What is YOUR worst Music Store story?

[Zofarr]

This is very much inspired by events that recently happened to me.


We have all had bad experiences at Music Stores, I had a particularity frustrating one recently. I go into the local Schecter Dealer, a place where I have a been a few times before, to look at guitar and get some Picks and strings (Pitch black Dunlops FYI). Every time I have been in here, the sales rep has bombarded me with sales jargon, and information I already know. This time, however, was perhaps the worst.

The First thing he does he tell me about these Hellraiser's they have "Oh' I'm just here for strings" I say. "You really need to give this thing a try!" he then proceeds to get a cable, and plug the guitar in before I can say no thank you for a second time. I humor him and sit down to try it. I happened to be wearing my Pantera shirt at the time, and he launches into this. "Oh Pantera! this guitar has Active pickups, just like they're guitarist use's!" ( In case you don't know Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrel used passive Pickups, and has the notable handicap of being deceased...and thus no longer using any pickup.) I play it for a bit, and then get up to get my picks and strings.


I would like to add a Jeff Loomis Sig to the collection , as I have had a soft spot for them since they were released, so I ask what the cost would be. to my dismay, they said it would probably be just under $1600 CDN to get one in for me. I nearly shit myself and ask why.

He starts by giving me the sales speech about the HST (Harmonized Sales tax and how they also need to make some money, fair enough, but that doesn't account for the insane over-pricing, and I voice my opinion to such. The sales rep then has the unmitigated Gaul to tell me that they are the only Schecter Dealer in the area and I simply can't get it anywhere else and will have to pay that price. I was absolutely stunned I remained curtious , got my picks and strings and got the hell out of there.

I can tell there was a commission in it for him, and I have had similar experiences at bigger chains as well. Impossible to find a good happy sales rep these days.

Feels good to vent to ss.org, I know everyone has had similar incidents.

/rant

[3074326]

He pulled the "we're your only option" card? pfft, I'd never go back.

Salesman at GC kept playing Metallica songs on the guitar I wanted to try so I could buy it. I was highly annoyed. DUUUUDE I KNOW YOU CAN ....ING PLAY HARVESTER OF SORROW, AWESOME. I CAN TOO. LET ME ....ING PLAY IT NOW.

I've been fairly lucky when buying, honestly.

Either way, I get around it now by just getting a job at a guitar shop and buying shit straight from dealers. Now my worst music stories are about people who bring in shit to get appraised and get pissed off at me when their 57 Les Paul is actually a 2009 Chinese POS.

[Zofarr]

Originally Posted by 3074326

He pulled the "we're your only option" card? pfft, I'd never go back.

I was just as shocked as anyone, I almost did a verbal double take. I ended up just giving him this WTF look.

The plan is to avoid that place in the future, it has been hit or miss, I seem to remember going there one time in the long past and not dealing with this kind of crap.

I mean when you start telling someone about how nothing is as good as an OFR Floyd and all licensed and Specials are crap, you best make sure the guitar you are hold has a OFR and not a 1000.

I often wonder sometimes if I were just starting again at Guitar in general, what kind of crap I would have been sold...

[Ironbird]

There are just so many stories like yours, man. 99% of guitar stores flat out suck - which is why I never go to any. I do all my purchasing online!

By the way, my worst experience has to be this store we went to for the first time. This was in 2004, if my memory serves me right. So anyway, a buddy of mine and I went in to get a few things done to our guitars. This friend of mine had a Strat knockoff, which one of the store assistants immediately grabbed from his hands. Giving a patronising look, he then repeatedly kept saying to us 'this one needs Indonesia, this one needs Indonesia.' We were shocked and confused, at the same time.

The guy wanted to say 'intonation' but just couldn't say it right. His butthole colleague then appeared, and started asking us other strange questions eg. if we're taking guitar lessons. They then went on to say that they had the 'best guitar teacher' and that if we didn't take his classes, we were no better than village folk who knock away on their cheap plywood acoustics.

We never went back again.

[Zofarr]

Most stores are that way, I want an honest opinion not something told me with an alterior motive in play. We get enough of that from Politicians all I want to do is take my certain amount of money that day by day can be used to buy less and less, and get some music equipment.



That being said, we have all had people at music stores who have been just amazing to us and keep us coming back.

[Bigfan]

I have never had a problem with any local stores, and not the amazing GuitarGuitar in Newcastle either. Even Denmark Street's been alright

However, when I was in Oslo to catch the DT/Opeth tour I passed the time in a music store. EVERYTHING was close to twice as expensive as you'd see anywhere else. They had an EC-1000 in for 18000kr (~3000 dollars!) and lower-end ltd's for almost 2k $. The staff were nice, but still. Jeebus.

[drmosh]

you shouldn't even have bought strings and picks from them, ....s

[elrrek]

Arrives at a guitar store with an 800 GBP guitar that was hand made in the UK looking to do a trade. Store manager opens the case and says

"Well, what you have here is a budget guitar that's maybe worth about 50 pounds".

So, I left.

[wakjob]

Sold a Lab Series L5 2x12 combo for $50...I was so broke.

I miss that amp.

[cronux]

the thing i hate the most is not so much the service but the "instrument knowledge"... or lack of it...

[groverj3]

I'm always amused when I bring my SL2H in to try out an amp or something and the GC employees try to look for the serial # on the nonexistant neck plate .

Really though, the general lack of any knowledge about the instruments in the store (not knowing neck through from set neck, etc.) and usually being assholes leads to me not going there very often.

[drmosh]

No recent ones.
When I was younger (bit still making decent coin) some sales guy wouldn't let me try a pedal because I wouldn't be able to afford it anyway.
I bought it somewhere else

[lurgar]

Local music store quoted me LIST price on a DiMarzio pickup. When I asked about why it was so high, he launched into a big spiel about how if I didn't like the sound or if it wasn't what I was going after, he would help me get the right pickup free of charge. In other words, this is DiMarzio's standard pickup policy and he was acting like such a nice guy for taking the hit.

[Konfyouzd]

Every time I go to GC they just say: "A 7 string? Cool!!!"

[butterschnapps]

I was in Dubai just this past week. I went to a guitar store in the IBN Battuta mall, and the guitars there were completely uncared for and over priced. I was playing around with a few Schecters, then a few gibsons, all of them had rust on the strings and fretboards. I asked for a set of strings to re-string one of the schecters and the guy sitting at the counter had no idea what I was talking about, I asked about some of the semi-hollow bodied guitars there and he knew what semi-hollow meant. I understand that English isn't their first language, but most of the people at the mall spoke a fair amount of English, even the dude working in the virgin store with the guitars there knew and made fun of the dude in the guitar store.

[Kenji20022]

When I was 17, I had saved up a little under 2k from work in order to get my first high end guitar. At the time, I was really into the Fender American Deluxes and loved the way their Tele played. All I remember is asking this old prick if I could try it out, when I had the money in my bank to basically flat out buy it. This was at a local Sam Ash.

".... off kid, you're not here to buy anything"

Are you kidding me? I was 17, but I wasn't an idiot. I called the manager and told him that if he gives his workers the liberty of acting like the shop they work for is theirs then he's running a terrible shop and should fire this guy on the spot for even thinking of telling me to .... off. I told him, I got the money right here but I'm not buying shit from you.

Apparently he got a stern talking to and got demoted to like accessories or some shit like that, totally deserved. And now that a new Guitar Center just opened up, guess who transfered to the brand new shop? This same old asshole, and now whenever he sees me in there he has this pissed off look in his face.

When I worked retail, EVERY single day I had a smile on my face and gave the customer a pleasant experience. And I worked at a Whole Foods in Boca Raton for 2 and a half years, those are some stuck up snobby people but I never let that change that about me. I don't think an employee should represent a store if he or she "doesn't give a damn anymore".

[MrPepperoniNipples]

don't really have good ones. other than a Best Buy opened up with a music section (everything in there was utter garbage and the high end stuff was just ....ed every which way possible)

none of the employees knew anything about any of the equipment, on top of that

i went in one day just to quickly snag some strings and head back home.
i walk in and ask for some ernie ball 9's.

the guy asked 'huh?'

so i say again 9 gauge ernie ball

and he turned and pointed to the rainbow of ernie ball packs behind him and asked what color.

that's pretty much as interesting as it gets in Maryland.

[mr_rainmaker]

how about a local music store where you can`t touch anything...

[USMarine75]

I'll start by saying this is by no means a tragedy, but I'm just curious if this is a trend in high end stores, or if it's just me:

My wife had eye surgery so I went into the guitar store next door to kill time. They had a guitar I was interested in (Tyler Variax JT89) so I waited patiently to ask the clerk some questions, but he was busy chatting with some guy the entire time (~1 hr). No biggie, I needed to come back anyways.

When my wife had her follow up appointment I came back with the $1200 or so to buy the guitar. She came in with me. The same clerk was on the phone, so after patiently waiting I helped myself and played it. I was even nice and didnt crank it so I didn't interfere with his phone call. 45 minutes later I had decided to buy it pending a few tech questions. The dude was STILL on the phone and when I tried to make eye contact and wave to him (several times) he eventually turned his back to me and ignored me. I ended up leaving! 2 visits and no one ever said hello, goodbye, or offered to help?

I saw he had a guitar for sale on eBay and decided to give the store another chance. I called and asked if it was available and the guy gave me a highball retail price that was almost twice what it was currently at on eBay. When I politely mentioned that it was too high for me he said he already had a buyer and he promptly ended the call. So, he apparently wasn't even willing to negotiate with me even though he was selling via auction not BIN pricing. I sent him a polite follow up email saying if the buyer balked I'd be willing to buy it for a decent price (I made a fair/competitive offer). I even mentioned some other guitars I'm interested in if he comes across them and that I'd like to do business in the future. His only reply was "Guitar is sold".

I had a worse experience at another local "high end" store where they don't have prices on anything in the store. The clerk there was also on the phone the entire time and when I finally got his attention he had to get on his computer and look up the price on everything I was interested in. They were very shady... It was like dealing with a used car salesman WTF!? I refuse to go there ever again.

I wouldn't care, but these aren't GC type stores, they are supposedly high-end well respected sellers. WTF? As a former salesman I get really offended by people that claim to be salesman and suck at their craft. Sorry about the long email, but why does it seem like guitar stores seem to always have bad salesman/managers/owners. It seems to be the trend. Bottom line is be professional and have a good business plan. You can't claim to be "high end" just because you sell high end shit.

tl;dr... I'd rather deal with a young kid at GC that at least plays and is passionate about music, then some high-end audiophile tone-snob douchenozzle used car salesman.

[jon66]

Walk into local shop, have a peek around.

I ask the guy behind the counter (who is also the manager) "Hey, do you guys ever get any 7 strings in stock?"

He responds. "Seven strings? Nah, those were just a fad that Korn started like 10 years ago. Nobody uses those things anymore."

"Alright thanks."

I turned around and walked out and haven't been back to that shop since. He could've responded SOOO many different ways... But he didn't, and in the end his ignorance AND arrogance totally turned me off ever doing business with them again.

[RagtimeDandy]

Guitar Center....... them.
So last summer I finally can buy my PRS, the guitar I've wanted since I first played one around 5 years ago. They've got got a dead sexy green flame maple finish one and I played it and fell in love with the thing. So this being a redonkulously expensive guitar I don't want to .... it up setting it up for lowing tunings...that and I didn't have an Allen wrench small enough to adjust the bridge, so I gave GC's set up people a try. $75 dollars later and disturbing amounts of neck lubrication on my new baby, I come to find a brand new chip in the finish. Now there's two things you need to know. My PRS is an 08, and was a floor model. Truth be told I like floor models as they have a worn in feel, so that doesn't bother me. This thing had literally ONE small ding in it when I bought it (props to GC for actually maintaining the quality of this sucker). When I got it back it had a brand new, rather obvious one that's right in the area where the guy would be making adjustments. And honestly if the guy admitted to ....ing up, it wouldn't even bother me. I know shit happens, it's a guitar and it's going out into the world and finding things to smack against, I'm not gunna lock it up and never touch it. But come the .... on. When you dent someone's PRS you admit to it, you don't hide behind the "well it was a floor model lulz" argument.

And also about Guitar Center in general, I feel like their quality of service has spiraled down over the years. When I got my Ibanze back 3-4 years ago, their service was absolutely phenomenal and the people were incredibly chill. Now it's really hit or miss. I've gotten some people that are super cool and down to earth, and others are just the car salesmen type. Like one time I went in there to try an amp, and some punk ass turned literally everything up so when you turn the amp on it SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAMS. Some employee just comes up and goes "YEAH MAN TURN IT TO 11!!" In a complete smart ass tone. Yeah, don't even bother going "what the hell happened", just be a dick right off the bat. Stuff like that is actually the reason I bought an Agile instead of something from GC, I refuse to support those imbeciles if I can avoid it.

[ZEBOV]

I've never really had a bad experience at a music store. The issue I keep having is that they don't have the gear I'm in the market for. Granted, some of them are knowledgeable about the gear that I would use, but they just don't have it, especially basses.
However, my threshold for bad customer service is high, but none of my experiences at music stores were bad enough to even remotely piss me off, and my temper is instant.

[ArrowHead]

Worst experience:

Saw gear I wanted online. Went to the local store, because a friend was the manager and I felt bad. Asked if he could price match, he did. (but I still had to pay tax). Paid $650, took my receipt, and was told I'd get a call when it comes in. 3 weeks go by, so I go to the store. Not there yet. Another week. Not there yet. Finally I go in to see the manager after over a month (I think my final wait was 2 months). He called Alesis to see what happened - turns out the company wouldn't ship anything else to the store until the owner paid his bill, which he had neglected for a very long time.

The manager made a few calls, talked to a few people at Alesis and the owner of his store, and got it straightened out. But all that, and I could have just ordered it online for the same price, no tax, free delivery, and would have had my e-drums in 3-5 days, not months.



The Best: (this was around 1991-92)

When I was a teen, like most of you I bet, I used to haunt my local store. I not only went there for lesson, I used to ride my bike there after school and on weekends. I'd hang out, try gear, talk, and most importantly listen to all the stories and advice of all the old-timers coming through the store. I became so friendly with the owner I attended his wedding.

One night he asked me to stay late and close the store, and that he'd give me a ride home after. Instead of late, he started closing up early. Soon people started arriving and knocking at the door. The owner let them in, and started pulling out a giant drumkit they had in the store and setting up cymbals. The other guys started setting up guitars, amps, and the PA. The final straw? Jack (the owner) pulls a cold 6 pack out of the fridge and hands me one. (I was 15-16 at the time).

We all then spent the next 3 hours jamming our asses off, at full volume, in the middle of the otherwise deserted strip mall. Not only was it fun, one of the guys in attendance turned out to be one of the most INCREDIBLE guitarists I'd ever seen in my life. He was actually about to be a star, touring with Buddy Guy in the 70's or so and building up a good career, and he was stricken with illness. By the time he was able to play again, his spot was gone, he had a family, and was done in the music business. So now he was just some dude at the music store. It was insane. When I say he played better than Stevie Ray, I mean it. I'm a fan of SRV, but this guy was just plain better. My stupid 15 year old brain absorbed so much that day. And every time I tried to drop out and just take in what was going on, that other guitarist would stop too and show me something new to play. He wouldn't let me sit out at all. What a ....ing cool guy he was.

I will never, ever, ever forget that night. I don't know if any of those dudes remember me 20 years later, but they were an important part of my childhood.

[dreamermind]

My story will be short. My friend wanted a new Bass and I wanted to try a Petrucci Music man and that damn store was the official dealer of Ernie Ball in Ukraine. and when I asked a guitar the guy told me that the guitar is very expensive and for professional musicians only , same thіng with Bass... so apparently those kind of sellers are know from one look that you are not a proffessional. Later in other music shops we were professionaly enough to buy 5 string Warwick streamer $$ and ibby 1527.

[poopyalligator]

I hate when salesmen use those underhanded tactics to sell stuff. There was one time in particular where I was really pissed off. I was at guitar center one day, looking for a nice tube amp. I was looking for something like a a 6505+ or an engl, or something high gain in that realm. So this guy keeps trying to sell me this ....ing crate shockwave head. I told him several times, that I was definitely NOT interested in that amp because I was looking for something a little more high end. Then like 5 minutes later, another salesmen comes to me, and keeps pushing that shitty crate on me. So at this point I keep telling these dudes that I am not looking at getting a solid state amp at all. Finally another salesmen comes, and starts to try and push that ....ing crate shockwave on me. So finally I started to lose me cool and was like " Dude, for the 100th time, I am definitely not looking at getting this shitty amp. I know your manager wants you to push it because it is the last one left, but dont try to sell me that piece of shit that 2 other dudes have already tried to sell me." The manager came out, and apologized for the incident, and told me he had to talk to his sales people salesmen about annoying people. That was just another reason why I hate guitar center.

Also, this isnt really a horrible story, more just kind of awkward and awesome lol. So I was at a Sam Ash in Las Vegas one time, and saw that they had an LTD 8 string (at the time they had just come out), so I asked the dude if I could play it. It was on one of the top hangers, and they had to get it down by ladder. Well the guy went to get it, and he dropped it, and it took 2 guitars with it. The LTD hit the ground and split in half, and a charvel fell down, and took the lower horn right off the guitar, and there was another ltd that seemed to have landed decently. It was so weird though, it almost seemed like they wanted me to pay for the guitar that the dude dropped. So the manager says "Who do you think should pay for this?" So i literally just turned around and walked out the door lol.