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Sam Ash is closing all stores, evidently

#81
The big Sam Ash and Guitar Center chain stores killed off most of the awesome mom-and-pop local music stores. Seems only fitting they they meet a similar demise at the hand of online stores like Sweetwater, MusiciansFriend, and others.

Honestly, every time I visit a Sam Ash or Guitar Center, their inventories are complete crap. They might have 1 or Fender Jazz or Precision Ultras, maybe some Player MIMs and Squires. The rest are crappy basses like Jacksons. They will have a half doze Gibson Les Pauls and Fender Strats, and the rest are budget guitars. At one point maybe 10 years ago, it seemed like 90% of the inventory at the Charlotte, NC Sam Ash was beat up used gear... so I quit going there all together. GC carries a handful of of poopy combo bass amps with virtually no separate heads and cabinets to be found unless they have a single used one.

Don't even get me started about their customer service.

I might go to GC to buy a cable IF I need it TODAY. Otherwise, I buy literally everything at Sweetwater. I've spent $25k? in the last two years with Sweetwater (3 basses, 4 synths, a full PA, mandolin, and tons of cables, speaker stands, mic stands, mics, etc.) I love the reps I have had there. Anytime I want to buy gear, I call or text and they get me additional discounts of 10-15%, even mark some items like $100 Mogami cables free. If it's something small that I just order without calling first, they call me the next day to thank me for the purchase and let me know when it's shipping and when I can expect it. They follow up when they ship and after delivery. They offer free 2 year warrantees (1 year beyond the typical 1 year manufacturer warrantee) on most all equipment and ship everything (even returns) for free.

Their inventories are HUGE... 100+x (probably closer to 1000x) more selection for any type of equipment than a Sam Ash or GC would ever stock. Want a Fender American Ultra jazz? They likely have multiple bases in every available color in stock. You would never see this at SA or GC. Want a Fender American Pro II jazz with Sunburst finish? Sweetwater likely has 10-20 in stock. They will show you 4 plus maybe one demo on the site with high quality pictures of each. But if you contact your rep, they will send you links to ALL of them in the warehouse not on the site. Then you can pick the one with the finish/grain you like best, tell them the serial number, and get that EXACT bass shipped to you. Get it and don't like it? They will pay to return it and issue a refund or exchange with no argument. Sweetwater has it s#!+ together.

Stores like GC and Sam Ash should have gotten with the [internet ecommerce] program a LONG time ago (just like BestBuy, Sears, and other retailers struggling now). Sweetwater has one showroom and two HUGE fulfillment centers to ship products fast. Their packing is phenomenal (even includes a bag of candy in every box), and I get my stuff fast (a few days at most typically unless backordered). GC and Sam Ash have tons of expensive brick & mortar stores in shopping centers that people rarely visit with little inventory, and have not really invested in the infrastructure to ship massive quantities of products. They would rather transfer it store-to-store using their antiquated logistics and have you pick it up at your local store.

I say good riddance. Maybe GC and Sam Ash going down the toilet will bring back some of the mom-and-pop music stores they destroyed.
 
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#83
jbhaugh said:
There's nothing worse than the snobby high-end look-but-don't-touch music store. I always felt the people in those kinds of places were offended when anyone actually walked into the store, and became really obnoxious if the customer was actually shopping and wanted something. A real bummer.
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Years ago I went into one of the bigger local stores in San Diego. I saw a RIC 4001 in MapleGlo hanging on the wall. Naturally it was hanging way up high so it was obvious that they didn't want people messing around with it. I understood that and honestly was not that upset with it.

What did upset me was when I finally was able to get a hold of one of the employees who was just standing there shooting the BS with somebody who obviously was not going to buy anything. I went up to him and stood there for about a minute and then I said excuse me I would like to look at that mapleglo RIC. The store employee looked at me and in a snotty voice said "you got the money to buy it"?

Well that didn't set well with me. So I took out my wallet pulled out my money, and told him "yeah I sure do but now I'm not buying it here. Goodbye". I walked out went to another store and got the same model RIC.

Even that story was kind of weird too because I went in there and I asked the salesman Hey you got any RIC basses? He said they had a mapleglo but he didn't know where it was He said he would call the manager and ask him cuz maybe they had it in the back.

Turns out the bass was at another one of their locations about 20 or 30 minutes away so after having him call to make sure they did have it I drove out there to take a look at it. When I got there it was kind of strange cuz it was like a small location and when I went in the store I didn't see the bass hanging anywhere. The employee in the store said yeah it's here it's in the back I said Well you know I'd like to see it and he brought it out for me to look at and I said okay I'd like to buy this. He hesitated for a little bit and when I asked him if that was a problem he said no just let me call the manager and see how he wants me to handle this. That told me something was strange right there.

He gets the manager on the phone and he says yeah yeah okay Then he hands me the phone and tells me the manager wants to talk to me.

Manager tells me that he has a customer that wanted that particular bass and he had it transferred out there so the customer could pick it up. I asked hey did the customer already pay for it or give you a deposit? And he said no it's just a customer that we normally do business with. I said well you know what I drove 3 hours and went to one of your competitors and I didn't like the guys attitude there so I decided to come to see you guys. Now I'm wondering if there's that much of a difference between the two of you.

Manager said well what do you mean? I said Well he got really snotty with me and when I asked him to get it down off the wall to look at it he said Do you have the money to buy it? Then I told the manager how I waved the money in front of the dude and walked out and drove over to his store where the employee there supposedly called you and was told that the bass was at this location. So here I am now and this will be a 3-hour and 30 minute drive each way and I have the money in my hand right now ready to pay cash and you don't want to sell it to me because somebody told you they wanted it so you stashed it in the back out here. Do you want to sell it or not?

I ended up leaving with the RIC. Hey I won't and run a small business before and you either have stuff do you want to sell or you don't. If you don't want to sell it don't tell anybody you have it and definitely don't hang it out on the wall for people to see.
 
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#86
Sam Ash's website is pretty miserable to navigate. My first guitar and Crybaby wah were bought in person from the Lombard store. I would say the inventory at that Sam Ash has always been a little more appealing to me than the Guitar Center down the street.

I have to admit, I've bought two basses from Sam Ash since their announced they were closing the first batch. A Sterling short scale in fair condition for $240ish from reverb, and a Bacchus Global 5 string from the Philippines with a nordy preamp and lindy fralins for $600ish from the Lombard store. I saw both as great deals and filling roles in my arsenal that hadn't been met yet
 
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#90
60bass said:
Years ago I went into one of the bigger local stores in San Diego. I saw a RIC 4001 in MapleGlo hanging on the wall. Naturally it was hanging way up high so it was obvious that they didn't want people messing around with it. I understood that and honestly was not that upset with it.

What did upset me was when I finally was able to get a hold of one of the employees who was just standing there shooting the BS with somebody who obviously was not going to buy anything. I went up to him and stood there for about a minute and then I said excuse me I would like to look at that mapleglo RIC. The store employee looked at me and in a snotty voice said "you got the money to buy it"?

Well that didn't set well with me. So I took out my wallet pulled out my money, and told him "yeah I sure do but now I'm not buying it here. Goodbye". I walked out went to another store and got the same model RIC.

Even that story was kind of weird too because I went in there and I asked the salesman Hey you got any RIC basses? He said they had a mapleglo but he didn't know where it was He said he would call the manager and ask him cuz maybe they had it in the back.

Turns out the bass was at another one of their locations about 20 or 30 minutes away so after having him call to make sure they did have it I drove out there to take a look at it. When I got there it was kind of strange cuz it was like a small location and when I went in the store I didn't see the bass hanging anywhere. The employee in the store said yeah it's here it's in the back I said Well you know I'd like to see it and he brought it out for me to look at and I said okay I'd like to buy this. He hesitated for a little bit and when I asked him if that was a problem he said no just let me call the manager and see how he wants me to handle this. That told me something was strange right there.

He gets the manager on the phone and he says yeah yeah okay Then he hands me the phone and tells me the manager wants to talk to me.

Manager tells me that he has a customer that wanted that particular bass and he had it transferred out there so the customer could pick it up. I asked hey did the customer already pay for it or give you a deposit? And he said no it's just a customer that we normally do business with. I said well you know what I drove 3 hours and went to one of your competitors and I didn't like the guys attitude there so I decided to come to see you guys. Now I'm wondering if there's that much of a difference between the two of you.

Manager said well what do you mean? I said Well he got really snotty with me and when I asked him to get it down off the wall to look at it he said Do you have the money to buy it? Then I told the manager how I waved the money in front of the dude and walked out and drove over to his store where the employee there supposedly called you and was told that the bass was at this location. So here I am now and this will be a 3-hour and 30 minute drive each way and I have the money in my hand right now ready to pay cash and you don't want to sell it to me because somebody told you they wanted it so you stashed it in the back out here. Do you want to sell it or not?

I ended up leaving with the RIC. Hey I won't and run a small business before and you either have stuff do you want to sell or you don't. If you don't want to sell it don't tell anybody you have it and definitely don't hang it out on the wall for people to see.
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This is a complicated situation all the way around. Sounds like a lot of miscommunication with the staff mainly, but I feel like you could have saved yourself some hassle by just buying it at the first store.

You weren't wrong to not feel welcome when a sales associate asks if you have the money to buy something - that's a huge faux pas and just plain rude. No potential customer should ever be discriminated against like that. However, instead of going through the rigmarole you went through at the store to buy what sounds like the same bass at a different Sam Ash (unless I'm misreading your story - little hard to follow along, sorry), you could've taken the high road and said, "Yes, I do have the cash. Do you want to make a sale?" and let that person be embarrassed. Hell, you could've asked for another associate/manager to sell it to you so they get any possible commission that would've been attached.

They should've told you they still had the bass, but it was on hold for another customer instead of presumably telling you it was available. That would've saved you that drive right there. Sounds like it was a regular who was seriously interested but hadn't made it in yet, so that's probably why the manager was hesitant, especially if you came in hot like you did.

In the end, you still gave your money to Sam Ash corporate and ended up spending a lot more time + gas than you really needed to if you were planning on buying it anyway. Not trying to jump down your throat or anything, just give a different perspective from someone who's worked music retail for over a decade. You were still absolutely right to feel slighted and that was an overall bad level of mismanagement and training from both stores.
 
#91
ericplaysbass said:
This is a complicated situation all the way around. Sounds like a lot of miscommunication with the staff mainly, but I feel like you could have saved yourself some hassle by just buying it at the first store.

You weren't wrong to not feel welcome when a sales associate asks if you have the money to buy something - that's a huge faux pas and just plain rude. No potential customer should ever be discriminated against like that. However, instead of going through the rigmarole you went through at the store to buy what sounds like the same bass at a different Sam Ash (unless I'm misreading your story - little hard to follow along, sorry), you could've taken the high road and said, "Yes, I do have the cash. Do you want to make a sale?" and let that person be embarrassed. Hell, you could've asked for another associate/manager to sell it to you so they get any possible commission that would've been attached.

They should've told you they still had the bass, but it was on hold for another customer instead of presumably telling you it was available. That would've saved you that drive right there. Sounds like it was a regular who was seriously interested but hadn't made it in yet, so that's probably why the manager was hesitant, especially if you came in hot like you did.

In the end, you still gave your money to Sam Ash corporate and ended up spending a lot more time + gas than you really needed to if you were planning on buying it anyway. Not trying to jump down your throat or anything, just give a different perspective from someone who's worked music retail for over a decade. You were still absolutely right to feel slighted and that was an overall bad level of mismanagement and training from both stores.
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FYI... I don't think the 2nd store was a Sam Ash store. He mentioned telling the manager on the phone at the second store that he went to one of his competitors first:

"I said well you know what I drove 3 hours and went to one of your competitors and I didn't like the guys attitude there so I decided to come to see you guys. "

But I could be wrong.
 
#92
CircleOf5ths said:
FYI... I don't think the 2nd store was a Sam Ash store. He mentioned telling the manager on the phone at the second store that he went to one of his competitors first:

"I said well you know what I drove 3 hours and went to one of your competitors and I didn't like the guys attitude there so I decided to come to see you guys. "

But I could be wrong.
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I see why you'd be mistaken, but they said, "Turns out the bass was at another one of their locations about 20 or 30 minutes away," their meaning another Sam Ash. Dunno why they used the word "competitor" since it's still another Sam Ash.
 
#93
Yeah... I would question to buy from a store that ostensibly puts a bass on hold for one customer and then turns around and sells it to the first guy who asks. The solution to that is to either tell Customer #1 that they don't do holds, or otherwise to make holds a part of the system that doesn't just exist by word of mouth so that Customer #2 doesn't get mislead into thinking the bass is strictly available.
 
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#96
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#97
I've bought quite a lot from my local SA. Here are some of them.

Gretsch_Med_3995.jpg
EBMM-Stingray-1200_0700.jpg
Guild-B-301-Front-Full-1200_4417.jpg


Plus, a Taylor NS-62ce, a couple of Gallien-Krueger 700RB amps, and an assortment of smaller stuff.
 
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#98
ericplaysbass said:
I see why you'd be mistaken, but they said, "Turns out the bass was at another one of their locations about 20 or 30 minutes away," their meaning another Sam Ash. Dunno why they used the word "competitor" since it's still another Sam Ash.
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It read to me as if there were actually 3 stores...

Sam Ash was the 1st store where they guy asked if he had the money. He left there and went to "another store" (doesn't say another Sam Ash store).

Then he said "Even that story was kind of weird too because I went in there"... (the 2nd store)... "and I asked the salesman Hey you got any RIC basses? He said they had a mapleglo but he didn't know where it was He said he would call the manager [of the 2nd store] and ask him cuz maybe they had it in the back.

Turns out the bass was at another one of their [2nd store's] locations about 20 or 30 minutes away"... (the 3rd store, same as 2nd, but not necessarily Sam Ash)... "so after having him call to make sure they did have it I drove out there to take a look at it. When I got there it was kind of strange cuz it was like a small location and when I went in the store I didn't see the bass hanging anywhere. The employee in the store said yeah it's here it's in the back I said Well you know I'd like to see it and he brought it out for me to look at and I said okay I'd like to buy this. He hesitated for a little bit and when I asked him if that was a problem he said no just let me call the manager and see how he wants me to handle this. That told me something was strange right there.

He gets the manager [of the 3rd store] on the phone and he says yeah yeah okay Then he hands me the phone and tells me the manager wants to talk to me." Then he tells the manager of the 3rd store "well you know what I drove 3 hours and went to one of your competitors and I didn't like the guys attitude"...

If Sam Ash (1st store) was a competitor of the 3rd store and the 3rd store was just another location of the 2nd store, it stands to reason that both 2nd and 3rd stores were not Sam Ash, but I guess I could still be wrong. LOL Maybe the OP could clarify.

Either way, customer service at Sam Ash and GC have always sucked IMO.
 
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#100
I've never set foot in a Sam Ash store - the closest one to me here in the Willamette Valley is in LA - but it's a shame that brick and mortar instrument stores are struggling. As convenient as it is to be able to order any instrument you want from an online retailer, I feel weird about buying something as tactile as a guitar or bass without ever having held it in my hand, not to mention hearing what it sounds like.
 
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