The Nazi's at Guitar Center put me "ON Notice"!

[plaidbeer]

I went through a period years ago of trading stuff back at a shop but i never got what i paid. So the owner was well happy i suppose.
So... do you have like a 28 day period were you can return a guitar at GC. Not sure how it works here, obviously i must have kept guitars too long because i always lost on returning them.

30-day money back guarantee @ GC. That even includes used gear. I bought a used drum machine last year from one of their other stores (via their used gear website) and it didn't work. Instead of having to ship it back, I just had to take it back any one of my local GCs and they refunded everything (even shipping). And I was told on more than one occasion when checking out a guitar or pedal that anything I bought and wasn't happy with could be returned within 30 days.

[mickie08]

It all depends on how you do it.

If you are buying high ticket items on a regular basis, paying with credit card, then asking for a refund when you return it, they are going to eventually put you on notice. Mainly because you are wasting their salespeoples time, and they are easting the 2-3% on each transaction om credit card fees.

If you are taking stuff back within the 30 days but trading it towards different gear they are much better with it because they do not loose the CC transaction money or the have to deal with the loss of commission.

I buy/return stuff at GC all the time. If have even bought something knowing I was likely to take it back. That said, in those cases I always put it towards something else, not asked for a refund. Too many times, especially with guitars and pedals, what sounds good at GC just does not sound as good when you get it home and play it through your rig or with your band. Or some idiocyncracy of the guitar that seems minor comes back to be alot more of an issue (i.e the weird bridge on the new squier jazzy that tore the hell out of my hand making me return the guitar....)

I think it depends on why you are returning stuff, and what percentage of the stuff that you buy gets returned without at least getting put towards more gear.

[robroe]

when i bought my mustang they told me i had 72 hours to return "vintage gear" i said


FUCK YOU THIS IS MY FUCKING MUSTANG NOW. YOU GOT ROBBED YOU STUPID SHIT. IM NOT GIVING IT BACK TO YOU SO YOU CAN JACK THE PRICE UP 500 MORE DOLLARS FOR WHAT ITS ACTUALLY WORTH

[Billy3000]

the guy that made the commission on it was the first guy that said "hi" to me after i got out of the room with it. it took about 10 more minutes of me walking around with it in my hand. that guy got comission on an 899 dollar vintage instrument for saying hi to me. no sales pitch. i know what i want, i don't need to be sold to, i do what i want.

Dude... this is the way it is down here too. I walked in to the GC right by me the other day because I needed one thumb pick for my banjo, and I didn't want to drive 20 minutes out of my way to my favorite shop for one $1.25 pick. I walked in and went straight to the accessories counter and looked at the picks. Nobody came over to help me and I was only one of like 5 people in the store at the time. The dude in accessories was standing at the other end of the counter chatting with someone who I thought was a customer, so after about 5 minutes of standing there waiting for them to be done, I walked away, to look at some stuff thinking that he would be able to help me when I came back. I walked back about 10 minutes later and he's still chatting to the same dude, and they're talking about whatever club they went to that weekend, so it was obvious the dude wasn't selling anything to him, and after another 5 minutes of waiting there to buy one fucking pick and nobody coming to sell it to me, I got pissed off and drove the 20 minutes to the store that I like more. It was a good reminder for why I usually drive out of my way to the local store every time I need a pack of strings or some picks just because I hate the service at guitar center.

[westtexasred]

I counted all the guitars I traded back or returned to Guitar Center. It wasn't THAT many.

See,what really happened was this: Last week I bought the red sparkle Rickenbacker from GC in West Palm Beach. Now just a week before that I had bought the Copper burst Tele at GC. I am trying to to confine myself to a "one in one out" strategy to control my addiction. So,I made up my mind: The Copperburst had to go back.



I never had a problem returning stuff before but this time. When I give the the assistant manager my receipt he says "Ok,this will take just one moment" . He goes into his office and then over the P.A. I hear him paging each salesman I
I bought a guitar from. Now,I feel bad for these guys,but not that bad because all they did for me was ring up the sale.

Anyway,after waiting around for about 20 minutes or more this guy I never saw before walks up to me and introduces himself as the manager. He asks why I am returning the guitar and I say something like oh "it's nice but I don't like how the pickups sound(It's true)". he says "ok,but I noticed that you have returned some other guitars and I just want to know if the salesman are are doing there job in helping you find the right guitar." I say no,no they are all very helpful,very knowledgeable about the products they are selling. It's not them it's me bla,bla,blah..

Anyway,he says ok and gives me my refund but I know that I am now on "Double Secret Probation". The funny thing is when I get back home and check my email, Guitar Center has sent me a $30 gift certificate for "Players Rewards"

[jcyphe]

I think that commissions based sales are kind of ridiculous in this day and age when so many shoppers already do their research at home/internet and many times are more knowledgeable about the product than the sales person, who's usually just a wage slave.

[mickie08]

I counted all the guitars I traded back or returned to Guitar Center. It wasn't THAT many.

See,what really happened was this: Last week I bought the red sparkle Rickenbacker from GC in West Palm Beach. Now just a week before that I had bought the Copper burst Tele at GC. I am trying to to confine myself to a "one in one out" strategy to control my addiction. So,I made up my mind: The Copperburst had to go back.



I never had a problem returning stuff before but this time. When I give the the assistant manager my receipt he says "Ok,this will take just one moment" . He goes into his office and then over the P.A. I hear him paging each salesman I
I bought a guitar from. Now,I feel bad for these guys,but not that bad because all they did for me was ring up the sale.

Anyway,after waiting around for about 20 minutes or more this guy I never saw before walks up to me and introduces himself as the manager. He asks why I am returning the guitar and I say something like oh "it's nice but I don't like how the pickups sound(It's true)". he says "ok,but I noticed that you have returned some other guitars and I just want to know if the salesman are are doing there job in helping you find the right guitar." I say no,no they are all very helpful,very knowledgeable about the products they are selling. It's not them it's me bla,bla,blah..

Anyway,he says ok and gives me my refund but I know that I am now on "Double Secret Probation". The funny thing is when I get back home and check my email, Guitar Center has sent me a $30 gift certificate for "Players Rewards"

Are you buying and returning to different stores. Somet5imes that is an issue (it shoudl not be according to their policy, but they give you a hard time sometimes). IN any case, you should be able to have them pull up your fiel and show them "look, I just bought this 2K rick and have to return this 400 tele due to that. Sorry that it may or may not have been at your store, but I am sure if I called up your regional supervisor he'd be pretty happy I am effectively trading in a 400 guitar on a 2K one..." Problem solved. Local manager just doesn;t like having to mess with the refund/deal with mad salespeople.

I myself have 3 accounts with them (one under Mickie, one under Chris, and a second one under Chris from an old address.). If I am not sure if I am going to keep something I try to keep the purchases rotates on different accounts.. Of course this makes me sound horrible, and I auusre you I am not. I spend tons of money at GC and keep the vast majority of things I buy...But between guitar gear, PA gear, acoustics, etc I just buy alot and if I do not like it I return it period....

[James]

If they have a 30 day money back guarantee but using it messes up their business model then either they have a problem with their business model or they don't put much stock in that guarantee.

I'm with jycphe. Commission is way out-dated for this sort of business now.

[mickie08]

Anytime you have a policy like this you will have serial traders that always buy stuff then trade it in on more stuff. That is why alot of these places will after x amount of returns in a given period, relegate you to return for store credit only. The issue is that since most people buy large items on credit, even if they can resell the item at full cost (and they can not if it has been opened and used), they are still eating 3% or so in charges on CC costs. I know when I ran a business if we did a CC return, we did not get our CC fees back (unless it was proven to be fraud and not our fault)... Add in that they then have to write down that product as an open box item I can see why they keep track of it. The thing is that they should be able to tell serial traders from people who trade up, etc or who buy alot of gear.

But yeah, if you end up returning 75% of the items that you purchase, then I think the store has a right to step in and warn you on it then possibly limit returns to store credit unless defective if the pattern continues. Too many people take advantage of return policies now adays to either use it as a sort of rental system, or to cheat.

[honeyiscool]

^^ The worst part of all this, then, is that it raises costs for everyone involved, including customers who think twice before buying.

[mickie08]

^^ The worst part of all this, then, is that it raises costs for everyone involved, including customers who think twice before buying.

Yeah it does a littel bit, but in the scheme of things not too much. The business writes off the losses and typically moves enough gear that it is not a burden to them. BUT, I still have no issues with them having some basic guidelines as long as they are applied evenly for people who return too many items... But it should be based on a minimal number of purchases and a proven history or returning without trading it in towards something. Not based on any managers whim that day and who they are pissed at.... Ya know.

[jcyphe]

A lot of stores have re-stocking fees and they almost never use them unless you're a serial returner or are returning a very expensive item that there is technically nothing wrong with. If you buy a 60" flat screen and return it the day after The Super Bowl just because you don't want it anymore, they'll be like FUCK THIS GUY.

[DGNR8]

I don't know if I have ever bought anything there before. We have a mom and pop place that's been here since the 70s, but they are closed on Sundays. In other words, I shop guitars on ebay and strangs on Amazon.

I don't know how they can even operate with all the online options. I guess it's for the people who see it and have to have it. I guess it's insane and lucky that I have bought almost all of my guitars without playing them first. I never liked buying pr0n in person either.

Commission sounds shitty. I think the pawn shops who sell both local and ebay may have the right idea. Widen the audience but also just have more than one revenue stream. If you look at it another way, GC is set up to have the employee at odds with the customer, because the sale is more important than getting it right. And the only way this works is to have young guys who think it's cool to work there. Record stores used to be like that BACK WHEN THEY EXISTED.

[Dingus]

Where is this mom and pop place you speak of DGNR8? Around here? or did you move?

[plaidbeer]

I don't know if I have ever bought anything there before. We have a mom and pop place that's been here since the 70s, but they are closed on Sundays. In other words, I shop guitars on ebay and strangs on Amazon.

I don't know how they can even operate with all the online options. I guess it's for the people who see it and have to have it. I guess it's insane and lucky that I have bought almost all of my guitars without playing them first. I never liked buying pr0n in person either.

Commission sounds shitty. I think the pawn shops who sell both local and ebay may have the right idea. Widen the audience but also just have more than one revenue stream. If you look at it another way, GC is set up to have the employee at odds with the customer, because the sale is more important than getting it right. And the only way this works is to have young guys who think it's cool to work there. Record stores used to be like that BACK WHEN THEY EXISTED.

I've actually seen several middle-aged guys working at the different GCs around here. I don't know how or why they're doing it, but I'm guessing that maybe over the years they've established a sizable customer list and have a lot of repeat business. One of the guys I'm talking about used to own his own shop in the town where I grew up and he's extremely knowledgeable and honest. I always wondered how he wound up at GC (because of the low pay).

[Hiwatt Bob]

when i was looking for my gibson eds-1275 (doubleneck), the only way i could try one to make sure i actually wanted one--was to buy one from guitar center on the 30day return. so i put down $4K on my visa, the sales dude was happy as fuck. once i knew i really wanted one, i bought the one on TGP for half the price and returned the other to GC. i'm sure the sales guy was not pleased when he found out his commission on that full price $4k guitar had vanished. whatev. lolz.

[Billy3000]

I think that commissions based sales are kind of ridiculous in this day and age when so many shoppers already do their research at home/internet and many times are more knowledgeable about the product than the sales person, who's usually just a wage slave.

That really only goes for enthusiasts like us though. The other very large part of Guitar Center's customers are people who don't have the first clue about where to start or what to get like parents getting their kid a first guitar, a middle aged man going through a midlife crisis, and college douche bags looking for acoustic guitars to maybe learn 3 chords so they can impress stupid girls, etc.

[Nick]

I think that commissions based sales are kind of ridiculous in this day and age when so many shoppers already do their research at home/internet and many times are more knowledgeable about the product than the sales person, who's usually just a wage slave.

That really only goes for enthusiasts like us though. The other very large part of Guitar Center's customers are people who don't have the first clue about where to start or what to get like parents getting their kid a first guitar, a middle aged man going through a midlife crisis, and college douche bags looking for acoustic guitars to maybe learn 3 chords so they can impress stupid girls, etc.

glad someone said this.

Also if I was buying anything like a drum kit or even a high end workstation keyboard, I would want help from a salesperson who knew what he was talking about. As someone who used to be very good at it, I can tell you there's much more to music store sales than "hey man anything I can get for you today?"

[Mike]

You're right, these people are as bad as Hitler and his cronies.

[NickS]

You're right, these people are as bad as Hitler and his cronies.

We have that problem with our network suppliers. Orders are orders! No cancellations!