Guitar Center was originally founded as the Organ Center in 1959 by Wayne Mitchell. The company changed its name to the Vox Center in 1964. As Rock n Roll became increasingly popular, the company again changed its name in the late 1960s to Guitar Center.
Originally founded in Hollywood, the chain quickly expanded to San Francisco, San Diego and several locations near Los Angeles.
In the late 1970s, Ray Scherr, the manager of the San Francisco store, purchased the company from Mitchell.
In 1997, Guitar Center went public.
In 2000, the company acquired Musician’s Friend.
In 2007, the company was acquired by Bain Capital.
Guitar Center is currently the largest chain of musical instrument stores in the world. The chain consists of 240 locations in the US.
Guitar Center
Guitar Center was originally founded as the Organ Center in 1959 by Wayne Mitchell. The company changed its name to the Vox Center in 1964. As Rock n Roll became increasingly popular, the company again changed its name in the late 1960s to Guitar Center.
Originally founded in Hollywood, the chain quickly expanded to San Francisco, San Diego and several locations near Los Angeles.
In the late 1970s, Ray Scherr, the manager of the San Francisco store, purchased the company from Mitchell.
History
In 1997, Guitar Center went public.
In 2000, the company acquired Musician’s Friend.
In 2007, the company was acquired by Bain Capital.
Guitar Center is currently the largest chain of musical instrument stores in the world. The chain consists of 240 locations in the US.
Your subsidiary Musicians Friend wants $80 for a bridge that goes on a guitar they sold me for $129 . That’s a RIP OFF as they sell all over the internet for $20 . As a result I asked for the string spacing on the Rogue LX 205b bass . The representative refused to give me that Specification . How can Your subsidiary Musicians Friend sell it’s own brand (Rogue ) but refuse to provide the specs on the bass.
Not a good company .
I have been having problems with the store in Colonial Commons in Harrisburg PA. We bought a mixing board for our son and also bought the extended warranty. One of the switches didn’t work so we took it back to the store. my husband and my son were there for 2 HOURS waiting for someone to figure out what they were going to do with it. We were told we would get a call later when it was fixed. A month went by and we heard nothing.We contact Guitar Center and no one knows where it is or what happened to it. We call back 2 weeks later because we were told again that someone would contact us and again, they never did. During that phone call we were told that they located it and it was at the place to be serviced. Again they tell us that they will call us back with more info. No call again. The manager Bobby who i have spoken to twice now told me he didn’t call me back cause he had no info for me. He also told me that he couldn’t give me any info because where it is being services they have weird hours. Poor customer service.I call again a week later and Bobby starts to tell me that it was sent to my house. I have not gotten any package. I had ask Bobby to please give the tracking number if it was sent and i have not gotten anything yet. I told Bobby he had 7 days to find out what is going on, if i did not hear from him i was calling corporate and the better business bureau. Today is day 7. No phone calls, no info and no mixing board. Lane is another manager who said he would get back to me and never did. This company has the poorest customer service I have ever had to deal with. Don’t lie to me. All I ask is that you honest. If you lost it just say so, make good for it and that’s that. Give us our money back or give me another one. I will never buy anything from this company again and I will tell others about my experience. The customer service sucks. It’s like they give you the run around in hopes that you will forget about it or just give up. I am not giving up and I won’t stop till I get my kids mixing board back or a refund. The company needs to invest in manager training and also customer service training. This is unacceptable. If you are thinking of buying something from this company and are looking at these reviews I would think twice. I know Amazon would give much better service then this company.
Last week my electric guitar was damaged in your Spring Meadows Toledo, Ohio. I have yet to get resolution. One of your corporate managers promised me a call Sunday. Today is Monday. NO CALL. I am looking for an answer.
Good Morning,
I am glad that I kept your information…. And this is my reason why?
Last September 2018
I Returned…. My “Damaged”…Martin 12 String Acoustic Guitar”…
to Guitar Center in Rockford….To be Repaired…
This is where I had purchased the Guitar & Extended Warranty
It had a small crack that was starting to get Bigger.
I asked how long to Fix …They said about (30) days.
To date …. My Guitar Has Not been Fixed..Or…Can’t be Fixed
The warranty Company 3 months ago…
Said that I would be receiving … A REFUND THAT WOULD BE CREDITED TO MY ACCOUNT
After (9) months … I still DON’T HAVE…. A FIXED GUITAR…. OR a REFUND or a Credit to my account.
Earlier this Year …I went to the Rockford Guitar Center to see what the HELL was going on ?/
They Told me that they would be giving me a REFUND …… I had been without my Guitar for (5) months and
I was Hoping that I could…Sort of SWAP OUT GUITARS…Instead of Crediting my account..
They said they Could Not Do That
So..I Purchased another 12 String Guitar … So I had a decent Guitar to play….
My experience with Rockford Guitar Center..And this Warranty …
Has been one of the WORST
BUSINESS EXPERIENCES OF MY 66 YEAR LIFE !!
THEREFORE …(Since you asked for my opinion)..
Normally ..,,,. I “Bite my Tongue” ..And try to do the “Christian Way”
I am Writing to you …Venting My Frustrations .
If you can Assist me in any way …PLEASE LET ME KNOW ??
If Not …
I am going to: TRASH Rockford GUITAR CENTER AND THIS WARRANTY COMPANY ! ..
…..Such as….Letters to Corporate and Social Media
I JUST WANT MY MONEY BACK ?? … NOW !!…and COMPENSATION …(Maybe my old guitar back??)..
IT’S ONLY BEEN ….(9),,,NINE MONTHS ..ARE YOU KIDDING ME ??/
Thanks FOR ASKING ?? …PLEASE ADVISE>>..If you can Help me in any way
Tom Hall
815-997-XXXX
PLEASE ADVISE>>…
Very disappointed with Guitar Center. I had a drum set on lay-a-way that cost $600. Approx. 2 weeks prior to the end of the lay-a-way period, the drum set went on sale for $500. I called Guitar Center to see if I can get credit for the $100 difference which I was told I could. When I went to the store to change to paper work for the $100 difference, I was told by the manager JOSH, that I would have to pay the full amount and take the drum set with me the same day if I wanted to take advantage of the sale price as the sale would end the day I was there. I was advised by JOSH I could not keep the drum set on lay-a-way nor can I have any item that was on sale on lay-a-way. He advised me that this was a corporate policy and he is just following the rules of the company. I called the corporate office at Guitar Center and I was advised that this is not a corporate policy and the each individual store can make that decision of placing items on lay-a-way whether they are on sale or not. I was advised by Guitar Center corporate office that it would make sense to continue to have my item on lay-a-way even if it were on sale as this would be good customer service.
I had advise the manager, JOSH that would need to buy other items to complete my drum set, including a seat, headphones, drum sticks, amplifier, an Ovation guitar with additional strings and drum lessons for my son but that didn’t seem to matter to him and continued to advise me that I could not keep my drum set on lay-a-way because it was a sale item.
The salesman, LOU, who assisted me in choosing the drum set and accessories was AWSOME!!!!! He was very knowledgeable and friendly and he took the time to listen to my questions and he made sure all my questions were answered.
Maybe this is a training issue for the store manager but I also noticed something when I called the corporate office at Guitar Center. The lady I spoke with, Kaisha, did not want to listen or take my complaint and advised me there is no one there to take my phone call. Kaisha’s demeaner was very similar to Josh at the store. This is not who you respond to customers who spend a large amount of money at stores like this. Will Guitar Center survive???
I am writing to inform you of the serious lack of service provided by your employees. This morning I contacted your store in Huston TX. to inquire about a guitar that was listed on your site. I was interested in buying a used Yamaha APX 500III that was listed as being available. The man I spoke to, “Jim” said that the guitar was listed as available but he was having trouble locating it in the store. He took my name and phone number and said he would locate it and get right back to me. I called him at 10:00 AM my time. That would be 11:00 AM Houston time. It is now 5:45 PM my time and I have not heard back from “Jim” yet. Now, If this were the only occasion of this happening I would think that it was just a slip of memory or perhaps a heavy work load. However, this exact same thing happened to me when I contacted your store in the Scranton, PA area a few months back. I asked a question on a particular guitar and was put on hold while the person sought the answer. After waiting on hold for 30 minutes I ran out of patience and ended the call. It is quite obvious that most of your employees are not eager to actually do their jobs and make sales. Perhaps if they were, Guitar Center would not be in the financial condition that it is in. I ran my own business for over 40 years and learned early on that disinterested employees are not worth keeping. Perhaps Guitar Center would be better of if it adopted the same attitude. SERVICE TO THE CUSTOMER IS IMPORTANT! However, you will not get the chance to provide better service to me as I will no longer be a Guitar Center customer.
J.J. Martin
4:43 PM (2 hours ago)
to guitarcenter-r.
I am contacting Guitar Center as directed by UPS as per “my choice” UPS says via email “package delivered,”. I am not nor have
I have ever been in possession of a package containing Tascam TH 300x headphones.Reference order number GC13127378.
Thank you,
JJ Martin
I’m writing this to warn people about the guitar center. I’ve been purchasing guitars and equipment from the guitar center for years and spent thousands and thousands of dollars. My wife does our bills and just told me that my guitar center card was charging me 29.99% interest rate. I didn’t believe it at first, but found out that it is indeed the case. We have plenty of credit cards and don’t pay anywhere near that amount of interest on any other card. It’s amazing to me that the guitar center would allow Synchrony bank to absolutely hammer their customers in such a way. I have never seen such a high interest rate and believe that this is the highest they can charge by law. I will never shop at the guitar center again and it is my opinion that the company simply doesn’t care about their customers. They can change credit card companies and put a stop to the high interest rates that are raping their customers, but they don’t. BEWARE !!!!!
Wow, I’ve read several of the comments here and it is difficult to find a positive one! Thre truth is, at a local level, I like Guitar Center, with one main exception: the manager. He is not a people person at all, has little to no respect for the employees and is a bad representative of what is supposed to be a successful company. I have come to know several of the employees here at the Charleston, SC store and they are quite pleasant and knowledgeable. Sadly, the one guy who was most knowledgeable and friendliest, and most professional, and guy named Brian, is now gone…because of frustrations coming from the manager. If your company keeps this up, allowing managers to ruin morale and strip you of great employees, you will soon NOT be the biggest music company in America.
I think you are forcing me to shop local…which is probably better anyway…
Guitar Center doesn’t care about customers. I have called several times, requesting to talk to a manager, to have corporate’s number, but it seems that they don’t care about their business and don’t care what I say or do.
On December 9th, I ordered a digital piano online with guitar center. The piano was damaged on the way. It had to be discarded. UPS took responsibility, and quickly email me, stating within 8 business days, they should pay for the damages directly to guitar center. I requested guitar center to have my money back or to resend a digital piano. They advise me to wait until they fully investigate the incident with UPS. I have called several times, and they keep requesting me to wait. I have placed a complaint online with customer service, in which up to this date, I have not get a response back. I told them, The credit card payment is due on the 18th of january, so they suggested I should make the first payment, and eventually they would refund the balance due. I requested to speak with manager, but refusing saying I would get a phone call. Last time I spoke over the phone with customer service on friday, january 6th, I requested corporate phone number, but they said that number is not disclose to people, and it was not available. They record all phone calls, so it is recorded they refused to give corporate phone number. It is already 30 days since this incident, and I have done everything within my power to try to have my money back. So now I am asking to please help me I have been patient, I have posted my complain online with guitar center corporate on yellow pages and on google, but they are not doing anything about my case.
I placed a complaint through bbb.org, on January 9th. On January 12th, Whitney said funds would be return 3-5 business days. I emailed Whitney about the refunds, but I have not yet received any response back. I have not yet received the funds. It is already January 18th, and I have not received any call from corporate, and the reason why, is because they just don’t care anymore.
Why continue to sell music instruments if they just don’t care about customer service?
After reading the complaints below , I see a pattern . Guitar Center really doesn’t care about customers or the service they deliver
I myself couldn’t even get waited on , spent well over a hour there to speak to someone for 2 minutes and leaves me and my wife just sitting there waiting for him to come back to wait on us like he said he would. Now here the kind of thinking they have , when letting Guitar center know I had a problem , they had the guy who , didn’t wait on me , call me and leave a MESSAGE . first off he is the last person I wanted to be connected with again Like I really wanted to talk to someone who left me waiting on him for forever and never came back Here is the real kicker , He was the manger , I didn’t know it at the time but HE WAS THE MANGER OF THE STORE
WHOEVER READS THIS PLEASE UNDERSTAND GUITAR CENTER HAS NO CUSTOMER SERVICE, IF YOU PICK UP A ITEM WALK TO THE COUNTER TO PAY FOR IT THEY’LL HELP YOU OTHER THAN THAT ,YOUR ON YOUR OWN AND YOU’LL PROBABLY BE WASTING A LOT YOUR TIME . TILL THEY FIX THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND DO SOME TRAINING ( STARTING WITH THEIR MANGERS ) IT’S A WASTE YOUR TIME , YOUR MONEY OR YOUR GAS .( WHO KNOW WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE IF YOU HAD A PROBLEM WITH A PURCHASE ) IF YOU WANT TO GO TO A PLACE WHERE THEY THINK THEY ARE DOING YOU A FAVOR BY SELLING YOU THEIR PRODUCT THEN BY ALL MEANS GO TO GUITAR CENTER , PEOPLE WONDER WHY OUR STORES ARE CLOSING ACROSS OUR COUNTRY , AND PEOPLE CHOOSE ORDER ON LINE , WELL HERE IS THE ANSWER I DON’T KNOW IF ANYONE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF GUITAR CENTER EVER TAKES TIME TO READ THESE COMPLAINTS ABOUT WHAT GOING ON IN THERE STORE , BUT IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR STORES OPEN AND FROM CLOSING IN THE NEAR FUTURE YOU MAY WANT TO START PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT’S GOING ON IN YOUR STORES , FACT IS I COULD OPEN UP A STORE OR FRANCHISE , ALL I’D HAVE TO DO IS TRAIN MY SALES PEOPLE IS HOW WORK WITH THE CUSTOMERS TO UNDERSTAND THEY ARE YOUR LIFE LINE AND YOU ARE THEIR TO HELP THEM MAKE THEIR PURCHASE THE BEST AVAILABLE .
WELL ANYWAY I WILL BUILT A NEW RAPPORT WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS A CLUE ABOUT CUSTOMERS SERVICE . HOPEFULLY THIS HELPS SOME ELSE AND IF YOU THINK THEY CARE JUST READ BELOW IT THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER , CUSTOMER SERVICE , AND NOW WE HAVE THE INTERNET AND PEOPLE WHO ARE LIKED MINDED WITH IN THE MUSICAL WORLD , THE WORD IS SPREADING
Never had so bad of an experience with a company in my life! I purchased two JBL Speakers on clearance ($859 each, normally about $2000 each) at the Guitar center in Allenpark MI. Paid for it over the phone. They told me it was new in a box, but later told me it was a floor model. I wasn’t happy they gave me the wrong information but went ahead and purchased it anyway since it was such a great price. They called me a couple days later and told me they were getting ready to ship them to me and wanted to make sure I knew they were demos. I tolded them to go ahead and ship them. Waited a few days and then, got an email stating they cancelled the order! When I called all upset about the situation, all they could tell me is they sold them to someone else. Seriously? They claimed someone slipped in right before me and bought them. However, that makes no sense. When, I called to order them a little before they closed, they had them available, the next morning as soon as they open, I called to finish the transaction, and they had them available. The sales guy called me, and told me they were getting ready to send them to me. Then all of the sudden, the sale goes to someone else. Sounds to me like someone who works there saw what a great deal it was and stole them away from me. Really? The manager would not come to the phone to talk to me. unbelievable. I probably will avoid guitar center from here on out! A company shouldn’t sell you something, even call you to tell you they are getting ready to ship it, and then turn around and sell it to someone else!
The top Asst. Manager not to smart. I live by the Johnson city 13790 store in upstate NY. He lost one of the stores best customers. I spent tons of time and money there. Why should they care. like I said, not to smart . Good going Mike.
I bought a guitar in 2015 for $1299 at the Attleboro MA store. I had expected it to be a 2015 but I found out from another guitar center store that it was made in 2012. Guitar center made the excuse that it may have been laying around the warehouse for 3 years. I don’t buy that. I also bought a Rumble 200 amplifier from the same Attleboro store. I got everything home and thought I had 200 watts. I later read on the fender website that I need a different cabinet to get the 200 watts out of it. It changes the impedance I think from 8 ohms to 4 ohms. You won’t see me at guitar center ever again. They didn’t do anything to help me. They just shrugged their shoulders. They could have given me a 2016 precision bass.
Guitar Center is a joke period, they allow employees to break in other employees cars, personal property, harrasment of the public and fail miserably to protect the public from current employees who wish to cause harm and malice. Does anyone expect them to seriously be concerned about any complaints on deffective, over priced, mis shipped orders, etc in regards to any merchandise or the volume of complaints? They don’t care, this company is a joke ran by a bunch of play boy idiots who cheat on their wives, lie to its customers, encourages hostile working environment, fails to seek immidate medical attention for their employees, is a fear based company, no one can speak up for fear of losing their jobs, they lack morals, integrity, management sleeps with management, associates cheat on spouses, hell alot of them do..There’s so much vile acts against humanity within this company. Buy from someone else these people are cut throat stomp your soul and take your money like a wh**e and infect you with the worst case of gonorrhea one has ever encountered..For you faith base musicians and faith serving organizations they encourage adultery, women miscarry on the job and they make other associates take them to a hospital and write them up for leaving their job…Wait this is just the Kansas City Missouri Distribution center under a VP who had rumors of a Las Vegas buisness trip affair with a Co worker, again, just rumors but we all sure did watch those two kanoodle around in the warehouse with one another, everyone talks…We all watched and we all had the ya knows conversations…Disgraceful, embarrassing, The poor souls in management really don’t know how to handle any kind of issues really, their not trained properly nor are they educated in cases of abuser/ victim relations. What forms of mental, and emotional abuse is out there…Humiliation at its finest. Gotta love the KCDC lol right…They can’t control the damn warehouse, there’s all sorts of issues there and really how do any of you expect them to address your complaints.
Guitar Center had better start reading the posts on this site. The Guitar Center that I have bought hundreds of dollars worth of gear from is no more. Now it is like going into a thrift store with employees that don’t have a clue about the equipment and the entire store is a joke now. Done with shopping at Guitar Center.
Guitar Center credit card is 30% interest. THAT IS CRAZY. Going to start shopping elsewhere like on-line where they don’t rip you off with interest.
I was ripped off on a trade deal. I traded my high end guitar for another. I was given an offer of $1,300.00 for my guitar. I turned that down & said I would pay cash, I wouldnt sell my Martin for $1,300.00. The salesman said well you will get 10% more off because it is a trade. This made my trade worth $1,625.00. Not great but i felt ok with that.
When I was not happy with my new guitar & returned it after having it over the weekend, they said my guitar had been sold!
After arguing with the store manager & him being on the phone they gave ne $1,300.00.
I would never sell that guitar for $1,300.00! Now I don’t have my Martin & you guys stole it from me.
Your customer satisfaction policy is a joke! Noone came close to helping me feel better.
This was the worse deal in my life & i cant get over it & there is nothong I can do but warn other people. And I will be on a mission to steer people clear of GC! Sincerely, Tom Rubino
I ordered a used Warwick Streamer LX Pro Series with a hard case from your site. It cost $881 with shipping and taxes. Yesterday I received my package and eagerly opened it. The first thing I noticed, was that it was in a gig bag and not the case listed. I opened to find it was Warwicks entry level Rockbass, and the older version which is not as good as the current ones. It still had the GC price tag of $249 hanging off of it! I immediately called customer service and the man on the phone called over to the store. He was told they didn’t have that bass and hadn’t for some time and it must have been a website mistake. So why did the send me some cheap entry level bass that clearly wasn’t what I ordered? I had to drive 25 miles to return the bass to a Guitar Center store in Mesa. I am still waiting for my refund to process and I still don’t have a bass. I recently had major issues with Music 123 with them sending me 1 wrong cabinet and 1 that was more damaged than they advertised. My money was tied up for weeks between waiting to receive the product and then waiting for return product to be received by the vendor then wait for the refund to be processed! I bring up this incident because I was told Guitar Center, Musician’s Friend and Music123 are “sister” companies. I am amazed nothing other than taking back the product was offered or done for me. No coupons or gift certificates or even and offer to discount a product to match the botched deal. I have another $1300 of product on order from Guitar Center I hope it arrives as promised just wanted to point out declining customer service these days and say that I now ask companies if they are affiliated with Musician’s Friend or Guitar center before I purchase.
IN the 60’s I shopped at the GC in H’Wood on Santa Monica …. while playing with Zappa, the Butterfly, Eric Burton, and doing studio work at ALL the studio’s in town…. this is 46 yrs. ago and have bought from them for those years….. BUT now this past year when I go there to purchase even a cord…. they run the place like the old bate & switch used car lot and TJ strip club, jive a$$ piss hole they think they can fool everybody giving the customer damaged instruments …. “just move it man ….. we don’t care if … just sell sell sell it ” the wise a$$ salesmen do NOT know a F#$KING thing about musical instruments they are just a sell the crap store ….. hustle it out man and F#$K the people
My father Bruce Morse, San Diego, CA 92119, ordered a guitar from Guitar Center in December of 2015. His credit card has now been charged twice and the order has been pushed back to ship three times now. First of all, why was the order charged twice, who is in charge of the orders at Guitar Center? Secondly, can you explain to me why the order has been pushed to ship from 1/5/2016 to 1/27/2016 to 2/9/2016?
i bought a yamaha MOXF6 ,which supposed to come with Cubase but sales man told me ,you just register your instrument with Cubase(Stienberg) u will be issued an activation code BUT it was a story.
i have been contacting them but no satisfactory answer.
I placed an order through my local GC on Sunday, 11-22-2015. My order, which was only available online, was shipped out the same day. On Tuesday, however, I discover the order was delivered to an incorrect address. I panicked and picked up the phone to call customer service at GC hoping to resolve. After nearly a 45 minute goose chase with a new customer care rep (I of course did not know this individual was new to the company at the time) who misled me to believe my item was delivered to my local GC store and who told me no manager on the floor would or could help me, I was finally connected to a manager who confirmed the item was not delivered to my local GC store and said the item was delivered to an address in a state I do not reside in by way of a UPS error. The manager then completed a return authorization for the item that was incorrectly shipped, and placed a new item for delivery to my home address. I requested expedited shipping and the manager agreed to do this because of the inconvenience. The manager assured me the item would be shipped out of their warehouse the same day (Tuesday) to ensure I would receive the item by Wednesday. Today is Wednesday evening. I have not received the item and much to my dismay, I have now discovered the order has not even been shipped despite the promises made. Another 30 minute conversation with GC customer care, moving up the chain of command looking for someone to help me, help a long time customer who has purchased an item last Sunday, funds taken out of my account, today is Wednesday evening and the item still hasn’t even been shipped out of the warehouse, all to conclude with a Nathan Horvath, who says he speaks for ALL management above him. His solution? “Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so the soonest the item can be shipped is Friday. Oh, and we’ll give you a $25 gift card for the inconvenience.” My answer? “Thanks but no thanks. Cancel the order.” Despite past dealings with GC, both good and bad, it is interesting to note, I as the consumer have had to call multiple times to track down a package, a package that was bought and paid for several days ago, a package that was delivered to an incorrect address in a state I don’t even live in, a package that was supposed to have been shipped yesterday per the promises of a manager, a package that still has not shipped. And to boot, no one at GC customer care seems to want to take any accountability and instead, looks to blame new management, whatever that means, and offer me a slap in the face, i.e. a $25 gift card. Really??
I have spent thousands at GC over the course of 15 years, and that ended yesterday.
A few weeks ago, I took my classical guitar (that I purchased from GC) to the location on 14th st in Manhattan to get strap locks installed. Rickey Baicher, the “lead technician” told me that he would throw in a free set up with the installation. Aware of the sensitivity of the instrument, I asked him to lower the action by sanding down the bridge (as apposed to tightening the truss rod). He confirmed this with me yet when I came to pick it up, not only did he not sand the bridge, he tightened the truss rod to a point that caused a brace to come loose in the body. I spent the next few days trying to ignore the fact that my guitar sounds like a kazoo every time I hit the G string. But after loosing enough sleep over the matter I decided to take it back in to have the damage (that was incurred by a GC employee) undone. From there I spent the next hour listening to GC employees telling me “I can’t hear the buzz” or “its fret buzz” or “its the humidity” and that even if there were damages, I would have to pay to have them repaired. PAY TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE DONE BY GUITAR CENTER. I’ve been playing guitar a long time. I know what fret buzz is. I also know what a loose brace is. I was mocked, humiliated, and without question ganged up on by four employees including a manager by the name of Jon.
Ultimately, I have come to a fairly simple conclusion. If you can not hear that buzz, you are not qualified to work with guitars. Guitar Center has standards equivalent to a junior high talent show.
I will no longer bring Guitar Center my business, and I will recommend that my friends take their business elsewhere.
I really don’t expect any feed back on this review! My experience today at your store located in Tucson, AZ. today 11/20/15 was typical of the last several experiences in past few months… I saw a Les Paul hanging, and was interested in it.. The price seem reasonable at $849.00 marked down.. The salesman told me it was marked down because the tuners where changed because Gibson was having so many problems with them, and it had some scratches on the top.. Everything else looked good to me so i said I’ll take it… When they went to ring it up their was a discrepancy with the serial No.# although the tag had all the information right about the guitar.. They called over the G. M. to override the price when the serial no.# was corrected.. She in return said she would have to call the district mgr. for approval… When she returned; she said the district mgr. said he could not “Honor!” the price!!! This is what I’ve been running into with this store, and as well with a lot of other musician friends of mine have ran into at this store! You have a bunch of kids working there that have no clue of what their doing or about music in general.. All of the people that used to be polite, and very knowledgeable about what their doing, and about music have left your employment!!! Why!!! It seems to me Guitar Center is just turning into a Wal-Mart for music!!! I have spent a lot of money, and have been very loyal to Guitar Center over the years… This has now stopped!!! I give up, don’t wish to purchase another item from your establishment any longer!!!
Sincerely, R F R
I would strongly recommend that anyone interested in signing up the GC gear card think twice. I recently applied and was approved. I purchased an item online and it was delivered to the Hallandale store in Miami. The day I went to pick up the item, I decided I didn’t want it after playing with the guitar. I returned on the spot. This was over a month ago. I have placed numerous phone calls to guitar center and their reps. They have some kind of issue giving back refunds to the GC gear card thru Synchrony Bank. I have a payment coming up for the card in which I technically should not have a balance on. I keep getting the run around every time I call and speak to someone. They all say it will be resolved soon. How long does it take to issue a refund back to your own company gear card? Over a month? That is unacceptable. Buyer beware. I still have no refund $520, and over a month of waiting. Guitar center is a complete joke.
I have been a loyal Guitar Center customer for 10+ years. If I needed any musical item, I would check their website first, and ended up usually making a purchase. That has all changed. I was interested in an Ernie Ball MusicMan Stingray bass and called a GC store in Kansas City. Spoke with Johnny who was really cool, but did not make the purchase at that time. Called two days later and spoke with the Manager (Johnny was out). I asked for a discount on the used bass and was told no. He would not lower the price $100.00 (the amount of the bass would have exceeded my credit limit on my GC card which is why I asked for a discount). I ended the call and called the store in Houston and was basically laughed at over the phone, after asking for the same. I have since paid off my gear card balance, and shredded the gear card. Guitar Center sucks. I NO LONGER will do business with them. I have spent thousands of dollars with them over the years. The same goes with Musician’s Friend. And for the record, GC does mark down prices on used gear, regardless of what their “customer service” minions tell you through email. I hope that $100.00 was well worth it.
Thank you for the opportunity , I strongly suggest you not have any of your employees that have never used or hooked up an electronic drum set stay far away from them. My complete setup is only a few months old and the only reason I want to sell it is because of my knee surgery. I was upset when I bring in a working set and no one in there knows how to use or hookup properly. I brought you the set for the second time spent almost 2 hours watching your drum techs or whatever you call them destroy my set. I brought it home connected it the correct way, everything works perfect except now the kick drum trigger is not working and upon the employee that stated he knew nothing about electronic drums not only didn’t listen when I told him not to hit anything until it fully booted or it would mess up the calibration, he beat the hell out of everything. then I switched the first tom with the kick to check the DM10 module it worked perfect . I then took the Mylar head off the kick and found that there was a large rip/hole in the trigger pad. this was done by your heavy footed employee that knows nothing about electronic drum sets. Sorry to say you have lost a long time customer . I would suggest next time you keep the ones that know nothing away and the ones that have a slight clue, Just take there time instead of rushing and overlooking connection issues. there was a few reasons they got the sound that they did, I will not go any further but I’m certain that if you stretch the audio cables till they are getting ready to break the jack the sound just might be hindered.
I purchased headphones at your Springfield NJ store on the afternoon of June 13. I paid with a chase credit card. Within hours, I received a credit alert. My earlier transactions all were accounted for. It seems likely that you either have a data breach or an identity thief at your Springfield store. I will be filing a police report and speaking to the store manager tomorrow.
Over the last few years i have spent thousands of dollars from Guitar Center. I live in central and have made purchases in Indianapolis, Greenwood and St. Louis. Last night i had my worst shopping experience i have ever had.
i tried to purchase 2 guitars and a powered monitor from your Peoria ILL. store.. The salesman was rude and very condescending and treated me like i was his enemy. I had called earlier in the day and spoke with Ryan, he and i had reached an agreement with the approval of Meghan the store manager. I drove 90 miles one way and spent $35.00 in gas to have this different salesman call me a liar and treat me like i have never played a guitar before. I asked him for his name because he was not wearing a name tag and he told me it was none of my business, i asked him again and he said that if i said one more thing to him that he was gonna call the cops, he also stated to me that he did not need my business because he had plenty of customers.
The store assistant manager did nothing to intervene and let the guy continue to insult me. However he did call the store manager and let me speak to her.
i live in central Illinois, this incident happened Monday June 9th, 2015. There is much more that happened than what is stated above but it would take too long to tell you in a email
I want to add that my problem has been taken care of already and i wish to thank Ryan for his quick response….
Ive been to 6 or 7 different Guitar Center stores and have never had a problem with any of them..im not gonna let one bad apple spoil the bunch…
Dear, Mr., Darrell Webb and customer service Dept, Dennis Haffeman, Ron Japinga, Wayne Colwell, Michael Amkreutz
My true story and experience with the Guitar Center and staff in Palm Desert, CA.
On 05-25-2015 I went in to your store to shop for a banjo. In need to get back in to some type of music and to help pass time for me and as a way of self healing for my eyesight. As of at the beginning of May I lost my eyesight in my left eye and went through surgery at the beginning of May 2015. Still waiting to see if I will get my eye sight back as part of my everyday life? Time will tell. Anyway, the first person I met was a very nice young man by the name of Cody White. He was very patient, helpful and knowledgeable. So I bought a Washburn B-8 Banjo Pak. I have always wanted to learn the Banjo, I love the sound of it and being from Kentucky, that is the bluegrass state. So with this pak it was supposed to have with it a gig bag which it did, along with pitch pipe,picks,instructional book,strap and life time warranty. So one week later when it shows up at store the only thing in the box was the banjo,gig bag and warranty. At first I was upset because I was told they would have to send it back. To get the items that it should have came with and printed on the box what it comes with. So I talked to management and they worked very hard to help me make this right. They were able to get me the left out items that the pak did not have. The only thing that I did not get was instructional book. I stated that I would be taking lessons at the center and the manager stated I would get one with my classes. When I called to set up classes I was told that I would be charged for a lesson book I do not feel that this is right??? I also want to say thank you to the management staff for stepping up to the plate to do the right thing. Why the stuff was not in the pak I do not know the answer to that it seems everyone wanted blame someone else. But THANK YOU . Your team did a great job helping me and they all should be told about their hard work. . And for MR. Cody thank you for helping me and the good tip on the extra 3 year warranty plan that I did buy. I short I would like a response by mail and for this letter to be shared with MR. Darrell Webb I would like to hear from him. By mail and share this with you store staff in Palm Desert.
Thank you, for your great customer service. You went out of your way for a first time customer, Thank you.
Sincerely, David Brown.
I’ve been a GC customer for years. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on guitars, amps, Pa, Speakers etc. I called my local store (Fairfax, Va) the other day to inquire about adding some powered speakers to the system I purchased from GC. The live sound tech told me he didn’t know anything about the pa and speakers I had bought there (Yamaha powered mixer, JBL 2 way 15″ Speakers) He said he would have to look it up, but that he was too busy right now. It was 11am on a Monday. I told him I’m sure there’s no one standing in front of you at 11 am. I told him that it was employee’s like him that are putting guitar center out of business. I’ll spend my $2,000 elsewhere. Guitar Center just lost another faithful customer FOREVER. I will never spend another penny in there. I’m sure there’s another music store that would love to sell me $2,000 worth of powered speakers.
I have bought 2 guitars, 2 amps and countless other items from Guitar Center. Some came damaged and had to be returned. On an order placed 2/22/15, one item was in their BLOWOUT SALE. It was a Fender guitar strap. I have already paid for the item , but they keep pushing back sending it. It is now advertised for $10.99 more than I paid for it. Today I got another email pushing it back after a manager assured me that he would take care of it on 4/21/15. He sent me a condescending email…..At no time did they ever state it was special order until today………………..DO NOT BUY FROM THESE GUYS… GO TO SWEETWATER…..much better service. I don’t think I will ever see it. Please read what the manager sent to me via email…..
That is how special orders work. The manufacturer sends it to us and the order is on backorder until we cancel the item off then replace with the actual item number, then it ships to you. It is in on its way from them, then when you receive the cancelled item email, that means it’s coming from us. The item I got you is not regularly available stock anymore, so that’s why we had to do a special order. You should be receiving it in less than 3 weeks.
Thanks for your patience, have a good day.
Matt Bennett
Team Lead 124
I read that the Guitar Center would meet or beat a deal from other music equipment dealers. I went to the Guitar Center store in Mobile Alabama to purchase a Yamaha DXG 650 digital piano. I told them about a package deal I saw on line from Kraft Music in Franklin Wisconsin.
This was what is included with the deal. This is from the Kraft web site ad.
• Yamaha DGX-650 Portable Grand Digital Piano – Black
The DGX-650 combines piano Voices, sampled from one of Yamaha’s finest grand pianos, with a keyboard that offers acoustic piano playability. Combined with auto-accompaniment and performance functions that give form to your musical inspirations, the DGX-650 gives you the freedom to perform in almost any musical genre. PHONE and USB ports (both TO HOST and TO DEVICE) and an AUX stereo mini-jack input lets you connect almost any external device to the DGX-650 for recording, data transfer and more! (sells separately for $799.99)
• Yamaha BB1 Black Furniture-Style Piano Bench
This classic black bench is made from a durable, quality wood construction. The design offers a thick, padded seat to provide comfort for hours of play. It is a great addition to our Kraft Music exclusive BUNDLE. (sells separately for $99.99)
• Audio-Technica ATH-T22 Dynamic Stereo Headphones
One of the biggest benefits of owning this digital instrument is the ability to play, practice and compose quietly. Wearing headphones, you’ll make little noise to the outside world while you enjoy making music…even at 1 a.m. These stereo headphones feature outstanding sound quality and a comfortable, over-ear design. (sell separately for $39.99)
• DIY Keyboard Book – Learn to Play Anywhere & Anytime
With this comprehensive book, there are no limitations on how, when, or where you learn. This clear and easy-to-follow approach is your blueprint to playing right away. No teacher is necessary since lessons are simple to follow with corresponding video lessons and audio accompaniments. No prior musical knowledge is needed. Do it yourself! (sells separately for $7.95)
The Kraft Music exclusive Yamaha DGX-650 Portable Grand KEY ESSENTIALS BUNDLE provides you with the “key” components of a basic keyboard setup. This BUNDLE will be delivered to your door, and will include everything you need to get started with your new digital piano.
The total price was $799 delivered to me in Alabama.
I told the Manager at the Guitar Center store in Mobile that I would that I would get the Yamaha from them if they would include just the Bench and a pedal that they sell for $19.95. He could forget about the other items. The manager said he would not meet the deal from Kraft Music because did not know what they were offering. I think the Kraft web site ad is very clear.
The price match claim from the Guitar Center is a false claim!
GC is not the corporation or stores it used to be. It’s stock has been down graded to Junk Bond Status. The customer service is sparse, finding a sales associate with real product knowledge rare and turn over…
Remember Mars Music? GC will eventually suffer the same fate.
I was a loyal customer since 1996, still have the receipts totaling near $50,000.00 worth of purchases.
I recently tried to work out another package purchase deal and got better prices from merchants I’ve never even had a prior history or relationship with!
Bye Bye GC! Permanently!
My name is George C. and I’ve been a GC customer for years up until now. I was recently denied an opportunity to make good on a deal that was approved by a local GC manager before leaving for another job elsewhere. I was in the market for a Gibson R8 LP and one came in to the local store here in Raleigh NC back in August 2014. The Guitar Sales Manager at the time and I struck a deal, and when it came time to do the deal, he had departed GC as an employee for another line of work. The other Managers knew nothing of the deal, therefore I lost the opportunity to buy the Gibson R8 as promised. What kind of business that deals in purchases nearing $4000.00 to $5000.00 in one transaction does not communicate within the store itself. That although a manager is leaving, the purchase has been approved and the item belongs to the customer once the deal is completed, even after the former manger has left? And why was I told they would call this former manager and get back with me, but never did? How important are GC customers to GC?
12/27/14 PAID IN FULL FOR A GRETCH KIT TOLD I HAVE IN NEW STUDIO BY 01/19/15 TO THIS DAY NO DRUM KIT! 3 TIMES WE HAD PHOTO SHOOT AND HAD TO CANCEL AT 500.00 EACH = 1500.00 W H E R E IS THIS KIT ! AND WILL I BE COMP.. FOR THE WASTE OF TIME AND MONIES …….PERFORMING SINCE 1965 GUITAR CENTER HAS NO RESPECT EVEN FOR THOSE WHOME ARE POPULAR!
To the CEO ,CFO,COO,
THE OTHER DAY I WAS AT YOUR STORE GUITAR CENTER 111 OLD COUNTRY RD CARLE PLACE NY AFTER LOOKING AROUND FOR AWILE I DECIDED TO HAVE MY GIBSON 57 LES PAUL REISSUE WHICH I PURCHASED FROM GUITAR CENTER 11 YEARS AGO RESTRUNG THE STRINGS WERE ERNIE BALL SLINKYS 9S ,WITCH WERE 3.99 FINE THEN I WAS CHARGED 42 dollars WITH TAX JUST TO HAVE MY GUITAR RESTRUNG WHICH NORMALLY COST AROUND 12 dollars ANYWHERE ELSE I FEEL I GOT RIPPED OFF AND I DO MAKE ALOT OF PURCHASES AT GUITAR CENTERS WHICH I WILL NOT DO ANY MORE I WAS ADVISED THAT IT WOULD COST 35 dollars PLUS THE STRINGS BUT I ALSO THOUGHT HE WOULD POLISH THE NECK OR DO A LITTLE SETUP WHICH WOULD WARRENT THE 42 dollars AGIAN FRUSTRATED AND RIPPED OFF DON BELFIORE
For the last 3 days straight the website has shown an ec1000 new 599 see thru black cherry, I have emailed customer service each day trying to order this as the website wouldn’t let me, no responses, can someone please help me order this guitar at the price shown on your website?
just this past week after trading in some used amps and pedal boards to do a upgrade,i wanted to purchase the line6m13 listed on sale for 399.00 from 499.00.now because of a credit card mistake i made the salesman told me ‘no problem” just call me tomorrow with the info well put order through for you.following day as instructed i call back give the info needed to then be told theres a problem,now the price has gone back up to the reg 499.00,i told him that i was not spending a penny more and he already had my information written up as agreed upon,after calling him back 4-5 times being told non of the managers,nor district managers could do anything about this,that id have to contact corporate and file a complaint, and to please not mention his name to anyone and that his manager didnt want to give me any numbers to contact corporate even though his hands are tied !now with that while i have him on the phone i tell him how could the price have gone back up to list when its still showing the sale price on the website?? All of a sudden by a miracle hes able to get into the system and finish my order like nothing ever happened at the sale price of 399.00 and “they” must have changed the price over night somehow! I was and still am pissed off being treated like some ass that they trying to take advantage of . I would think the Paramus N.J store would do a much better job of customer service BEING THAT WITHOUT US THE CUSTOMERS YOUR OUT OF JOBS! whats the point of managers if they cant manage and take care of the people coming in spending there hard earned money. After i pick up my item this week i will no longer be spending my money in any of your stores.
To be fair I have to tell that after the big disappointment, dealing with the GC
in Park IL, I had a wonderful experience buying a guitar from the GC store in
Greesboro NC I talked with Charles B ( Chuck ) assistant manager, and I had
a real customer treat, he sent me pictures of the guitar I was interested, answered
all my questions kindly and, at the time to close the deal, he gave me a break with
the price, everything was a smooth and delightful experience.
In conclusion I realized that the bad customer treatment problem is not new
upper management policies, but just some GC employees with closed business minds.
So GC kudos for your good managers and assistant managers, and pay attention to
those that are NOT because they are destroying the good reputation of GC
After 3 years of buying instruments at the Corpus Christi Guitar Center (10 guitars a Fender Amp and a Yamaha keyboard) . I tried to buy one used guitar from the store in Park IL, I talked with the general Manager, ( Mike W ) and told my purchases history and
asked for a little break in a used guitar price tag $ 899.00, he said he could not
give me any, and the total price including Tax would be $ 987.00, I offered him
$975.00 and he said he preferred to wait and sell it in the future for the $987.00.
I could not believe that Mr. Mike W preferred to SAVE TWELVE dollars and really
upset a good regular customer in a transaction of this amount. I felt that I was
treated just like a number. I hope this is not the new way of Guitar Center to
treat customers, I believe a customer has to be value and a good customer rewarded.
I went to the Waco Texas store asking for a trade in value on my Cordoba GK studio guitar. The manager told me he would give me $150 and sale it for $250. He told me this price is based on lowest price he found on ebay. I asked if this was apples to apples, he told me it did not matter. I showed him the current guitar center used price for this same guitar. He stated that the GC site was most likely outdated. I told him it made no sense that they would sale this guitar in his store for $250 when all other guitar centers, about 7 around the US priced this used for around $450. I think this is a con job!
The Drum Off winner for my store (Southfield, MI) didn’t show up (injured?). No attempt was made to contact the runner up. No attempt was made to contact the second runner up (me) but I was there! I asked to play in there place. I was told the drum shop manager (Jake) that no such rule existed. He told me if the winner doesn’t show there is no alternative. He absolutely lied! It is more infuriating because the winner was a good friend of Jake (drum shop manager) and was dragged in because he didn’t really care if he played or not. I was lied to. They could have allowed me to compete. Here is a link to my drum off slot. What do you think? I don’t think I will waste any more time on this contest and I may take legal action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC6v2JepSR4
Stay after them ! Make it right, because GC’s are getting out of control. Their in store customer relations are horrible 70% of the time.
Guitar Center, along with it’s affiliate associated corporations such as Musicians Friend, as well as it’s parent Holding company, has been the supplier of products musicians use for a long, long time. The companies have completely overwhelmed the small time “mom & pop” music stores. Those small music stores which still exist are bullied by underhanded business tactics and company policy to overtake the music industry under the guise of affiliate corporate branding.
If an observant consumer of music equipment were to take a wide angle look at Guitar Center (originally called “Organ Center”, for a specific goal… to which I will not address here), those observant patrons may notice something strange, as I have.
If you look at the store, look at the inventory, the size and volume of products available in-store in your town, and then consider and come to some conclusions regarding the proportionate balance, or imbalance, such a reseller of musician oriented gear, compares to the demands of the musicians in which the town you know, you may see something that makes little sense. The town where my local GC store is located is nearly void of musicians, yet the store is enormous and packed with merchandise. How does a music store, with an in-store inventory of about one-hundred guitars on display, with more in the back storage, at an average price of about $500 U.S., stay in the business of selling guitars in an area void of music? The place has an estimated $50,000 inventory of guitars alone… and that is only considering the electric ones. Consider all of the drum sets, keyboards, speaker cabinets, amps, bass and other stringed instruments combined with the incredible selection of in-store available recording gear, and I cannot see how the place can possibly stay afloat in my local area where there really is no musical talent in enough number to justify the size of the store and the incredible selection of product inventory.
There is something fishy going on at Guitar Center.
I advise any GC patron to be vigilant with regard to purchase at Guitar Center… especially electronic items. Beware of any indication that equipment could have been tampered with, extra circuitry added in the form of one-way communication devices hidden inside. Be cautions regarding safety… there are certain stigma’s associated with musicians. Should a hidden communication device reveal that such stigma’s may be true for any particular consumer, that consumer then could experience an increase in personal grief while at home, or at a location or venue where grief can happen.
I learned the hard way. I advise vigilance with purchases at Guitar Center, and be weary of any purchase that has a strange explanation of why your purchase order may take extra time.
For me, the introduction of online shopping at competitive stores is a better, safer choice. It may take extra time due to shipping to shop this way, but for me it’s a better choice. With knowledge I have learned through observation, experience and subsequent grief, I urge all consumers of musical equipment to shop elsewhere.
Boycott the Monster… It’s the safe choice.
Peace to all.
StoneMan.
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: “Bruce Gibson”
Date: Jun 20, 2014 5:53 AM
Subject: Customer Service
To:
Cc:
To whom it may concern,
My name is Bruce Gibson, I recently purchased your Martin Custom x series twelve string guitar. To me buying a guitar is a very exciting,fun, personal experience and should be treated as so from your distributors.Although I realize this guitar isn’t the sale of the year, it still took me a while to save up $700.
And a customer big or small should be treated the same.
I was very dissappointed with the service of the guitar center here in Bakersfield Ca.93304. I went ahead and bought the guitar because I liked the way it played and sounded great. But I bought the guitar that was out on display,the salesperson didnt know what kind of wood it was he didnt even know there was a pickup inside of it,anyway I buy this thing and im waiting for him to bring out the paperwork and all he handed me was a receipt.No paperwork on how to take care of the guitar, no paperwork on the registration, no paperwork with the serial number or warranty information, no paperwork greeting me into the Martin family, no nothin.
Not even a dust rag to wipe it down with. I think that is the most unprofessional impersonal, and plain rude way to conduct business that I have ever experienced. I thought Martin was considered top quality reputable and highly respected line in the acoustic guitar industry.
I had a.very bad guitar purchasing experience, and I thought you should know about it.
Sincerely,
Bruce Gibson
I dont know why i put myself through the unpleasantness of doing business with Guitar Center. It supposed to be a Happy Experience buying new gear. But these folks sure know hoe ton take all that way with thier lies. I wanted to buy a pedal so i called the store in Orange, CA at the Block. Jarrett over there said thay YES we have that pedal in stock (1 left right) BUT he needed a credit card to hold it. Against my better judgement i did cause i really wanted this pedal for Saturday Nights gig. He said my card would not be charged and that he knew me and it was just a formality. Well he calls me back like 15 minutes later and says he made a mistake (after he said he had in hand) and that it was not there and someone must have stole it or … So i figured okay, this is typical GC fashion to lie to customers to get money any way they can. Well they did, big shock right that they charged My Card for $215.99. I called back Jarrett said whoops he made a mistake and would reverse it and he was sorry. This is about the 5th lie so far this JA keeps telling me. So I called the other local store too me in Fountain Valley and Luis put me on hold to go get the pedal (without me asking him too) and said he would hold it. So i went to that store to get it without incident. It is now 3 days later and the charge has gone from Pending to approved and the money has now been officially removed from my account. Tony, the store manager over there said that he would call Mall Security if i showed up there to try and get MY MONEY BACK. Kinda spineless right, right. And he lied to me too saying that the money would be put back. NOPE! Si on Monday i am calling the Attorney Generals office cause i have a college buddy over there and i am going to crawl up GC a** until it bleeds someone final pay check. Taking someones credit card information over the phone then taking monery out without consent is a major violation in so many ways. i am so sick of this company burning folks like me so they can keep there bottom line intact. (Tony said i cussed and he was offended) Well check this out. I AM NOT GOING AWAY A**HOLES TILL I GET MY MEASLY $215.99
BACK, GOT IT!!!!
All the music companies under the umbrella of Guitar Center are charging exorbitant and profit-making INTERNATIONAL “freight” charges to American Samoa 96799. American Samoa 96799, as the name indicates, became a US Territory in 1900. It is a DOMESTIC USPS shipping destination, and the USPS is the exclusive Mail Service to us here. We have enjoyed DOMESTIC USPS fees since its inception. Being an Island, we order everything we need and have been doing so for decades.
The fees Guitar Center and its subsidiaries charge for shipping to American Samoa 96799 are much higher than actual Domestic USPS Priority Mail fees, at times, close to 800% higher.
Guitar Center and subsidiaries are profiteering through hiked false freight fees and OVERCHARGING customers from American Samoa 96799.
I have written so many times about this and would like to be able to contact the main headquarters of Guitar Center about it, but probably to no avail. It is simply DISHONEST and CROOKED. I was a regular customer of Musician’s Friend since the early ’90s but ordering from them got harder and shipping shot through the roof when Guitar Center took over.
Now, American Samoa 96799 has been relegated to being an International shipping destination by Guitar Center, although the USPS says it is DOMESTIC. Guitar Center charges customers in American Samoa huge INTERNATIONAL Mail freight fees and sends the orders through much much cheaper DOMESTIC USPS PRIORITY mail to American Samoa 96799 (USPS Zone 8- US Mail delivery system).
I feel for the musicians in American Samoa who now have to pay more than double for instruments they want sent “overseas” by Guitar Center and cronies.
Shame on you. Is it blatant dishonest profiteering, or is it that Guitar Center simply doesn’t have a single corporate employee who has a clue?
To whoever cares if GC even does…..
I purchased $2,000 worth of equipment in the Williston VT. store a keyboard for my daughter an Ibanez electric and acoustic guitar and a Fender super champ amp. I very clearly told the salesman 3 time I did not want repair/replacement plans and he charged me for them anyway $300.00 worth and would not refund me. The Ibanez electric guitar had many problems bad frets ,neck, intonation, and GC did not want to return it to Ibanez they tried to fix it in 15minutes but failed…..I was told and I quote “Face it ….it’s not like you bought an American made Gibson”. REALLY is that hoe all GC stores treat their customers?…..I found another music store that returned my guitar to Ibanez and I am receiving a new one. Not to mention that this store has now become I new music store …..it is bigger and the salesmen know what they are talking about. Not like when I asked questions at GC and the said “I don’t know”. Anyone reading this should find a family owned music store with salesmen who know what they are selling. At GC you will receive repair/replacement plans and pay for them if you want them or not. My advice is go ANYWHERE but Guitar Center. I will never step foot in there again. The new store I am going to will honor my purchased repair/replacement plans I did not want so they will get my business.
To Whom it May Concern,
I’m a law enforcement officer in Hillsborough County, Tampa, FL, and recently I placed an order for a guitar (my first guitar I have purchased from any Guitar Center(GC)).
I have always heard good things about GC, and that’s why I decided to go the GC route instead of an online dealer or Sam Ash (were I normally buy my guitars), but the way this order has been handled is just appalling to me.
My story is; I went into GC on 2-12-2014, and settled on a Duesenberg Starplayer iii, which I was advised by the store’s assistant manager (AM), was not on hand, but he could have it shipped to his store where I could then pick it up in a relatively short period of time. I decided to go with the purchase and utilized an online website for a price match (plus 10% of the difference). My payment was taken and I received a hardcopy receipt and an email verification of my order. I was told I would expect an email when the guitar arrived at the store and was ready to be picked up.
Five days pass, I hear no update, so I call the store to check on the status of the shipment. I was then advised by the same AM that the guitar hasn’t been shipped and they will now not honor the price I had purchased the guitar for. I advised the AM the guitar has already been purchased and I have the receipt and email verification accepting same on the part GC. The AM then advised he would call the store manager at the store that fulfilled the order (Cincinnati, Ohio) first thing tomorrow when he gets in (1pm), and call me back with the results.
The following day I received no phone call from the AM so at 6:45pm, I responded in person to the store and met with the same AM. The AM advised he had called but there was nothing the Cincinnati store would do, and there was a “glitch” in his GC online ordering system that allowed him to discount the guitar more than was allowed. I again advised the AM that the guitar had already been purchased at that price (receipt and email verification email in hand), and referenced GC’s own ‘Purchase Terms and Conditions’– “Guitar Center will indicate its acceptance of an order by acknowledging your order by reply email”. The AM again advised there was nothing he or his store manager could do. I advised the AM that I’m not happy with this outcome, and this will not go away until I have exhausted all avenues, or it is made right by GC.
I am amazed at how a music store powerhouse like GC can represent themselves so poorly. Trust me, I am a firm believer that mistakes happen, but make it right for the customer, especially when they did nothing wrong. I only hope that someone reading this can help out my situation, I’ve been told by too many GC representative directly/indirectly that there’s “nothing I can do”.
Regards,
A. F. Smith
email: districtXXXXX@verizon.net
My wife tried to surprise me by ordering me a Jackson guitar online to be shipped either to our local store, or to our home, and money was deducted from our account, but we did NOT get any order confirmation, and when we called, Guitar Center has NO order on record, but we have already been billed for it. We have tried contacting every department, and so far we are being told that we are basically out the money. and the bank cannot reverse the transaction until guitar center acknowledges the purchase. We will never order there again. This is just way too much money to just watch fly out the window with nothing to show for it. AND so far, it’s not being resolved, Guitar Center has stolen our money. we are not happy!
Every time for the last few months I’ve gone to buy, and for the most part I’ve didn’t get what I came for was not there or your salesman told me to travel to the other stores to get what I’ve either wanted or needed! For the most part you didn’t have and of the things that were on sale, and what I wanted and been wanting for to be on sale. never again will I shop at any of your stores for anything. and only in an emergency.
Glad to see the new GC being built in Pslm Springs. Finally a decent music store coming to town
Good luck with that, Paul….you’ll need it.
When will your store open in Lafayette,Louisiana? My son has applied online for a position
at your new store.AARON S. BROWN.Please consider him for a position at your new store.
Self taught Guitar player,writes music,co-writes music with other musicians,proficient in stringing,tuning guitar,hard worker,takes pride in his work.He has a lot of computer knowledge,schooling,hands on work on computers.Can diagnose problems with computers.
He has gone to a recording school in Ohio and has a certificate,music knowledge.
I KNOW he would be a asset to the Guitar Center in Lafayette,Louisiana in music,computer,
music recording knowledge.Thank You for your time and job consideration for my son.
I want to thank Jeff Paulson at the Brookfield, Wisconsin store for going above and beyond to help me with my Daisy Rock guitar. I took it in for a set up and restring cause it was buzzing and Jeff found out the neck was shot. I mentioned that I had purchased the extended warranty, but I thought the warranty ran about 2 weeks prior. Anyway, long story short, I will be getting an e-coupon for the price of the guitar from the warranty people (thanks to them too) and will use that for a new guitar. Thanks so much Jeff, I’ll never buy gear anywhere else, you’re the best! And I will definately
Would someone from the corporate office call me (650) 704-XXXXX regarding a recent situation in your Manhattan, NY Guitar Center on 14th Street.
Thank you very much! Rose
i have been buying guitars from your same acoustic guy in the atlanta store(access road). his name is jeff gann and from day one when i started playing again 20 years ago he has been the ultimate informed sales person–just recently he helped me with a new martin i was having trouble with. he and the team there resolved everything to my complete satisfaction, as always. i live 40 miles from jeffs location and i buy a fair number of expensive guitars, but it is always worth the drive
phil johnson jr rph
I just wanted to let you know how very satisfied I am with the customer service at your store in Lake Forest, specifically Jake Long the guitar manager and Greg the guitar tech there were super in helping me out with my purchase when there was a problem.
Usually we find people who just do as little as possible to get the job done. In this case over at the Lake Forest Guitar Center Jake and Greg over performed much to my delight. You have a great crew there and I just had to let you know.
I contacted Guitar Center corporate over a year ago about opening a store in Lafayette Louisiana. I was contacted by a lawyer at the firm and told to submit my idea to her and she would forward it to the proper department, which I did. I never heard back from anyone and I just found out that a Guitar Center is being built in Lafayette as I write this email. Could someone please contact me because I am very interested in managing this store and have been trying to get this store to come here for quite some time now.
Thank you !
Review the hottest selling Heavy Metal guitars. Guitar Center can increase market-share in this sector. These guitars a far less expensive then the euro versions selling at $3000 or higher. Contact us for specific data on these instruments.
Can you email me the name and email address of the person who is responsible for new product procurement? We have what is being called the holy grail of every recording artist, sound engineer and music producer since the beginning of recorded sound. It is a perfect match for guitar center as it appeals to artists, engineers, producers, live bands, DJs and VJs. It works on either end of the audio chain…live, recording or playback. It is a new patent pending product that no one else has currently and we want to show it to GC before anyone else. We are close by in Santa Monica and would love to set up a demonstration. Thank you for your time and consideration.
I was in the Guitar Center Store in Tallahassee, Florida on 8/29/13 and was treated extremely unfairly, in short…..a pamphlet was thrown at me and landed on the floor and I reached to pick it up and then the guitar key was thrown at me, causing me to be afraid of the employee of what he may have done next. I am very livid and am not satisfied with the way I was treated! I would like to be contacted by the executives of this business as soon as possible to be able to resolve the issue and employee conduct, as outlined in the Business /customer treatment Law. I can be reached at 850 228-1456. I will await to hear from you soon before pursuing further action against the store. I will discuss the details in length once contacted, but the above, is just in short of what transpired.
Thanks,
Susie West
I have been blocked from getting GC boss’ email addresses. Can anybody help me reach Jeremy Cole and Gene Joly no one will let you passed the call center, it seems they decide what to pass on and what not too. A little help….
Jeff Lucas
lucas4612@sbcglobal.net
Hello,
I am a reporter with The Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs, Calif., and I understand a Guitar Center store will be opening in Palm Desert, Calif., next spring. I have been trying to contact someone to confirm this and talk to me more about the store for a story.
I left a voice mail message with someone in media relations, Marie and I couldn’t catch the last name, saying I have a 2 p.m. deadline today. I still haven’t heard back.
Could someone from Guitar Center please contact me?
Thank you,
Sherry Barkas
The Desert Sun
760-778-4694
sherry.barkas@thedesertsun.com