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#16
08-15-2014, 05:51 PM
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A customer from Hades.
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#17
08-15-2014, 11:43 PM
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Amen Sdel
Aloha,
Amen Sdel. Eh GSM, next time ask Sweetwater for Stewart (the Brit). He's always been great with me (fast service to the Islands too). BTW, Sweetwater does provide so much more personal service than no-product-service Amazon, even though they aren't the cheapest or most price-flexible guys on the block. It depends on how much service you think an item will require whether you go with them or not. The information provided in the Sweetwater catalog alone is reason enough to pay an extra $45 for something, IMO. Perhaps their pro level service is not for everyone. But this pro here really likes Sweetwater. Good thread Jim72. alohachris Last edited by alohachris; 08-15-2014 at 11:51 PM.
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#18
08-16-2014, 04:29 AM
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Quote:
I purchased a Multi-track recorder from Sweetwater for $499, the same price most retailers advertised it for. It developed a serious problem after I had used it for almost two years and I called my Sweetwater sales representative who informed me he would check with thier service department and call me back shortly. Later the same day I received a call from their service manager who had already contacted the U.S. firm who did authorized repair work for the multi-track maker. He provided me with an RA and had me send it back to Sweetwater. I sent it the next day and it was returned to me a few weeks later with the problem professionally repaired. I'm glad I choose Sweetwater to purchase an item that "will never need service" to quote GSM. I'm pretty sure that an Amazon purchase would have resulted in the purchase of a very expensive doorstop in my case. The saying "You get what you pay for" was not true in my case. I got much more.
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#19
08-16-2014, 08:06 AM
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Quote:
 Hope he has great luck buying an acoustic guitar from Amazon next time! 
__________________
Mike My music: https://mikebirchmusic.bandcamp.com 2020 Taylor 324ceBE 2017 Taylor 114ce-N 2012 Taylor 310ce 2011 Fender CD140SCE Ibanez 12 string a/e 73(?) Epiphone 6830E 6 string 72 Fender Telecaster Epiphone Dot Studio Epiphone LP Jr Chinese Strat clone Kala baritone ukulele Seagull 'Merlin' Washburn Mandolin Luna 'tatoo' a/e ukulele antique banjolin Squire J bass
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#20
08-17-2014, 06:55 AM
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Quote:
I like Chris' response. Ask for someone else. Better yet, maybe the best thing to do here is forward this thread to Chuck Surack. The times I've communicated to him, he seems well intentioned and knows how to run a business. Maybe the sales rep needs a bit more training. That being said, the pack mentality that popped up here against GSM is pretty nasty and weird. Where's that coming from? Not at all what I'd expect from this forum. Maybe you guys need to step away from the computer. Go take a walk and get your heads on straight. I've only had 2-3 dealings with Sweetwater. They've been OK. One of their folks calls about every 6 months to see if I need anything. No big deal.
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#21
08-17-2014, 07:51 AM
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Ty, That's a bit harsh to lump response here into pack mentality.
I didn't "pile on", just offering my quite the opposite experience which saved me a fair amount of money so readers don't get a one-sided view of the customer experiance. Yes, anyone can have a bad purchasing experience, but it's a bit unfair to any retail establishment to assault their integrity on a public forum while announcing that you didn't even give the retailer a chance to correct the situation. I don't know if GSM recorded the actual phone conversation, but a transcription including quotation marks would imply that. My suspicions would be that the actual wording may have not gone down exactly like that, although it's certainly worded to make the sales rep look really bad. I agree that an e-mail to Chuck Surack may have been a better alternative.
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#22
08-17-2014, 08:23 AM
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Rudy,
Yes it is harsh. But that's exactly what I got from you guys - harsh! Chuck sent me a nice note back. He's on it. Regards, Ty
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#24
08-17-2014, 09:11 PM
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Rudy,
Did you slam GSM? If you did, I don't see it. So, no, but if you THINK you deserve it, it probably figures in somewhere else in your life?  Regards, Ty
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#25
08-19-2014, 06:35 AM
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Thanks Jim72, for starting the thread and for sharing your great feedback! We really appreciate that!
We also really appreciate the business and kind words from so many of our customers who have commented already. It's because of customer's like all of you and your great feedback that has allowed us to become who we are today! We will continue to work hard to exceed our customer's expectations. A special thanks to those for sharing this thread with Chuck! GSM, I'm sorry to hear that your experience wasn't like the others. We work really hard to make sure our customer's are completely satisfied, and your feedback is sincerely painful to hear!! I'm sorry that you were treated so poorly, and for the condition of the guitars. Rest assured we will follow up with everyone involved. We take feedback like this very seriously, and want to make this right for you. Please feel free call using my contact information below, or send me a PM so we can work to get things back on track! Justin Dunbar Director of Customer Service Sweetwater Inc. Phone: (800) 222-4700 x 1046 5501 US Highway 30 West Fort Wayne, IN 46818 [email protected] Quote:
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#26
08-19-2014, 08:18 AM
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like a bad blind date
Quote:
I live about an hour away from a shop that stocked what I ordered, so I went online for convenience, not necessarily price. The salesguy I've dealt with at GC is always willing to go lower than MAP, out the door, it's just my gas and time, and I was thinking less walk-in customers would be handling the guitar if I ordered it from the internet. With the GC salesman willing to go lower than Amazon, and eat the sales tax, I was just not used to being denied such a common request. My SW guy would NOT match the price, and went OFF on his rehearsed spiel no less than three times, after I repeatedly begged him to stop (politely too). It wasn't just a simple, "No, I'm sorry, I can't meet that price." and then going into the reasons ONCE, but the way he berated my loyalty to Amazon by beating his excuses into my ears. He kept implying I was an ignorant for shopping at an 'unauthorized dealer'. I actually felt like I had to defend Amazon. I said, "They've always treated me great. Amazon's 24 hour phone/chat/email support has always done right by me. If they aren't an "authorized dealer" as you say, their support system is probably better than the manufacturer's anyway, at least for me. I'm not scared." He kept going off about his "service" (he hasn't even called to check if everything was okay) and how it's worth soooo much of my hard-earned money. I could understand "service" from a ma-and-pop store, for a beginner, that might help them change a broken string, or even set-up, but a mail-order company can only offer phone support, even if things are shipped back and forth, there's only a phone connection (and e-mail) included with the extra shipping time waiting periods. You can't really point to something on the guitar in a face-to-face situation, or demonstrate a buzzing when you fret it a certain way, or something... My point is that mail-order "support" isn't as valuable as brick-and-mortor "support", though I've never needed "support" for any piece of gear I have ever acquired, ever. I don't think I'll start needing "support" now. It's worthless to me. The manufacturer's warranty is fine by me, and I've never had to use it, ever. I'll add the couple other things that would be considered "nit-picking" by the fanbois here. My OXMAE had two tiny dings in its back. It had a whitish (powdery) stripe across the back, and it looked discolored, but I was able to wipe it off. Both guitars were covered in greasy fingerprints and oils from people's hands. (as well as the loose wiring I mentioned earlier) My phone call with my SW rep (three days after placing the order online) ended with, "Are we going to be able to do business or what?! Can I please just have the order I originally placed now?" Dear Justin Dunbar, I compare this to a bad blind date. We just weren't compatible, and it didn't work out - no big whoop. I got what I wanted, then told my peers about how annoying it was to get her pants off, how she just wouldn't shut-up and kept talking about wanting a relationship. It was just a one-time thing for me. Don't hate the player, hate the game. There are plenty of fish (consumers) in the sea, just learn from this and find someone else. It's over. I'm done. Stop contacting/stalking me. You're just not my type. I didn't like the way you made me feel. I deserve better than this. I already have tons of other offers flooding my in-box for me to business with. I'm over it. Time to move on. You just aren't worth all the drama. First impressions stick, and no, you don't get a second chance to backpedal, feed me excuses and more apologies. I have every right to feel dissatisfied and voice my opinions, and you do too. It's what makes the world go 'round. What is off-track? I just expressed my disdain for how my purchase went down. How do you propose to "get things back on track"? Why does it need to be so private? You've responded on this public forum, and it's all on these pages now, so I propose we keep it this way. I feel more comfortable dealing with your company within the eyes of the public, so I don't get taken advantage of any more. Thanks. What could you possibly do for me? Apologize? You already did that. Yay. Now I know I'll get an apology after I receive your carelessly inspected gear, and dealing with a rude and pushy salesman. Yay. I'll pay more than other retailers, because sincere apologies are worth so much more than my dignity or unmolested gear. (sarcasm) Apologies aren't worth a red cent of my hard-earned money, thanks anyway. I'm sure you could offer a return, which involves me boxing and taping, then driving to the UPS store, etc. An entire ordeal that wouldn't be necessary if the guitar was inspected as promised (hence the reasoning I paid your higher prices). I know in the future to inspect gear myself, in a brick and mortar shop, pay less, and not have to write such lengthy documentaries about the negative experiences. I do not wish to jump through your hoops to achieve what should have been expedited originally. I'd have to do work for your mistakes, and lose precious petrol, time, and energy in my involvement to fix your mistakes. It's such a tedious hassle, and not what I was expecting when placing my order. Mostly, I don't have faith that a replacement would be any better. I'd be even more suspicious of your ulterior motives after this forum debacle - and probably end up with a worse example that what I started with. Apologies don't magically induce faith in your company - I don't know you, you don't know me - you're on Team SweetWater, while I'm not. I'm sure you have better things to do than deal with such a "rare occurrence" as this. It's got to be at least slightly annoying, and you have to work with my SW rep on the daily, while you'll never have to deal with me again. What other suggestions might you have to "get things back on track"? I'm only guessing here, because you haven't told me anything. A friendly conversation? Will we build a rapport and become besties? And where's my sale's guy in all of this? I haven't heard from him since our initial conversation. He's the one that toyed with me and initiated the bad taste in my mouth about SW, while his superiors come to his rescue, with words. Oh, your guitar is messed up? Here are some words, all better now? I don't see how any words would make me feel more positive about this experience for me, so I'm not worried about it. Good bye, SweetWater, I can't say it's been fun, but at least I got minez.
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#27
08-19-2014, 10:39 AM
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Thank you for you reply. I certainly understand your concerns and frustration. I completely agree with you that your conversation with your sales engineer was poor, especially since he made you feel like we were berating Amazon. They are the biggest online retailer in the world, so what they are doing is clearly working well. Quite frankly, the conversation should never have gotten to that point, and he should never have continued to push the issue. You mentioned in an earlier thread that you didn't want to talk to someone like that ever again, which is why the sales person hasn't tried to contact you again and why I wanted to jump in.
I'm happy to help in anyway that we can (beyond more than just apologies). I provided my contact information so that we could discuss this over the phone, as it can be hard to communicate in text only. Things can be misinterpreted, and text doesn't show the sincere concern we have for making this right. To answer your question "what could you possibly do for me," I'd be happy to have another guitar or guitars pulled and inspected personally. We would then offer to ship it out right away, and make arrangements for UPS or Fedex to pickup the damaged guitar, avoiding a trip to a store. If you would rather keep the guitars that you have and avoid the hassle of boxing them up etc, I can offer a discount/refund for the condition and inconvenience that you've gone through. On top of that, I'd also reassign your account to a different sales engineer to start things fresh. Bottom line, your service from Sweetwater was not acceptable, and we don't want you to walk away with a sour taste in your mouth. You do have every right to voice your opinions (we sincerely appreciate that you did, so that we have an opportunity to make this right and address what went wrong), and now it's time to try and turn things around and resolve this for you to your satisfaction because you do deserve better than this!
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#28
08-19-2014, 10:52 AM
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Justin, you're a class act!
GSM. What? You never made a mistake and wanted to make good on it? Glad I was never your girl friend. Regards, Ty Ford
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#29
08-19-2014, 01:00 PM
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Exactly the kinds of repsonse I expect to see from SW.
Professional, courteous and going 'above and beyond' to ensure customer satisfaction.From GSM's first post in this thread I have doubted the 'exact conversations' quoted and the fact that he would not contact SW after receiving the guitar with the supposed issues confirms all is not quite that straight forward.
__________________
Mike My music: https://mikebirchmusic.bandcamp.com 2020 Taylor 324ceBE 2017 Taylor 114ce-N 2012 Taylor 310ce 2011 Fender CD140SCE Ibanez 12 string a/e 73(?) Epiphone 6830E 6 string 72 Fender Telecaster Epiphone Dot Studio Epiphone LP Jr Chinese Strat clone Kala baritone ukulele Seagull 'Merlin' Washburn Mandolin Luna 'tatoo' a/e ukulele antique banjolin Squire J bass
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