No New Amp Day - A Story About Musician's Friend and Guitar Center

[CarolD]

I just watched Phil McKnight’s latest Know Your Gear episode. He just told the same exact story about Guitar Center. He bought an expensive NEW amp, and received a used/demo amp in a non-original box, minus the foot switch, power cord, and documentation. Who in their right mind at any GC store would think that a customer would find this acceptable??? He videoed the unboxing and notified the manufacturer and GC. I can’t wait to hear what response he gets!

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by CarolD

I just watched Phil McKnight’s latest Know Your Gear episode. He just told the same exact story about Guitar Center. He bought an expensive NEW amp, and received a used/demo amp in a non-original box, minus the foot switch, power cord, and documentation. Who in their right mind at any GC store would think that a customer would find this acceptable??? He videoed the unboxing and notified the manufacturer and GC. I can’t wait to hear what response he gets!

Hi Carol - I subscribe to Know Your Gear and saw the title of the video yesterday. I download the podcast of every KYG Q&A and then listen to it in the car so I'm probably a couple of weeks from listening to it. I will say that when I read the title I also though of the OP's post.

[CarolD]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Hi Carol - I subscribe to Know Your Gear and saw the title of the video yesterday. I download the podcast of every KYG Q&A and then listen to it in the car so I'm probably a couple of weeks from listening to it. I will say that when I read the title I also though of the OP's post.

Hey Dru! I love Phil! I know I’m getting an honest review with him and I learn a ton every episode. Since I’m primarily playing my PRS now, I appreciate him even more 😁.

Cheers!

[dnf777]

Never had anything but stellar customer service and new-in-box products from Sweetwater. When I have to online order, they are the only big box I’ll even consider for substantial purchases.

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by dnf777

Never had anything but stellar customer service and new-in-box products from Sweetwater. When I have to online order, they are the only big box I’ll even consider for substantial purchases.

Sweetwater sells all returned products as "demos." Here's what they're web page says:

What Makes a Product a "Demo"?
At Sweetwater, "Demo" usually means one of the following:

It spent some time on display in our store.
It was used in a sales training presentation.
It was returned by another customer who tried it out for a few days.
Every demo item we sell is certified to be in perfect working order and backed by Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ warranty. Demos are thoroughly inspected by our Factory-Authorized technicians, and you will find their detailed condition notes on the product page. If you have any questions, please call us at (800) 222-4700.

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by phcorrigan

Sweetwater sells all returned products as "demos." Here's what they're web page says:

What Makes a Product a "Demo"?
At Sweetwater, "Demo" usually means one of the following:

It spent some time on display in our store.
It was used in a sales training presentation.
It was returned by another customer who tried it out for a few days.
Every demo item we sell is certified to be in perfect working order and backed by Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ warranty. Demos are thoroughly inspected by our Factory-Authorized technicians, and you will find their detailed condition notes on the product page. If you have any questions, please call us at (800) 222-4700.

And Im perfectly fine with that. A “demo” does not carry the expectation of “new”. I actually tried to buy a demo guitar from SW, but my sales rep pulled it out of the warehouse, and politely refused to sell it to me as it was. Again, nothing but stellar customer service.

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by dnf777

And Im perfectly fine with that. A “demo” does not carry the expectation of “new”. I actually tried to but a demo guitar from SW, but my sales rep pulled it out of the warehouse, and politely refused to sell it to me as it was. Again, nothing but stellar customer service.

Exactly. I bought a demo G7th Heritage capo. There was a problem with alignment, so they sent me a pickup slip and cross-shipped a new one at the same price.

[jonfields45]

I've cracked the code.

If the MF website says in-stock and will arrive at a specific date, the product is in-stock at their wearhouse.

If the MF website says in-stock and most orders ship within a day, it's coming from a Guitar Center and could be a floor model.

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

I've cracked the code.

If the MF website says in-stock and will arrive at a specific date, the product is in-stock at their wearhouse.

If the MF website says in-stock and most orders ship within a day, it's coming from a Guitar Center and could be a floor model.

Here's my code while they play games - "My money stays in my pocket. You're killing retail."

Thanks for the eye-opener. I don't mind a returned guitar that has the stuff it should, warrantee, etc., but what they did in your case (and in many others', apparently) - selling floor/demo/returns w/o all the stuff as "new" - is not appropriate business practice. It's just fraud.

[jonfields45]

Well I checked with MF over the weekend and they assured me order #3 was backordered until new stock arrived.

This afternoon I got a notice from MF it shipped. Wow, nice. Then, since I have a UPS account, I get informed by them it is coming from GC Pittsburgh. So I call GC Pittsburgh, the same GC that called me before shipping me order #2 and let me cancel, and got the NEW ops guy who replaced the OLD ops guy who was laid off last week, and he immediately claims he's in over his head. Apparently I missed stopping the yet another open box shipment by 10 minutes.

So I call MF and ask them, maybe in less than my calmest most polite self, to reroute the shipment back to GC or MF, and enter a new order at the same price that is actually backordered to new stock. For a host of reasons he can't do a new order and turns this over to my "dedicated" sales agent who has gone home for the day. He does claim he can do the UPS reroute.

I'll keep you posted... BTW, MAP just went up $50 on the 68 Champ.

EDIT: Reroute did not happen. Being delivered today and I'll be sending it back.

EDIT EDIT: Got them to reroute today and it did not show up. 3 Strikes. Out???