So I decided to visit a Guitar Center on my Saturday afternoon. I walk in, pick up a guitar and am immediately followed by a salesman with an ugly pink shirt and cheap cologne. The guy asks me what amp I wanted to use and plugs it in for me as if I can't figure out how to do it myself. While I'm trying to play, he's trying to make small talk, etc. Being the nice guy I am, I indulge him a little, just trying to be nice. Finally he walks away. "Yes!", I think to myself.
A minute later, he walks back with a calculator, sits down and starts rambling off some deal they're running and how I can walk out of the store with this guitar for $60. Then he has the nerve to ask for a major credit card and two forms of ID. "Uh, no", I said. At this point I'm no longer concerned with amusing this guy and tell him I'd just like to play. So he says "Oh, OK. Well, let's see what you got". I said, "Look, I didn't come in here with the intention of buying a guitar, and I'm not going to buy one". Thinking this would get him off my back, he starts trying to sell me on the amp. ARRRG! I told him I didn't want to buy anything and would just like to play without him sitting by me.
He walks away and comes back again when I pick up another guitar to play and starts hawking me about that one. At this point I was pretty furious and had to walk out before I said something I'd regret. As I left, the gentleman at the front door who greeted me when I walked in said, "Leaving already?". I told him yes because his salesman is harassing me. That took him back a little bit.
Now, I understand that these guys work on commission, but honestly this was over the top. I've never had this problem at any other Guitar Center.
Sorry, just had to rant.
Yep, another reason why I'll never be a salesman unless I'm starving....you can still do your job w/o being pushy.
"Contrary to popular belief, Clapton is NOT God. The prospect that he is God probably had a large hand in driving him to drugs and booze. Thanks everyone."
-Guitar World :lol:
i'm not allowed to go to gc unsupervised, one of my best freinds works at the one i go
to, and i get some really good deals, which gets me in alot of trouble with my lady lol
even god loves rock-n-roll
Pushy salespeople really irk me too. That, and dis-honest ones.
My son and I were at a local mom & pop music store yesterday, and my son's been gassin' for an Ibanez Artcore hollow body electric, when he eyes a Jay Turser semi-hollow body, and asks me if he can play it. We've been there many times before, and I know the owner doesn't mind as long as you're careful, so I hand him the guitar and just watch to make sure he doesn't ding it or anything. Just then a new salesman comes up, and I ask if the guitar is used, as there's no price tag, and the headstock is covered in dust. He says yes, and that it's a $600 guitar, going for $200, and the guy who had it only had it for 1 day, and returned it because his wife was angy with him. Now, I know the Jay Turser's I've seen before weren't that expensive, and with all the dust on this thing, I think right away that the guy is giving me a line. We leave after a bit, with my son contemplating if he should get the Jay Turser, or keep saving for the Ibanez. I get home & look it up online. Sure enough, the exact model is on Jay Turser's site; MSRP is $450, and their price is like $280. Now maybe the guy was bending the truth a bit because it was my son who was interested, and he's only 11, but that just doesn't fly with me. The guitar is in great shape, and at $200 seems like a great deal, but if I can't trust the salespeople, I won't shop there. Just be honest.
Sorry about the rant.
Dan
"The only way I know that guarantees no mistakes is not to play and that's simply not an option". David Hodge
omg.
there's a store near me, not guitar center but a large store, that has this deal where they give you a credit card and some credit. there's no interest or payments for a YEAR. so i'm getting my new amp as soon as i can figure out how to get it home.
i was thinking, you could get a new guitar for say, $1,000, use it and sell it at the end of the year for almost what you paid if it's still in good condition, put in the extra, pay it off and get something new....
Sorry to hear about your experience.
One thing to remember is that they're called guitar stores for a reason. Imagine working in a restaurant where people could come in and eat samples of things for as long as they like and then walk back out again only to return day after day to do the same thing and never even leave so much as a tip.
This isn't to say that there aren't pushy sales folks. You'll find them in all walks of life. But for the most part, especially at big music stores, I think they're just folks trying to make a living while working in a cool place.
One would think that at some point management, being management, might encourage the type of you encountered. Hopefully they know better.
Peace
Maybe the salesman was a donkey-hole, but surely you don't think you can get away with using the guitar shop as your personal leisure centre with no intention of buying anything? I mean, would you go into a bookshop, pick up a novel and sit yourself down for a nice 3-hour read? Or go into a restaurant, sit down at a table and open your packed lunch?
In a guitar shop you can look all you want, but the only reason they should allow you to play their instruments is if you are looking to buy something, or your curiosity simply can't be restrained about a particular guitar. Playing their instruments is a privilege they extend to you, not your right. And if they feel you are abusing that privilege, they have every right to pester you with their most annoying salesmen until you explain your reasons for being there.
Besides which, where I come from it is common courtesy to ask the shop staff before playing a guitar, or trying on clothes, or taking the latest 4x4 for a test drive.
Sorry, just had to rant back :)
Bummer experience. I usually don't get bothered when I'm in guitar center. What bothered me is going there one day buy my new strat and while a buddy of mine and I are checking out mexican strats with the intention to buy some kid the next aisle over was practicing his licks on number 11. So we have to turn our amp up to hear the guitar and WE get asked to turn it down. I'm sitting there in a jacket and tie (I came from work) and I'm not some 15 year old kid. If it's between me and the Eddie Van Halen wanna-be the next aisle over why not ask the kid to turn it down?? I wouldn't have to be playing so loud if I wasn't competing with the future Steve Vai there. Anyway, that was that experience. My other experience was when I came to pick up the guitar I ordered there was this HUGE scratch from the bottom of the bridge straight down the center of the guitar. Anyway...originally I asked them to order a new sunburst strat but the next day I decided to take a black one they had there already.
These weren't really Guitar Center's fault, but it's an experience.
I hate pushy sales-people too. I find it very unlikely someone is going to just walk in to a guitar store and within a few minutes plunk down a few hundred bucks for a new guitar. I spent several trips looking at different guitars before I settled on the one i bought.
"I use heavy strings, tune low, play hard and floor it. Floor it, that's a technical term." - SRV
i'm not allowed to go to gc unsupervised, one of my best freinds works at the one i go
to, and i get some really good deals, which gets me in alot of trouble with my lady lol
I think we're all familar with your GC troubles Rocker. Maybe your friend is trying to get you in trouble! :D
Vacate is the word...Vengance has no place on me or her...Cannot find a comfort in this world.
Maybe the salesman was a donkey-hole, but surely you don't think you can get away with using the guitar shop as your personal leisure centre with no intention of buying anything? I mean, would you go into a bookshop, pick up a novel and sit yourself down for a nice 3-hour read? Or go into a restaurant, sit down at a table and open your packed lunch?
One thing to remember is that they're called guitar stores for a reason. Imagine working in a restaurant where people could come in and eat samples of things for as long as they like and then walk back out again only to return day after day to do the same thing and never even leave so much as a tip.
So the only time I can go into a Guitar Center is when I plan on buying something? Can't go to Best Buy and check out the home theater systems without buying something?
The restaurant and bookstore analogies presented here don't apply. Going into a restaurant, you're expected to buy a meal. You're not allowed to just sit down at the table and not order something. And I've never been to a restaurant where they were giving free samples to people who weren't customers. Besides, giving out free samples, the restaurant is losing money. That's food they can't turn around and sell because it's been consumed completely. If I play a guitar, they don't lose money. They can still sell it.
At a bookstore, if you sit down and read a whole book, you've used the product completely and have no need for it again. So in a way, you're "stealing". Not so when playing a guitar for 5 minutes. It's more like picking up a book and reading a page or two to see if it interests you and then putting it back.
The majority of the people who walk into a guitar store aren't going to walk out with a guitar or amp, or even anything at all. That's the nature of the beast. I'm not saying that as a salesman that would make me particularly happy, but I wouldn't harass the customers for it.
Besides, even if I had planned on going into the store to buy something, in all honesty I probably still would have walked out because the guy was distracting me and making me nervous, and I wouldn't be able to concentrate. I'm not going to make a big purchase under those conditions.
The thing is, I'd NEVER had anything remotely close to this happen before at Guitar Center. At most, I have a salesman come over and ask me if I need anything or have any questions, which is fine. If I say no, just looking, they leave me alone. This guy was just so relentless and rude. I mean, honestly, asking for a credit card and ID to run a credit check after holding the guitar for two minutes? Please.
In a guitar shop you can look all you want, but the only reason they should allow you to play their instruments is if you are looking to buy something, or your curiosity simply can't be restrained about a particular guitar.
I was playing a guitar I was curious about, like anyone else. I wouldn't play one I had no curiosity for. Criteria met.
Besides which, where I come from it is common courtesy to ask the shop staff before playing a guitar
I've never seen anyone ask a salesman for permission to play a guitar that's within reach of the customer. I don't know why anyone would. If they wanted you to ask permission, they would say so, or put them behind the counter or behind glass where asking permission is implied.
The coolest guitar store I know of basically will let you play anything in the store, even some very valuable vintage stuff.
But they also take your id and get the guitar down for you.
I've seen them come back and ask people to pack it up and leave basically saying "We're glad you love guitars as much as we do, but we have real customers who want to try these out, and it's become obvious that you aren't interested in being a customer, so we're gonna put that guitar back on the wall for people who spend money to look at. You're free to look at it all you want, thanks."
So yeah, Stormy, if you have no intention what-so-ever of spending money, you're abusing the store. You should be glad they have such a liberal policy when it comes to their guitars.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
I have 3 major players in my area.
A Music-Go-Round, a local shop that's been around since the 60's and West Music which I believe is a chain like Music-Go-Round.
I've never had any problems at any of them with picking up any guitar and playing it. Most times I usually have to go scout someone down if they haven't greeted me and then left me alone. Problem is, I did walk out with something and hadn't had the intentions when I went in. :oops:
Of course I bought from the same guy I've been buying gear from since the mid '70's and now he's an owner.
All in all- I've had great experiences with all my shopping at any of the different retailers here.
Come on down here and shop. :D
Bish
"I play live as playing dead is harder than it sounds!"
Here in London, England, shops are very nice. Theres this little guitar shop here, called Angel Guitars which lets you try anything for as long as you please. He let me try a Les Paul which was used by Motorhead. I was actually trying a tube amp out, so i asked for a guitar with buckers, and he gave me that geetar. ANd his pirces are amazing too! that les paul was only 900£/ 1450$
"No pain No gain!"- The Scorpions
How "new" is a guitar, that's been played by 200 people? Are you going to accept that instrument or are you going to ask for another, that's still packaged?
The book analogy fits, here, too. Are you going to buy a dog-eared book at full price, even though it's never been sold before (i.e. "new")?
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
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My Articles & Reviews on GN
Sorry to hear about your experience.
One thing to remember is that they're called guitar stores for a reason. Imagine working in a restaurant where people could come in and eat samples of things for as long as they like and then walk back out again only to return day after day to do the same thing and never even leave so much as a tip.
This isn't to say that there aren't pushy sales folks. You'll find them in all walks of life. But for the most part, especially at big music stores, I think they're just folks trying to make a living while working in a cool place.
One would think that at some point management, being management, might encourage the type of you encountered. Hopefully they know better.
Peace
I agree David but I have gone to my local GC with the intent of buying something and the pushy sales people bothered me so much I walked out and went to Daddy's Junky Music. I will say that my last 2 experiences at GC have been better. The sales people talk to you once then leave you alone until you need them. They seem to have gotten rid of the "pushy" sale people. I actually enjoy going in there now.
