guitar center locking up !

[wisedennis]

not really to us all, because

many of people that i know, stopped going to GC because of this policy.


Anti-thief lock may increase their profit margin, but it could also lower the sales/revenue, i would imagine.

[Rockguy475]

You know what’s more annoying then seeing a bunch of locked up guitars? Going to buy a guitar only to find out it has scratches and dings all over it because a bunch of people that don’t respect instruments go in to try a bunch of guitars that they can’t afford and don’t bother to treat them properly.

I see no issue at all with stores locking up their guitars. If you are serious about buying and let a sales person know they are going to let you try whatever you want.

[ragincajun]

It makes sense for them to lock them up. My local GCs have been locking them up for about a year now. That being said, as time goes by I realize I need to go to GC less and less.

[jnidoh]

Went to local GC two weeks ago on a Tuesday....they had just opened and young players were in school and the older ones were working or, if retired, not yet up and about. Had the place to myself and since I'm relatively new to guitar and not comfortable playing with an audience, looked forward to trying some of their better Martins, Taylors, etc. in peace and quiet.

Went into the backroom and, as previously mentioned, the lower priced ones were also lowest on the wall and easily accessible. The guitars I was interested in were not locked up, but high enough that even if I jumped, I doubt that I could have touched them. Went out and asked the young lady if she could help me and get them down. She asked me which one I wanted down and I explained that I was unable to read the model info on the tags and asked if they had a list of what was there. She left for a few minutes and came back and said she couldn't find a list but if I told her what one I wanted to try, she would get it down for me. Told her again that I couldn't read the tags and explained that I have a D-35 and a 314ce and wanted something a bit different but wouldn't know until I tried them. She looked at me and said, You have to let me know what one you want down. I have other things to do here and can't take them all down for you to try.

I thanked her for her time and left without even buying the strings that I wanted. Can't fault her since it was early and maybe she did have a lot to do or had other things on her mind. I also agree with GC for protecting their higher priced stock even if it is inconvenient at times. They are located two blocks from my mothers house so I'll probably visit them again and possibly get to try out a few nice guitars if they aren't too busy.

John

[Denny B]

Originally Posted by jnidoh

Went to local GC two weeks ago on a Tuesday....they had just opened and young players were in school and the older ones were working or, if retired, not yet up and about. Had the place to myself and since I'm relatively new to guitar and not comfortable playing with an audience, looked forward to trying some of their better Martins, Taylors, etc. in peace and quiet.

Went into the backroom and, as previously mentioned, the lower priced ones were also lowest on the wall and easily accessible. The guitars I was interested in were not locked up, but high enough that even if I jumped, I doubt that I could have touched them. Went out and asked the young lady if she could help me and get them down. She asked me which one I wanted down and I explained that I was unable to read the model info on the tags and asked if they had a list of what was there. She left for a few minutes and came back and said she couldn't find a list but if I told her what one I wanted to try, she would get it down for me. Told her again that I couldn't read the tags and explained that I have a D-35 and a 314ce and wanted something a bit different but wouldn't know until I tried them. She looked at me and said, You have to let me know what one you want down. I have other things to do here and can't take them all down for you to try.

I thanked her for her time and left without even buying the strings that I wanted. Can't fault her since it was early and maybe she did have a lot to do or had other things on her mind. I also agree with GC for protecting their higher priced stock even if it is inconvenient at times. They are located two blocks from my mothers house so I'll probably visit them again and possibly get to try out a few nice guitars if they aren't too busy.

John

I think I would have just replied *pointing*, "I'll start with that one right there..." and started trying out guitars...one at a time...

[BoneDigger]

Originally Posted by Denny B

I think I would have just replied *pointing*, "I'll start with that one right there..." and started trying out guitars...one at a time...

Agreed. How hard would it really be to just point at the one you want and when done, ask if you can now try that other one (again pointing). My local GC is like that. Just ask to play that brown one up there, pointing. They get a ladder and get it down. No problem.

[guitar344]

They might be worried someone might be overtuning the strings.

[Johny Tenthumbs]

I have seen people with absolutely no respect, banging around high end Martins and Gibsons or letting there children be careless with them. Most of the those displayed had dings and scratches.

In the end, it is the consumer that has the pay more because of devaluation of their inventory. That's how business works.

[bmoss02]

My local GC only locks up the guitars that are $2000 up. I just went there today. I guess theft is a problem their

[UncleJesse]

Originally Posted by Johny Tenthumbs

I have seen people with absolutely no respect, banging around high end Martins and Gibsons or letting there children be careless with them. Most of the those displayed had dings and scratches.

In the end, it is the consumer that has the pay more because of devaluation of their inventory. That's how business works.

Exactly. The only by me has a brand new d28 that is just out on a hook and last time I went it had tons of scratches above and below the sound hole. I guess eventually some low information buyer will probably purchase it (at full MAP).

[Mad Max]

I couldn't disagree more. I just noticed the locked hangers at my local Guitar Center a few months back when I bought my Guild. I went to that Guitar Center and played that same Guild a few times before I bought it. That guitar will probably be the last one I buy at Guitar Center because of the locked hangers.
Those guitars are all insured. If a Guitar Center burned to the ground, they wouldn't loose a dime. I had a store manager tell me that, straight up.
I've been going there since highschool and it was fun to go there and play stuff you couldn't afford and buy an Epiphone or a Squier. I was always respectful of the instruments. Kids grow up and they get jobs making more money. If I wasn't able to go there as a teenager and have good experiences, I would not have gone back in my twenties and dropped serious money in there.
I bought a Martin yesterday, you know where I got it? Not at Guitar Center. Maybe it's because I'm still young enough to remember my teens and early twenties, I don't know. But I wasn't some punk kid, just out to destroy stuff and neither were my friends. We had posters on our walls of our favorite bands and we dreamt about having guitars like their's someday and we could go play guitars like that at Guitar Center.

[JBCROTTY]

Originally Posted by L20A

That poor store doesn't have a chance with us.
We complain when the guitars have old strings and are all scratched up.
Now we complain that the guitars are not easy to access.

What do we really want from them?

I could not agree more. We can't go a week without someone hammering GC about something or another. I like GC because I understand their business model and primary client base. I also happen to think many of the kids working at the one nearest me (Lake Forest, CA) are genuinely helpful and well intentioned and have always been pleasant to talk to and knowledgeable.

However, by all means let's keep holding GC to unrealistic expectations for a large volume music retailer. And let's make sure we document every single instance of GC failing to live up to those unrealistic expectations.

[Tracerbullet]

Originally Posted by JBCROTTY

I could not agree more. We can't go a week without someone hammering GC about something or another. I like GC because I understand their business model and primary client base. I also happen to think many of the kids working at the one nearest me (Lake Forest, CA) are genuinely helpful and well intentioned and have always been pleasant to talk to and knowledgeable.

However, by all means let's keep holding GC to unrealistic expectations for a large volume music retailer. And let's make sure we document every single instance of GC failing to live up to those unrealistic expectations.

I’m with you. I like the one near me. People are always friendly and they are knowledgeable. Maybe because I’m a new player and I have no desire yet to purchase a multiple thousand dollar instrument, having the expensive ones looked and out of reach doesn’t bother me.
I’m also of the mindset if I am not going to buy it why would I play with it.i go in with a dollar amount that I am going to spend and those are the guitars I ask to play

[SpruceTop]

I've never had a problem with Guitar Centers, either my local store, or the one in New London, Connecticut. Want a better price than the one on the hang-tag? Just ask.

[RXMoore]

Originally Posted by JBCROTTY

I could not agree more. We can't go a week without someone hammering GC about something or another. I like GC because I understand their business model and primary client base. I also happen to think many of the kids working at the one nearest me (Lake Forest, CA) are genuinely helpful and well intentioned and have always been pleasant to talk to and knowledgeable.

However, by all means let's keep holding GC to unrealistic expectations for a large volume music retailer. And let's make sure we document every single instance of GC failing to live up to those unrealistic expectations.

I think maybe what's needed here is a "We Hate Guitar Center" sub-forum so everybody could pour the venom all over them in a more orderly, efficient manner.

Being old enough to remember a time when the words "customer service" had a very different meaning in this country, I think expectations is the key to the whole question. We are living in the retail environment that we ourselves have demanded, driven largely by price, so it's really hard for me to fault GC's business model. They can't afford to employ experts, so we get mostly kids who might not know as much as we do, especially if we've done our homework. They lock up their higher-end instruments because they'll have to take a markdown when someone buys a damaged guitar off their wall. They screw things up once in awhile, but my experience is that they will always make things right in the end.

I would love return to that time when you could go into a music store in any decent-sized town in American and talk to knowledgeable sales professionals while handling high-end guitars at your leisure. Those days are gone for most of us and they aren't coming back any time soon. I'm going to try to enjoy the shopping opportunities I have, even if it means having to ask someone to unlock a guitar for me now and again. If I get really nostalgic, it's only an hour and a half's drive to Elderly Instruments in Lansing.