Minor Guitar Center Rant

[viking power]

It's really store to store and probably even shift to shift.

 

[sheesh]

I have actually called the store I was standing in and asked the person that answered the phone to send someone over to help me.

Love it. I enjoy standing waiting while they prioritize the phone over somebody in the store. A friend once said - yah - you are already IN the store. They want to get MORE people in the store . . .

 

[logdrum]

I think in the Albuquerque branch... You have to climb and then rock the ladder to get attention or grab the neck by the heel then let it slide to the headstock and yell a loud cuss word.

Or start lighting a cigar or spreading an enchilada platter on top of an amp and waving your cheesy fingers.

I think they already know the register trick. You have to ring people up with you Square chip reader and start giving out freebies.

 

[Pyrrho Epoche]

G.C. is good if you just need a quick cord or a set of DR's + if you want to return something you ordered by mail.
275K views · 23K likes | Lee Fields on Instagram: "Nice people. But, I’m sure others can relate ."

 

[Hawk256]

Accidentally knocking around a couple of amps while fumbling around trying to get to basses you can get to will generally get someone's attention fairly quickly.

 

[trevcda]

I'm pretty sure I've been in that specific store. I go maybe twice a year when visiting my brother and his wife. It's about a 40 minute drive from Mesa. I usually go right when they open during the work week, so it's not crowded. But the staff is more surly than the usual, I was almost a somebody, people that I usually run across there. I'm with the OP. I want somebody to taken an interest in my potential purchase. I was ready to purchase a USA Fender Precision IV and a ATA case for the flight back home. But the lack of attention and the condescending attitude when some body could be bothered stop on their way to a smoke break, just killed that desire.

 

[Barticus]

I’ve been in Guitar Center for about 30 minutes now. There are 3 basses I would like to try and I have tried ZERO lol. The ones I want to try are locked up and there is no staff free to help me grab the ones I want to try. Meanwhile, Sweetwater connects you immediately with a sales person who gives you their full attention one on one.

I wonder why Guitar Center is always on the brink of Bankruptcy? They absolutely refuse to invest in an adequate amount of staff to provide even a barely adequate level of service.

This is my bad for driving 40 minutes each way to think I would be able to try a few basses.

Rant over.

View attachment 5380419

Why do they lock up the $300 Epiphone basses?

 

[higain617]

The one near me has cool stuff at times, but it's hard to get anyone to spring it from lockdown. I purchased my power amp from the used cabinet, and it took about a damn hour.

 

[Chickenwheels]

Go to the register and start touching things or stand in the middle of the checkout island or pick up the phone and pretend to make a call. Someone will help you.

I worked in music retail. This wouldn’t even approach unusual behaviour.

 

[funkymonk13]

I think the longest time I've waited is like 15-20 minutes. I guess thats a lot or a little depending how you're looking at it.
If you ask, they'll get it for you. Thats what I love about GC, they're really chill when it comes to letting you try stuff out. You cant do that online. Sometimes it takes them a while either cus they're busy or a bit incompetent but even as a teenager they'd let me try nice instruments.
Def dont NOT ask and then get upset you weren't waited on. The whole sales model has changed a lot.

It sucks that a lot of stuff is locked up now, mostly when you just wanna play different things for kicks. It varies from store to store, with some only locking up the expensive stuff, some locking up everything and still a few that dont lock anything up.

 

[db59]

.... coming soon the relative major rant.......

 

[jamro217]

How high was the bail? You might have rescued all three. My father was a cop and as he used to say: "locks only keep out honest people".

 

[HMZ]

I was thinking the same as many of you. I would start climbing the ladder and someone would come right over. ;-)

 

[HardNHeavy]

the ladder is a prop, almost asking you to climb it for those "top shelf" basses....hoping you will fall and sue GC and finally put it out of our misery.

 

[Five or Six]

. But the staff is more surly

Being in that place for more than 30 minutes can make you nuts! 2 or 3 wanna be guitar players playing different songs like Smoke on The Water or Stairway or Cocaine loudly, on an out of tune $300 bass, using bar chords, over and over and over. Then, someone in the drum room that can't play drums is trying to...well. Combined, I can't take it too long. Imagine that for 8 or 10 hours.

 

[boombloom]

I’ve been in Guitar Center for about 30 minutes now. There are 3 basses I would like to try and I have tried ZERO lol. The ones I want to try are locked up and there is no staff free to help me grab the ones I want to try. Meanwhile, Sweetwater connects you immediately with a sales person who gives you their full attention one on one.

I wonder why Guitar Center is always on the brink of Bankruptcy? They absolutely refuse to invest in an adequate amount of staff to provide even a barely adequate level of service.

This is my bad for driving 40 minutes each way to think I would be able to try a few basses.

Rant over.

View attachment 5380419

GC is owned by a private equity company. Bain sold most of GC to Ares. They’re all about making money and they do whatever they can for profit. Guitar Center isn’t owned by musicians who want you to have a great time buying and playing gear. It’s owned by investors who will strip it to the bone and sell it off in pieces or find other opportunities to line their pockets.

Rant over.

 

[Wesley R]

Thats funny, I went the other day, asked a dude to grab me a locked up bass and he grabbed the ladder. Another dude came over and asked me If he could tune the bass for me. I said, thanks, no I just wanted to just get a feel on the neck etc. great service. I guess every location is different. Some busier than others.

You could not pay me a million dollars to work there. Those guys run around like crazy and kids playing drums and pianos and some rube trying to be Hendrix in the corner(annoying) ....and two different radio stations blasting, at the same time. Hell No.---I give those dudes props/credit.

Working at GC (or any other larger music store) is on my bucket list.

 

[Pirate Captain]

it's almost as if completely underpaid folx with shifting schedules and the constant threat of unemployment don't want to work any more

 

[Lowbrow]

I recently went to GC to demo Ampeg Venture gear but couldn’t because the suitable basses on-site had setups (?) best suited for archery.

 

[Spectre Gunner]

That sales floor looks like an effin' mess. Just a bunch of amps randomly placed and stacked on each other.

This looks and sounds like my local GC. I don't blame the employees, I blame higher management. It's apparent Guitar Center lacks good leadership resulting in high turn-over, low morale and unmotivated employees. I'm sure the questionable future of the company hasn't helped but still...correcting this is the responsibility of higher management.

I want GC to succeed rather than have another brick and mortar music store close in my area.