can anyone explain why it takes a minimum of 10 minutes, your phone number, address, company name etc to ring up anything there? i can think of at least a half dozen times i ran in to pick up a couple of drum heads or pairs of sticks, adapter cables whatever small purchase and been stuck in there for 30 minutes to an hour. what other retail store makes it that hard to pay for your shit and get out?
B&H Pro Audio and Video.
Need to get a ticket from a guy on the floor, take it to a counter to order it, go to a payment counter and then go to a collection point. Even for something as simple as a headphone adapter.
One of the Guitar Center employees in the recording section was telling me that he had a BA in record engineering and was telling me stories about how he was required to write down all of the settings and take photos of every setting of every channel of the console that they were using. He mentioned that they were using an SSL 9000. I jokingly made a comment like, "That's what total recall is for.", He then paused and drew a blank then I realized that he and all of the other employees around him thought that I was talking about the movie which is currently in theaters.
I dont know if I prefer a stupid that knows nothing or an arrogant "i m the king of the world"
I was working in an indie record and I wanted some stomp boxes to experiment with the band and replicate some of the POD sounds they were using.So i went to our something like Guitar Center.
I picked up some pedals and started testing them with a demo guitar.
Ok,I am not a guitar player,my thing is keyboards and piano.
The salesman came to me and started yelling, that he is one of the best guitar players on the area and cant hear all the newbies that come to the store and I should leave, do my homework,learn how to play and come back.
A&@holle!
He was fired couple of months later and I saw him working as a session in an awful hillbilly band.
A man takes what he deserves at the end...
Need to get a ticket from a guy on the floor, take it to a counter to order it, go to a payment counter and then go to a collection point. Even for something as simple as a headphone adapter.
I hate this! Took me almost 40 minutes to get a windjammer from them the other day...
-Mike
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"And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!"
I emailed GC for a price quote on $6500 list of gear. This is the Assistant Manager's response:
" The best promotion I've got for you is that if you use your Guitar Center Preferred Players Card for in store purchases between August 9th and 13th, you can get 18 months 0% interest financing (thats a year and a half!)"
Back when Mars was still around i would go into GC with a $2000 list, they would put it all together, id tell them i got $800, and they would take it!! those were the days!!
and i hate asking them a question then they go look up the item on the internet and read the specs to you. no terd, you d-bag!!!! i already did that!! im looking for some real world experience. learned my lesson about asking too many questions real quick.
Can I say Steve's music? This thread reminded me so much of that store...worst service ever. I've been going for this place for like 8 years with buddies and all that...and I just started to boycott them, for no direct incident...just tired of their attitude.
+ 10000000000000000
Steve's and Moog are absolutely HORRIBLE at customer service. I order everything online now.
One of the Guitar Center employees in the recording section was telling me that he had a BA in record engineering and was telling me stories about how he was required to write down all of the settings and take photos of every setting of every channel of the console that they were using. He mentioned that they were using an SSL 9000. I jokingly made a comment like, "That's what total recall is for.", He then paused and drew a blank then I realized that he and all of the other employees around him thought that I was talking about the movie which is currently in theaters.
Having worked on a 9000 J I found your post funny as hell!
This is my top 3 favorite threads. I always love seeing it pop back up.
54 pages later and Ill add my one experience.
It was with a guy I knew, he ended up working in "pro audio". We were in a rythm section together for a while and he actually used to know what he was talking about. I hadnt seen him in quite some time. Havent really seen him since but still consider him a friend. Soooo.....
I walk in and he goes all "pro audio" on me when I mentioned that I like older 70's-80's JBL's for monitors. He looked at me like I had eight heads and is like Duuuudddeeee GENELEX like Im a complete idiot. Never forgot it and how he said it with complete disgust with a sense that I was inferior to him. Ya ok bra... Its like the place infected his brain. He actually started out in audio before I did. Then its genelex! and my punk band bro.
On the other side of things... Guitar center ended up being one of the few reasons I got into Audio. This guy sold me (not said "friend") a sound module and a keyboard controller about 12 years ago... Came back and got "Cubasis" and a seasound D/A when they were going out of business, 24/96! for $200! Used that thing for years. Now here I am.
Wait maybe I should hate on them for that! I could have been a doctor !
I also was able to buy back a stolen guitar from them without having to have the cops get involved as I didnt want the person prosecuted. Just wanted my axe back. Its the one time giving them your address paid off as they had the serial number right there.
Really havent been there in years as just everything they carry in stock is just god awful stuff. I would scratch my head and wonder why I walked in the place. Its either horrible new amps or $4000 GRS guitars? Whaaa? Nothing in between? The synths used to be great to use and try out, wish and hope to save up for, or trade some gear in for. Now its non existent. I would be in the store at least once a month if they had some cool synths I could get my hands on. Having my hands on an Andromeda would be superb and Im sure Ill at least pick some stuff up on my way out the door !
Anywho. I've been accosted to be upsold on a capo. Im like dude just give me the $7 one and let me be on my way..... MONSTER CABLES!!! I still love that too... Are they still stocking the "Acoustic" one?
Nothing is quite as fun as when you go into a Guitar Center, find the miroKorg or whatever synth and program a sound and watching the employees be mystified from it.
However my local Guitar Center has been pretty good as far as not trying to cram sales down my throat. Never once had them try to sell me Monster cables.
Once I had asked if they had an 1/8 patch cable (for my Eurorack Modular) and they told me they didn't have any mono 1/8, and sure enough they didn't.
I remember the time the computer went out. I had went in to buy some rack screws and it to them almost 15 minutes to do the sell as they has to use an old-fashioned paper style receipt. And of course I didn't have any cash on me so I had to use my debit card.
Just last year I went into my local GC to try to find a "two into one" XLR cable to run two tom mics into one channel on my board, so when i walked into pro audio I was asked "could I help you", now normally I say "no" for obvious reasons and just find what im looking for myself, but being in a hurry is said "Im looking for a male to dual female XLR cable" and he looks at me weird and says " what are you trying to do" so i told him and he says "no, that wont work, what you need is a female to dual male cable", so I said "no, its a male to dual female" he continued to insist that wont work...he obviously has no idea what a female or male connectors are. Of course they didnt have what i needed anyway. I wonder how many people take their advice and end of with wrong equipment.
It's funny how people think someone who basically is making min wage in a corporate setting is going to be as knowledgeable and caring as some of you would think (especially if they're between 18-25 yrs of age). If they did know everything about engineering/producing do you really think they would be working at guitar center? come on. It's a shitty job...
I posted this in the other Guitar Center thread in The Moan Zone, but as a soul cleansing activity (I'm livid over it) I'm pasting it here as well. I know nobody knows me here, but please give me the benefit of the doubt and understand that I did not provoke this treatment or was rude to the sales people in any way whatsoever.
So, here it is:
To keep this (sorta) short I'll just tell the tale of my last visit to Guitar Center Hollywood, CA (which will undoubtedly be the last ever). I bought five packs of strings and some picks, went to the exit counter to have my receipt stamped, and the moment I was about to present my receipt I got cutoff by a salesmen from the drum department helping somebody with a much larger purchase (full drumset).
I told the girl at the counter that I was there first and she ignored me, so I walked by her with my receipt in hand (so everybody could see it) and headed for the door. Once she realized I wasn't intending to have my receipt stamped she said "Hey!". Finally grabbing her attention, I explained again what happened. She told me to get back in line, which at this point had four more people in it (the GC in Hollywood is really busy). I said "have a nice day" and opened the door and started to walk out, to which she replied "customers are first a**hole!".
Not only does this not make ANY sense, but it's simply unacceptable... for sooooo many reasons, but I've made my post long enough.
I posted this in the other Guitar Center thread in The Moan Zone, but as a soul cleansing activity (I'm livid over it) I'm pasting it here as well. I know nobody knows me here, but please give me the benefit of the doubt and understand that I did not provoke this treatment or was rude to the sales people in any way whatsoever.
So, here it is:
To keep this (sorta) short I'll just tell the tale of my last visit to Guitar Center Hollywood, CA (which will undoubtedly be the last ever). I bought five packs of strings and some picks, went to the exit counter to have my receipt stamped, and the moment I was about to present my receipt I got cutoff by a salesmen from the drum department helping somebody with a much larger purchase (full drumset).
I told the girl at the counter that I was there first and she ignored me, so I walked by her with my receipt in hand (so everybody could see it) and headed for the door. Once she realized I wasn't intending to have my receipt stamped she said "Hey!". Finally grabbing her attention, I explained again what happened. She told me to get back in line, which at this point had four more people in it (the GC in Hollywood is really busy). I said "have a nice day" and opened the door and started to walk out, to which she replied "customers are first a**hole!".
Not only does this not make ANY sense, but it's simply unacceptable... for sooooo many reasons, but I've made my post long enough.
Thanks for reading, I feel a little better now
Let me guess? Typical hipster type girl? Im soo going to stereotype but there are truths in that and hey its the intraweeb. its just sooo funny with them cause they think they are cool and get along with everyone and save puppies from shelters etc but they are all the most self centered I am great people out there... Tragic that they dont know that and are actually exactly what they claim they are not. Isnt it ironic, dont you think?
Make of this what you will, but Guitar Center is owned by Bain Capitol.
Yeah, that's right. Romney's Bain Capitol.
__________________
To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection.
-Henri Poincare
Really? I've been going to Steve's in Ottawa and haven't run into any issues.
Must be a Montreal thing...I went to Moog in Laval and they weren't as bad as the one in Montreal (which holds the record for most painful buys I've ever made in any kind of store).
Let me guess? Typical hipster type girl? Im soo going to stereotype but there are truths in that and hey its the intraweeb. its just sooo funny with them cause they think they are cool and get along with everyone and save puppies from shelters etc but they are all the most self centered I am great people out there... Tragic that they dont know that and are actually exactly what they claim they are not. Isnt it ironic, dont you think?
Just a reminder that this is a thread about Stupid Things You've Been Told at Guitar Center.
So, to keep on topic. I auditioned a Genelec 7071a subwoofer at the Hollywood store. The hastily constructed, cheap room was vibrating and resonating itself to pieces at the slightest push of volume. The salesdood said, "It really makes the room sing!"
This is a funny thread with lots of misconceptions. My experience is that almost any music store will have salespeople who don't completely know what they are talking about. Big deal. GC gets unfairly kicked in the nuts on this issue just because they are the biggest faceless corporate store on the block. If you are absolutely insistent on having a knowledgeable salesperson who knows as much as you do, then go to the most expensive family owned music store in your town, pay for the higher salaries of a more knowledgeable staff, and be happy.
Problem is the most expensive family run stores, certainly in my part of the UK, are more musical instrument shops - the archaic kind that sell sheet music stands and trumpet mouth pieces
There are a few great boutique shops but they have license restrictions so for anything brand new I have to go to a GC kind of store - it's not bad but not a place for getting advice
Problem is the most expensive family run stores, certainly in my part of the UK, are more musical instrument shops - the archaic kind that sell sheet music stands and trumpet mouth pieces
There are a few great boutique shops but they have license restrictions so for anything brand new I have to go to a GC kind of store - it's not bad but not a place for getting advice
The People have voted with their wallets and, for better or worse, low prices trump all other considerations.
The People have voted with their wallets and, for better or worse, low prices trump all other considerations.
The kind of people you get shopping in all three kinds of shop are different and GC crowd seem to be the young or the old. Starter guitar packs, boss pedals, grooveboxes and the odd 3K collectors reissue bling guitar are the order of the day and thinking about it you dont need that much knowledge to pitch at that level
Me: "I only need a two input interface..I do everything but vox and guitar virtually".
Him: "You should by this Presonus 8 channel interface, eventually you'll need them"
4 years later: never used more than 2 inputs.
Me: "I need to return this UNOPENED mic"
Him: "We can't do that, its against the law"
Me: "Can I talk to the manager"
Manager: "Here's your money"
I hate the people I work with... but I'm a college kid majoring in Audio Engineering... I need a job. I work with a particular young female who has THREE TIMES sold a customer a mixer with passive outputs who specifically said they needed a Powered mixer...believe me I know... but most of us are at least good at what we do. Would we all be working at GC if we were the best? no. But at least most of the people who work at GC can help beginners get on track. I apologize for the salesman who should be fired...thats despicable
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