How do you feel about Sweetwater rep calls?

[Jeff Scott]

I haven't bought anything fro SW since the early '10s, but the guy "assigned" to me was fine. Whenever Alan called we'd have a great chat about all kinds of music stuff (IIRC, he was primarily a drummer/percussionist). He was quite knowledgable about recording and studio gear/procedures, so we'd discuss recording projects we were working on.

 

[SDC1-ClickClack]

I think that I have only purchased a couple of inexpensive accessories through Sweetwater, and that was years ago. I seem to recall them following up with me a couple of times, at which point I firmly said that I did not anticipate needing any other musical equipment for a long time, if ever, and would prefer to not be contacted unless I initiate it. That stopped their calls to me.

Likewise, I bought an inexpensive shaker and a clip-on tuner from a local Guitar Center when I was living in southern CA, after which a woman from G.C. took it upon herself to cold-call me about every 6 weeks until I made it clear that I wanted her to immediately stop calling.

 

[Low Main]

I asked them to stop sending candy. And they did. But that was before the buyout. Maybe no one gets candy anymore.

Anything I buy from Sweetwater gets routed through my rep - even if I call it in or place the order online, he gets the sale.

So maybe he doesn't need to call or email me at all, and he'll still make a living. I don't worry about his livelihood.

I have not ever gotten better pricing from my rep and the response to my pricing requests can be slow in coming.

But if I call in and ask, I can get better pricing over the phone from a total stranger.

Funny thing: when I order a fairly costly item, I never hear from my rep afterward.

But if I order a cheap clip-on tuner or a cable, it's "Thank you so much for your order. We're so happy to have your business".

 

[TheArchitect]

The guy they've assigned to me says he's "a bass guy".
He called me last year because I took the Sire V5 out of my cart. Sweetwater was backordered and I got it from CME.
I asked him what he plays and he said that he just got an Aerodyne.
I asked him what he was playing prior to that and he described it but couldn't name it.
From his description, it's a Teisco Del Ray bass. A Teisco Del Ray was my first bass.
The only way that's your main axe is if you only play bass as a hobby, you're lying, or you're a guitar player.
He said I can call him just to chat about "bass stuff".

I forgot about him until he called me today about the Sire Z3 I ordered.
He asked me why I bought the bass. I told him because I want the Stingray sound but the Sire has a better price point.
Then he asked me what I was gonna do with it--if I needed it for a specific project or something.
I don't like invasive questions, especially from strangers.
But then it hit me that he was fishing to see if he could sell me anything else.
I gently brushed him off and the call ended.

A lot of people like Sweetwater's customer service.
Are the people who call you from there more sincere than this guy?
The guy is doing his job and everybody's gotta make a living. so I guess it's cool.
Do you guys enjoy talking to your Sweetwater reps?

I asked my guy to not call me and keep emails to a minimum unless I reach out to him with questions. Its been smooth sailing ever since

 

[Brian Patterson]

I've gotten couteous. order 'followup' calls and nothing else - I consider it a valid customer relationship exercise to assure you they are prepared to procvide good service. Nobody else has ever done that, excpet EMG. i'm impressed.

 

[Wasnex]

I make it a point to unsubscribe from calls and emails. If I actually talk to someone during the purchase, I specifically tell them to make sure I am not on any contacts lists...it doesn't matter; they always call and email.

I find it very distasteful and it has an ironic Pavlovian affect on me...it makes me less likely to order from Sweetwater.

I have a technical background and decades of experience as full-time pro bassists and audio tech. It's very, very rare to come across anyone at a music store that I feel can provide value added knowledge. My impression is the primary intent of Sweetwater contacts is to initiate new sales rather than actually being helpful or ensuring we are satisfied with a purchase

I avoid answering the phone or responding to emails from Sweetwater. Over time the number of attempted contacts decreases, until I buy something from them. I just browsed their website, so I won't be surprised if I get a call or email soon...

I personally think it should be illegal to harvest and sell our personal data. I feel it's a violation of privacy and makes everyone unnecessarily vulnerable to all sorts of mischief related identity theft.

Of course GC is probably even worse, at least in regards to SPAM. They often send me multiple emails every day. Most of the time they are simply deleted. I believe I have received one or two calls at most from GC.

 

[smurfco]

I know those calls can be annoying, but try not to take it out on the reps. (not that anyone here is, I'm just saying in general)

at my last job, I had to cold call people and try to sell to them. I hated it. hated hated hated. There's probably a good chance the guy calling you doesn't want to be doing it any more than you want to be receiving his calls. So be gentle!

 

[TOOL460002]

I ran call centers for years. I'm Guessing telemarketers (let's be honest, we're discussing telemarketers here) don't enjoy calling me.
"What did you have for breakfast? Are you married? I like Sci-fi. Are you giving away free basses today? Amps? Are your calls monitored for excellence? No free basses? What are you wearing, Jake From Sweetwater?".

Ya. Massively excessive communication will for sure deter some phone folks. My "personal salesperson" has changed like 4 or 5 times in the last year or two, and they send emails or call (or both) every time to introduce themselves and express what I'm sure is a truly genuine interest in my musical endeavors. I email them until they stop replying to questions. It doesn't take much more than 3 or 4 if they're long enough and you start linking your music and sending gear pics and other crap. You fill up my inbox. I fill up yours. And no I don't need help with my order of two pedal button topper things. No one does.

EDIT: Almost forgot my favorite part. What if I have an actual question? I've already annoyed the salesperson into submission. Nah. You send it to the general sales question email and the salesperson that put you on ignore has to answer that question. Assert dominance lol.

 

[Chuck King]

99 times out of a hundred, I am pretty sure I know as much or more than them about whatever I'm looking at, and just need them to send me the thing I already researched. But every once in a blue moon I need some help, and those guys have always been there and helpful. So while I sometimes find their calls a bit exasperating or annoying, I don't really resent them. They do send me free candy, after all.

My MF rep got me a good discount on a case I needed when I called him. I think he was a little surprised that somebody had actually reached out to him. He seemed really eager to help me out.

 

[Chrisk-K]

First, they are not reps. They are sale engineers!

Second, to me, the SW sales engineer’s call is one of the most aggravating marketing tactics ever.

 

[sovereign_510]

I find it very distasteful and it has an ironic Pavlovian affect on me...it makes me less likely to order from Sweetwater.

same, it makes me feel weird to know that an actual human has been keeping track of my every purchase from sweetwater.com

 

[Snibborwocky]

I let my voicemail take their calls nowadays because it's usually only to let me know my order has been shipped out and to be honest, I really don't like talking to anyone on the phone ever lol. I have only talked to my rep probably twice in the last 10 years and they do make that small talk "you have any plans or projects coming up?". It's obviously part of their job and protocol most likely which is fine. I'm not really sure what my rep plays instrument-wise but I got the feeling it wasn't bass guitar on my first conversation which seemed a tad awkward. As long as I get notified about my item(s) being ordered are in stock and being shipped out, I'm perfectly happy continuing to be a customer of theirs.

 

[MCF]

Same guy for 10 years. I call occasionally with a question. He gives me a follow up call when I place an online order to let me know when it’s going out. I don’t mind talking to him at all. Great service that I appreciate.

 

[monsterthompson]

I avoid them at all costs, particularly because of their rep contacts. It’s great that this practice is appreciated by some, but it’s not what I want to deal with. I also don’t care for the candy in the shipments.

I’m not fun at parties. Don’t invite me.

 

[ComicBass]

I don't mind talking to my Sweetwater rep at all.

 

[cornfarmer]

They're f'n creepy. Somehow they knew I was looking at a Spector (just to get info/specs), and a rep calls me (I don't answer random calls) and leaves a voicemail. They said they noticed I was checking it out - I must've been logged into my account? - and wanted to offer me the deal of a lifetime, etc.

They're kind of a running joke with my buddy, so on one of our records the rep made a guest appearance. I made a video too.

 

[sovereign_510]

I avoid them at all costs, particularly because of their rep contacts. It’s great that this practice is appreciated by some, but it’s not what I want to deal with. I also don’t care for the candy in the shipments.

I’m not fun at parties. Don’t invite me.

oh i know, the party doesn't even start until i show up. i just wanna buy my cables and pedals and that's that. i just deal with it because they have a good selection, and unlike GC half their catalog isn't used

 

[nonohmic]

I don't answer any number that's not already in my phone. If it's important they'll leave a message.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I roll through a different sales rep every year or two. They leave Sweetwater or are asked to leave, I haven't asked for a different rep. They're mostly guitar players and guitars have six strings, so they must be super experts on bass that only has four strings, right? Oh, just remembered, my first rep was a Contemporary Christian white rapper dude. We didn't have much to talk about. My last rep would call and talk about gear or we talked about keto for awhile one time. Trying to sell stuff, of course, but he was at least friendly or able to play that game well.

 

[tranceFusion]

I don’t like Sweetwater anymore. It was fantastic for 15+ years but lately they call every time I use the site logged in (creepy and annoying), my sales rep knows nothing about the products, asks me a lot of really dumb questions (“what are you going to do with that?” Hmmm well I don’t know, it’s a bass gig bag, maybe fry an egg?), and my last attempt to cancel an unshipped item from my order was a several day debacle.

I see a previous comment mentions a buyout. That certainly makes sense. It feels like the good service has been replaced with out of touch, obnoxious sales.