What's your worst experience at a music store

[eldorado2001]

I browse a couple times per month at my local shop. I've bought at least 5 guitars and 5 amps there in the past 10 yrs, and often when I'm there it's as though I'm The Invisible Man. It's not that I need assistance when I'm there but a little customer appreciation would be a nice change of pace. My "sales engineer" at Sweetwater puts them to shame. He's glad to hear from me whenever I call.

 

[deeptubes]

>Hi. Do you have product X?
-No. We don't have that in stock.
>Can you order it?
-How about product Y?
>I've done some research and don't want product Y. I want product X.
-Well, we don't carry anything by product X. But this product Y is very nice. I own one, too.
>That's not what I want. It looks flimsy, like it would fall apart if I dropped it.
-*very snottily*But it's made by __________. Aren't you familiar with __________? You should get this instead.
>Dude, how old are you?
-23
>I've been playing since before you were born. When I say I want product X, that's what I want. I don't care what you think about product Y. It's not what I want, and I will not settle for something else. I will get it from somewhere else. Have a nice day.

 

[lowsideonacurve]

First worst experience;
In 1974 I was 14 years old and spent much of my spare time in a very well known store in Smyrna, Ga., (yep another one from Smyrna, Ga.) the store was called The Music Mart. In those days the store traded for anything, car tires, lamps, you name it, they kept everything non musical in the basement along with the stock. Anyone was allowed to go down and look through the junk and my friends and I often did.
One fine day after me an a friend got through leaving finger prints on some shiny new guitars, we went downstairs to nose around through the odd stuff for a bit before leaving. We new they threw boxes out back in the dumpster and my buddy wanted one for something, so we went to see if they had a suitable box. We discovered some boxes that guitars came in still had the cheap cables and straps in them, we figured the salesmen threw them out so a customer would have to spend a few more bucks on a premium cable and strap when purchasing a new guitar. The straps and cables were really flimsy and cheap, but it was cool to find free stuff none the less.
My friend and I made another trip to The Music Mart a week or so later and once again found cables and straps in the boxes out back. This time things got ugly though, the store manager "Wayne Stowers" popped his head out of the bathroom window and yelled for us to come around front with the stuff we found. We sat in his office for the longest time being accused of steeling that stuff when we were in the store earlier. I wasn't about to admit to something I didn't do, but after a long time my buddy gave me the nod and I admitted even though I didn't. Wayne was cool about it and only banned us from the store for two weeks and the basement forever.
I went to school with Wayne's son and liked him and his dad anyway. I loved The Music Mart, still spent a good bit of money there, even bought my first bass, three or four amps and two Rickenbackers there, wish it was still around.

 

[GSMBass]

Having a snotty, full-of-himself guitarist who works the register explain to me how string gauges on a bass make absolutely no difference, and how I am being too demanding for asking for 45-105 strings when he only had 40-95. Yeah, you can probaby recognize 45-105 being an "industry standard" among basses.

 

[Metalbasspro]

Really the only bad experience was at GC in the late 90's. Bought a rack mount compressor but they sent me away with out the power supply. I lived 15 miles away and would be working too much the rest of the week to return and needed it later in the week so asked if they could mail it to me. Had plenty of time but the sales person dropped the ball so I had to make the next practice without the unit and I really wanted to try it out. Since I had to return to the store I simply returned the product and got it from mail order and saved a few bucks.

 

[Mark_70]

Doc McSlappy's Vic Wooten tribute show

Thanks for the laugh

 

[Bob_Ross]

My worst experience was when I worked in one as a repairman and salesman. The number of clueless people who would come in and make demands about what or how they wanted something done was mind melting.

I worked in two different music stores: I was with LaSalle in Boston back in the mid-1980s for almost two years, and that was actually pretty cool. But I also worked at Sam Ash in Queens for 3 or 4 months in the early 1990s, and that was the most brain-numbing torture I think I've ever had to put up with in my life. I just have no patience for stupid and/or uncooperative people, and at Sam Ash I was getting both from clients and coworkers alike.

Having to wake up in the morning and tell myself not only "I have to go to work at this hell-hole again" but "I have to go to work at this hell-hole in Queens again" was definitely my worst experience in a music store.