Don't Go to Guitar Center - Those people are not fit to sell

[Given to Fly]

No offense to anybody that works at Guitar Center but some employee's there have no clue what they are talking about. This guy was trying to sell an old S series guitar that was made in like 97 or 98. Lying the entire time to the customer. The customer really did not know anything about this guitar too. Then the salesperson brought out a S2020x and I could tell that he had never studied this guitar before to see what the switches did and why there are two inputs. It was awful. I am not saying all Guitar Centers are bad just the one where I live. It is brand new too. Also if anyone does work there do you get paid on commision? Anyways has anyone else ever had bad experience's or good experience's for that matter?

[evopogov3]

The guys I usally see in a guitar store are usually c.ocky jerks who think they know everything about guitars and the players of them.

[Noodles]

Quote: from evopogov3 on 11:20 pm on Oct. 6, 2001
The guys I usally see in a guitar store are usually c.ocky jerks who think they know everything about guitars and the players of them.

Thats basically my experince too.

[trouble311]

Wondered if I was the only one who got that sort of vibe....good to see that I'm not....sometimes it feels like they think they are "too good" to even SELL you a guitar....

[bduersch]

I've had mixed experiences with Guitar Center, but overall, I like dealing with them.

Why I like Guitar Center:
1) They know me by name
2) They know what I like--they don't waste time trying to pass any non-Ibanez gear off on me. As a matter of fact, now they're learning that if it doesn't say Jem, Prestige, or something similar, I won't look at it.
3) They occasionally get in some rarities & oddities that the smaller stores have no chance of getting in
4) They're the only place around here that stocks high-end gear
5) They usually wheel & deal on prices pretty well
6) They're pretty non-intrusive in the shopping process--e.g., they don't follow me around the stores like a vulture.
7) If you have a problem with something you bought there, they're generally pretty liberal with returns and will do what they can to make it right.

What I don't like about GC:
1) They usually don't know what they're talking about. You have to be an informed consumer to shop there.
2) They don't "give away" setups on new guitars--IMO if you buy a $1000+ axe you should at least get some new strings and a decent setup job without having to b$%^& about it for half an hour.

Again, that's my experiences with GC... your milage may very. I like GC much better than the local Mars... Mars suffers from the same problems as GC, but are less willing to wheel & deal (and they don't stock Ibanez gear).

--B

(Edited by bduersch at 10:37 am on Oct. 7, 2001)

[gkelm]

You said it well, Brent. *GC has it's hangups, but I'm glad there are four of them in my area. * * The advantages far outweigh the downside. *I had diffuculty once with a service issue, but it eventually worked out to my satisfaction. *Overall, GC is a much less painful shopping experience than trying to buy a new car!
Greg

[Noodles]

Guitar Center is a great tool for guitar players. Just make sure you have done your homework first.

[jay ratkowski]

Guitar Center has a lot of gear... they have access to even more gear. *They are very easy to work deals out of as well. *Some will remember my $700 P3 purchase there a little less than a year ago... that is basically my experience with them, if you're willing to work for what you want, you will love them. *However, if *you're one of those people who just takes whatever the salesman says as bible truth and allows themself to be taken advantage of... you will most likely end up disliking the place.

[robochimp]

I agree with Jay. If you REALLY know your s***, it can be a good place to do business. I usually shop around, get SEVERAL prices on the particular item i'm interested in,THEN hit GC, see what they have to say, THEN tell them the best offer I found so far.If they can beat it , great. If not, no time wasted. Note that I *ONLY do this with LARGE chains, such as GC and Scam Cash-I have many friends who own, have owned, or work at music stores, and would never"play them against each other". Nor would I do it with ANY independant, Honest retailer.I don't consider it unethical to do it at the larger places, though.I figure I'm just evening the score for all the OTHER guys who were not treated well there. And it DOES happen.
That said,if at all possible,I prefer to give my business to Independant or smaller retailers who *I've built a relationship with over the years. They'll give better service, and usually, in the LONG RUN, better prices.

(Edited by robochimp at 5:06 pm on Oct. 7, 2001)

[jay ratkowski]

Shopping and "fighting" for a better price is NEVER unethical. *It is just how the economy works. *You have a right as a consumer to try to get the best price possible on whatever merchandise you are looking for whether it be a new car or a single guitar pick. *Businesses know how low they can afford to go on a price and generally have a good idea what other places are charging. *Your job is to look for that best price so you're not getting screwed.

[Jupiter]

Hello ! * Okay, i've only been to one Guitar Center in my life , so i won't say that all Guitar Centers are like this, but at least mine is ! My experiances with Guitar Center has proven to me again and again that these guys are in fact...very dumb. BUT !!! This can actually be good in some cases...and very, VERY bad in others. I'll try and explain... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Last time i was in there, i saw { and played } a Beautiful RG3120...love those guitars...anyway, i looked it over, and on the bottom horn, on the underside of it, there was a HUGE chip that went all the way down to the wood. It was about 1/4 to 1/2 inch long. I asked if they would cut me a deal on it...keep in mind that the oiginal price tag on it was about $1499 anyway...after a very long wait, the sales guy came back...he said they could take $70 off of it ! $70 !!! It might have even been less than that, it happened a while ago, and i don't remember. One week, i saw a guy CUT the strings off of a really nice Jewel Blue S520...came back a couple weeks later to find the same guitar wih the tremelo pointing skyward. It was sad. These are the bad shades of the ignorance of Guitar Center employees. * * * * * * * * * *BUT... there are also good shades ! * * * *One time i saw an ESP James Hetfield flying V { black with blue/orange/red flames, ninja star inlay on the first fret, and EMG pickups } for about $1000 ! It was used, but thats still a wickid deal. I also saw an Ibanez USA Custom Graphic { tiger stripe paint job, sharkfin inlays, i think it had EMG's in it } for much under $400. *So in other words, sometimes it's good that they don't know what they have ! * * * * *So, yes, they are very stupid ; but that can be good sometimes. It's bad for the beginner guitarist, or uninformed customer...but good for us folks who know what we're doing. Admit it, everybody here would cry if Guitar Center went out of buisiness...there's really nt too many places that carry as much high-end gear { ehm, J- CUSTOMS, kaff...} as they do. And while you may not pay their price for said gear { ehgrrm, go visit RICH HARRIS, cough}, i have no doubt that you enjoy going in and playing with it. This has been an awfully long post, sorry...oh well, Love 'em, Hate'em...---Ben---

[CrossingStar]

I don't have a problem with Guitar Center. I have a bigger problem with Mars, I think the employees there are less knowledgeable, around here anyway. I don't like the 'superstore' vibe of Mars.

[butch]

Ok, I admit, I've never worked at GC, but I have worked at a few of the other "chain" stores. All of these stores, as well as the industry in general have undergone an extreme growth spurt within the last decade.

The problem is that it is an extreme growth in a specialized industry. You need people to staff these stores. Unfortunately, not all of these salespeople are good salespeople. They may be good at sales, but lack product knowledge. Product knowledge is easier to teach than sales knowledge. Either you can sell, or you can't. Believe it or not being a good salesman is a true talent.

Having said that, most of these stores are forced to hire clerks to fill a schedule, hopefully finding a spark to make a productive salesman. More oftern than not, these clerks are brought in under the promise of discounted gear. Once that incentive is gone, the job is no different than working in a Quick Stop, or a video store. It's a job, and more often than not, couldn't care less if you got the product you truly need. Just because they serve you doesn't mean they have to like you, either.

You can have product reps do training until they are blue in the face, but unless it is a product (or job) the person is passionate about, it doesn't matter. If the salesman/clerk sees the benefits in knowing the product (respect, sales, return sales, people willing to separate with their hard earnd cash just at your suggestion), they will continue to be a clerk. It will make no difference if it's, "Do you want fries with that", or "Do you want strings with that".

I will draw the parallel to sports. As a league expands, the talent pool is thinned among the teams. Sure, it creates jobs, but the overall quality of the trade suffers.

That's just the way I see it. I could be wrong.

Cheers,
Butch

[Rich]

And that folks was the word as spoken by a first class saleman that cared about his customers (and the discounted gear)

[kuma]

I'll share my GC tale...

I went to a GC just this past weekend while visiting a friend. *They had the usual decent selection of Ibanez stuff, including some high-end and used stuff. *Noticed a nice looking S series. *Labelled as an S540FM, priced at $629. *Picked it up for a closer look...TRS trem. *Ok, so I figure someone could have made an honest mistake. *Happened to notice it still had its inventory tag on the back, with the little barcode they scan when ringing it up...printed clearly on it...S470QS. *Looking a little higher up on the wall, I see a Jem555 hanging...with a tag that says Jem7VWH, priced at $1199. *The idea of 'accidental mislabeling' becomes a lot less likely.

So I'm pretty disgusted at this point, but I'm not the kind to make trouble, so I just wait for my friend to finish looking around. *I happened to stop in front of an Artist, the cheap Korean one. *The salesguy spots me and comes over. *"That's a real nice guitar. *Really pretty. *I've got one just like it at home, except mine's not as nice as that one." * Not as nice as the lowest-end model Ibanez makes?? *What, did he call them up and special-order one extra crappy?? *So at this point, I'm practically fuming. *I politely pointed out the 'mislabelled' guitars. *He says 'Hmm, I was not aware of that," *and walks off. *I found my friend, left the store, and will never go back.

I don't really care if they want to charge $1200 for a 555. *Of course that's insane, but it's up to the customer to know what a fair price is. *But calling it a Jem7VWH is fraud. *I also don't appreciate being lied to by the salespeople. *

I agree with what Butch said regarding the quality of the sales staff, and in truth, I don't expect much from them. *But I don't expect to be lied to. *