We REALLY need to stop supporting this company.

[Personatech]

You can always try Sam Ash. As far as I know, they are still an independent family owned company. GC is owned by Bayne Capital, who is sucking the life out of them. This latest screw on the workers is typical of greedy Wall St. yuppies looking to line their pockets by running the help into the ground. I now buy from Sam Ash and not GC. It's too bad because I always liked GC, but the parent company sucks big wampum.

I'm not in the habit of defending Wall Street, but Bain Capital doesn't usually buy a company unless that company is already in crisis mode. GC would have folded years ago had Bain not stepped in with a cash infusion. Whether or not that should have been allowed to happen is another matter altogether.

 

[1960jbass]

I was union for 27 years and I can tell you arbitration always benefits the company. I am done with GC.

 

[soxhats]

Am in the Orlando area, and was planning on visiting the local Guitar Center to check out different instruments. Given this information, I won't buy so much as a pick there.

You're of course going to hit Bass Central, yes?

 

[SirMjac28]

I'll continue to support them because to me it's not about the company but the workers who have families to feed also their brick and mortar stores hire local workers and they pay local taxes maybe this exposure will force the companies hand? . I also think since we already have the torches and pitchforks out do some research on the conditions of the workers who make your favorite electronic devices.

 

[Volunteerk9]

Zzounds is owned by Guitar Center?

 

[BassBrass]

I'm not in the habit of defending Wall Street, but Bain Capital doesn't usually buy a company unless that company is already in crisis mode. GC would have folded years ago had Bain not stepped in with a cash infusion. Whether or not that should have been allowed to happen is another matter altogether.

what you say is true, GC is Bain, is Boston, early Mit Romney, and they could invest because of the capitol they amassed chopping up generational businesses, consulting/providing services in reformations... 95% of which I'd call predatory and in the interest of just the people who get uber rich. A by-product is loss of livelihood in the USA.
Guitar Center's logo says they are selling a feeling. It's a dream that keeps people enraptured and content. I sometimes buy used from the GS near Berklee/Fenway because interesting trades come through and lately GC used prices have been fair. Otherwise I buy from Mr Music, Alston and Prymax by interweb

 

[bshaw]

Interesting, all. I live in Houston, where there are several GCs within a short drive. Opened this mornings paper, and for the first time that I have ever seen, there is a huge whole page ad for GC.
I was told these go for $40k.
Color, photos, sharp ad, huge.
Offsetting neg press?

 

[JakobT]

Where I come from, this would be illegal.

 

[aaronious]

I'm on no way defending GC. But here is my take. 15 years ago, when I started playing bass, Guitar Center was the place to go.

I could haggle and get a stupid good deal on anything, used or new. Then just take it back for any reason under the sun, full refund. In terms of profits, they ran a pretty loose ship. Why, because they were the volume king. It's just like selling cars, sell enough and you're bound to make money, even if you " give a few away". I had a buddy that worked there tell me his boss always said "make the deal no matter what". It wasn't about profits it was about customer satisfaction. Employees would get gear at cost, that actually costs the company money. And I KNOW tons of stuff slipped out the back door.

Fast forward a decade and the internet has blown up, they are taking a chunk out of that volume based profit. Same product, lower price without all the hassle. Now they have to compete.
That's when they clamped down on all the haggling, we all remember that. It sucked.

What's happening here is GC was poorly run for a very long time. They got a bail out and the new boss, AIN'T like the old boss. The new boss wants to get paid. At the expense of the customer and the employee. They are about to clean house and start from scratch. This arbitration crap is to weed out the " rebels" so to speak. Find out who is willing to play along, who isn't.

It sucks for the employees and for us, but I'm not at all surprised. I've seen it in the hotel/ restaurant industry for 20 years. We've all seen it, and if you owned a business that was about to tank, you would do what you had to, to make it survive.

GC will take a hit over this initially, especially in the court of public opinion. In a few years time, the dust will settle, the old employees will have moved on and the new ones won't care what happened. Or even know, because they will sign this paper work blindly. And Guitar Center will go on and become another soulless monster with a checkered past making tons of money and they won't care that a few hundred guys/gals on TalkBASS.com boycotted them 5 years ago. Those bastards!!!

 

[paytojt]

I will avoid them now.

 

[jamro217]

Already have. Years ago.

 

[Spent]

Another reason I'm happy I switched to Sweetwater.

 

[Bmosh]

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the "At-Will" employment laws would make the arbitration agreement less of a concern. If you could be fired at will for tardiness, absenteeism, non performance, etc., those would be well documented and hard to dispute via court or arbitration. If you are fired because your employer violated labor or whistle-blower laws, there are legal firms that specialize in those cases and could circumvent an arbitration clause.

Whats next ? Non compete clauses ?

 

[mapleglo]

I'll continue to support them because to me it's not about the company but the workers who have families to feed also their brick and mortar stores hire local workers and they pay local taxes maybe this exposure will force the companies hand? . I also think since we already have the torches and pitchforks out do some research on the conditions of the workers who make your favorite electronic devices.

There's a GC right up the street from my home. I could walk there. The people at that store are nice enough, always helpful, and I buy stuff there on occasion, mostly accessories like straps, cables, strings and pedals. I agree that our business supports the employees and their families. And I think that if one looked into the corporate policies of most companies we all deal with on a regular basis, we'd spout off about how we're not going to do business with them anymore. In this day and age, in order to live, buy the things we need, and take of ourselves, we've all signed a pact with the devil. And yeah, +1 on the electronics industry in general, but from my experience, it goes much deeper than that.

I'll continue to do business with them.

 

[Liam Wald]

I have never bought anything there.

 

[Matt O]

Only time I ever ordered from MF was a black tolex Fender logo G&G case for a P bass.

They sent a case for a lefty strat.

When I got someone on the phone, they asked "you sure it won't fit"?

That's the only time I ever ordered from MF.

I think I bought some overpriced strings at GC once.

[/story]

 

[Dominic D]

Zzounds is owned by Guitar Center?

No. They're under the same umbrella as AMS.

 

[Joe Nerve]

and zZounds

Zzounds is American Musical. Not MF. Music 123 is definitely MF. The Rickenbacker I just bought came with a receipt from M123. That happened once before, also.

I don't want to read the articles . I practically claim MF as a dependent on my income taxes. My goal when buying online is always to get the absolute lowest price, and they win every time. I don't want or need the customer support from Sweetwater. I question the setups and how ever many point checkup they claim to do before sending instruments out - I once bought a fairly expensive bass from them that had a rattle in the bridge...

The return policy with MF makes it a no brainer for me. I never once had any issues dealing with them. I've had to return instruments a few times, but it was never any problem to do that.

I hope whatever they're doing that's bad, they stop doing . I like them very much.

 

[Robert B]

But if you were to succeed in organizing a widespread boycott, that would surely put these same workers out of a job, wouldn't it? There must be a better way to show support for the workers than putting them out of work!

 

[Carl Hillman]

I was union for 27 years and I can tell you arbitration always benefits the company. I am done with GC.

AFM for 29 years...

I won't be shopping there.