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positive GC stories, please

#61
I really like GC and tend to have good experiences. I travel some for work and pop in to different stores when I can.

I think GC - as with many things in life - is what you make it. I can think of two positive experiences that could have been bad if viewed a different way.

1. I bought an aerodyne from them. It was a floor model and marked down significantly. Since I was traveling they agreed to ship it to my home. For free. Well their shipping guy got confused and pulled a fresh from factory bass and sent it to me. The sales guy called and emailed all apologies offering to send me return labels. I was not about to send the fresh never played one back so they sent me a gift card for their mistake. All around good customer service. Sure they screwed up but they were doing me a favor in the first place.

2. Last weekend in a newly opened and really crowded store my son and I were messing with the mini Akai keyboards. We could not get one to turn on so I ask a sales guy for help. He says “oh people leave those on all the time” and wanders off. I was a bit confused by that and decided to walk back to the wall of basses. 5 minutes later the sales guy finds me in the crowd holding three AA batteries. He takes me back over and loads the batteries so my son could take it for a test drive. Again, the sales guy went out of his way to be helpful.

Someone made the point that CG is for the hobbyist. To a certain extent that is probably true; you won’t find Fodera’s on the wall. But I think CG is doing a pretty good job.
 
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#62
I've had mostly positive experiences at GC. I think it's mainly because I've been playing for a long time and I do a lot of research before I make a purchase. Most of the employees I've dealt with have been friendly and helpful.

I've only had two problems at GC. The first was about 15 years ago. I was interested in a new GK head. The employee asked what I was using for cabs and I told him Ampeg. He then told me that the GK head was not compatible with Ampeg cabs because GK is made in Germany and "The electricity is different over there".

The second time was about 6 years ago when I was interested in a used Eden cab that was on the GC website and in stock locally. I told the assistant manager that I wanted to try the Eden cab but it wasn't on the sales floor. I still remember the conversation:
AM: Eden? Never heard of it.
Me: Really, they are very well known and according to the website, you have a used one in stock.
AM: Eden? Like the garden of eden?
Me: Yes!
AM" Like Barbara Eden?
Me: Yes!
AM: Sorry, never heard of it.

At that point an employee came over and said the cab was in the backroom because it had a blown speaker. I don't go to GC very often anymore because I have deals with several manufacturers and I also buy mostly used gear, but I wouldn't hesitate to go there is I needed something that they had.
 
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#64
My SO recently spotted a beautiful brand new D’Angelico Series SS on special for about half the usual street price and had ut shipped to our nearest GC. When she arrived to pick it up, the manager brought it out and asked if it would be ok to have their tech go over it with her to make sure she was happy with it.

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She agreed and the tech on duty that morning (an older gentleman who is actually a very competent and experienced guitar repairman) asked if she was in a rush. Because he wanted to do a full setup to match her personal preferences while she was in the store. She ok’d it. And when it was finished (after some back and forth “do you like it better this way or the way it was before” and related guitarist geeking that took about a half hour) he declined to charge her for it and even refused a $20 tip. He said “I cannot let a guitar like this go out the door without it being perfectly adjusted.”

Sweet! :):thumbsup:
 
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#67
I bought my Rickenbacker 4001V63CS, Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass and Fender Blacktop Jazz Bass at GC...Never paid more for strings than I wanted to there. I also bought my two GK 700RB II amps at GC.
Many good memories back in the early to mid 80's at the Niles, IL GC where there were HUNDREDS of guitars on the walls and the bass selection was pretty massive. LOTS of used gear and I even was there when George Lynch (then in Dokken) stopped by the Niles store to check out some pedals...
 
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#68
I’ve had a few good experiences and a few bad ones. Really does depend on the Manager. I worked on and off in Music Stores as a young adult and the good managers made working and selling fun, while the bad ones you wanted to piss every customer off just to spite them!!

My most recent experience was probably the best I’ve ever had. Tried to order a used bass head online and the order wouldn’t go through. I called my local GC here in Birmingham, Al and the sales men went above and beyond to get it taken care of. The listing said the condition of the amp was “fair” and he called the store it was at to make sure everything was on the up and up with it. He didn’t have to do that at all and the amp was delivered without issue and works great!
 
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#69
I have been treated well at the local store in Reno, NV. When either buying or selling equipment and purchasing miscellaneous items. I have also done well purchasing online. However I have been in to the Nashville store on more then one occasion and been either ignored or treated rudely. The one time I was treated half way decent in the Nashville store the associate helping me was a bit over worked and did not have much time to help me. I think it depends on the store and the management.
 
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#70
I use to travel, for biz, and have been in lots GC,s and music stores in general. I use to go to the "old" GC in San Diego in the 90's, great place. I have good luck in Ocala, not so much in Gainesville, Fl. Asheville is pretty meh IMHO. Fact is any retail outlet is only as good as it's manager. One observation, the more music oriented the city ( Nashville, Asheville, Gainesville) the less engaging staff is. I leave out LA because it really is a different vibe and mostly friendly, at least the 25+ years I lived there. I still am thankful that GC was and is there. Music, especially guitar players, would not be where they are today without them. I have seen the look on kids faces when their mom or dad get them their first elec or accoustic guitar, it's priceless. So as far as Guitar Centers go, it's a good thing for music not a bad. (:
 
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#71
pcake said:
someone in another thread said he thought positive stories about guitar center are few and far between. my personal experiences are otherwise, and we regularly go to five GC stores. my husband and i have probably made 250ish purchases from GC over the years from something as minor as picks to guitars and basses and electronic cymbals. i don't think i've ever had a bad experience from GC, but part of that may be that i have realistic expectations. but we've had a few reps who got to know us - one who really got to know us, and he's the one who made my ric and taylor GC8 possible by letting us make long term layaways (7 months each).

when we were hanging out at various GCs a lot, they were mostly really nice. i got to know a couple guys in west l.a. in acoustics well, and we'd trade playing, customers and gigging stories when it wasn't busy. i admit that the guys from the electric guitars sections are never as friendly, but luckily we don't care :D

i have heard sales guys at a couple stores mislead customers. one guy told a buyer that he could keep up with a band with a drummer with a 40 watt combo, the other told a buyer that this all-laminate yamaha acoustic was an all solid guitar. sadly in both cases the customers bought the items, and in the case of the amp, i actually told him it wouldn't work, but he believed the sales guy.

but i've heard lots of sales guys/gals not lie, as well. and they can't really lie to me because i never rely on them for any information :D i mean, even the most honest person isn't going to memorize facts about hundreds or thousands of items in the store that they've never tried, right?

my used experiences - well, i got an SR500 for $199 and a rockbass streamer 5 for $249. my husband got a used gibson victory bass for a good price in mint condition in 1999 and they threw in a case. my husband got a line 6 amp there for a good price, although we had to wait a few days to pick it up because of the sheriff's department hold. i've never gotten a bad piece of used gear, but the thing is that if i did, i'd call and let them fix it.

as far as selling to GC, i've only done so a few times. a couple, including my luthite cort curbow, i got what i would have sold them for on CL. a couple things i sold because i didn't need them and i wanted the 15% off of a new item that you get when selling them gear. that worked out pretty well.

the worst thing about some stores are the customers. and it's true that over the years, GC stores have failed to stock things i wanted to try and buy including parlor and smaller guitars and lately bass cabs.

i've never had a problem making an exchange or return at GC. they always seem very willing to do either, but i've been lucky and never needed to exchange anything.

without guitar centers, there are so many pieces of gear i'd have never gotten to try and enjoy. they've helped me rule out many pieces of gear. they helped sell me some, too, like my ibanez SRH500, which i'd never have considered without "meeting" one at guitar center.

your turn!
Click to expand...


I'm a used gear type of guy.

Bought a barely used Squier Strat for $50.00 plus tax. No idea why, other than it played well.

Gave it to my wife, she loves it.
 
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#73
electracoyote said:
Shopping and buying from GC is an operation much like piloting an aircraft. If you know how to work the controls you will take off, fly straight, and have soft landings.

If you don't know how to finesse it, you might crash and get burned.

I have three GC's in my metro area, the closest is about 10 minutes away, the furthest around 45 minutes. I know who the reliable, experienced staff and managers are in all three. I learned long ago how to make GC work for me, and I am almost ashamed to admit the kinds of deals and service after the sale I've received and how much money I have saved over the years.

The majority of GC horror stories I read here are from people who don't know how to work the GC experience in their favor. Most are just not smart consumers. Between website ordering, in-store service, and a liberal return policy, I don't understand how anyone can't come out ahead - if they use their head. No shopping experience is perfect or fool-proof. You have to get your head in the game.

One danger zone is GC Used Long Distance purchasing. Very unpredictable, best not to get your hopes up. Consider yourself warned.
Click to expand...
/\/\THIS, exactly./\/\
 
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#75
Thundar said:
Dude....I've stolen everything Ive gotten from their used site. Always been very happy with my purchases. Sam Ash has great deals on their used site as well.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have gotten a couple of basses for about half of what they were worth but they are the ones that put the price on them. I’ll never complain about those deals.
 
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#78
The local one is good. The staff are allright folks. I see them having to deal with pissy people I wouldn't have the patience for. They have started doing sub-contracted lessons. One of the teachers is cute as hell. ;)

You can get a protection plan on used gear there, which is fairly awesome. You can get a cash refund on used gear as well, within a certain time, and I have used that.

Their online inventory system is solid, and I have found stuff in the local store the staff didn't know they had and had to dig for, but found.

GC is pretty much awesome for musicians. It's a decent social hub for us as well. I always have one or two conversations when I go there (or try to). My main peeve is they seem to think that 95% of bass strings should be the same gauge, 45-105.
 
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#79
I can't recall a bad experience at a Guitar Center, beyond someone noodling on a guitar at full volume. The staff at my local store (Lawrenceville, GA) has been aces, and even directed me towards better quality gear at a lower price. They're my go-to if I need something urgently, such as strings, and usually they have some good to great deals on used gear.

My last purchase was a used Ibanez SR1300 Premium in absolutely fantastic shape for half of what a new one would cost - and it was last year's model. Came with an Ibanez hard case as well, and 0% interest for 48 months (pretty rare for used stuff).

When they had a deal on their Fender P/J specials, for some reason the no interest offer didn't go through and I was asked to call customer service. The lady who answered was charming, funny, and asked me questions about my purchase. It took about ten minutes to clear the problem. She called a few weeks later to follow up.

Not every visit has been gold; sometimes they don't have what I need/want, or the store is so busy I can't get help trying to find something, but that's going to happen with any store. I let it go and come back later; it's not the individual store's fault if they're understaffed (company policy, I'm guessing). And sure, some people need to be fired and some stores closed to start again - but that's every chain store in the world. YMMV.

I think it's trendy for some to jump on GC, even when they don't deserve it.
 
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