to beat their Used Section online service, very nice if you are looking for unique stuff (One-off 90's Ibanezes for me), but don't wanna pay out the butt to eBay folks who think it's "vintage" if it's more than 10 years old.
 
#72
I live in Overland Park, KS and we have a GC here. I do NOT buy from there anymore.

I've been a bass player for 20 years and am originally from Miami, FL where I was a professional musician. I'm not a professional anymore but I still love to play and I buy stuff often for myself, my wife, my son and daughter.

A buddy of mine from FL asked me to make a trade for him with someone who lived near here. The guy agreed to meet up at GC thinking he could buy some things he needed while we were there and also plug in the guitar and make sure it was all good. I was also planning to buy some sticks for my son who plays drums, and I was planning to buy cables and strings.

While the guy was checking out the Gibson I was ready to hand him, one of the sales associates bumped into the middle of the trade and tried to accuse me trying to trade a fake! I was super pissed. Well, the guy I was trading with got cold feet but said he wanted to take pictures and call Gibson and also talk to a friend of his that's a luthier. Sure enough, he looked into it and confirmed it was a genuine Gibson. (In case someone from the GC in OP sees this it was the guy that works in guitars that's short and fat with long black hair.) A couple days later we made the trade.

I've spent lots and lots of money at GC. I know not everyone that works there is douche. However, from now on I will not be spending my money there unless I absolutely have to. This story is just a small part of little things that happened over the years but is the last straw that broke the camels back.
 
#73
I like picking up my used gear from my local GC. Open it up right there and it saves me a trip if it wasn't as described. The staff at my GC are great, but the store sucks. Dingy, sad looking cheap instruments with 1" action. Hardly anything on the higher pegs either.
 
#74
I've had a couple bad experiences (and a couple good experiences) buy used items on their website. I bought a used combo amp from GC online and I explained to the salesman that I live almost 2 hours from their nearest store so I needed to be assured that the amp was in good condition with no issues. When the amp arrived it was in terrible condition. The amp head was loose in the combo housing, the input jack was broken, it was missing buttons, the rat fur looked like actual rats chewed on it (they had it photographed so you couldn't see the damage to the rat fur), and it didn't come with a power cable.
I didn't want to ship it back so I took it down to the store closest to me (2 hours one way) and had a good long talk with the stores customer service manager and explained everything that went down in the conversation with the salesman from the GC that I purchased it from online. I won't go into details, but he went out of his way to make things right for me and I left the store satisfied with my new amp.
 

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