Guitar'd Center - What would you do?

[dNA]

nothing wrong with being a snob. if having certain standards for yourself makes you a snob, then I'm proud to be a snob. I don't eat anything with high fructose corn syrup in it. And I don't drink cheap watered Amercian beer. and in turn i also don't shop at Guitar Center. I have perfectly good reasons for not partaking in those things and if somebody wants to call me a snob, that's not much of an argument.
GC is a commercial giant that markets to the lowest common denominator. They don't have to provide good service to stay in business, and they probably wouldn't make any more money if they did. I hardly think it's fair to blame anyone for making money when they know they can. But then, I don't believe in moral code - i believe people are accountable for themselves. As long as there are people keeping a place like GC in business, I can hardly blame the people at GC for doing what works for them. The mindless consumers who don't demand more of businesses are the root of the problem. Just like that guitar tech who isn't going to work hard, because working harder won't provide any reward for him; so is the Guitar Center not going to make any effort to provide better customer service because there's nothing in it for them.
Unless of course you want to argue that they would all feel better about themselves if they did their job better. but yeah... i'm not even gonna discuss that one

 

[dbw]

I really need some strings.  I tried going to Best Buy but they didn't have the ones I wanted.  I hate going to GC so much that I've been playing my Les Paul with 5 strings rather than descend into the belly of the beast.

Oh and hey guy who sits at the door of Guitar Center, fudge YOU, NO, YOU CAN'T "see your receipt real quick dude"...

 

[mayfly]

I really need some strings.  I tried going to Best Buy but they didn't have the ones I wanted.  I hate going to GC so much that I've been playing my Les Paul with 5 strings rather than descend into the belly of the beast.

You need to put in an order at http://www.stringitup.com/.  CB suggested them, and I've been a happy customer through many orders of many strings now.

 

[Superlizard]

I don't waste a dime or a minute of my time at GC.

I finally arrived here a few months ago.  When it takes 30 minutes to ring up one pickup (that they would "price match" but only from their instore computer and not my blackberry, which was accessing THEIR WEBSITE), or whatever else I'm buying every single time I go in there, I'd rather order it online and wait a couple days.  I'm not a snob, but their service is horrible, and I told their CEO as much in an email explaining why I was boycotting their business.  He offered me a coupon code for a discount.  My response, "Why would i want a percentage off of dogsh*t?  Fix the way your stores are run.  My life has a certain value, which unfortunately for you exceeds the level of service in your establishment."

Hate if you want, but I'm not a snob.  I actually took the time to explain to someone who matters why they lost my business.

-Mark

:icon_thumright:

Hey, there's no snobbery when it comes to choosing to give your hard-earned $$$ to a company that actually exhibits good customer service and fair prices,
instead of some franchise-styled mega-mart heap o' poo.  I call that being smart.  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Superlizard]

What the boss said?  He said that the FUN of being an instructor is pay enough, and that the money we received in our paychecks was not to compensate us for the job being done, it was to cover fuel and food to travel to the mountain!

Yeah, talk about someone trying to pull the wool over your eyes...  as if you're completely clueless.

I woulda told him to go F himself and his "FUN" for feeding me that line of utter BS.  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Dan025]

I would have followed her out of the store, filled in her, offered to do the job really cheap, and then sent her back in for a refund and to get her guitar out of there. No way I could sit there and let some guitar shop screw someone.

Every time I work on a guitar, mine or one of my students, they are always amazed that I do everything myself. The first thing I tell them is that a guitar shop, no matter which one you go to, is going to rip you. Even if they only charge 50 cents it's still free if you can do it yourself.
MULLY
Checking

i know your in japan so you may be spoiled by the service, do they not only let you play all the gear you want but tune every instrument for you before you play it and tweek the amp and pedal controls while you play in your area, i never got used to that, i felt important every time i went into a guitar shop over there.

but yeah i probably would have told the woman what kind of BS that was and offered my services or at least sent her to someone who wouldn't jerk her around.

 

[abandon_blink]

the "mom and pop" guitar shop by me sells guitars for like $100 cheaper than Guitar Center!

Suck on that GC!  :cool01:

 

[BigBeard]

What the boss said?  He said that the FUN of being an instructor is pay enough, and that the money we received in our paychecks was not to compensate us for the job being done, it was to cover fuel and food to travel to the mountain!

Yeah, talk about someone trying to pull the wool over your eyes...  as if you're completely clueless.

I woulda told him to go F himself and his "FUN" for feeding me that line of utter BS.  :icon_biggrin:

Well you said it.  Hence the reason I don't work there.

BTW I absolutely freakin love your signature!!!!!  Best forum signature I have ever seen!!!!!!

 

[-CB-]

If you ever, ever... want a new Gibson, just talk to Saul at Center City Music out in California.  Hole in the wall sells more Gibson than almost anyone.  And yes, he's their 3rd or 2nd biggest non-chain customer.  And he's good people too.

 

[Nightclub Dwight]

Not really relevant to this discussion, but +1 to not eating anything with high fructose corn syrup as mentioned by someone above.  I only put corn in my body if its still on the cob. That stuff will kill ya.

 

[dNA]

Not really relevant to this discussion, but +1 to not eating anything with high fructose corn syrup as mentioned by someone above.  I only put corn in my body if its still on the cob. That stuff will kill ya.

haha. thanks for the nod

 

[tubby.twins]

Not really relevant to this discussion, but +1 to not eating anything with high fructose corn syrup as mentioned by someone above.  I only put corn in my body if its still on the cob. That stuff will kill ya.

Not really relevant to this discussion, but I don't usually put the cob inside my body...  :toothy11:

 

[Nightclub Dwight]

As I wrote those words I was wondering how long it would take, and who it would be to make such a comment. I was almost certain it would happen. You know what I mean!  :doh:

 

[Patrick]

man you walked into that one  :laughing7:

 

[pabloman]

Corn poop is way better than corn syrup.
I hear all this GC sucks mumbo jumbo yet nobody can really back it up with any substantial evidence. Sure evryone has stories about some DB sales guy but nothing about GC itself. GC is owned by the people who own best buy so kinda pointless to shop there while boycotting GC. GC has done so much for the industry that most of you people don't even recognize. 80 bucks to install actives in a bass seems reasonable. If she was looking for random people to do work for her I'm sure she would just ask people randomly. By people demanding the lowest possible prices certain things need to be cut. The day of a knowledgable sales guy who cares are slipping away. It's all about the clerks now. People are so easy to just run to the internet for their orders. The intangible is the service after the sale. People have quit placing a value on that and all aspects of customer service. It amazes me how consumers won't give a sales guy any respect yet feel they deserve to have their backsides kissed.That sales guy still gets paid wether he kisses you, you kiss him or you go home and wait a week to get your gear cuase yoou ordered it from MF. GC owns them too.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I went to GC yesterday.  They had a pricelist posted of the shop work they do.  $40 for a pickup change.  If there were 2, I guess it's $80.

 

[Soylent]

Corn poop is way better than corn syrup.
I hear all this GC sucks mumbo jumbo yet nobody can really back it up with any substantial evidence. Sure evryone has stories about some DB sales guy but nothing about GC itself. GC is owned by the people who own best buy so kinda pointless to shop there while boycotting GC. GC has done so much for the industry that most of you people don't even recognize. 80 bucks to install actives in a bass seems reasonable. If she was looking for random people to do work for her I'm sure she would just ask people randomly. By people demanding the lowest possible prices certain things need to be cut. The day of a knowledgable sales guy who cares are slipping away. It's all about the clerks now. People are so easy to just run to the internet for their orders. The intangible is the service after the sale. People have quit placing a value on that and all aspects of customer service. It amazes me how consumers won't give a sales guy any respect yet feel they deserve to have their backsides kissed.That sales guy still gets paid wether he kisses you, you kiss him or you go home and wait a week to get your gear cuase yoou ordered it from MF. GC owns them too.

It's not a great place to shop.. you don't have to flip out over people not liking it man..  :dontknow:

 

[Mor Paul]

To be honest, I've never had a *bad* experience at Guitar Center. Sometimes I have to wait a bit before someone will ring up my order, I'm not fond of the name/address check, I've found merchandise on the floor that was defective/broken, and I'm not hugely fond of the receipt checks, but I don't avoid the place or actually think of it as hell.

 

[m4rk0]

but I don't avoid the place or actually think of it as hell.

Same here, except on Saturdays... with 50 Maxes trying to "shred" at the same time... might as well listen to 500 Vuvuzelas!

 

[Soylent]

but I don't avoid the place or actually think of it as hell.

Same here, except on Saturdays... with 50 Maxes trying to "shred" at the same time... might as well listen to 500 Vuvuzelas!

I know right? If there are maxes shredding, as it were, I usually run in, get whatever I came for (strings usually, sometimes picks..) and then run out.

I don't care for the place, but I also don't think of it as hell on this earth.. that's phoenix. (Hunter S. Thompson quote goes with that, but I'm not giving it to you.((Cuz I don't remember all of it.)))

Never the less.. if someone doesn't like it.. you don't have to get bent out of shape about it.. that's the beautify of opinion. I have mine, and you have yours.  ccasion14: