Terrible Experience W/ Sam Ash! - Anyone Else?

[MikeySixStrings]

I received an email from Sam Ash yesterday morning with a 15% off coupon offer. I've been mulling over pulling the trigger on a new Gibson, so I call and ask if the 15% off coupon will work for the particular Les Paul I want to purchase. The sales rep tells me this particular guitar is excluded, but instead of the coupon, I could sign up for their 48 month 0% interest Sam Ash credit card offer to save money. I say no thanks and think the call is over, but then they say 'Hold on, I can give you a deal' and they proceed to offer me what equates to 12.5% off. I thought that was a decent price, but I ask one last time that since they're that close could they just apply the 15% off coupon? There's a few seconds of keyboard clicking noises, then they come back on and say, "You know what? It's a holiday weekend. Lets do it!"

They give me a total price, I give them my credit card info, and they tell me it'll ship on Monday. Cool. I receive the order confirmation email and think the transaction is complete......

Several hours later my phone starts blowing up with calls and emails from this Sam Ash sales rep. "It's urgent. Please call me." So I call, and they tell me that their manager denied the sale of the guitar, and that I need to pay $100 more or they'll cancel my order. Umm...no! So then they ask me, "What if you pay $100 more and we send you a $50 gift certificate?" Umm...still no! So then they say, 'Ok, I'll make a note here that you want to cancel your order.' Umm...that's not what I want! A few minutes later I get an email that my order cancellation request has been processed. Umm...WTF just happened?!?!

So, yeah, has anyone else encountered this kind of unethical nonsense with Sam Ash? I've dealt with Sweetwater, Guitar Center, Musicians Friend, Zzounds, AMS, Music123, Avatar, etc...etc... and have never had such a bullsh!t experience buying a piece of gear. In fact, I was offered 15% off of the same model guitar at Guitar Center a few weeks ago, but I wasn't 100% committed to buying it at the time. Ugh... you just don't treat your customers this way!

 

[Biddlin]

My limited relationship with Sam Ash has been very satisfactory. If I were you I think I would call and ask to speak to the "manager" directly.

 

[SteelLucky]

Sam Ash has been good to me. I have bought amps and guitars from them at good discounts and my sales rep always calls to make sure I'm happy after delivery. I also order strings and stuff from them every so often so I'm not a one and done customer.

I stop by their local store but only buy the strings and small stuff there as I don't think they move a lot of guitars there as it seems like the same stuff is always hanging on the walls.

 

[Gianni]

Hey, Mikey! Long time no see, mate! Hope you’re still happy with the ‘new’ speakers in your 1960 cab!

I’ve never had a similar experience with any store. I would call Guitar Center to find out if their offer hopefully still stands, buy the guitar from them, email a copy of the receipt to the Dumb Ass customer-support department, and manager, start a NGD thread here, with lots of pictures... and feel great about it!

 

[Vinsanitizer]

I'm curious to know the retail price of the Les Paul.

 

[ampmadscientist]

I received an email from Sam Ash yesterday morning with a 15% off coupon offer. I've been mulling over pulling the trigger on a new Gibson, so I call and ask if the 15% off coupon will work for the particular Les Paul I want to purchase. The sales rep tells me this particular guitar is excluded, but instead of the coupon, I could sign up for their 48 month 0% interest Sam Ash credit card offer to save money. I say no thanks and think the call is over, but then they say 'Hold on, I can give you a deal' and they proceed to offer me what equates to 12.5% off. I thought that was a decent price, but I ask one last time that since they're that close could they just apply the 15% off coupon? There's a few seconds of keyboard clicking noises, then they come back on and say, "You know what? It's a holiday weekend. Lets do it!"

They give me a total price, I give them my credit card info, and they tell me it'll ship on Monday. Cool. I receive the order confirmation email and think the transaction is complete......

Several hours later my phone starts blowing up with calls and emails from this Sam Ash sales rep. "It's urgent. Please call me." So I call, and they tell me that their manager denied the sale of the guitar, and that I need to pay $100 more or they'll cancel my order. Umm...no! So then they ask me, "What if you pay $100 more and we send you a $50 gift certificate?" Umm...still no! So then they say, 'Ok, I'll make a note here that you want to cancel your order.' Umm...that's not what I want! A few minutes later I get an email that my order cancellation request has been processed. Umm...WTF just happened?!?!

So, yeah, has anyone else encountered this kind of unethical nonsense with Sam Ash? I've dealt with Sweetwater, Guitar Center, Musicians Friend, Zzounds, AMS, Music123, Avatar, etc...etc... and have never had such a bullsh!t experience buying a piece of gear. In fact, I was offered 15% off of the same model guitar at Guitar Center a few weeks ago, but I wasn't 100% committed to buying it at the time. Ugh... you just don't treat your customers this way!

I think I would rather buy from Sweetwater. The prices I see...are lower.
You can break up the price into 3 payments...and they don't give you any run-around.

I pretty much get the feeling that I am getting a good deal and good customer service.

 

[MikeySixStrings]

Hey, Mikey! Long time no see, mate! Hope you’re still happy with the ‘new’ speakers in your 1960 cab!

I’ve never had a similar experience with any store. I would call Guitar Center to find out if their offer hopefully still stands, buy the guitar from them, email a copy of the receipt to the Dumb Ass customer-support department, and manager, start a NGD thread here, with lots of pictures... and feel great about it!

Hey Gianni, yeah, I really like all of those Celestions I bought (even ended up buying another pair of Creambacks...the 65 watters) but I've reduced my main gigging rig to the Splawn Super Sport head and Marshall 2061cx 2x12" cab (avatar pic). So now a bunch of those speakers are just sitting in their boxes in my closet.

As for this Sam Ash fiasco, I think I'm over it. Pretty ridiculous behavior on their part. Oh well, plenty of other reputable shops that will gladly take my money.

 

[MikeySixStrings]

I'm curious to know the retail price of the Les Paul.

It was just a 2017 Les Paul Classic, so $1999 retail. I played a Gold Top version at my local Guitar Center and it felt really good, but the other guitarist in my band plays a Gold Top so I wasn't particularly interested in that guitar at the time. The sales rep at the store said he'd knock off 15% if I wanted to take it home, but I balked. At this point maybe I'll save up a little more and grab a Standard toward the end of the year.

 

[Ghostman]

Rule of Thumb: Gibson's are ALWAYS off the table of any retailer's coupons.

 

[FennRx]

15% off MAP is an everyday price. Buy from a better dealer or buy used. My old rhythm play just bought a 95 classic in pretty good shape for about $1200

 

[JimiRules]

I think I would rather buy from Sweetwater. The prices I see...are lower.
You can break up the price into 3 payments...and they don't give you any run-around.

I pretty much get the feeling that I am getting a good deal and good customer service.

Not to mention that you can see pictures of the guitar you're shopping for and pick out the actual guitar that will be arriving at your door.

 

[MikeySixStrings]

So to update, I've since been contacted by several Sam Ash staff, including Sammy Ash. They have apologized for what happened and assured me they have changed their processes so something like this never happens again.

Everyone at the company that I've communicated with has been sincere in offering help and acknowledging how messed up this situation is. As it stands, I'm in the process of working with them to purchase another Tobacco Burst Les Paul when they get them back in stock.

While what happened was super sh!tty, their response in reaching out to me to make things right has been impressive and not something you see in retail in this day and age. I'm looking forward to starting a NGD thread in the near future and having this incident behind me

 

[mirrorman]

Good to hear that they are working on fixing your situation.
It sounds like the original sales rep on the phone made a decision he wasn't authorized to make.
Everybody screws up.
It's how they deal with it afterward that tells the true story of their customer service.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

Hmm, making deals he wasn't authorized to do...sounds typical. I've seen it at almost every music store I've dealt with at one time or another. Hope you get it resolved to your satisfaction, MSS.

 

[Ghostman]

So to update, I've since been contacted by several Sam Ash staff, including Sammy Ash. They have apologized for what happened and assured me they have changed their processes so something like this never happens again.

you mean, THE Sam Ash?

 

[MikeySixStrings]

It sounds like the original sales rep on the phone made a decision he wasn't authorized to make.

As I've come to understand it, it wasn't the sales rep but his manager that made the mistake.

 

[MikeySixStrings]

you mean, THE Sam Ash?

Sammy Ash is the COO and grandson (I think?) of the Sam Ash. So, yeah, they took what happened seriously enough that he felt he needed to personally contact me and apologize.

 

[axe4me]

Bad things happen from big chains?

Come on now.

 

[MemphisMarshallMan]

I worked at a MARS music store back in the day. Les Pauls were really hard to sell unless we took a hit on them. We probably sold 600 fenders to every gibson guitar sold. It was only a pricing issue though. Way more folks will drop $600-900 on a fender before they pony up $2000+ for a Paul.
I would think Sam Ash should have gone ahead and honored their deal with you.
I quit dealing with them over a paperwork snafu on their part years ago. There are too many other places that I could spend money at that were a lot less hassle.

 

[Las Palmas Norte]

That's shitty business practice ... and there's plenty of other stores willing to sell you a guitar.