Guitar Center's Unscrupulous Practices (Caught)

[Drinkingdeath01]

 

[JeffMcLeod]

 

[jeffb]

 

[El Gringo]

These are exclusive GC guitars:

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This is a limited run guitar that I found at GC , Mays Landing, NJ for $431.00 (including tax):

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I'll deal with the GC flotsam and jetsam to get what I want at the comfortable price.

BTW, many of the GC personnel are "lost farts in a blizzard".

IMO, their grading system on used gear needs a serious over haul.

When dealing with GC, homework is essential.

Well I can't argue or disagree with your results as they are outstanding and beautiful . Homework is always required no matter what or where as that is just the right way to conduct business . You certainly have a awesome collection and that is a Fact .

 

[Sapient]

Must admit it took me a few passes. Not familiar with the Origin.

Lol. Classic.

 

[groovenev]

No Surprise ... buyer be aware... one of the pitfalls of online buying and sales... besides price fixing on the new gear....

 

[Karl Brake]

With Guitar Center, it's try there, buy elsewhere. I've had high level electric guitars and amps for 40 years, but just a basic acoustic...I was getting serious about playing acoustically, and was looking at Martins and Taylors, and had finally decided on a Martin HD-28. There was an extremely snooty high-end acoustic store that gave great attention to instruments, but treated you like a criminal unless you were a rich local (Ashland, OR), so I decided to buy one at the local GC. The bratty wanna-be rock star at the counter would not pull himself away from talking to his girlfriend on the phone, and wouldn't answer my questions, so, I went with a reputable online dealer. Manny's in NY, or the place I got it from in Oklahoma have very good reputations and customer service, so I took my money there. Very good choice, perfect instrument. I've bought more than one DOA used amp from GC, but did buy a new PRS Custom 24 from them (shoulda went with Sweetwater, since I could actually have chosen the exact instrument/serial number, oh well). The guitar is wonderful, but GC was a disaster to deal with, lost the order, but I finally got a very fine guitar. I used to feel some loyalty to the musicians that worked at the local, they were very good to me, since I actually bought a lot of live sound gear from them, but they change out personnel so often, and treat their employees so badly that I'm really avoiding them completely now. Fortunately with high-end gear like Martins, it's all great stuff, and all Martins of a particular model have equal resonance and beauty that you can't go wrong buying them from a good, local store that deals online, or Sweetwater.

I have actually see the exact same situation...I bought a cool Mesa Royal Atlantic combo with non-functional reverb (excellent condition LOL). I took it back, and it was relisted practically the next day. I know they couldn't have had it fixed that quickly. Same photo and everything. I think GC is gonna crash, it was chaos the last time I dropped in, and they won't even let you order something and ship to the store, in Medford OR anyways. Too much weirdness with that company.

 

[curt miller]

When I looked at the photos of the guitar, especially the new one in the hyperlink, I am not seeing the damage you described.

Are you sure that the guitar itself has not been repaired, regardless of the photos?

Have you gone back to the GC store and physically inspected the actual guitar?

Just a thought.

 

[Karl Brake]

When I looked at the photos of the guitar, especially the new one in the hyperlink, I am not seeing the damage you described.

Are you sure that the guitar itself has not been repaired, regardless of the photos?

Have you gone back to the GC store and physically inspected the actual guitar?

Just a thought.

Yeah, take it to the store...I've always had good luck with the folks in the store...usually starving musicians.

 

[Brewski]

I’ve bought lots of gear and returned lost of gear to Guitar Center. Since the inception of Amazon it used to be near impossible to return merchandise back in the day so GC attitude is expected.

also - most of the people that work in GV are transient employees so they know less than most guitarist and they are a big box (volume and price matters) so they don’t know much.

i bought an evh5150 iii 50w 1x12 combo that came to the house with all the knobs broken. I called the store it came from and got the manager and showed him images of the box, the wrapping and the damage. he sent me new knobs, took $120 off ( new price for it is $1500 - used price was $600) so i got it for $480 and he threw in 6 sets of strings and 2 25’ instrument cables.

i have bought a ton of amps and guitars and some good some bad. same with other non-music stores so i no longer get mad just get it fixed.

i do agree that Sweetwater lets you pick the exact instrument which is nice but you cant test drive stuff so ima GC fan - gices me the chance to touch stuff and get an idea of what i like.

i have three GC’s and a smattering of smaller (and the there’s Chuck Levins Washington Music Center) stores to choose from and feel much more inclined to grab something and wank away at GC.

 

[Sapient]

When I looked at the photos of the guitar, especially the new one in the hyperlink, I am not seeing the damage you described.

Are you sure that the guitar itself has not been repaired, regardless of the photos?

Have you gone back to the GC store and physically inspected the actual guitar?

Just a thought.

The same crack is there at the neck joint. It was not repaired.

 

[curt miller]

The same crack is there at the neck joint. It was not repaired.

Are you saying that you have personally gone to the GC store and physically inspected the guitar?

That was the point of my post.

 

[Sapient]

Are you saying that you have personally gone to the GC store and physically inspected the guitar?

That was the point of my post.

Yea, I brought my detective trench, fingerprint duster and monocle too.

Kiddin'.

It probably wouldn't matter since the posters have made the practice quite clear. They wouldn't have had time to fix it in resulting time durations anyway.

 

[jeffb]

(and the there’s Chuck Levins Washington Music Center) .

Used to frequent that place quite a bit in the 80s and early 90s. Bought some nice Gibsons and PRS' there. Great store. Saw Mathias Jabs in there around 87 or so. Of course, no cell phones and by the time I get over his way, they go in back and down the freight elevator to where they stashed the best of the best stuff- no peons allowed*

*Unless you were buying a PRS. Then they would take you down and roll through the stock and let you pick one out. I spent about 2 hours down there when I bought my first in 87.

 

[Kewl ToyZ]

I've had some reasonable purchases from GC myself. GC isn't alone though in problematic instrument sales. Honestly I can say after about 30 purchases for myself and others the past 2 years: Not one single sale was flawless when delivered. I'm just going to state up front, there is no such thing as a perfect flawless instrument. That simply doesn't happen in reality. But there are grades of flaws that should definitely affect pricing! I've gotten B grade instruments and felt great about the purchase because the prices were discounted accordingly. Would I buy a $5,300 Gibson Les Paul online and feel comfortable with any flaw? God no way. Would I be happy with a $350 Jackson for $298? Absolutely!
I will say that Guitar Center as a business is going to have internal personnel issues that do handle these sales unscrupulously. Any business has them. Getting the issues addressed is only going to happen by shining a spot light on those individuals. But, they tend to hide behind a group or entity name rather skillfully. That's where businesses define themselves though. Do they sit silently letting themselves benefit? Or are they actively trying to remedy the transgression?

 

[NoelH]

Caveat Emptor. GC is indeed notorious for bad business practices, and I've noticed this seriously increase over the last two decades.
I will say this: Never again will I ever buy a guitar online from anyone unless I play it first. Well, unless it's a trusted boutique builder who you know is a top shelf luthier, and you're buying direct. A Martin from GC without playing it first? I would not do that personally.

 

[NoelH]

GC is so difficult to do business with. There's a culture of ineptness.

I think it's a purposeful 'ineptness' so they can shield upper management from the local operations of the stores. That way when an unethical deal happens (like this one), management can claim they have no control over it.

Guitar Center is bleeding money BTW. They are not making the money they did in the '80's and '90's. I shopped at the San Jose Guitar Center for ~30-ish years, and I watched as it precipitously went downhill. Anyone else notice the GC stores are smaller than 20 years ago? I've seen 3-4 stores now either close, or move to smaller storefronts. It's definitely observable.

 

[december]

I bought a used Epiphone online from GC for $190. It didn't work out because the G string just would not tune. If it was tuned to G, the whole fretboard was super sharp. So I returned it in-store. A week later I'm in there and they had put new strings on it and hung it on the wall, for sale, as NEW! $250!
This is in Beaverton, OR.
I also got a used LP Modern from them online for $500 and it was horribly back-bowed. If you wanted a symphony of fret buzz, this is the guitar!

 

[AlvisX]

I don't believe this is shady ,but you would think ,the store that boasts itself as GC's vintage headquarters would know the difference between a Coronet and an Olympic .......
It's like the rookies that dont know the difference 'tween a Les Paul Junior and a Melody Maker ...

Vintage Epiphone 1962 Coronet Solid Body Electric Guitar Cherry | Guitar Center

 

[Kewl ToyZ]

I just got another guitar today from GC... Whoever the jackass is that packed the guitar in a second hand box and some bubble wrap is an absolute sadist. Guitars only worth parts from the shipping damage. I called up GC Customer Service immediately. Within 10 minutes of discussion they had another in the mail for me and UPS picking up the wrecked unit from me. Whoever packed that guitar seemed to actually want to ruin it intentionally or is special needs, but they should never be allowed to touch an instrument unsupervised again. Tone knob was bashed into the guitar face, tremolo screws scratched, the bottom strap stud bent and pushed into the body at a 45 degree angle. It just made me ill and angry at that idiot. They discounted the replacement for my trouble and promised me this time it would be new and in its proper packaging like the others. Oh, and the tremolo bar was a $2 after market piece of crap that didn't even fit the threads. Also multiple shattered finish wood dents around the edge of the body. Like I said, use it for parts, the body and finish would cost more to repair than the entire guitars cost.... Used to be a pretty axe