#31
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My experience is that -- if you purchase the guitar and have it shipped to your local GC -- you can just return it there with no return shipping charge. The guitar will then get resold from your local store, rather than shipped back to the original GC.
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#32
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"The real risk is not changing. I have to feel that I'm after something. If I make money, fine. But I'd rather be striving. It's the striving, man, it's that I want." - John Coltrane |
#33
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What I do ... and strongly suggest ... is to call the store and talk to a sales person. Recently I was shopping for a lower-cost Epiphone Masterbilt or a Martin and I called and got some surprises ... such as a "good" condition guitar with a surface crack and another with large grooves in the back of the fingerboard as if Godzilla was trying to play it. Of course, there is where the return policy helps you out. I take a page grab of the original ad always just to help me out.
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Martin X1-DE Epiphone AJ500MNS Alvarez AD30 Alvarez AD710 Alvarez RD20S Esteban American Legacy Rogue mandolin |
#34
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I've bought a lot of my guitars over the years from GC.
Heck, I bought my Froggy Bottom H-12 deluxe used from the local GC. I got it almost immediately after the prior owner had sold it to them & before all the weekend and lunchtime beaters got a chance to get their hands on it. I've had 2 guitars over the years that had minor issues upon arrival. Both guitars were purchased used from other stores and delivered to my house. After taking them to my local store, their 30 day no questions return policy worked like a charm. I like guitar center.
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2003 Froggy Bottom H-12 Deluxe 2019 Cordoba C-12 Cedar 2016 Godin acoustic archtop 2011 Godin Jazz model archtop |
#35
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Last edited by UncleJesse; 02-21-2020 at 07:27 AM. |
#36
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It has been a 45-day return policy for some time now AFAIK.
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Martin X1-DE Epiphone AJ500MNS Alvarez AD30 Alvarez AD710 Alvarez RD20S Esteban American Legacy Rogue mandolin |
#37
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This is why I have never bought a used guitar from GC, I never trusted their evaluation. And from a business model perspective, why would any business do a trade or buy a used item that is not in near perfect condition, aside from your usual nicks and dings?
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Some Martins |
#38
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Nothing more fun than boxing and returning a guitar!
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McCollum Grand Auditorum Euro Spruce/Brazilian PRS Hollowbody Spruce PRS SC58 Giffin Vikta Gibson Custom Shop ES 335 '59 Historic RI ‘91 Les Paul Standard ‘52 AVRI Tele - Richie Baxt build Fender American Deluxe Tele Fender Fat Strat |
#39
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However again there is that 45-day return policy. As for the selling of a used item in not near-perfect condition, I don't see your point as this is not pivotal I think in the general market ... look at any used car lot for example. I sometimes think of GC as having its own version of a giant car lot ... just guitars and music gear instead of Fords, Dodges and Yugos.
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Martin X1-DE Epiphone AJ500MNS Alvarez AD30 Alvarez AD710 Alvarez RD20S Esteban American Legacy Rogue mandolin |
#40
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I tried to follow the advice of others to call the store and inquire about condition over the phone. Twice. Each time I got shuffled around and never ended up getting anything. Seemed there was never anyone from the acoustic department available.
So on a Saturday morning back in December, I think it was, I saw a used Gibson fern mandolin listed for $4000. It was listed as in Great or Excellent condition. With GC's return policy, it was a no brainer. $4k for a Gibson fern is a steal. Bought it online. Debit card was charged. Never got any shipping info. Monday the status was changed to backorder. How do you backorder a used mandolin? So I called to see what the deal was. They said the mandolin sold in the store and the online listing was never taken down. I said then refund my money. It took over a week and multiple calls to get my money back. $4000 is a significant amount of money to have taken from your account for nothing in return. When this went on, I poked around google and other forums. Apparently, it's not uncommon for local store employees to buy the good deals right out from under the online customers who've already paid. |
#41
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I found a guitar I wanted, advertized as "alligator case included" on CG used gear a few weeks ago. I called the store and had the guy give me a description. He mentioned that it might have a fret that needs dressing but I figured, easy enough to cure, so I pulled the trigger and had it shipped to my local GC.
When we opened the box- surprise, no case. I thought, well it still looks nice and maybe they will discount for the missing case. I had the clerk look up the original listing and sure enough it said case included. As he was doing that, I tuned it up, and not until I had it to full pitch could I get a single note out of it that wasn't totally fretted out. I sighted up the neck and it looked straight enough but the saddle had been lowered to the point that the high E was touching the wood on the bridge. I passed it back to the clerk and showed him, and told him to credit me back for the purchase as it had too many problems. He gave me my money back, minus the shipping. I thought, that's cheesy, but he was not too bright so I wasn't going to argue with him over $22. Curious to know what went wrong, I called the store where the guitar came from and talked to someone in Used Gear and told him what happened. He looked up the listing and was surprised to see it listed with case, since he knew it had none. I started talking to him about the possibility of getting the guitar at a discount because of the issues. Then he looked up the guitar's history and found that it originally had come from another store and was returned because "the neck was warped" (which would explain someone trying to make radical adjustments to the saddle). And apparently whoever returned it kept the case since he knew it went out in one. I told him someone at his store misdiagnosed the buzzy fret problem and he said he was sorry and that his people are supposed to be trained in what to look for when evaluating guitars. He asked if I was refunded and I said all but shipping. He said since I returned it because it had undisclosed defects they should've refunded shipping as well, and he went ahead and credited me for that. It was relisted at the local GC for the same price, still says "alligator case included". I should drop by and see if they did anything to correct the saddle problem but I'm guessing not. Last edited by swampyankee; 02-21-2020 at 10:40 AM. |
#42
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Yes it's sometimes very hard to get somebody; I would say my batting average hovers around .300 to .400, so not great. Many times I get "Hey, I'm busy right now but give me your phone number and I promise to call you back the first moment I'm free." And then ... no call. Nothing. Try not to call on weekends or at lunch, dinner or at other busy times. Get the person's name so you can call and say, "John/Mary didn't call me back." etc. I found that is important. Sometimes I ask to speak directly to the store manager or department head when I am just ghosted by whomever I called ... I do this only after repeated attempts to get some information.
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Martin X1-DE Epiphone AJ500MNS Alvarez AD30 Alvarez AD710 Alvarez RD20S Esteban American Legacy Rogue mandolin |
#43
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#44
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RM ----------------------------------------------------- Taylor 856, Taylor GC7, Martin 00-28, Breedlove Oregon Concertina, Breedlove Jeff Bridges Signature, Guild JF55-12, Guild D212, Larrivee OM3, Eastman E20 OM, Farida OT22w, Cordoba Fusion 12 Orchestra, Blueridge BR-361, Pono 0-15 mango, Journey OF-660, Tanglewood TWJP parlor (Nashville tuned), Paul Reed Smith SE Custom. |