BEWARE OF GUITAR CENTER

[stevecuss]

Scam? I don't think by any definition of the word scam, that this was a scam.

But I get why it was frustrating for you. they gave you their word and then, for a variety of reasons, couldn't keep it.

In contrast, I recently bought a used Gretsch electromatic with hard case from a GC several states away. I paid the extra $10 for 2 days shipping but they shipped it 5 day. I called, they immediately apologized and refunded all the shipping.

Guitar arrived. No case. I called and they refunded me the cost of a new case. The manager was apologetic and explained that sometimes the ad says 'case' but they don't have one. Sometimes they have one and it gets matched to another guitar. He's not sure what happened.

Inconvenient to make two calls and chase them for two of their mistakes, but I can hardly fault them for their swift action to make it right.

Sorry for your experience - it sounds like you got the raw end of a sometimes disorganized company.

Sweetwater is big, but highly organized. Cant say enough good about them. I'd order from them but they don't sell used instruments.

And the Gretsch sounds divine, thanks for asking. 5422T. Love it.

[Tony Burns]

I really cannot explain how or why that happened .
But being that this is the time of year these stores need to sell stuff -
you could try Sweetwater or another seller -you should be able to get the sale price but may not get the additional discount .
But you never know , maybe they may for the holiday season , you never know till you try .
Id say that this will happen for you and you'll get your dream guitar sooner than you think .
hope the rest of your holiday is merry !




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[Ralph124C41]

Originally Posted by stevecuss

Sweetwater is big, but highly organized. Cant say enough good about them. I'd order from them but they don't sell used instruments.

Huh??? Sweetwater certainly does sell used gear. Right now it lists 365 acoustics (58 Martins) and 893 electrics.

[M Sarad]

A few years ago the local GC was going to get me a Yamaha powered mixer. Promised me. Kept promising me.

Never got it. Never called me. No follow up.

[stevecuss]

Originally Posted by Ralph124C41

Huh??? Sweetwater certainly does sell used gear. Right now it lists 365 acoustics (58 Martins) and 893 electrics.

Whoa. Thanks, I had no idea. But I just checked and it only brings up 20 total used guitars for me. Wonder what I'm missing.

[hairpuller]

This is a big company and things do happen like this. I would bet that someone simply dropped the ball. Not sure where the idea of a scam comes from? They want your business, so possibly the salesperson made a promise that he couldn't keep.

That guitar is a pretty common model, so I'll bet one of AGF sponsors could get you a really good deal on one.

scott

[Doc Gallagher]

Originally Posted by Bear Davis

Definitely bad service, but the idea of financing 1500 bucks for 4 years made my head hurt... O.o

Best observation in this thread.

[DenverSteve]

Originally Posted by Bear Davis

Definitely bad service, but the idea of financing 1500 bucks for 4 years made my head hurt... O.o

Generally speaking, I would agree. However, upon second evaluation, if one was offered 0% financing for 2,3... years so one could buy something possibly out of reach or to simplify how much money may need to be removed from the bank at one time, financing, with no financial penalty, makes perfect sense.

[personatech]

Originally Posted by DenverSteve

Generally speaking, I would agree. However, upon second evaluation, if one was offered 0% financing for 2,3... years so one could buy something possibly out of reach or to simplify how much money may need to be removed from the bank at one time, financing, with no financial penalty, makes perfect sense.

Exactly. If, instead of taking the 0% deal, you pulled that $1500 out of savings, you'd end up losing whatever interest you otherwise would have earned.

[hairpuller]

Talk about penny pinchers!

[wguitar]

I would be checking what happened at the credit company, verify that they did indeed cancel your approval and ask them why. If you confirm this at least you'll know that you haven't been scammed. Companies hire a lot of temporary help this time of year and with the volume of sales, the probability of errors goes up. And if you have truly been scammed, you should address that quickly. Most likely it's just an error, and the credit company (a big bank) will be able to quickly sort this out for you. Good luck!

[wguitar]

FWIW - 0% financing is always a good deal -- as long as you get it all paid off before the loan period ends. I'm 65 years old, have done it with appliances and other things many times. Think about it this way -- it's essentially using the bank's money instead of yours. Just take time to understand the loan provisions and pay it off on time.

[dwasifar]

Originally Posted by epevets1

BEWARE OF GUITAR CENTER and their HOLIDAY SCAM – Well, I won’t be getting my new guitar this week. I was excited about the prospect of receiving it, but the scam artists at Guitar Center put a damper on that. On Wednesday, November 27 I visited GC to inquire about the a new a Martin 000-17e Black Smoke guitar. It was advertised for $1759 on sale, with 36 months zero interest financing. I told the salesman I had the same deal elsewhere for 48 months zero interest financing, and he responded that he could match that and offer me an additional 15 percent off the price when the black Friday coupon hit the internet. So I agreed. He signed me up for the financing, which was APPROVED, and made the deal. I’m not surprised it was approved as my credit score is well over 800. He said there were two in stock at the main warehouse, and it should be receiving it about Tuesday. On Friday I checked the account online. The order had been accepted but the guitar had not yet been shipped as I was told it would be. Upon further checking, there appeared to be something wrong with the order. I called the local store, and they said they could not help me. They said i had to call the main warehouse number. I called that number and got the same story – call the store. BTW – they told me there were NONE in stock and they wouldn’t have any until the end of february. So the next day, I called a manager at the local store. The manager there said he would look into it. A while later he called me back and asked me if I had cancelled the order, because that’s what he was coming up with. I said no, that was crazy. So he said he’d investigate further and call me the next day. He said it looked like the guitar would be coming wednesday. That call never came. Today (Wednesday) I received a call from ANOTHER local manager, this time telling me that the order had been cancelled by the credit card company. He said they did not approve the purchase – which HAD ALREADY BEEN APPROVED LAST WEDNESDAY!!. I know this is total bull because, as I said, my credit score is well above 800. In fact, I just verified that with the credit issuer. They told me they approved the charge on the 27th, it is not their practice to go back and reverse an approval, and that it was cancelled by Guitar Center

Paragraph breaks are your friend, OP.

[dwasifar]

Originally Posted by wguitar

FWIW - 0% financing is always a good deal -- as long as you get it all paid off before the loan period ends. I'm 65 years old, have done it with appliances and other things many times. Think about it this way -- it's essentially using the bank's money instead of yours. Just take time to understand the loan provisions and pay it off on time.

This.

They offer it because a) it's a nice draw for the retailer to make a sale and b) there will be a certain percentage of people who blow the payoff deadline for whatever reason and get dinged for all the interest back to the date of purchase. That's where they make their money.

It's one of those things that's designed to exploit the unwary. If you're not unwary, and take time to understand the deal, you get free use of someone else's money for a while.

[donlyn]

BEWARE OF GUITAR CENTER

Mayna Naysa

Don
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