share your experiences with guitar center

[RP]

I've had mixed experiences at Guitar Center over the past 10 or so years; but in the end, it's just a store that sells musical stuff, not Mecca. I haven't been in Guitar Center in a number of years...

[llew]

The closest GC to me is about 25 miles away. Opened maybe 2 years ago or so. I went there once when I had to be up that way for another reason. Just another music store. Nothing really of interest to me...I see no reason to go back. That being said...they are probably not all created equal I'd guess?

[tinnitus]

Originally Posted by cip

...

1. 45 day return policy
2. 0% financing up to 48 months - thats 0% financing for 48 months. the advice 'if you cant afford to buy it outright dont finance it' is only relevant if youre paying interest. with guitar center its 0%.
3. huge used selection that also falls under the 0% financing, and also the 45 day return policy
4. huge selection
5. retail stores everywhere, if you do decide to return, you dont even have to pay shipping if there is a store close to you.

...

Just off the top of my head, those are some of the reasons I like "Guitarget" too (though I never had any need for their financing). Playing since 1970, I've frequented dozens of different brand music stores in various states, from high-end boutiques to rinky-dink one-offs. GC is the first place I look for gear, wherever I am. Probably because I know what I'll find there. While some GC stores are better than others in subtle ways, they all work for me.

To be fair, am I looking for a $5,000-10,000 guitar, amp, drum set or PA? No. I just want solidly constructed tools/toys that play well and sound good. GC sells pretty much everything that interests me.

Can you find numerous complaints about GC online? Of course - and all the other big ones as well. There are bound to be horror stories about any huge retailer (or their specific employees/policies), regardless of the product.

With many dozen purchases at GC since the mid-80s, I suppose it's possible that I might've ended up with an item was returned by somebody else. Everything I acquired there certainly passed my detailed inspection/test-drive. By the same token, I hope somebody's happy with a Marshall tube combo amp that I played for a couple weeks and returned for a full cash refund after I realized that I really liked only one of the three channels. It was something I never would've figured out in the showroom (short of playing 2-3 sets at club gig volume with my pedal board).

Performing in bar bands (sporadically) for half a century with a healthy budget for hobbies, I've found Guitar Centers everywhere to be consistently excellent.

[thestubbyone]

Originally Posted by fazool

You are angered that GC sent you an apparently returned guitar while you buy four guitars fully planning on returning three of them...... but you don't want a returned guitar yourself?

I think I see the problem.

Who said I was angered? I am more amused at the situation than anything. They have never ripped me off so I think quite highly of GC and their return policy which predates their corporate takeover. Just trying to see if others had similar experiences. Do you work for GC?

I got no problem with a returned guitar provided it is in the new condition that it was sold to the first buyer. In fact the last 2 guitars I bought and kept from GC were the ones on the wall that had been played many times by others because I knew what I was getting. But on returned guitars sometimes defects are not cleared. When I bought the 4 guitars, the associate who did the transaction knew me quite well and have had many conversations with him in the past. HIS comment was "lets see which ones of these are clear of defects". So he obviously knew what was going on. And yes, I bought 4 knowing that I would probably only keep one or two, but i made that clear to the store and they had no problem with it. The real problems are 1) those who abuse this process and return guitars with misuse 2) guitar center and its inability to deal with the defects.

Here's another example. returned the baritone guitar with the floating pickup loose in the guitar. No problem there. Before returning i noticed a used one in new condition on line but it was not labeled as a baritone but had same model number. Called selling store and they checked it out. Was sold to a new, young guitar who thought he was getting a regular acoustic guitar. Nothing in ad said baritone. So I asked the GC associate, your ad says the same thing still. Why dont you change the ad to reflect the baritone part of this guitar. He said "it was too difficult and time consuming to do. It had to go through corporate once an ad established and his store had no authority to change anything." Pretty strange.

But I dont want to disparage GC. Like I said, I buy all my guitars and equipment from them, never had a problem with returns, etc. If any small mom and pop store had same return policy I would buy from them. But the associates at GC are always pleasant, for the most part, and life goes on. I love their sound room where you can take a guitar off the wall and play it. Many years ago when I started going there, I would go over on rainy days and play these guitars that were 4 or 5 thousand dollars. They used to be all unlocked on the walls. Now they are all locked. But I would play in that room for hours expecting someone to kick me out. But nobody ever did. So I really got to like the place.

[thestubbyone]

Originally Posted by Sarhog

You’re making great progress cip. 4 days ago, you were a beginner guitar player. Whats your method?

Wow! the impersonality of the internet and deceptive practices abound.