does sweetwater know when to give up?

Jay Reynolds · Post by **Jay Reynolds** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 5:30 am

leigh wrote:
superaction80 wrote:3-The follow-up is a good thing, usually. I used to tell my guys to skip call-backs on accessories, unless they had a good relationship with the client or they knew from talking to the client that there maybe be issues with that particular transaction. But, Sweetwater doesn't have the luxury of that type of personal interaction with their clients.
Ironic, then, that they're the only company these days that, when I call, I have to wait to talk to my personal salesperson (let's call him "Brad") to put in an order. If I call and "Brad" isn't available, I have to leave my info and wait for "Brad" to call me back.

I stand corrected. But I'm curious. Does "Brad" follow up on sales under $100?

wrenhunter · Post by **wrenhunter** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 5:33 am

signorMars wrote: i had a few customers who were willing to spend 10-20% more to buy locally versus ordering on the internet

I'm always willing to pay more to support a truly local or indie store. My use of "local" above (i.e. non-web) was a dig at places like Guitar Center, where ordering from them actually subtracts value from the process (higher price, pay tax, they get your contact info, etc.).

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:39 am

wrenhunter wrote:I'm always willing to pay more to support a truly local or indie store.

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:45 am

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:
wrenhunter wrote:I'm always willing to pay more to support a truly local or indie store.

GC finally succeeding in wiping the last one out here 3 or 4 years ago.

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:59 am

yeah they wiped most of them out here too. mr music in allston survived.

on the "we can order it" thing....i remember somebody telling me about mark rubel...whenever he wanted some new fancy piece of gear, he would make a point of having his local music shop order it, rather than shopping around online for the cheapest price. as mark is on here occasionally maybe he'll chime in, but i thought this was really cool of him.

GooberNumber9 · Post by **GooberNumber9** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:01 am

I'm mixed on Sweetwater. I do find it a bit annoying to get a phone call when I'm just trying to order a cable or some earplugs online from a place that I know has free shipping.

On the other hand, when I've made some larger purchases I have had great experiences when I call them. On more than one occasion I've had a sales engineer explain to me in detail the differences between two different options, recommend a better option, or give me a great deal. Plus, free shipping and candy!

;ivlunsdystf · Post by **;ivlunsdystf** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:53 am

Here: If you still deal with Sweetwater, ask to be switched to Joseph Secu next time you place an order. He'll leave you alone even after you order something, as he has done for me (per my one-time polite request).

Joe, are you reading this? Joe FTW!

johane · Post by **johane** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:45 am

I was passing time and filled out one of those sweetwater competitions, wasn't really thinking so I typed in my mob number. 5 mins later I get a call from "let's call him Brad" - Hi I see you work on PT, do you need some upgrades?
Me: Possible depends on overseas shipping charges and the exchange rate....
Brad.......silence........

Don't think he realized I was in the UK. To be fair when he had collected himself we had a nice conversation and I'll be getting a quote from him along with the UK traders when I get my annual budget.

wrenhunter · Post by **wrenhunter** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:19 am

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:yeah they wiped most of them out here too. mr music in allston survived.

Mr. Music still cracks me up. But my friend went there to buy an acoustic last week.

Also, Cambridge Music. Plus a couple weird guys in basements, for vintage stuff.

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:38 am

where is there still a cambridge music? the one in back bay closed years ago. is there one in, erm, cambridge?

i don't get out much.

wrenhunter · Post by **wrenhunter** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:01 pm

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:where is there still a cambridge music? the one in back bay closed years ago. is there one in, erm, cambridge?

Yah, in Porter Square. There is also (praise coffee thread) a decent (indie) coffee shop in the mall across the street.

lyman · Post by **lyman** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:13 pm

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:yeah they wiped most of them out here too. mr music in allston survived.

that place is pretty cool. jay did some work on a couple of my guitars recently. ever been to boston guitar works (actually located in brockton)? good selection, lot's of 'boutique' amps/effects.

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:57 pm

didn't boston guitar works actually have a shop in boston for a brief while? like diagonally across the street from symphony hall? i remember going in there once and being impressed with the obscure pedals/rack stuff they had.

and then they were gone.

dubsymmetry · Post by **dubsymmetry** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:22 pm

I always wanted to support my local music store and bought most of my stuff there.. this store is quite big, they have a lot of pedals to try out and most of the guys working there have bands, you know the type.
but I soon realized that (with the exception of 1 really nice and competent guy) all of them are arrogant a%%holes.. they once sold me a pair of strings (a new brand that I wanted to try out) that was to short for my bass - I thought "you don?t have to dig up the exact length of these strings, it?s enough if you bring your bass to the store and the guy there will now if "long scale" is good for this gibson ripper", but no. and I went back there the following day asking about longer strings and he even wouldn?t give me a discount, allthough it was clear he sold me the wrong strings..
this and other stories I could tell made me think differently about supporting my local store.. whenever I buy some gear I call the shop and to see if they have it on stock and if they give me the same price I go there to pick it up.. else I order online - I?m not charity after all... they should have been nice to me in the first place.

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:20 pm

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:
mjau wrote:Should've seen that one coming from a mile off.
too easy!

hey remember like a million years ago when i said i was gonna send you some records? it's actually going to happen this week. really.

drawmer.

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