Your totally right about guitar center. I've had problems with them as well. The customer service there is horrible. It's no surprise they have filed for bankruptcy in the past. It doesn't look like they have made the changes needed to have a successful business. It frustrating dealing with this on your birthday, but it's awesome you have a youtube channel to get the word out when something like this happens. I totally agree with you about sweetwater. They have awesome customer service and I've had nothing but good luck with them. Happy birthday brother!
One thing I learned quick, because I'm the same as you, I call the store I just bought it from, the picture on the site isn't always what they have. You can go to their site right now and type in something super common, like a 5150 or any Fender amp, and you will see the same pic used for different listings. Sometimes, they get lazy and just use a pic they already have, which is misleading. One time I bought a 6505+ head only to find out that it was a combo. Then, when I finally got the correct head, I asked them if I could plug it in and try it out. The dude said, "yes" and then started pulling out a bass cab to plug it into. I told him, "Hey man, that's a bass cab, it isn't going to work." I guess the manager overheard, and came over and told him to use a Marshall 1960 cab which was right next to the bass cab, lol. Later on, I bought a Line 6 cab loaded with V30s. I brought in my electric screwdriver when I came in to pick it up. The manager didn't judge me though when I told him that I was going to pull the back off to make sure it was actually loaded with V30s. It was, so I was happy to get a 4x12 V30 cab for $200, lol. You have to watch GC becuase they'll get you. They will be their own nail in their coffin.
Eff guitar center. You'd have better luck on market place or Craigslist and thanks for all you do man and happy belated birthday. Been busy doing the dad thing and holiday stuffs lol
Guitar center has recently put me through some headache over an EVH 212 that I ordered almost 3 weeks ago. I called them after a week of no update on shipping. Another week goes by... Week 2 has officially came and went. So I call again. They informed me that the store is short staffed but the cab is boxed up and ready to go. I was told it would ship within the next day. It still hasn't shipped out. This coming Wednesday will be going on 3 weeks. There's still no notification regarding it.
If you read through some of these comments, it sounds like others have had the same experience in getting items terribly late. Sorry you're going through that. Ugh.
Dude, sweetwater is the best. They stand out on service, I love when Randy calls me (my customer service rep), I even know his name haha. The old lady loves the little bags of candy. Happy birthday bro!
@@louistorres They are man, the thing that sticks out in my head the most is I bought a pack of picks for 15 bucks and they called and followed up to make sure everything was good.
Happy Birthday Man!!!! Yup, Guitar Center Blows!! I stopped shopping there a few years ago. Its a bunch of arrogant/wanna be musicians that think they know more than you. Screw them! Enjoy your day!
This is the truth. I remember back in the day, GC was good. You would walk in, and the employees were mostly peers. Other musicians that play in other bands in the area. Now, I walk in, and it's like, who the fuck are you? Lol, no sense of community at all, which I think is important for a music store.
FLOG+12 - Guitar Center uses its stores as a warehouse. Wish that they would end this practice. I don't want a floor model!!! why is that so hard to understand.
I simply refuse to buy anything from guitar center, I ran into so many issues and was straight lied to on the phone about a PRS MT15 and I actually had an issue with a bogner 412 as well. I’ll cough up the change and buy brand new from Sweetwater, won’t even buy strings GC.
@@louistorres thanks man. I cant say I wasn't paid decently for the numbers I hit. (Let's not even talk about the amount of pro coverages I've sold. In the thousands. My AUP was insane) but they have started taking everything away from me. Cut my hours down to half and stripped my benefits (they also fired alot of good people and reduced the hours of many other full time employees chain wide) and were 12million+ behind in sales by the first quarter of 2022. I cant imagine it's gotten any better. They are in trouble and I'm out. There is a few other things but it's to long to type lol
Happy birthday Louis! I went from having the absolute best customer service from one guy at my nearest Guitar Center to the absolute worst ever since he moved on. Devin helped me find the exact platinum guitar I wanted (through the GC site with pictures and weights) from one of their stores in Texas and had the manager send me in hand pictures even though it was new and up and away from everyone. I was bummed after learning he quit and tried getting something else that was unavailable that I bought later on EBay. That guitar arrived damaged and the seller wouldn’t take it back. It looked like someone hit the back with a ball peen hammer numerous times so I had to get EBay involved and get an estimate as a trade in. I went to GC and they surprisingly now had 2 new ones on the wall, one that I wanted to put money on to hold until receiving my refund. The GC guy was helpful with the estimate but didn’t want to do the deposit, when my refund showed up 3 days later it was gone. Later, I ordered a platinum Charvel Custom Shop Dinky from the site that came from Florida with one anorexic piece of bubble wrap in the box. I literally got sick to my stomach after hearing all the rattling in the case before opening it. The crackle finish was badly marred where the volume knob came off like it was shipped in a case with wood rasps. I didn’t notice that the case was crushed on the neck side until getting it out of the trunk to carry in for a return at the nearest store. The assistant manager there said I could order a couple of something else (paying for one) and have them sent there to check out. When I decided to do it later, the manager said that wasn’t possible and the assistant was on medical leave. I specifically ask now if it is NIB and in stock because sadly, not the first time they have let me down. At least it wasn’t my birthday though…I think you may need a mint Crate 4X12 slant cabinet with Celestion Vintage 30s.
3 years ago when I was looking for a cheap FRFR speaker for my Ax8 I walked in to GC to check out what they had. I saw the Headrush 1x12 cab and asked to buy one, this teenage girl worker said they didn't have any, but if I wanted they could sell me the one on the floor. The speaker looked like it has been dragged to hell and back and kicked around and it was dusty as hell. Long story short she wanted to sell me that one at full retail price, I laughed and walked out and never been back to GC ever if that's how they do conduct business.
That's crazy! It's literally nonsense going into their shop! How hard is it to realize that a HUGE discount should be given for floor items?! So frustrating! Sorry you went through that and trust that I would have walked out too!
Guitar center is a joke. Recently went into a store and bought a guitar I had been eyeing from Ibanez that was no longer available. Turns out the inside of the guitar was completely a mess and the guitar was in unusable bad condition which caused the pickups to be improperly grounded and nearly broken. Took it to guitar center and tried to get it repaired. Employees didn’t care at all and did a half ass job, just for the guitar to break in the same way 1 day later. Then after weeks of going back and fourth, they ordered me in the same model guitar from a different location to my closest store. Came to check it out and this guitars neck was literally broken and the guitar was in even worst condition than the first one. The employees don’t care at all, many of which no nothing about music gear in general and everyone is very rude and makes you feel unwelcome, there are a couple nice guys at my local guitar center but even the nice ones seem to have very limited knowledge on guitars. Horrible experience as someone who’s an up and coming guitarist trying to learn more and trying to buy reliable gear.
Everyone has a good Guitar Center story about a situation they ran into but don't worry, I'm sure at some point they'll either resolve them or they'll end up with bigger issues that hit them financially.
Gc in Texas took the strings off a guitar a bought from there and took the trem bar and nut out of the guitar restrung it and shipped it to me then said it didn’t have one I had to send them the picture from their website of the guitar with it and they still said it didn’t have one
man, I'm sorry that happened to you. I have had one similar experience. I had bought a pedal or a guitar and hours later it was cancelled. As far as people being rude. I dunno I have noticed a lot of people acting out of pocket though a lot lately lol. One being a manager at My place of employment lol. When that fool loses his cool, he starts shooting with his stupid high-pitched voice and he is like 2 times My size lol. I had to call the regional manager on him twice already. Thank God I have an interview Monday so hopefully I can just give them the deuces.
Man F Guitar Center. Always hassles or mistakes. I won’t even buy a guitar pick from them anymore. They are the worst. I also only deal with Sweetwater now.
I have actually had the exact opposite happened with them. I ordered an Epiphone Zakk Wylde Signature and the listing clearly stated that it came with the signature case. As soon as UPS handed me the box I knew for a fact there was no case in that guitar shipping container. The guitar was wrapped, pretty well, been in a massive amount of bubble wrap. That was it. No packing slip, no nothing. I sell guitars, amps, pedals, accessories, and whatnot and also do repairs and setups for a living. If somebody orders a set of strings for me I bubble wrap that shit and include a packing slip. But, back to the guitar. It obviously had no hardshell case. I called the store. Somewhere down in texas. I got the sweetest, kindest, most understanding young lady that looked high and low for that case for me while I was on hold. She told me she appreciated my patience and for not yelling at her but if she could call me back in a half hour or hour to see if she could not track down the case. She called back in about a half hour and no case. They couldn't find it anywhere. She asked me if a brand new hard shell Gator flight case would be an acceptable substitution. I jumped on it! I even sent a note to corporate about what a great job she did. On a separate note, their trade-in prices and offers are insulting at best. It's been a few years since I've bothered to try and trade anything with them
@@louistorres there is nothing but truth in your statement. One of the exact reasons I have for all intents and purposes stopped dealing with them on any level. Every so often I'll check for their deals of the day, same with musician's Friend. But outside of that I really have very little use for them. I don't want to run the risk of having an experience like yours or worse like we hear whenever their name is brought up. The first thing I thought of when you were talking about your order and the problem you were having with the manager was as soon as you got that box opened you'd find every single speaker with a screwdriver hole in it. Also, out of curiosity, how much was the cabinet?
Oh man! I feel your pain. Guitar Center, Hope Depot/Lowes - I freaking hate them! These twat.waffles will sell used stuff marked as NEW. Hate seeing fingerprints and other stuff on merchandise. Sorry that you had to deal with a jackass. sucks!!! just sucks!!! but Happy birthday.
I worked for gc from 2012 to 2020..covid fucked my job. I worked for the carle place long island store then i moved to the colonie store upstate. I enjoyed working with them..bur covid killed it and the vibe died.
Happy belated.....sucks about guitar center. They are pretty crappy just about everywhere. Sam's Ass wasn't much better. Sweetwater is good. Vintage KIng was really helpful when I would order from them and back in the day American Musical was where I got most of my stuff. Was always well packed and survived the trip to Germany (dad was in the military so we were overseas at the time) and BEFORE the internet existed!! No problems with the orders and I still have my first 2 Marshalls, my old ART 2000 and my Charvel 475 with the bitchin desert crackle finish 30+ years later all working pretty well lol I've had guitar center cancell my online web order as well, but even better..... IT WAS THE LOCAL ONE IN VEGAS!!! I did the order overnight when I saw it so that I could pick it up the next day and got the cancellation in the morning, so when I called, the excuse was, the inventory was off and that was gone...... sucked. Ah well.... at this point it's Reverb from a decent seller, otherwise, I don't need it that bad. I find that, in the end, if it's meant to be, it'll happen when the time is right and I don't question the mysteries of the universe in my old age anymore hahaha
Louis, I may have mentioned this with you before. I ordered a Friedman Jerry Cantrell 100w years ago from a store in the Illinois area. They shipped a ( New) in box supposedly, when I went to plug it in nothing happened. Looked at the tube section and the power tubes were missing. This was shipped from their ware house. This is not the first time that GC sells something as new but is categorized new open box. Did not order open box but NEW. Happened again to a different amp. Hearing stories on how this is a common thing that GC does, I no longer will spend that kind of cash there. Now Sweetwater has had the same issues as well with their shipping system. GC is a joke, since they changed their policies about 10 years ago it's all gone down hill. Since they are on the credit watch list they are doing whatever to recoup money and stay afloat. There are some amazing people that have been my sales go to people, some that were the best in there region. ( They got let go because they were making too much money) Really ?? Yes!! The system and the way they handle customers (30yrs) is a joke. Sweetwater will and is becoming an Amazon for gear. GC will shut down 50% of their stores and then go Bankrupt.
You handled it waaaaay better than I would have. I’m not proud to say that, my anger would have taken over. Not that it would do any good.. but damn it, that dude needs a smack.
I would understand if I were angry and yelling but I never raised my voice, definitely never yelled because I can yell and it's bad when I yell. I was shocked more than anything that he was hanging up on me. Hahaha. "Is this dude seriously hanging up on me right now?" Is what was going through my mind! Lol.
I have found GC trying to sell damaged merchandise like there was nothing wrong with it. So many music store employees are attitude heavy it is great when you find a normal person working there.
I bought an MXR 10 Band EQ from their store. Paid brand new price, and when I got it home and opened it, there was Velcro on the bottom for mounting on a pedalboard. I took it back immediately. It also had the wrong power supply (which I found out when I bought an actual brand new one). At first I said, at best, it's an open box pedal like they had it on display and are now selling it, but once I got the new one, I knew they were trying to sell me a used pedal for brand new price. Unfortunately, the employees at GC are so clueless, I don't know if it was on purpose or accidental.
I got a cold call from sweetwaters marketing director recently. He said he was just checking in due to my lack of purchases this year and wanted to know if things were OK. I let him know I began shopping elsewhere do to their high mark up prices and mediocre, at best, in stocks items... and then he hung up on me!
Hands down, the customer service from their online sales is WAY better than in the stores. They sell you brand new guitars without the tools that come in with them.
Can I ask you something irrelevant? 25+ year player and I only just got my first tube amp, 5150 III 100w 6L6 and it needs all new tubes but I can't find the EVH tubes anywhere and I don't know much about it. I just figured with that amount of amps you might be able to cure a tube-amp-newbies confusion as which to substitute with..? Thanks in advance broheim
I once tried to buy a 6505+ combo from guitar center's website. The quoted delivery time was 3 to 5 business days. After 3 weeks, I canceled the order. I called them several times throughout that 3 week period, and they kept telling me that there's other orders ahead of mine that have to be processed first. 3 weeks worth of orders from one store? My ass. I spoke with a friend of mine who is some kind of manager (I don't know her exact title) at my local guitar center, and she told me the store I bought it from is all fucked up right now, they fired a bunch of people, including some managers, over some kind of issue she wouldn't tell me. I assumed it was some kind of fraud issue, if they fired that many people and wouldn't tell me what happened. So after I hung up the phone with her, I called them immediately and canceled the order lol
@@louistorres I definitely shouldn't have waited that long, but I felt like there wasn't really any risk on my part, as I wasn't hurting for cash, I had an amp to play at the time, and I knew I could cancel the order whenever. I figured I would just see how long it took. But after 3 weeks, I had to cancel on principle.
It sucks cuz there ARE SOME Good GC employees out there but that place is like a Walmart style Music Store. Bogner Straight cabs are some of my faves. Slant? Meh- I dont think ya lost out 😂. But REGARDLESS Sweetwater and Zzounds trump GC
Yeah bro, I'm okay with not getting the cabinet but mainly bc I now refuse to buy anything from them over this experience. No thanks. I know lots of good dudes who work there or have worked there and it's bad how tainted the company is at this stage.
As a supervisor in customer support for 15 years, this is beyond appalling yet not surprising, you were literally asking a basic, simple question, I bought it, mark it as sold and pull it off the floor so it’s not sold out from under me which has happened, done, easy. I would definitely be reaching out to the EVP level immediately. GC is a joke and have been for the last 20 years. Most I’ll get from them is a pack of guitar strings, if I’m desperate. I literally would rather order strings online than drive 5 miles to walk into those dumpster fire stores. Sweetwater for life, just wish they had more brick and mortar stores.
This is going to be a long one...(But I hope a GC rep see's it and knows they work for a $#!7 company) I bought A ESP from my local GC (Was supposed to have been a namm piece) I order the guitar, They ship it and luckily on my behalf I know you can hold your money until said item arrives for inspection. The guitar itself was pretty much untouched, Since all went well I had asked them to do the work knowing the tech who I thought still worked there at the time. They specifically told me he was still working there and would be doing said work.. Cool, I buy some extremely expensive custom pickups couple extra pots and a switchcraft jack (just for good measure). I get my receipt and i'm told it'll be a week do to the wait time on the pickups. cool two weeks go by and I call for a update I'm instantly told "Hey I'm the new tech, Only took the strings off and it's been sitting for a week" I was ticked but after talking to the guy he seemed to grasp the concept that this guitar is important. A month goes by... I'm now living in a whole different state, I call and ask why was I dodged and where is my guitar...... Apparently it's being worked on so I have a buddy go down there and he tells me it's hung up with no price on it but people are playing it, Another friend who will stay unnamed who worked for said guitar center calls me and says "Our tech can't do the work he does't understand it, We're going to send it to another state"..... This guy is supposedly the best whatever just get it done and now I want at least a return for the 2 rewires I paid for.... Apparently I should've received the return in my bank account but yet again nothing, Now two months have gone by I call.... "Your guitar just got back, Our new tech is going to give it a proper setup on the house"..... Cool let me know when to pick it up. A week goes by and again I had to make the call.... "We ran into a problem, We can't install a push pull pot with these pickups......" But the work was already supposedly done. I go down there now I'm fuming luckily homegirl was working she tries to find my guitar and it's nowhere to be found. The head manager comes out and hands me a 180$ check and tells me that's for the guitar (of which I paid close to $2k for at this point. They kick me out and I'm told I'm allowed to come back IF they find my guitar (mind you I didn't cash the check). I called corporate and they instantly offered me a replacement of 2600$ price range I informed them I still wanted my pickups that I was never refunded for or the parts, Guy was cool and he evens everything out to 5 guitar's to choose from (A EBMM Majesty, Caparison Dellinger, Godin artistan "Used", Some gibson that I wouldn't play Or a Dean V that was some special run) I picked the majesty he say's give me a week to process everything...... A month goes by I get ahold of corporate again same guy he tells me he can't give me anything fromt "The showcase" So I picked the Caparison..... Now we can't get that one do to shipping issues, Okay the Godin "We can't give you used stock"....... Well already said no on the Gibson and the Dean is completely opposite from what I wanted but i'll try it, I go to my local GC to try it and they tell me I'm not allowed in the building (Mind you I never even swore nevermind intimidated anyone I'm a quiet dude) Homegirl brings a amp outside with the guitar and a stand and I try it out. Cool I'll take it....... 3 hours later, Manager comes out and hands me another check for 750$ (didn't cash it) and again tells me where to go, I call coporate "We can't process anything because the manager is blocking the sale". Okay done I want my money back "We can't until we find your original guitar" 3 months go by of this BS. Finally a call from GC "come aand get your guitar"......... I go to pick it up and it has DEEP gouges across the body, A chunk missing near the bottom strap..... the pickguard looked like a dog chewed on it and none of he pickups work they also tossed my stock Seymour Duncan's and for some odd reason even though there was a trem stop....It would not stay in tune, I bring up the issues and I'm physically shoved from behind to the ground by head manager (I had my 6 year old and 9 year old niece's with me I'm not doing this) He grabs my guitar hucks it in the case forces it shut which damages my guitar again..... I leave and call corporate investigation goes down, I'm told to hold on to the checks and guitar and I'll be shipped a new guitar.. .... . Not even a week goes by and once again the BS started he store calls me it's said manager who pushed me apologizing but also telling me to take my guitar a shove it, Corporate calls "Bring the guitar to your local GC and pick out what you want" I go a state over (Manchester,CT whasup!!!!) They tried 30 different guitar's nothing will go through they call corporate and at least get me hooked up with a non-associated luthier he tells me "The trussrod is busted in multiple places, Your pickguard is completely destroyed, It looks like a child with a torch attempted to install your pickups" I give the info to corporate. Now I'm asked to go back to the GC it all started at The jackass manager walks out and again hands me a check 200$ I gave it right back and requested a full refund for the guitar and it would be given back as well as said pickups. They pull up the listing put the refund through and tell me I'll be getting back 599$ even with said other checks we're missing almost a grand here c'mon!!!! Because I refused their lowball BS the refuse to give me a refund in general. Corporate never settled anytime I call it just goes right to my reps answering machine. They screwed me and they know it said guitar ended up in the ownership of a ex ESP employee who completely redid it. Don't deal with GC in general. Lost the biggest oppurtunity in my playing in general because Guitar Center annihilated my only guitar at that specific time. I still have yet to have this resolved 4 year's later.
@@louistorres Anytime. Hope you get your Cabinet at some point. Just wondering why you haven't been posting as many video's lately? Several Y-tuber's have been quiet as well.
Just getting around to responding. We all know Guitar Center has a reputation. Sorry to hear that happened to you, but I'm not at all surprised. The center closest to where I now live has employees that know nothing about gear. I can't even call up there and get a straight answer about if they carry a certain product. And when I go in and talk to them, it's as if no one knows anything. They did do a return for me and that's about the best thing I can say. Sucks they ruined your birthday. The kind of attitude dude gave you seems to be fairly common. It's like they don't give a sh!t if you buy from them or not. That's another reason all these businesses are hurting and it sounds to me like upper management doesn't care one way or the other. As someone who has lived all over the country, I can tell you, to people who aren't used to talking to people from the northeast, it does sometimes come across as you guys are yelling or catching an attitude 😂. Not to me because I'm used to it and realize it's just how you guys communicate. I'm not trying to defend the guy or say it's your fault. Maybe the guy was just a dick and/or didn't know how to deal with customers. Whatever the reason, he shouldn't be a manager, if he really was. Love you get a Bog cabinet btw. PS. We have a local guitar shop here and it carries some of the best gear available and there's at least two employees there that piss me off. They think they're the stars of the show and have piss poor attitudes and zero customer service skills. Maybe just the way things are now, hate to say. ✌️ Bro!
Should drive there, kick the door open and yell "REED WILLIAMS!!!!"
Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!
Sweetwater is king. Outstanding customer service. There’s a reason they’re the top dogs in the gear world
They call you and leave emails. Who else does that ❤
They are too nice...
Sweetwater is the best! 🔥🤘
Your totally right about guitar center. I've had problems with them as well. The customer service there is horrible. It's no surprise they have filed for bankruptcy in the past. It doesn't look like they have made the changes needed to have a successful business. It frustrating dealing with this on your birthday, but it's awesome you have a youtube channel to get the word out when something like this happens. I totally agree with you about sweetwater. They have awesome customer service and I've had nothing but good luck with them. Happy birthday brother!
One thing I learned quick, because I'm the same as you, I call the store I just bought it from, the picture on the site isn't always what they have. You can go to their site right now and type in something super common, like a 5150 or any Fender amp, and you will see the same pic used for different listings. Sometimes, they get lazy and just use a pic they already have, which is misleading. One time I bought a 6505+ head only to find out that it was a combo. Then, when I finally got the correct head, I asked them if I could plug it in and try it out. The dude said, "yes" and then started pulling out a bass cab to plug it into. I told him, "Hey man, that's a bass cab, it isn't going to work." I guess the manager overheard, and came over and told him to use a Marshall 1960 cab which was right next to the bass cab, lol. Later on, I bought a Line 6 cab loaded with V30s. I brought in my electric screwdriver when I came in to pick it up. The manager didn't judge me though when I told him that I was going to pull the back off to make sure it was actually loaded with V30s. It was, so I was happy to get a 4x12 V30 cab for $200, lol. You have to watch GC becuase they'll get you. They will be their own nail in their coffin.
That's so bad!
I didn’t watch the video yet, but i bought a cab just like that from upstate a few days ago! Too soon?? Wishing you a happy birthday brother!
Eff guitar center. You'd have better luck on market place or Craigslist and thanks for all you do man and happy belated birthday. Been busy doing the dad thing and holiday stuffs lol
Dude, yes you are damn right! I had
trouble this past July with guitar Center/ musicians friend. Here’s a late “Happy birthday Louis!
Guitar center has recently put me through some headache over an EVH 212 that I ordered almost 3 weeks ago. I called them after a week of no update on shipping. Another week goes by...
Week 2 has officially came and went. So I call again. They informed me that the store is short staffed but the cab is boxed up and ready to go. I was told it would ship within the next day. It still hasn't shipped out.
This coming Wednesday will be going on 3 weeks. There's still no notification regarding it.
If you read through some of these comments, it sounds like others have had the same experience in getting items terribly late. Sorry you're going through that. Ugh.
Dude, sweetwater is the best. They stand out on service, I love when Randy calls me (my customer service rep), I even know his name haha. The old lady loves the little bags of candy. Happy birthday bro!
Josh calls me and i love it when they call me it’s so awesome .
Sweetwater is literally next level! That's why everyone loves them the most. Guitar Center is just a joke at this point.
@@louistorres They are man, the thing that sticks out in my head the most is I bought a pack of picks for 15 bucks and they called and followed up to make sure everything was good.
Happy Birthday Man!!!! Yup, Guitar Center Blows!! I stopped shopping there a few years ago. Its a bunch of arrogant/wanna be musicians that think they know more than you. Screw them! Enjoy your day!
This is the truth. I remember back in the day, GC was good. You would walk in, and the employees were mostly peers. Other musicians that play in other bands in the area. Now, I walk in, and it's like, who the fuck are you? Lol, no sense of community at all, which I think is important for a music store.
FLOG+12 - Guitar Center uses its stores as a warehouse. Wish that they would end this practice. I don't want a floor model!!! why is that so hard to understand.
This is spot on
I simply refuse to buy anything from guitar center, I ran into so many issues and was straight lied to on the phone about a PRS MT15 and I actually had an issue with a bogner 412 as well. I’ll cough up the change and buy brand new from Sweetwater, won’t even buy strings GC.
Yeah bro, it sounds like so many dudes out there that have had so many bad experiences and refuse to buy anything at GC.
After 2 years and almost 1.5m in sales with Guitar Center I can happily say today is my last day with them haha. Employee 122749 out!
Woah
Bro, you're going to do great!! $750,000 each year in sales is really great! They're lucky they had you!
@@louistorres thanks man. I cant say I wasn't paid decently for the numbers I hit. (Let's not even talk about the amount of pro coverages I've sold. In the thousands. My AUP was insane) but they have started taking everything away from me. Cut my hours down to half and stripped my benefits (they also fired alot of good people and reduced the hours of many other full time employees chain wide) and were 12million+ behind in sales by the first quarter of 2022. I cant imagine it's gotten any better. They are in trouble and I'm out. There is a few other things but it's to long to type lol
Happy birthday Louis! I went from having the absolute best customer service from one guy at my nearest Guitar Center to the absolute worst ever since he moved on. Devin helped me find the exact platinum guitar I wanted (through the GC site with pictures and weights) from one of their stores in Texas and had the manager send me in hand pictures even though it was new and up and away from everyone. I was bummed after learning he quit and tried getting something else that was unavailable that I bought later on EBay. That guitar arrived damaged and the seller wouldn’t take it back. It looked like someone hit the back with a ball peen hammer numerous times so I had to get EBay involved and get an estimate as a trade in. I went to GC and they surprisingly now had 2 new ones on the wall, one that I wanted to put money on to hold until receiving my refund. The GC guy was helpful with the estimate but didn’t want to do the deposit, when my refund showed up 3 days later it was gone. Later, I ordered a platinum Charvel Custom Shop Dinky from the site that came from Florida with one anorexic piece of bubble wrap in the box. I literally got sick to my stomach after hearing all the rattling in the case before opening it. The crackle finish was badly marred where the volume knob came off like it was shipped in a case with wood rasps. I didn’t notice that the case was crushed on the neck side until getting it out of the trunk to carry in for a return at the nearest store. The assistant manager there said I could order a couple of something else (paying for one) and have them sent there to check out. When I decided to do it later, the manager said that wasn’t possible and the assistant was on medical leave. I specifically ask now if it is NIB and in stock because sadly, not the first time they have let me down. At least it wasn’t my birthday though…I think you may need a mint Crate 4X12 slant cabinet with Celestion Vintage 30s.
Same thing happened to me man.. I been using music go round ever since. Happy Birthday btw!!!
amazing!
lots of dream gear
3 years ago when I was looking for a cheap FRFR speaker for my Ax8 I walked in to GC to check out what they had. I saw the Headrush 1x12 cab and asked to buy one, this teenage girl worker said they didn't have any, but if I wanted they could sell me the one on the floor. The speaker looked like it has been dragged to hell and back and kicked around and it was dusty as hell. Long story short she wanted to sell me that one at full retail price, I laughed and walked out and never been back to GC ever if that's how they do conduct business.
That's crazy! It's literally nonsense going into their shop! How hard is it to realize that a HUGE discount should be given for floor items?! So frustrating! Sorry you went through that and trust that I would have walked out too!
I just had them ship me a Les Paul with a horribly glued on headstock that was not disclosed, no biggy lol
Yikes! I don't think anyone from GC every focuses on reviewing items before shipping! Haha!
Happy Old Mans Day
Thanks brother!!! :)
Guitar center is a joke. Recently went into a store and bought a guitar I had been eyeing from Ibanez that was no longer available. Turns out the inside of the guitar was completely a mess and the guitar was in unusable bad condition which caused the pickups to be improperly grounded and nearly broken. Took it to guitar center and tried to get it repaired. Employees didn’t care at all and did a half ass job, just for the guitar to break in the same way 1 day later. Then after weeks of going back and fourth, they ordered me in the same model guitar from a different location to my closest store. Came to check it out and this guitars neck was literally broken and the guitar was in even worst condition than the first one. The employees don’t care at all, many of which no nothing about music gear in general and everyone is very rude and makes you feel unwelcome, there are a couple nice guys at my local guitar center but even the nice ones seem to have very limited knowledge on guitars. Horrible experience as someone who’s an up and coming guitarist trying to learn more and trying to buy reliable gear.
Everyone has a good Guitar Center story about a situation they ran into but don't worry, I'm sure at some point they'll either resolve them or they'll end up with bigger issues that hit them financially.
Gc in Texas took the strings off a guitar a bought from there and took the trem bar and nut out of the guitar restrung it and shipped it to me then said it didn’t have one I had to send them the picture from their website of the guitar with it and they still said it didn’t have one
Wow! That's so crazy!!!! Even showing proof, they still deny it! Lol!
man, I'm sorry that happened to you. I have had one similar experience. I had bought a pedal or a guitar and hours later it was cancelled. As far as people being rude. I dunno I have noticed a lot of people acting out of pocket though a lot lately lol. One being a manager at My place of employment lol. When that fool loses his cool, he starts shooting with his stupid high-pitched voice and he is like 2 times My size lol. I had to call the regional manager on him twice already. Thank God I have an interview Monday so hopefully I can just give them the deuces.
Man F Guitar Center. Always hassles or mistakes. I won’t even buy a guitar pick from them anymore. They are the worst. I also only deal with Sweetwater now.
And happy birthday btw man! 🤘🤘
I bought a used guitar from GC they sent it in a large box secured with a thin layer of bubble wrap. #cracked AF
Oh no!!! It's like they doing really care about their instruments. It's a losing battle. Sorry that happened bro!
I have actually had the exact opposite happened with them. I ordered an Epiphone Zakk Wylde Signature and the listing clearly stated that it came with the signature case.
As soon as UPS handed me the box I knew for a fact there was no case in that guitar shipping container. The guitar was wrapped, pretty well, been in a massive amount of bubble wrap. That was it. No packing slip, no nothing.
I sell guitars, amps, pedals, accessories, and whatnot and also do repairs and setups for a living. If somebody orders a set of strings for me I bubble wrap that shit and include a packing slip.
But, back to the guitar. It obviously had no hardshell case. I called the store. Somewhere down in texas. I got the sweetest, kindest, most understanding young lady that looked high and low for that case for me while I was on hold. She told me she appreciated my patience and for not yelling at her but if she could call me back in a half hour or hour to see if she could not track down the case.
She called back in about a half hour and no case. They couldn't find it anywhere. She asked me if a brand new hard shell Gator flight case would be an acceptable substitution. I jumped on it! I even sent a note to corporate about what a great job she did.
On a separate note, their trade-in prices and offers are insulting at best. It's been a few years since I've bothered to try and trade anything with them
You're lucky! Everyone tends to have more negative issues than not.
@@louistorres there is nothing but truth in your statement. One of the exact reasons I have for all intents and purposes stopped dealing with them on any level. Every so often I'll check for their deals of the day, same with musician's Friend. But outside of that I really have very little use for them.
I don't want to run the risk of having an experience like yours or worse like we hear whenever their name is brought up.
The first thing I thought of when you were talking about your order and the problem you were having with the manager was as soon as you got that box opened you'd find every single speaker with a screwdriver hole in it.
Also, out of curiosity, how much was the cabinet?
Oh man! I feel your pain. Guitar Center, Hope Depot/Lowes - I freaking hate them! These twat.waffles will sell used stuff marked as NEW. Hate seeing fingerprints and other stuff on merchandise. Sorry that you had to deal with a jackass. sucks!!! just sucks!!! but Happy birthday.
I worked for gc from 2012 to 2020..covid fucked my job.
I worked for the carle place long island store then i moved to the colonie store upstate.
I enjoyed working with them..bur covid killed it and the vibe died.
Happy birthday brother
Happy belated.....sucks about guitar center. They are pretty crappy just about everywhere. Sam's Ass wasn't much better. Sweetwater is good. Vintage KIng was really helpful when I would order from them and back in the day American Musical was where I got most of my stuff. Was always well packed and survived the trip to Germany (dad was in the military so we were overseas at the time) and BEFORE the internet existed!! No problems with the orders and I still have my first 2 Marshalls, my old ART 2000 and my Charvel 475 with the bitchin desert crackle finish 30+ years later all working pretty well lol
I've had guitar center cancell my online web order as well, but even better..... IT WAS THE LOCAL ONE IN VEGAS!!! I did the order overnight when I saw it so that I could pick it up the next day and got the cancellation in the morning, so when I called, the excuse was, the inventory was off and that was gone...... sucked. Ah well.... at this point it's Reverb from a decent seller, otherwise, I don't need it that bad. I find that, in the end, if it's meant to be, it'll happen when the time is right and I don't question the mysteries of the universe in my old age anymore hahaha
Louis, I may have mentioned this with you before. I ordered a Friedman Jerry Cantrell 100w years ago from a store in the Illinois area.
They shipped a ( New) in box supposedly, when I went to plug it in nothing happened. Looked at the tube section and the power tubes were missing. This was shipped from their ware house. This is not the first time that GC sells something as new but is categorized new open box. Did not order open box but NEW. Happened again to a different amp. Hearing stories on how this is a common thing that GC does, I no longer will spend that kind of cash there. Now Sweetwater has had the same issues as well with their shipping system. GC is a joke, since they changed their policies about 10 years ago it's all gone down hill. Since they are on the credit watch list they are doing whatever to recoup money and stay afloat.
There are some amazing people that have been my sales go to people, some that were the best in there region. ( They got let go because they were making too much money) Really ?? Yes!!
The system and the way they handle customers (30yrs) is a joke. Sweetwater will and is becoming an Amazon for gear. GC will shut down 50% of their stores and then go Bankrupt.
Happy Birthday Bro
Happy birthday brother!!
Hermano, thank you so much!
Happy Birthday Bro ! You have some crappy service over there ! Dude just got named so he will probably loose his job 😂
Happy Birthday !
Disrespect is about the only thing that gets my goat 🐐 enjoy your day
You handled it waaaaay better than I would have. I’m not proud to say that, my anger would have taken over. Not that it would do any good.. but damn it, that dude needs a smack.
I would understand if I were angry and yelling but I never raised my voice, definitely never yelled because I can yell and it's bad when I yell. I was shocked more than anything that he was hanging up on me. Hahaha. "Is this dude seriously hanging up on me right now?" Is what was going through my mind! Lol.
I have found GC trying to sell damaged merchandise like there was nothing wrong with it. So many music store employees are attitude heavy it is great when you find a normal person working there.
I bought an MXR 10 Band EQ from their store. Paid brand new price, and when I got it home and opened it, there was Velcro on the bottom for mounting on a pedalboard. I took it back immediately. It also had the wrong power supply (which I found out when I bought an actual brand new one). At first I said, at best, it's an open box pedal like they had it on display and are now selling it, but once I got the new one, I knew they were trying to sell me a used pedal for brand new price. Unfortunately, the employees at GC are so clueless, I don't know if it was on purpose or accidental.
Happy belated birthday!!!!!!
I got a cold call from sweetwaters marketing director recently. He said he was just checking in due to my lack of purchases this year and wanted to know if things were OK. I let him know I began shopping elsewhere do to their high mark up prices and mediocre, at best, in stocks items... and then he hung up on me!
Hands down, the customer service from their online sales is WAY better than in the stores. They sell you brand new guitars without the tools that come in with them.
Crazy right!
Ive had them give me gog bags for guitars that come with cases because the case was gone
Can I ask you something irrelevant? 25+ year player and I only just got my first tube amp, 5150 III 100w 6L6 and it needs all new tubes but I can't find the EVH tubes anywhere and I don't know much about it.
I just figured with that amount of amps you might be able to cure a tube-amp-newbies confusion as which to substitute with..? Thanks in advance broheim
You probably don't need all new tubes. You can use the same type tubes though, you don't need to use "EVH" badged tubes.
@@louistorres :) thx homie 🤘🤘
I once tried to buy a 6505+ combo from guitar center's website. The quoted delivery time was 3 to 5 business days. After 3 weeks, I canceled the order. I called them several times throughout that 3 week period, and they kept telling me that there's other orders ahead of mine that have to be processed first. 3 weeks worth of orders from one store? My ass. I spoke with a friend of mine who is some kind of manager (I don't know her exact title) at my local guitar center, and she told me the store I bought it from is all fucked up right now, they fired a bunch of people, including some managers, over some kind of issue she wouldn't tell me. I assumed it was some kind of fraud issue, if they fired that many people and wouldn't tell me what happened. So after I hung up the phone with her, I called them immediately and canceled the order lol
Holy smoke! Three weeks is insane! GC has a problem they refuse to address.
@@louistorres I definitely shouldn't have waited that long, but I felt like there wasn't really any risk on my part, as I wasn't hurting for cash, I had an amp to play at the time, and I knew I could cancel the order whenever. I figured I would just see how long it took. But after 3 weeks, I had to cancel on principle.
It sucks cuz there ARE SOME Good GC employees out there but that place is like a Walmart style Music Store. Bogner Straight cabs are some of my faves. Slant? Meh- I dont think ya lost out 😂. But REGARDLESS Sweetwater and Zzounds trump GC
Yeah bro, I'm okay with not getting the cabinet but mainly bc I now refuse to buy anything from them over this experience. No thanks. I know lots of good dudes who work there or have worked there and it's bad how tainted the company is at this stage.
@@louistorres your story is STILL kinda shocking though! 7 hangups ?😬
Happy birthday Louis
Happy birthday
Thanks bro! Yeah man, just change the tubes you think are bad but test them.
As a supervisor in customer support for 15 years, this is beyond appalling yet not surprising, you were literally asking a basic, simple question, I bought it, mark it as sold and pull it off the floor so it’s not sold out from under me which has happened, done, easy. I would definitely be reaching out to the EVP level immediately. GC is a joke and have been for the last 20 years. Most I’ll get from them is a pack of guitar strings, if I’m desperate. I literally would rather order strings online than drive 5 miles to walk into those dumpster fire stores. Sweetwater for life, just wish they had more brick and mortar stores.
Fully agree!
This is going to be a long one...(But I hope a GC rep see's it and knows they work for a $#!7 company) I bought A ESP from my local GC (Was supposed to have been a namm piece) I order the guitar, They ship it and luckily on my behalf I know you can hold your money until said item arrives for inspection. The guitar itself was pretty much untouched, Since all went well I had asked them to do the work knowing the tech who I thought still worked there at the time. They specifically told me he was still working there and would be doing said work.. Cool, I buy some extremely expensive custom pickups couple extra pots and a switchcraft jack (just for good measure). I get my receipt and i'm told it'll be a week do to the wait time on the pickups. cool two weeks go by and I call for a update I'm instantly told "Hey I'm the new tech, Only took the strings off and it's been sitting for a week" I was ticked but after talking to the guy he seemed to grasp the concept that this guitar is important. A month goes by... I'm now living in a whole different state, I call and ask why was I dodged and where is my guitar...... Apparently it's being worked on so I have a buddy go down there and he tells me it's hung up with no price on it but people are playing it, Another friend who will stay unnamed who worked for said guitar center calls me and says "Our tech can't do the work he does't understand it, We're going to send it to another state"..... This guy is supposedly the best whatever just get it done and now I want at least a return for the 2 rewires I paid for.... Apparently I should've received the return in my bank account but yet again nothing, Now two months have gone by I call.... "Your guitar just got back, Our new tech is going to give it a proper setup on the house"..... Cool let me know when to pick it up. A week goes by and again I had to make the call.... "We ran into a problem, We can't install a push pull pot with these pickups......" But the work was already supposedly done. I go down there now I'm fuming luckily homegirl was working she tries to find my guitar and it's nowhere to be found. The head manager comes out and hands me a 180$ check and tells me that's for the guitar (of which I paid close to $2k for at this point. They kick me out and I'm told I'm allowed to come back IF they find my guitar (mind you I didn't cash the check). I called corporate and they instantly offered me a replacement of 2600$ price range I informed them I still wanted my pickups that I was never refunded for or the parts, Guy was cool and he evens everything out to 5 guitar's to choose from (A EBMM Majesty, Caparison Dellinger, Godin artistan "Used", Some gibson that I wouldn't play Or a Dean V that was some special run) I picked the majesty he say's give me a week to process everything...... A month goes by I get ahold of corporate again same guy he tells me he can't give me anything fromt "The showcase" So I picked the Caparison..... Now we can't get that one do to shipping issues, Okay the Godin "We can't give you used stock"....... Well already said no on the Gibson and the Dean is completely opposite from what I wanted but i'll try it, I go to my local GC to try it and they tell me I'm not allowed in the building (Mind you I never even swore nevermind intimidated anyone I'm a quiet dude) Homegirl brings a amp outside with the guitar and a stand and I try it out. Cool I'll take it....... 3 hours later, Manager comes out and hands me another check for 750$ (didn't cash it) and again tells me where to go, I call coporate "We can't process anything because the manager is blocking the sale". Okay done I want my money back "We can't until we find your original guitar" 3 months go by of this BS. Finally a call from GC "come aand get your guitar"......... I go to pick it up and it has DEEP gouges across the body, A chunk missing near the bottom strap..... the pickguard looked like a dog chewed on it and none of he pickups work they also tossed my stock Seymour Duncan's and for some odd reason even though there was a trem stop....It would not stay in tune, I bring up the issues and I'm physically shoved from behind to the ground by head manager (I had my 6 year old and 9 year old niece's with me I'm not doing this) He grabs my guitar hucks it in the case forces it shut which damages my guitar again..... I leave and call corporate investigation goes down, I'm told to hold on to the checks and guitar and I'll be shipped a new guitar.. .... . Not even a week goes by and once again the BS started he store calls me it's said manager who pushed me apologizing but also telling me to take my guitar a shove it, Corporate calls "Bring the guitar to your local GC and pick out what you want" I go a state over (Manchester,CT whasup!!!!) They tried 30 different guitar's nothing will go through they call corporate and at least get me hooked up with a non-associated luthier he tells me "The trussrod is busted in multiple places, Your pickguard is completely destroyed, It looks like a child with a torch attempted to install your pickups" I give the info to corporate. Now I'm asked to go back to the GC it all started at The jackass manager walks out and again hands me a check 200$ I gave it right back and requested a full refund for the guitar and it would be given back as well as said pickups. They pull up the listing put the refund through and tell me I'll be getting back 599$ even with said other checks we're missing almost a grand here c'mon!!!! Because I refused their lowball BS the refuse to give me a refund in general. Corporate never settled anytime I call it just goes right to my reps answering machine. They screwed me and they know it said guitar ended up in the ownership of a ex ESP employee who completely redid it. Don't deal with GC in general. Lost the biggest oppurtunity in my playing in general because Guitar Center annihilated my only guitar at that specific time. I still have yet to have this resolved 4 year's later.
GC SUCKS. Happy birthday buddy 🤘🤘
Thanks brother!!! You are the man!!!
@@louistorres Anytime. Hope you get your Cabinet at some point. Just wondering why you haven't been posting as many video's lately? Several Y-tuber's have been quiet as well.
Just getting around to responding. We all know Guitar Center has a reputation. Sorry to hear that happened to you, but I'm not at all surprised. The center closest to where I now live has employees that know nothing about gear. I can't even call up there and get a straight answer about if they carry a certain product. And when I go in and talk to them, it's as if no one knows anything. They did do a return for me and that's about the best thing I can say. Sucks they ruined your birthday. The kind of attitude dude gave you seems to be fairly common. It's like they don't give a sh!t if you buy from them or not. That's another reason all these businesses are hurting and it sounds to me like upper management doesn't care one way or the other. As someone who has lived all over the country, I can tell you, to people who aren't used to talking to people from the northeast, it does sometimes come across as you guys are yelling or catching an attitude 😂. Not to me because I'm used to it and realize it's just how you guys communicate. I'm not trying to defend the guy or say it's your fault. Maybe the guy was just a dick and/or didn't know how to deal with customers. Whatever the reason, he shouldn't be a manager, if he really was. Love you get a Bog cabinet btw. PS. We have a local guitar shop here and it carries some of the best gear available and there's at least two employees there that piss me off. They think they're the stars of the show and have piss poor attitudes and zero customer service skills. Maybe just the way things are now, hate to say. ✌️ Bro!
8:40 this is what I would do, no youtube channel needed, its proper business, basic shit
btw, you need an extra face