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the worse shop assistants ever

#21
jkramer5 said:
Bass Dept. Sacramento Guitar Center:

July 07 I bought a new MIM Fender Deluxe Active Jazz (my first bass), took it to a local luthier to do a setup, at factory spec, lots of string buzz G and D Strings 7th fret and below. Luthier said neck looks warped. Took the bass to an approved Fender tech, sure enough, warped neck, Filled out paperwork and and got a RMA from Fender.

Rather than wait for a long return thru Fender, I just returned the bass to GC, gave them copies of the RMA from Fender. They hung the same bass back on the wall, at full retail price until it eventually sold.
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That's really bad, although not surprising.
 
#22
Graham Monette said:
I bought an older Epiphone 6 string from a guy, just because I miss the old guitar days, or at least I'd like to dork around on guitar when I feel the need.
ANYWAY, I take it to this gifted local luthier, who is this older 50's hippie type guy. Just a very cool, very deep pot-smoker kind of skinny guy. Hes an awesome guy, but wow, after this time I dont know if I'll ever go back.

So I was described what I needed on this Friday afternoon (for what parts I need)as he was closing, he told me to come back the next day with the guitar as he makes no time to understanding what I needed for parts.
at 11am on Saturday I come back to him, only hes nervously pacing his front door (he lives there at his shop)
"Hi Miles, are you open, the signs not lit up"
"Does it look like Im open, Im here breathing aren't I"
(um......okay...... this is a bit awkward)
He was very frustrated slamming my guitar down on the carpet, ripping off the panels. I attempted to tell him the very short list of parts it needs. Very agitated he yells,
"LETS TAKE ONE THING AT A TIME OKAY!!!!??"
(now its very awkward). So okay, one thing it is. "I need this pickup selector switch...."
While hes fumbling with that, I ask;
"So, whats bothering you today Miles?"
He angrily states: "Oh I just have better things to do then work on old beat up guitars"
(REALLY? your a luthier?!!? this is what you do as far I know)
anyway, I ask for some string tuners after I buy the switch (the only other thing I need). and he tosses me a used bag of them, then storms up the stairs up to his room. "Um, how much do you want for these?"
"Just ****ing keep them!!!!!!!"
I just yell "Thanks Miles" and walk out....
The awkwardness in that place was a very tangible thing, holy crapcakes......
(what did I do wrong? honestly?)
I've never treated anybody to be deserving of that, ever....
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Remember that behavior is personality + environment.
People have bad days, and it sounds like Miles was having one of those.
Give the dude another chance, he sounded cool before the freakout.
 
#23
15000volts said:
the guy said that what was wrong with my bass was that I had it tuned one octave up. yes, he fixed the bass, but it was a fluke, since the real issue was the truss rod
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yes but wasn't the truss rod an issue because the strings were tuned up too high?
i still don't see how this guy was a bad assistant :S

basically you've told us, you had a problem with your bass, the guy quickly identified the problem, told you what is was, and fixed it. That sounds like the perfect shop assistant to me
 
#24
fractiouslowend said:
yes but wasn't the truss rod an issue because the strings were tuned up too high?
i still don't see how this guy was a bad assistant :S

basically you've told us, you had a problem with your bass, the guy quickly identified the problem, told you what is was, and fixed it. That sounds like the perfect shop assistant to me
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i think the this is the bass was NOT tuned an octave higher. As any half-non-idiot would know that a bass is not tuned that high, and i doubt very many strings could handle that much extra tension.
 
#25
Lecomber said:
I once went into a a local shop as I was looking for an acoustic bass. Being 17 years old the shop assistant obviously thought I was in there because I had nothing else to do, and when I asked to try out a bass the response I got was: "realistically you're only in here because it's raining and you're bored so no". That's £600 down the drain. Haven't been in there since, and I swear I must have spent soooo much money there in the past.
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I got something similar to that once.

I told him that it was okay that he said that, just for him to not expect to be making any money off me and that he's just lost a customer.
 
#26
MyWifeBoris said:
I got something similar to that once.

I told him that it was okay that he said that, just for him to not expect to be making any money off me and that he's just lost a customer.
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I had something like that happen to me once also, but it was an auto dealership. Guy gave me no respect, showed me crap cars and had no interest in letting me check out anything decent. I pulled out a huge wad of cash, showed it to him and said I'm outta here.

All the music stores I normally deal with or have dealt with in the past very quickly knew if I had interest in something it was because I was thinking of buying, and able to do so. I also have no problem asking for a manager if anyone treats me without proper respect. If that gets me no where I have no problem escalating it until I am satisfied or at least gave them my option of their service (or lack thereof)

I'll also mention that it has a lot to do with how you are perceived by the sales staff. If they think you're just browsing or have no money, you're not going to get the same level of service as someone they know is ready to make a purchase. It can be as simple as casually pulling a wad of bills out of your pocket like you are looking for something else, let a sales person get s glimpse of cash and they'll come running to help you. I know it shouldn't be this way but the fact is many of these people are on commission or working hard to get raises. They want to make as many sales as they can, not waste time with browsers. If your pay was based on sales volume, what would you do? But on the other hand, if there are no other customers a good salesman would be helpfull to even someone they think may just be broowsing as you never know who has cash, parents with cash or great trade ins they are considering trading in on something new once they find it.
 
#27
Rocks said:
I'll also mention that it has a lot to do with how you are perceived by the sales staff. If they think you're just browsing or have no money, you're not going to get the same level of service as someone they know is ready to make a purchase. It can be as simple as casually pulling a wad of bills out of your pocket like you are looking for something else, let a sales person get s glimpse of cash and they'll come running to help you.
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It's sad, but so very true. There's a couple of stores(of the same company) near me that work like that. Went there with a friend(we're both normal 18yo guys) some months ago, and I felt like they're were almost offended that I went there just to see what they had. If you ask to try something, they put you on the crappiest gear they can, and a guy goes and asks you something every 2 minutes. 10 minutes into it, they almost force you to leave. Went there weeks later with my dad, the guy was all smiles, put me on a 2k bass and good amp. It really sucks that they work like that.
Fortunately, there's a few stores that have people working there that really like what they do, have knowledge to share and take time to see what you need/want.
In my favourite store for basses and amps(for effects I have another one;)) there's a bass-dedicated guy(believe me, there aren't many stores with this feature around here) who is always very friendly. I go there to try a bass and he suggests another couple that I might like, busts new ones out of they're boxes for me, the whole enchilada. he even remember what kind of tones I like:eek:
 
#28
bassk81976 said:
i think the this is the bass was NOT tuned an octave higher. As any half-non-idiot would know that a bass is not tuned that high, and i doubt very many strings could handle that much extra tension.
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if course we all know how they should be tuned but the op never said that his strings were tuned correctly after the assistant said they weren't. Maybe be a bit clearer next time:)
 
#29
fractiouslowend said:
if course we all know how they should be tuned but the op never said that his strings were tuned correctly after the assistant said they weren't. Maybe be a bit clearer next time:)
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guys, I was a noob, not deaf... The bass was just slightly off-tuned, because I put in a gigbag when I took it there. from there to being one octave up goes the sturdiest bass ever and a lot of jack daniels
 
#32
15000volts said:
guys, I was a noob, not deaf... The bass was just slightly off-tuned, because I put in a gigbag when I took it there. from there to being one octave up goes the sturdiest bass ever and a lot of jack daniels
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im just saying, in the first post, you should have written "(they weren't)" after the guy said your strings were tuned up an octave.

then there is no confusion:)
 
#33
fractiouslowend said:
im just saying, in the first post, you should have written "(they weren't)" after the guy said your strings were tuned up an octave.

then there is no confusion:)
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especially after posting this:
15000volts said:
the guy said that what was wrong with my bass was that I had it tuned one octave up. yes, he fixed the bass, but it was a fluke, since the real issue was the truss rod
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i can guarantee you that the string breakage was not caused by anything involving the truss rod.

OTOH, you can crank a 4 string up an octave, and the strings will likely survive except for the G.
 
#35
coldfoot_luke said:
Last time I went there, I smelled some smoke... saw through into the back room where they repair stuff, and the tech guy was walking around SMOKING A CIGARETTE IN THE SHOP while working on some poor kid's cello.
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I personally do not see an issue there. I don't know how old you are but for us in our 40s and over, seeing people on the job with a cigarette is no big deal. It's against the law in most States now, but back in the days it was common, except on some types of jobs.

Of course if he has containers of acetone, alcohol and what not open, that would not be a good idea.
 

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