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MoreSpaceEcho
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Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Wed Mar 19, 2008 1:53 pm

Wolfman Sack wrote: If you could even get a guy's attention it was something - they were too busy standing behind the counter comparing who had the hottest riffs - Malmsteen or fucking Vinnie Vincent, and flipping their golden locks around...
ok this isn't about GC but that reminds me of a time many many many years ago when i was down at the east coast music mall in southern connecticut somewhere. i wanted to check out some guitar preamp or another. went like this:

young mse: um, hi, could i maybe try out that xyz preamp?
golden locked salesdude: *wordlessly gets up from behind counter, sullenly connects preamp to power amp to speaker, turns everything on. grabs pointy headstocked guitar off wall. plugs in. dials in "bitchin tone". spends the next 5 minutes riffing and sweep arpeggiating like a madman.*
young mse: *waits patiently at first. starts shifting anxiously on feet. folds arms. rolls eyes. waits for break in steady stream of 16th notes.*

when the guy fucking FINALLY stops playing for 1 second, i say "that's great. do you think i could try it?" he makes eye contact with me for the first time, frowns even more than he already was, and grudgingly hands me the guitar.

i didn't buy anything.

jckinnick
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Post by jckinnick » Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:05 pm

I like American Musical Supply because they allow you to "make 3 payments of" without having to sign up for a credit card. For the best costumer service Sweetwater is tops they will even call you to see how your purchase was, plus they put candy in the packaging.

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Smitty
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Post by Smitty » Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:22 pm

jckinnick wrote:I like American Musical Supply because they allow you to "make 3 payments of" without having to sign up for a credit card. For the best costumer service Sweetwater is tops they will even call you to see how your purchase was, plus they put candy in the packaging.
was? hell, they call me to see when my next purchase will be. when i'm at work. repeatedly.
"I try to hate all my gear equally at all times to keep the balance of power in my favor." - Brad Sucks

MoreSpaceEcho
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Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:40 pm

the "personalized" emails from your sweetwater salesguy notifying you of the "special deals" are great too.

jckinnick
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Post by jckinnick » Thu Mar 20, 2008 3:29 pm

Usually I never answer the phone but the other day they called me 30 minutes after I bought something online maybe to catch me or something. They usually call me when I buy something just to make sure everything was ok but its never to the point of being annoying or anything.

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vvv
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Post by vvv » Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:33 am

Wolfman Sack wrote:
Not to mention getting a cord to try out an amp or guitar at the f'ing Guitar Center on Milwaukee in Chicago back in the day was like pulling teeth. If you could even get a guy's attention it was something - they were too busy standing behind the counter comparing who had the hottest riffs - Malmsteen or fucking Vinnie Vincent, and flipping their golden locks around.

Although that also happened at a high end Vintage Guitar emporium in Chicago that does a lot of "exchanging" (hint). I walked in there - a 30 year old - with $2K worth of gear money in my pocket ready to buy a vintage Tele. I was the only guy in there, found a guitar I wanted to try out, walked it up to the counter - and was unable to interrupt the deep discussion between two guys wearing "ironic" 70s sitcom T shirts arguing about feel vs. theory. I cleared my throat several times and started at the sides of their heads for more than a minute - including an "excuse me" - and they ignored me until they finished the argument. I laid the Tele on the counter, showed them the wad of cash I had on me, flipped them off, and walked out....

I'm keeping all of those scenarios in mind when it comes to customer service...
Ha!

I told a somewhat similar story about the new one near Midway, earlier in this thread, about walking out with my money unspent.

Then there was (is?) the Clark Street store that required earplugs at the door, not to mention a weapon to deal with the Dunkin' Donuts skateboarders hanging to the south and the junkies from the Alley hanging to the north. Although I did score a used Am.Stnd Tele for $350 and a used Pro,Jr. for $150, a new Sheraton2 for $350, etc., on various occasions...

What suburb?
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dsw
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Post by dsw » Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:49 am

re: the call back thing....some customers like it and some don't, but make no bones about it, the reason is to hopefully get you to buy more stuff, if not right then, later because you feel good about the original purchase.

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Jay Reynolds
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Post by Jay Reynolds » Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:01 pm

dsw wrote:re: the call back thing....some customers like it and some don't, but make no bones about it, the reason is to hopefully get you to buy more stuff, if not right then, later because you feel good about the original purchase.
There's a secondary reason to the call-back: not everyone is an experienced engineer. Sometimes the difference between an item staying with the customer or coming back as an open box return is that call (though usually it helps to wait until you're reasonbly certain that your customer has had time to install the item(s) they've purchased).
Another way to look at it is this: how would you feel about your $x.00 gear buy (where x=an amount of money that you would consider to be quite substantial) if you didn't get that call?
Prog out with your cog out.

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Jay Reynolds
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Post by Jay Reynolds » Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:13 pm

Smitty wrote:
jckinnick wrote:I like American Musical Supply because they allow you to "make 3 payments of" without having to sign up for a credit card. For the best costumer service Sweetwater is tops they will even call you to see how your purchase was, plus they put candy in the packaging.
was? hell, they call me to see when my next purchase will be. when i'm at work. repeatedly.
That's got to get old, tho. There's a difference between that and, say, calling to let you know that the mic you wanted to demo last time you were in the store is finally back in stock, or that we just bought a used MPC2000xl and I know you've been looking for one, or that the anual 90%-off insano-sale is Saturday from noon to 5pm sharp.
Prog out with your cog out.

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Jay Reynolds
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Post by Jay Reynolds » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:53 am

Go down to the photo gallery and look at 6 of 20 (or just read the article):
http://money.aol.com/creditdebt/article ... 0309990001

I guess eveyone who responded with "I-love-GC-I-have-a-buddy-there-and-I-get-things-near-cost" might want to get in there and invest some money. Though your prices might not be as sweet anymore.
To everyone else, remember Mars Music? That was nothing...
Prog out with your cog out.

Wolfman Sack
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Post by Wolfman Sack » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:49 pm

I don't want to announce what suburb I'm in yet because it's not too far from one of their compounds - and with their purchase of that educational music store chain (I forget the name of it now), the plan is to just appear one day with guns blazing and my s*** together and take as much market share as I can before they decide to respond.

If that seems overly paranoid, consider this - there was an article on the Drum Pad out in Palatine, Il in a recent issue of Music Trades where the owner discussed how GC researched the Drum Pad's stock and then offered blowout sales on their exact product line - and advertised it by sending employees to the Drum Pad's parking lot to put sale flyers under windshields of Drum Pad customers and selling the stuff at or below cost.

The owner got pissed and called over there and they played stupid about it - even though their flyers were scattered all over the neighborhood with their company name on it. Hard to argue you don't know anything about it.

Didn't make a dent though - that place takes care of their customers and they know their product. GC can never compete on that front. Dopes.

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Post by JdJ » Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:03 pm

I fell prey to the 30 day money back BS a number of years ago. It goes like this:

When I was around 20 (13 years ago... uggg...) I went into GC boston to see what they had for electric guitars. After playing a few junkers, I spy a custom shop Robben Ford hanging way up on the wall. The sales guy gets it down for me and I like it, but am hesitant to buy from a bunch of rubes. The sales guy gives me the "No worries man, 30 days money back no questions asked" bit and despite my trepidation, I give in. Played the guitar for a couple gigs, but I noticed a weird fretting out problem mid neck. I bring it in to a reliable guitar tech I know and he points out a nasty twist in the neck.

So I bring the guitar back to GC and the sales manager starts giving me a hard time about returning it. After insisting that I don't want to keep the guitar because it's damaged goods, he get all red-faced, starts shaking and says:

"Twisted neck? You don't know what you're talking about. You know what I think? I think you're just some kid making your first big purchase and you're too scared to go through with it."

I managed to maintain my composure (which was very difficult given this asshole's demeanor), told him he needed to calm down and that he would be returning my money per our arrangement. It took 4 weeks for a check to show up.

Haven't been in the place since.

F those guys!

-J

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Nick Sevilla
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Post by Nick Sevilla » Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:55 pm

Smitty wrote:
jckinnick wrote:I like American Musical Supply because they allow you to "make 3 payments of" without having to sign up for a credit card. For the best costumer service Sweetwater is tops they will even call you to see how your purchase was, plus they put candy in the packaging.
was? hell, they call me to see when my next purchase will be. when i'm at work. repeatedly.
I like Sweetwater, have used them since 2002.

I'd rather they do follow-up emails or calls, rather than nothing.

I have had one piece of gear that was defective, and they replaced it in 24 hours, no questions asked.

I dare GC to do that.

Cheers

AstroDan
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Post by AstroDan » Wed Mar 26, 2008 3:58 pm

The bad stories are anything I bought before I discovered eBay or catalogs. You know when infomercials put the outrageous retail price on something to contrast with the incredible offer they're providing? The local GC affiliates charged that retail and dumb country kids couldn't do anything about it until they installed electricity and the internet.

The good story was I saw this beautiful powder blue Highway I Tele a couple weeks back. The best playing guitar ever. I got a super great deal on it because it was relic'd during a robbery. Everyone must get a Highway 1 Telecaster.
"I have always tried to present myself as the type of person who enjoys watching dudes fight other dudes with iron claws."

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Post by RefD » Wed Mar 26, 2008 6:20 pm

JdJ wrote:I fell prey to the 30 day money back BS a number of years ago. It goes like this:

When I was around 20 (13 years ago... uggg...) I went into GC boston to see what they had for electric guitars. After playing a few junkers, I spy a custom shop Robben Ford hanging way up on the wall. The sales guy gets it down for me and I like it, but am hesitant to buy from a bunch of rubes. The sales guy gives me the "No worries man, 30 days money back no questions asked" bit and despite my trepidation, I give in. Played the guitar for a couple gigs, but I noticed a weird fretting out problem mid neck. I bring it in to a reliable guitar tech I know and he points out a nasty twist in the neck.

So I bring the guitar back to GC and the sales manager starts giving me a hard time about returning it. After insisting that I don't want to keep the guitar because it's damaged goods, he get all red-faced, starts shaking and says:

"Twisted neck? You don't know what you're talking about. You know what I think? I think you're just some kid making your first big purchase and you're too scared to go through with it."

I managed to maintain my composure (which was very difficult given this asshole's demeanor), told him he needed to calm down and that he would be returning my money per our arrangement. It took 4 weeks for a check to show up.

Haven't been in the place since.

F those guys!

-J
i had a similar experience buying an American-made Fender P-bass from them in '92.

in my case it wasn't a faulty instrument, but at the time they were saying they'd beat anyone's advertised price and a local shop was going out of business (cos of GC undercutting the locals to kill them off) and was blowing them out at something like $350 with case.

the GC sales guy tried to squirm his way out of it and sent the "manager" around to tell me to go fuck myself, but i had been having the conversation with them pretty loudly and there were plenty of witnesses.

so i got the bass w/case at $350 and no sales tax.

i also got the cold shoulder from that store for as long as that sales team was still in place...which was all of 9 months!

4 years later, i sold the lot for around $1100.
?What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.? -- Seneca

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