Guitar Center keeps destroying my gear
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2023
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Last time I was in a GC three different employees couldn’t be bothered to get a guitar down for me. Two were standing around talking and joking around, told me to ask another guy. Asked him, he told me he would be right back and grab it for me, 20 minutes later, nothing. Sweetwater is the way to go.
Guitar shops, in general, are the worst places to buy guitars.
I’ve experienced this shit myself. It’s unbelievable.
Haven't given sweetwater another chance. They lost 2 orders and didn't want to refund me. Fishman Matt Heafy 7 string pickup set and a guitar. Both packages lost before reaching my state. Which is fine but the refund process was a hassle
They probably couldn't be bothered getting the guitars down because you look like one of those bums that wastes their time and never buys anything.
@@MajorDook1 I dont think so, but even still, terrible business strategy as it guarantees there wont be a sale where as letting someone try it at least theres a chance. Seems more likely to me they were just bad employees in a chain known for bad business practices.
It's cool though, I went to sweetwater, got to play a few different guitars, and they got my money and always will now.
Pro tip: if you can drive to guitar center near you, have your used gear that you order shipped there, that way you can open it up in front of them and immediately get your money back or in store credit from lemons.
Exactly what I do! \m/
I always do that,been going on for years.
I've done that...and it was beat to hell anyway. I ordered a cab that was shipped from another GC, used. But, it was "excellent" condition and was perfect in the photo. He brought it to the counter and it looked like it had been dropped from 6 feet in the air, one of the corners was completely smashed. Uh, no thanks! He said no problem, they'd sell it easy anyway. I thought that was a little snarky.
That's what I do! I had a Marshall head shipped there, that when I showed up to pick it up, the box was soaking wet. I was able to get another one ordered right then and there.
someone with a brain here
Enjoyed the episode, I bought a Razorback from Reverb it was delivered damaged so I took it to guitar center in boardman to have it repaired, it took them about 3 days to call me back to let me know it was finished, so when I picked it up I was advised that they went ahead and did a full inspection adjusted the neck polished the frets oiled the fretboard and put a set of new strings on it and tuned it up, and all I wanted was the pickup switch replaced, so now I'm worried about what's all of this going to cost me I didn't ask for all of this stuff done, the repair cost of the tone switch replacement was $129 + tax now I'm thinking their going to tack on another $150 or more for all the extras they did so I ask them what's the damage on what my bill was and they said 129 + tax 😀 they said all the other things were on them, I was totally in shock, I asked them why and they said because I'm a valued returning customer 😀 That made my year 😊
Boardman is where my dude Matt was originally managing and I know he runs a solid ship, so it doesn't surprise me they're still a good store! Glad to hear it dude!
Boardman was the one I grew up going to and I always had good experiences there
I do that in Delaware, that way no SALES TAX. Works great especially when you buy high priced gear!! Your welcome
"We won't do it right, because doing it right eats into profits." - Guitar Center, probably
As an ex guitar shop employee, I was always doing my absolute best for customers and the strange attitude and CBA feel I'd get from other guitar shop workers was just confusing to me, I'd think 'you work around guitars all day! Enjoy it FFS.'
Yeah. I think some of them get burnt out by having to deal with complicated buyers. You know, the ones that throw a fit about everything and are down right cruel even over the most minor thing, or perhaps not over anything at all, just down right negative all the time. It’ll take a toll on your mentality after a while if you encounter them enough.
I might have an attitude if an ex employee tried to help my customers too.
@@King-Ransom Treat every customer as they are. Not good binging moody BS to them if they are totally cool decent people.
@@JakeyMan haha dayum man ridiculous.
You can't go out of your way. While you're in the back, looking for what the customer wants, your coworkers will try to swoop in, sign them up for a credit card, and steal your commission and sale behind your back! Never work for that steaming pile of 💩
Working there was such a bad experience I pretty much quit music.
Yeah, I really liked Guitar Center. I grew up with them but I do not go there anymore. I feel they have huge management problems and do not care about their customer base or their employees. It is sad because it is a place you can go to to look at the gear first hand.
Back in the day, the employees of Guitar Denter were peers. They were mostly made up of local musicians in the scene, so it was kind of a music store for us, by us. Now, I walk in, and I don't recognize any of them. I've never seen their bands, if they even have one, and a lot of them, I question whether or not they are even musicians. I was buying a 6505+, so I wanted to try it out, and the employee starts digging out a Hartke bass cab. I was like, "Man, that's not going to work. That Marshall cab over there would be a better cab to use." I don't think they are hiring musicians anymore. Just customer service representatives.
@@travisspaulding2222 Yep, I think Guitar Center has turned into a bunch of corporate folks that care nothing but counting beans and what that bottom line is. As long as they can get someone to work for near nothing with no experience in the business is how they think they can satisfy their shareholders by paying less for workers. I feel this could possibly the end of a store I use to love to go to. Pathetic.
Sometimes, if they have any inventory. My local GC is always bare and they typically only stock the sure-sell beginner gear. Hardly ever any new models to go check out. In addition, ALL of their stuff is played, covered in sticky human juice and they never wipe anything down.
I got ghosted after interviewing a couple of times for a regional management position at Guitar Center. I had interviewed with a regional director who I could tell had likely never interviewed anyone in their life before, then a National VP. With me possessing a considerable amount of management and leadership experience, their questions were super basic like, "How do you handle interpersonal conflict", "What is time manaement" etc.
I don't think they liked my answer that as a manager and leader, you work FOR your employees, not the other way around. Your job as a manager is to not only ensure that tasks and goals are being met (if not exceeded), but also ensuring that your employees have the wages, training, resources, and time to do their jobs as well as they possibly can. They never so much as sent an email letting me know what they decided with the position, but to be honest I dodged a bullet. It was pretty obvious that they wanted a 'yes' person and have no clue what actual leadership is.
@@Eric_01 sounds exactly like the Guitar Center around me. Mostly Mitchell’s, low end Schecters, and cheap combo modeling amps. They do have a few sweet Jackson’s but that’s about it
The Gear Exchange that Sweetwater has now is getting really popular. I think it was the right time for them to jump into the used gear market. People know they'll get great customer service if there's a problem. It weeds out the scammers for the most part, and gives you some confidence that no matter what happens you won't get burned!
I've made one purchase from Gear Exchange and it was a really great experience.
Sweetwater had to up their used game after our guitar center closed. The fort wayne guitar center was the place to go for used gear, and we did such a amazing job at it. I wish I could say the same for other locations. Don’t get me wrong there are some great guitar centers out there… not all of them have these issues. We really valued our customers here in fort wayne.
Same thing happened to me! I saw a jackson kv2 for $1500 so my wife bought it for me for my anniversary present. They shipped it to a gc near me without the case that was included with the guitar so both of the v tips were broken off, the neck was cracked, and the Floyd rose recess was collapsed inwards. So heartbreaking to have my dream guitar broken before I could even play it.
I was at a GC a couple of weeks ago and a Sam Ash. They're located in the same shopping center. I walked into Sam Ash and they were packed and had about 6 people working that I could see. I went to GC & two employees at the front counter. That was it. One guy made the announcement that they can't get to any specific department right now and won't be able to until they got the line at the counter taken care of because they were the only two employees there.
Everything you said is, unfortunately, spot on.
Betting this was in Cherry Hill. Exactly same experience.
@Basement Guitar Guy Oh my god yes! That was the GC! I hate that more than one of us had that experience.
Sounds like you were in raleigh north carolina
Total agreement with you on working with GC. Been pretty satisfied with picking up my orders at the local GC. 45 minute drive BUT on the one time my amp was damaged upon delivery, they saw the damage, agreed it damaged during delivery and immediately started a return. Hella cool and professional.
Glad to hear this. Ups definitely damages a lot of our packages, but there is definitely room for improvement when packaging some items. The return policy and process is really great though.
I love how he zoomed in in the guitar almost falling like that. That makes any guitar players heart race
The main problem that I've observed over the years is most stores simply don't give a s***t about taking the steps to ensure any used gear purchased online with any weight or size at all arrives safely. If it's more than a pedal, It's been my experience that they rarely pack properly and usually don't have the materials in stock to ship accordingly. Case in point. After having to return several combos I purchased online from them, I took a chance on one of my favorite heads, a mint condition Vetta II. I figured finding a box for that ought to be a lot easier than finding one for a Rocktron Taboo Twin 212. What am I about to tell you is not elasticized hyperbole. When I reached my home one afternoon expecting the amp to arrive, I saw a box n front of my door that was open on three different sides and it looked like I could read the Sunday comics from ten feet away. You guessed it. They wrapped that head in newspaper. No styrofoam no bubble wrap... Not even the dreaded peanuts. I don't have to continue with describing the carnage that was waiting for me inside that SINGLE corrugated box. I'll never again purchase a used amp from Guitar Center if it requires shipping. I'm done.
Guitar centre employees all need to be shown this video.
Ronald S Japinga needs to be shown this video
I remember GC in the late 90's early 00's being the greatest place to do business.... that being said my local shop has gone downhill so bad that I haven't even set foot in the door in 5 years.....
I've had this happen a couple of times, but the worst time that they let me down was buying a "pink saw tooth" alexi laiho signature used and I had submit the layaway payment right before they shut down for covid and then when I went to pay the rest off they said that they had lost the payment and sold the guitar. Now all of the used LTD- 600 series are selling for twice as much.
Things I've learned dealing with Guitar Denter. 1. Always call and make sure the item they are advertising is the item they have. So often do they have a head for sale, but post a pic of a combo. I think they use saved pics from similar listings. 2. Don't ship to your house. Ship to the store. I think they take extra care because they know that another Guitar Denter employee/manager will see how it was packed. 3. Unpack and try out the gear in store. Not necessarily in depth, but enough to make sure the gear is functional and looks as advertised. I bought a Line 6 V30 cab, and I brought my electric screwdriver and opened up the back to make sure that it was loaded with V30s before I left.
Definitely. If you call me for example I can check inventory, or call the store and ask if they have the item and it’s condition. Sometimes there are inventory issues, rarely but sometimes. I am doing my absolute best to minimize these kinds of problems.
Man, that is terrible. I had a buddy that swore by their used website. Every time I would go there, navigation was atrocious. Not to mention, the pictures and descriptions were useless. I've never purchased from them and never will. Sorry to hear you're going through this man.
He’s had a bad time but I’d still try it out got so many great deals off of it basically define the used price by its guitar center used market price
I was watching an amp on their site for a while that changed locations like 3 times, was relisted at least 5 times and still had the same description and photos every time. You know there was something wrong with it 😂
I used to buy gear there, but was returning more than what I kept! Have not bought from them in a while!
It's been my experience, from selling to my local GC, that they don't open amps and stuff to check. They just plug it in and make sure it works. It's the same for guitars. You could take in something that's absolutely trashed, and they'd still take it if it works when plugged in.
It feels like guitar center knows this gear is damaged because they’ve already had it returned by another customer but they’ve adopted the Carvana business strategy where they just keep trying to send it to whomever will buy it until they find a sucker who will allow this broken stuff to be foisted on them.
It all depends on the location and the employee, ultimately.
I worked OPs for GC and I was insanely OCD about packing stuff for shipment. Other locations would ship items to our store for customers and it would be jaw dropping how little they cared about how they packed it.
There really needs to be a standard for employees to follow, not the ‘eh it’s fine, whatever’ attitude they seem to have.
I worked at the guitar center down the street from sweetwater before it closed, and we did our absolute best to never have these issues.
Damn Kyle you missed the chance to get an actual Karen wig and start ranting while using it 😂😂😂
I remember buying my EC-401 off eBay thinking it was a big mistake but when it came as shown and as described to me was huge relief, but when I bought a now discontinued EC-401fr off guitar like months later I not only had no trem arm but when I went to my local GC that I ordered it from they treated me like I was fucking Sauron come for the one ring and told it was my fault my new guitar didn't have the term arm. I feel you dude.
I bought a Fender combo amp from them a few months ago and it arrived with a bent knob and a non-functioning reverb. The amp looked fine in the listing and they didn't say anything about damage, but I assumed it might have been that way already and got it fixed since I really wanted it. Looking back I probably should have tried to get a partial refund to help cover the repair costs. Guitar Center really needs to work on their item descriptions on the used site, because they include hardly any details or photos. I guess that would take effort, though.
Worked at Guitar Center a few years ago. Pay was a joke, commission was a joke. The Point of sale system is straight out of the 80s. I wasn't trained at all. I had to learn everything on my own.
3 words for you. Sweetwater. Sweetwater. Sweetwater. Even after the point of sale they are awesome and I can’t recommend them enough
American Music Supply is great too.
Sweetwater has issues also. I returned a $500 pedal, they received it but it took 2 weeks to get refunded because they lost it in the warehouse.
@@kingfisher7960 this this this. I have many regulars of mine that won’t shop at sweetwater cause of this exact reason. They make the return process so difficult.
This video hits home in so many ways. I’ve had countless amps and cabs sent from guitar center over the yrs. And multiple times they showed up to the store and my residence smashed. The last time I had ordered an evh 5150 112 combo and a prs archon 112 combo. Both literally had no packing just a damn box around them. Amazingly they weren’t damaged other then a bent caster in the evh combo. But my experiences were because the morons packing and shipping don’t pack the items right it’s like once they make that sale they could care less if it gets to the customer in one piece!!
I’ve ordered exactly 5 items from GC. All 5 items had a problem, mis described, missing items , etc.
I’ll no longer even consider placing another order.
I ordered a Peavey valve king amp head from GC and had it shipped to my local store. It arrived packed very well with the tubes removed, numbered and packed in their own box. After the sales person installed the tubes the amp would not power up. The manager checked the tubes again and the first person did not seat them properly. But even after they were seated there was still no power. So I returned it before I left the store. In the next few days it was back on the website so I called to see if it was working. The salesperson said probably not as their GC policy is to sell gear even if it's not working. Crazy policy!
Had a really nice and rare semi-hollow shipped from one guitar center to another, was loose in the box with just the thin gig bag and no bubble wrap, completely snapped in half.
Sam ash is the same way. I ordered a Rockerverb mkIII 100 from their reverb shop. It was used but listed as mint. It was $1820 plus tax and $35 shipping. The corners were the only thing protected in the box. So when I received it the tolex and wood were smashed in in two places on the face of the amp. They offered me $35 as a partial refund. I’m returning it.
I work in operations at a guitar center and all of this is so true man. It’s incredible the amount of laziness people at other GCs exhibit
I feel your pain Kyle, I quit drinking from that poison well years ago for the same reasons...
I’ve had the same issues also. I quit ordering from them since about a year ago. I guess when it starts affecting sales enough maybe they will correctly address it.
If an employee has time to pack improperly, they have time to pack properly. Comes down to attitude.
The last 5 items I have bought from GC have been exactly as you described. Missing stuff, Massive box with minimal padding meaning the amp is literally flopping/bouncing around state to state. One time i did store pickup thinking it would be safer, but I could tell as they were wheeling it out from the back the box was massive.. then almost comically, the employee rotated the box off the cart as if they've never handled a amp before and we all heard the loud THUD of the amp getting tossed in the box and hitting the floor. Instant return. EXTREME bummer... These amps (some rarer vintage finds) might have even been in good condition before they were packed so poorly and its just a shame. I don't leave the store without inspecting/testing it now.
Yeah Guitar Center has really good used deals, I got my JCM 900 for under $500, they did ship it in a huge box with no padding at all 😑, but it is still working.
Same... I recently bought a 1998 Japanese Jackson DK-2S Pro for like $280. Granted, it was at the local GC here so thankfully it didn't have to be shipped haha. I caught it still on the stand behind the counter with a price tag on it the day they were getting ready to put it out on the floor. I saw the tag said $269, then put it on layaway when I found out that it had not been purchased yet.
Thank you for all this valuable info bro!!!!! luv ya
I've never ordered anything online from GC, and now I probably won't be doing that any time soon lol. I occasionally look at my local GC's used guitars/amps, and the listings are so barebones it's insulting. I saw one listing that said it was an EVH combo amp, but the description on the listing's actual page says it's actually just the cabinet.... Like is it really not possible to delete the wrong listing and redo it correctly?
Last time I was in our GC they had a used Marshall cabinet for $600 and the screening was ripped and was missing a side handle and there were no wheels even though there were holes to screw in wheels. The back had a crack in it also. I just laughed and walked off.
spot on kyle what I do is have what I buy sent to the store for in store pick up I open it infront of them so if anythings wrong they cant pull any crap especially if somethings missing I also take a screen shot of the listing add so I dont have to put up hearing it didnt come with that
My favorite thing to do when I go to my local GC is to not let own how much experience I have with guitars and see which salespeople try feeding me a line of bullshit. Turns out it's about 50/50.
Sounds about right! It's happened to me. Disgusting how some of their "brand new" guitars get the ok to ship out.
I’ve only ordered one thing from guitar centers used market, it was a Jackson x series soloist. I knew it was gonna have problems, but when I got it there was nothing right about it lol. The guitar was setup horribly and the guy who had it had a no trem in it(which wasn’t in the description) and the pickups didn’t work, even with a changed battery. I’ve spent weeks trying to get tools an parts in to fix it
I have had the same issues, and this has been going on for a long time. Bought an ESP WA200 11 years ago and it was delivered loose in the box with nothing bracing the neck or body. Just a couple chunks of bubble wrap. I think if I order anything else used in the future, I"ll try in store pickup. Bought a Mesa Single Rec that way and did not have any problems.
We've always referred to Guitar Center as the "Wal-Mart of Music Stores," and I think that's pretty accurate with respect to their business model, products, and branding. Their primary clientele are kids and dad-rockers who played in a band for two years back in college and dream about taking to the stage once again now that they have disposable income. There's nothing wrong with that, BTW. But most working musicians I know use the store for miscellaneous items like strings, drumsticks, and cables and usually make larger instrument purchases from independent stores, private sellers, Zzounds, or GC's other company, Musician's Friend.
But GC's used page is really awesome. I've had good luck in the past buying used gear from GC both online and in person. But I'm not surprised about the story in the video about the mods on the Marshall not being disclosed. My impression of most GC associates is they're all pretty nice and want to be helpful, but they generally aren't super knowledgeable and I don't think most are serious players like the sales people you usually find in independent shops. You're average GC employee isn't going to have an encyclopedic knowledge of Les Paul goldtops or know what year Ampeg switched over from putting 6146Bs to 6550s in their SVTs. And unfortunately, GC's commission structure really doesn't incentivize associates to stick around to become that knowledgeable.
I recently took a chance on a used Randall 412. Box was completely thrashed, luckily the cab was still in ok shape, I mean, it wasn't in great shape and was priced accordingly. Nothing a bit of wood glue and tolex can't fix. Speakers were great though.
Yeah, I ordered a Mesa/Boogie Rectoverb combo from Guitar Center, and it arrived in 5 pieces! I find it hard to bring myself to do business with Guitar Center after that, and other purchase issues with other purchases.
GC sent me the wrong pedal once from their warehouse. The pedal even had a picture on the front, and they still got it wrong.
Yeah, the used listings are pretty lawless. There's a single rectifier rectoverb listed as poor condition without any other details that just keeps appearing and disappearing. I just recently called a store about a dual rectifier listing without a pic trying to see if it was 2 channel. It miraculously was a 2 channel but the dude told me that a couple days before, someone was playing the amp without a cab and now it doesn't have any output. It was still listed as being in great condition 💀
I once bought a brand new Friedman smallbox from gc & when it arrived it was shipped in a boss waza box with a ton of bubble wrap around the amp. In the box was just the power cable. No footswitch or manual. Needless to say it was returned the next day.
If I have to have a tube amp shipped to me, I am that jerk that requests them to pull the tubes before they pack it up.
One guy did it but he pulled one screw out the back, bent the hell out the steel grille in a corner, somehow pulled the tubes, then jammed the padded envelope with them in it back into the hole, did not replace the screw. I was actually quite happy with that - it's actually the one that came in the best shape from traveling, bent back chassis grille not withstanding. They hated doing it, clearly, but it worked.
Perfectly explained around the 5 minute mark. I wish other people would understand how warehouses work, how items move around, and what the packages experience being there. Working at fedex, I would see so many packages get cut open by jam poles or pinch/sharp points. As long as you package it well, 95% of the time the item inside your package should be on your front door in great condition.
Don't make Kyle go full "Me, Myself & Irene."
"What's the matter ma'am? A little extra cheese on that taco?"
I bought a used SG from guitar center’s website and it was supposed to come with a case. They just threw the guitar without case directly in the box with zero padding or protection and sent it to my house, where it arrived all fucked up. I returned it at a physical guitar center location and a week or two later an acoustic guitar case arrived at my house that I didn’t order. They just used the box that my SG came in and sent it off without removing the shipping label with my address on jt.
Kyle, love your content man! I go to Sweetwater nowadays. They are the most consistent in doing business properly and professionally.
Guitar center has NO business shipping amps. I received two broken H&K Duotones and a broken Peavey XXX (little to no protective packaging in all cases) resulting in shattered tubes, broken faceplates, bend or broken control knobs and part of the amp sticking out of the unprotected ripped box. I also received three guitars which were NOT the guitars I ordered and once had an idiot tape the whammy bar to the neck so that when I received the guitar there was a huge dent in the wood on the neck where the whammy bar was taped. BUT...BUT I have had tons of good experiences and great bargains too.
GC USED Pro Tip: Take a screenshot or photo of the ad. As soon as you purchase it, it's immediately removed from their website; even if you save the the page. You Definitely WANT the description; "Great Condition" provable.
On another note, I recently returned a totally busted up Line6/Bogner Spidervalve MkII Combo I purchased off their Used Gear Page. Great price but, shipped in a box with 1 layer of bubble wrap ran vertically around the sides. Nothing on the bottom of a 60lbs Combo 2X! No padding on the top of the amp either.
On a brighter note, the Foot Peadal was INCLUDED with the annihilated amp!
Cheers
Enjoyed the basic physics lesson about "packing" for shipping.
I know your pain. I got a Gibson Les Paul Trad Pro IV and it didn't have the right controls in the cavity. That model has dip-switches for coil split and tap and and other things. But someone replaced the whole board with something different and it was never noticed until I checked it out. SMH.
I bought a blemished Friedman cab from guitar center and one of the greenbacks was blown. Thankfully Dave took care of me because I really didn’t want to return it.
Totally sucks! Unfortunately, not the first time that something came ruined from G.C. for many of us. It seems like they just don’t care at all how they pack something for shipping. If I lived closer to one of their stores I’d just have it shipped there and have them check it over before going to pick it up in an attempt to lessen the disappointment.
Hard agree! As the largest retailer, why is it that they only take one photo of used gear and do not provide any description? Music Go Round and Sam Ash take close-ups of damage (even minor blemishes) and they describe those that are not visible in the pics.
I bought an Ibanez XG300 from them a few months ago, and a not insignificant bit of damage to the guitar was not disclosed. How do I know that it was sold like that without a picture of the damage? Very easily, the box I received it in was not damaged at all.
For those who are familiar with pointy guitars, like the XG300, the paint on the pointy parts usually chips and cracks, but the damaged guitar that GC sold me had a 1-1/2 inch piece of wood missing (about 1/16 of an inch below the surface of the finish, and an inch of the binding was gone, with about another inch peeling away from the body. For that kind of damage to occur during shipping means that I should have been able to find the pieces in the box, but they were not there.
I stopped buying used gear from GC, because if that episode, and after some thought, I stopped shopping at GC entirely, because they did not refund me the shipping for that damaged guitar.
Last GC guitar I bought was a Schecter JL7 last year in “excellent” condition.
Pickups didn’t work because the wiring was shot and the Floyd’s string blocks were seized and cracked.. suffice to say I haven’t purchased anything from them since
Kick Butt Kyle! I hear you man, had a few of those issues to contend with, definitely annoying when it happens way too often.
I purchased a brand new Schecter E1 candy red for $1400 from New York and they shipped it to Missouri in the Schecter box that supposed to be inside another not shipping friendly box. The pickup switch was sticking out of the front of the box, and all the strings were physically bent at the 6th fret from being slammed down. It sucks when you receive your dream guitar and it’s been treated like that. If you’re interested I have pictures.
Dawg I ordered a Mission Engineering Gemini 2 for a heavily discounted price from Guitar Center on their website. I opted to get it shipped to my local GC, received the cabinet and got home to find that it was modded heavily by a previous owner with NONE of this disclosed in the original GC post whatsoever.
I’ll give my local GC their credit, they were accommodating in regards to processing my return and ordering me a non-damaged version of the $2000 speaker cabinet I ordered
I got my EVH el34 100 watt head from guitar center used. It was supposed to have the footswitch and did not. That was $200 to replace. And the amp shipped in 2 half boxes taped together with some brown paper crinkled up and tossed in. The amp was loosely tumbling around inside the box. After hooking it up and playing for a bit, channel 3 kept dropping off in gain from super saturated down to nearly clean and almost muted. I ended up pulling all the preamp tubes one at a time and reseating them in the sockets. It worked. I've since figured out which tubes do what and have realized I only needed to mess with 3 of the tubes at all. But its cool, I got it all to work. I'm still disappointed I had to chase down and purchase the footswitch after the fact. And now I don't even use the switch. Now I'm using an electro harmonix super switcher in conjunction with a voodoo lab control switcher and now I'm able to switch my amp along side my pedals on my pedalboard. Its quite nice. My pedalboard functions almost like a multi effects processor. Its so fun to operate.
i went to guitar center in cordova tn and barely any of the amps worked in the amp room when i went to try a pedal and they ALWAYS act like you are burdening them and that you are less important no matter what i asked for help with an amp and waited 30 mins
Ordered a brand new Mesa cab. It came in an oversized box, not in the original box, no casters, no cover, no paperwork, basically a floor model for full brand new in box price. With enough pushing and finally spoke to a district manager, I got the casters shipped from another store and a cover from yet another aaand had to pay shipping on the two separate items that should have come in the original order.
This is why I have them send it to the local GC (ship cost is the same) and I make them unbox it there; they get to recycle the packaging, they can reuse it there anyhow. If there is something wrong with it (that is beyond expected) then you have a few options - on one guitar, they cracked the neck pocket a teensy bit on an old guitar and that turned it from 799 to 499 when I said I wanted to save the guitar because I liked it (it is a Peavey Mystic, and I *do* like it). You can also tell them to keep it and refund your cash on the spot - the turning point for me was I found a decent deal on a Cropper Classic in this amazing green finish and when it got to my house it was all but destroyed (the final straw was one of the pickups was dead, and it was the triple blade one). I think they also know what's up when sending to another location so unless the person packing your stuff is quitting or ready to quit then knowing that someone in your company is going to receive this and not want to take the heat for any damage to it theoretically motivates them a bit to do a better job (with smart phones and email, it would be like 5 seconds for the news with footage of their crap work to hit their manager's inbox).
Guitar centers employees are severely underpaid. They are basically making minimum wage. Even walking into guitar center is a nightmare and checking out takes forever. If you buy a piece of gear the later end up returning it, they get pissed off too because it comes out of their commission. Way better to order online from Amazon for small items or testing out items. I order from Sweetwater to support them whenever I can.
So... GC has enough money to eat shipping costs for returned used items but not enough money to hire or train staff members on how to pack products properly or do a QC of the used items they receive? Typical Corps.
I just received a new guitar off of a store on Rerverb and the idiots shipped it across the country in a box that says NOT SUITABLE for shipping. No tape on the box, nothing, just the box flopping open with a thousand dollar guitar in there. Amazingly it wasn't damaged but damn i was pissed.
Got a HM Strat from GC's used section and had it shipped from a Florida store to Indy. That was 6-8 years back. Not sure if that would make a difference or not to have it shipped to a local GC versus to your home.
They deserve to be called out. Limited descriptions and photos for all of their used guitars is a simple policy fix. They elect not to implement it.
I just remembered I had ordered a bass head that was listed for cheap and the next day I got a voice mail say "hey this Guitar Center and we have to tell you about your order", then they tell me "that amp was actually a bass cabinet" 😕
I’ve been lucky with the handful of items I’ve ordered used from GC but can 100% certify that they use whatever they have laying around to package it, regardless of size. My Focusrite audio interface that is like the size of a pedal came in a box that could fit a 4x12 speaker cab. Thanks to this video I will probably never get a used amp from there.
had this problem 8-10 years ago and never have boughten anything else used online from guitar center , i think the problem is the way the salesman get paid , i kept thinking it was just my bad luck and rolled the dice waaay to many times , sounds like nothings changed ..
@5:50 I literally reached out to catch the guitar 🤣
Sorry to hear that man I have yet to have a problem with shipping from GC but It can always happen.
Dude I bought 4 bad amps off Guitar center in a row. Then another showed up and wasn't even the right amp. Also had some genius managed to get a peavey 215 cab into a cardboard box and got the USPS to deliver it which was broken and looked like Ace Ventura hand delivered it. This plus one defective pedal and another 215 cab crushed by freight being stacked on top and ripped down to the speakers. Oh and you can't probably find the peavey transformer 212 I had to return still listed on GC in Davenport Iowa that's listed under excellent but it's missing one switch and I couldn't get one speaker to stay on let alone two. Looked gigged to death and it's been relisted 3 times... EXCELLENT CONDITION FOLKS!
I've only ever dealt with guitar center and sam ash in person locally. The GC closest to me isn't the best. But it's all I have to try new stuff. Sweetwater online was amazing. I bought an amp at 6am my time. A sales tech called me literally 45min later to chat ask if I wanted needed anything else. Said I'd have the amp in 2 days and I did. Same guy called 6 months later to make sure I was still happy with it. I can't beat that kind of service.
I had a GC manager make some racial remarks about me when trying to return something. I was s caught off guard.. that was the end of GC for me.
I've bought around 20 used guitars from Guitar Center in the past 18 months, i've returned all but one. Listing a guitar in "great" condition and purposely taking pictures that don't show chips/dings or just plain garbage pictures to begin with. The latest one was what was listed as a PRS SC250, got it for a steal at just over $1000. Thought I got a hell of a deal and intended on just flipping it and making double what I paid. As soon as I took it out of the box I knew something wasn't right. Looked at the serial number, sure enough it was an S2 that someone put an SC250 truss rod cover on.
I’ve had the same problems with them destroying my gear due to lazy-ass packing jobs. I never shop there anymore.
With how frequently this is an issue makes me wonder if they want things to get smashed by the delivery companies so that they can collect insurance?
Bro same. I've done more returns than ever the last couple years. Guitar come jangling in the box with bashes out of the body, 100w guitar amps with a couple sheets of bubbles only (you know how that ended up). Smh... Ridiculous
Anderton's in the UK spent like 30 mins on the phone to find and ship me a £2 part for a G&L guitar. Always awesome staff there
Interesting. I bought a used OR50 from them and had it shipped to the Guitar Center near me so I didn't have to worry about it sitting on my porch. The box was completely destroyed, a tone pot was broken off, 2 other knobs missing, the handle cracked and a power tube socket was bad when we put the tubes in and fired it up. Also had a various dings on it as it appeared to tumble out of the box at some point. Had called the shipping store prior to purchase to ensure everything on it was good.. The store manager of my local store that it was shipped to refused to take it as a return. Said that I would have to ship it back. While the store that sold it said they would refund me but they wouldn't cover shipping. I Was beyond pissed. Luckily, my local amp guy was sympathetic and fixed it all up for just the cost of parts and a case beer. I've bought ALOT of gear since then, but haven't spent a dime in their stores.
The last 3-4 times I went to my local GC for specific items, it would be the only thing that was blank on the shelf, out of stock. The place always looks like it's going out of business. Like you said, the people are always nice, but the condition of the stock and the dirty carpets, etc is a real turn off. I tried to buy my first Gibson LP from them about a year ago, "in stock" the site said, and when it arrived the neck was back-bowed and couldn't even be played. In addition, it had buckle rash and scratches all over it. I contacted them and said this would not work, and they said they could specify that I only wanted an item from the warehouse, which would stop them from sending me a return. HOLY COW. That's a thing? It took them 3 weeks to ship the next one, at which point it was 20 degree weather where I live, and after it had been on the road for a week, I told them no way. I wasn't even going to risk a lacquered guitar on that kind of journey, I had them stop it at a access point and just send it back to themselves. I didn't buy anything from them for a year, last week I tried again. "In stock", ordered the Horsemeat pedal. After a week, still hadn't shipped, but at least this time they emailed me to tell me they were going to send a used one without original packaging unless I objected. I just cancelled the order. I'm done, done, done.
I was lucky and had an opposite experience. It wasn't so much the shipping but the listing. It was for an RGT6EXFX(hard to come by one in good condition). It was listed as "good" and the pic and description were terrible. Showed up looking 8/10.🤟
What was wrong with the Tremoverb and the other guitar and bass?
I've bought quite a bit from them used over the years as well. Actually it's the only reason they get any money from me. I've had 3 bad experiences over the last year. A cab that was lost for 3 weeks and finally showed up (left in the rain) and it literally just had cardboard taped on half of it. 2nd time was an "excellent condition" LTD Alexi that had multiple chunks of wood missing on it. (This was my first return) 3rd actually happened last night when an Epiphone Bjorn Gelotte I called on showed up without the case they claimed it had.
Ordered 2 amps one arrived with the headshell cracked the other wouldn't turn on. When I go inside it takes me an hour to buy something if I need assistance. I am done with them.
Twice i purchased something that was sold to me new, only to get it home and find out its missing parts because it was infact used. I will never buy anything more than strings from my local Guitar Center ever again.
When I first got hired at a local guitar shop in my town half a lifetime ago it was initially for shipping and receiving. They needed to hire someone for months before that so i spent at least a full month doing returns to vendors and dealing with RMAs etc. I knew that the value of those products alone more than justified the cost of me getting hired. It was well over $10k worth of stuff that came from various vendors that wasn't up to par. If GC would take 15-20 minutes to trickle from the top down how much them cutting corners costs the company it might change it a little bit. That corporate attitude towards this part of online sales eventually catches up to the business. Look at amazon they're starting to tighten up on returns and they used to be no questions asked for the longest time on almost everything.
That being said, Zzounds is the place to buy gear from. Hands down.
Well, I was just browsing GC for an amp, glad this notification popped up
A lot of these issues are so baffling to me; Especially the low quality photos and lack of accurate descriptions. I mean these photos are flip phone quality most of the time, aren't descent cameras dirt cheap at this point?