Went to buy a new guitar and all I got was this stupid story

[jfb]

It always gets me fired up to hear of someone having had a poor customer experience. Especially when it is over items that are so to personal tastes as a guitar. You do your research, have your funds in place and some clown salesman ruins your adventure.

Besides spending way too much money as a consumer I run my own business (custom software development, primarily in the mobile space). I can certainly attest to how much customer service plays a part in who I do business with and who does business with me. The older I get, 31 now, the more particular I am about how much slack I will accept at any given establishment. It is so close to zero as it is I wonder how bad I will be at 32!

There seems to be enough really nice, down to earth, customer service geared vendors that post here in the "Dealers and Group Buys" thread that I am sure someone can help you. Granted you might have to make the trip to x,y,z store to try it out and then buy from someone else.

Best of luck to you in the future.

 

[guitarneeraj]

@TS I feel you man, I don't go to any stores anymore unless it's absolutely necessary, like when I needed to get my pickup cavities re-routed and was charged an insanely unreasonable amount of $180 for the whole thing. Going to a store has it's advantages of A/B ing gear, especially amps, I agree, but as far as guitars go, why not just buy online and exploit the "return within 30 days" if you don't like it? If you're an experienced player I guess you pretty much know what you want and don't have to bother with basics. If it happens that the gear is grossly not to your expectations, you can always return it right? Why bother going to a store and getting frustrated at all?!

 

[Ryan-ZenGtr-]

It's sad to see guitar shop staff mess it up so bad. All they have to do is hand you the guitar and stand in front of the main exit. If you buy, they've done their job, if you run they get a good look at your face.

What surprises me the most about guitar shops is they don't even ask people to wash their hands before they touch guitars. Pretty obvious, eh? Even more so in good weather.

I gave up with guitar shops years ago, better guitars are in private hands than any shop can sell. The last new guitars I bought were direct from the maker. Better value than retail by far.

@OP; don't let douche boy get to you, he'll be out soon enough. Get the complaint in ASAP, name and shame!

 

[etb1234]

It's sad to see guitar shop staff mess it up so bad. All they have to do is hand you the guitar and stand in front of the main exit. If you buy, they've done their job, if you run they get a good look at your face.

What surprises me the most about guitar shops is they don't even ask people to wash their hands before they touch guitars. Pretty obvious, eh? Even more so in good weather.

I gave up with guitar shops years ago, better guitars are in private hands than any shop can sell. The last new guitars I bought were direct from the maker. Better value than retail by far.

@OP; don't let douche boy get to you, he'll be out soon enough. Get the complaint in ASAP, name and shame!

It is funny you said clean hands. I came in dressed up pretty well. I washed my hands before I came in, I removed all sharp ends and I even brought something in to cover buttons on my shirt just in case. Also removed belt too and was doing this in prep to play any guitar. Even that didnt show him I was serious about keeping the condition pristine.

 

[7stringDemon]

Which flea market was this? Please let it be Swap o Rama!

Just called "FLEA MARKET" in Joliet on RT. 30

 

[mr_rainmaker]

that why I love pawnshops

 

[seven_stringer]

@seven stringer - If you hadn't bought that guitar from someone you knew and trusted, you might have balked.

Similarly, if you weren't someone the staff knew and trusted, and if they couldn't find verification online of the story, can you really fault them for not just taking the word of an unknown party? How many guitars do you think they see which were "genuinely owned by Jimi"?

Often a maker will print out a certificate or some documentation as to why there is a variance. If you had something like that, then I might find fault with their refusal to take the documentation at face value. I have a harder time doing so if it was just a verbal claim.

----

I agree but I had been going to that GC since it opened and spent at least $3000. Not a whole lot but still good money. That fact and that they acted like I was some kind of scammer made me mad. They didn't try to verify any of the information on the serial numbers and they even had a "brand new" JS1000 high up on the rack. I say "brand new" because I was going to buy one at the store but it had some flaws on it. They offered to sell it to me new to take home and use while ordering a replacement for me to pick up when in. This is the reason I bought it from a small local shop. I had to wait a week or two but it was worth it. It's not the first time I saw a higher priced "new" instrument on the rack with more than casual wear at GC.

 

[thelarrinator]

There's only 2 music stores where I live, one of which is a chain (big) store throughout the UK. In there they're a bit sketchy about letting you try out new gear and when I asked to try some amp heads they were like "ah not on a Saturday" or some strange excuse.
However, the 'smaller' shop if you like is more interactive with the staff.
I know the staff there personally and they get invited to NAMM etc, they know i'm a big ibanez fan and will suggest things that arent even out to see if i'd like one ordered to try and so on...
They give me discount on EVERYTHING i buy, and i see them more on a friend level than business.
Fantastic store, if a guitar is £2000 and I show interest they'll ask if i wanna try it out.

I think it depends on how big the store can be, the same with anywhere.
You know they're there purely because they're passionate about it, not just because they need a job and a music store had staff vacancies.

 

[Slunk Dragon]

Wow, I say you handled that whole situation pretty well, man. It sucks that you didn't get any of the guitars you were hoping to get, but still, now you know who to not rely on for guitar sales, right?

 

[lemeker]

@ op-

I feel your pain, the thing I hate most is some dumb ass sales guy spoutin off shit like he knows something. Not all are like that, but there are enough.

A few years back I had that happen at a GC in the burbs, I was going to purchase my first half stack. I happened to be wearing a slipknot shirt (rag on me if you wish...i like em), so the only thing this guy(who was younger than me) could say to me, was "so you wanna sound like Slipknot"....blah blah blah...and started telling me what he thinks I should buy......not a hi how are ya, what can I do for ya........what are looking for........and so I promptly told him that actually NO, I was looking for my own sound and that he was an ignorant fuck, and would be better off leaving me the fuck alone.........found someone else (who i've delt with multiple time afterwards with no problems) and went about my purchase.

The latest happened when I was testing out the Mesa that I eventually bought vs the JSX I was considering, the dude was alright, but wouldn't leave me the fuck alone...he was like "I dont want you blow up the amps"...blah blah blah, so I told him dude I have two at home, I think I know how to hook this shit up.........and still he persisted, it wasn't till I pulled out the cash....I was like look, I've got more than enough for both of them now, so do yourself a favor and bother someone else........

I might have been in the wrong, but these guys just pissed me off, and I'm sorry, I couldn't just bite my tongue.....so props for handling it the way you did too!!

 

[etb1234]

@ op-

I feel your pain, the thing I hate most is some dumb ass sales guy spoutin off shit like he knows something. Not all are like that, but there are enough.

A few years back I had that happen at a GC in the burbs, I was going to purchase my first half stack. I happened to be wearing a slipknot shirt (rag on me if you wish...i like em), so the only thing this guy(who was younger than me) could say to me, was "so you wanna sound like Slipknot"....blah blah blah...and started telling me what he thinks I should buy......not a hi how are ya, what can I do for ya........what are looking for........and so I promptly told him that actually NO, I was looking for my own sound and that he was an ignorant fuck, and would be better off leaving me the fuck alone.........found someone else (who i've delt with multiple time afterwards with no problems) and went about my purchase.

The latest happened when I was testing out the Mesa that I eventually bought vs the JSX I was considering, the dude was alright, but wouldn't leave me the fuck alone...he was like "I dont want you blow up the amps"...blah blah blah, so I told him dude I have two at home, I think I know how to hook this shit up.........and still he persisted, it wasn't till I pulled out the cash....I was like look, I've got more than enough for both of them now, so do yourself a favor and bother someone else........

I might have been in the wrong, but these guys just pissed me off, and I'm sorry, I couldn't just bite my tongue.....so props for handling it the way you did too!!

I will NOT rip on you for digging slipknot. When I was younger and went through my "goth" faze I would get treated like shit when I walked into classical music stores to buy things because they could not believe I knew anything about it let alone was a classical musician. Now when I walk into places most think I just wandered in to look at the pretty guitars and know nothing about metal and assume I am looking for an acoustic.

 

[ShadowFactoryX]

this story really pissed me off
i really hope you get in touch with management

total bull

that happened to me once at a drum store
i went to school with the son of the owner, and we talked often about gear
i went to his shop lookin to drop at least a solid grand on cymbals

there was some dumb lady in there lookin for a set for her husband.
long story short, she talked to him for over 25 minutes with me standing a few feet away, all about non related bs.

i walked up and said. "if time really is money, i should own you by now"

never been back

 

[avenger]

LA music. The visit before this (which was a couple years ago) we walked out with 6 grand in gear. I will not deal with em again. It is bad when your co-workers are laughing at you while im doing this

Say no more, I went there looking at heads one day and got a sales guy talking to me about it. I told him I was looking for something high gain and he said "oh so you don't care about tone then".

Complete tools.

 

[Andrew11]

Been to that store a couple times, never got a good vibe while i was in there. If your looking for a good store try Cosmos music in Richmond Hill, yes its a bit furthur but well worth the trip. They have lots of high end guitars that you can actually try (couple months ago I got to jam out on a Ibby J custom) . Also when I was there on Sat they had a JPX7 and a nice Tom Anderson 7 string just begging me to buy them. Salesman are pretty good in my opinion, helpful but not a pain in the ass.

 

[Andrew11]

Say no more, I went there looking at heads one day and got a sales guy talking to me about it. I told him I was looking for something high gain and he said "oh so you don't care about tone then".

Complete tools.

Don't you just want to slap people when they say that to you

 

[simulclass83]

Say no more, I went there looking at heads one day and got a sales guy talking to me about it. I told him I was looking for something high gain and he said "oh so you don't care about tone then".

Complete tools.

Anyone that tells you what you care about is failure of a salesman.

 

[Sepultorture]

I'd look that fucker square in the eye and say, "this is the exact guitar i want, nothing else, don't tell em any different, that's the one i wanna try before i buy, cus i wanna know if it's in good order and i won't regret buying it the moment i play with it when i get home, so let me at it, or lose out on 2000-3000 dollar sale"

now mind you i have never bumped into a sales dude like that before and i sure hope not too ever. idiots like this don't deserve to work in music shops

 

[etb1234]

Been to that store a couple times, never got a good vibe while i was in there. If your looking for a good store try Cosmos music in Richmond Hill, yes its a bit furthur but well worth the trip. They have lots of high end guitars that you can actually try (couple months ago I got to jam out on a Ibby J custom) . Also when I was there on Sat they had a JPX7 and a nice Tom Anderson 7 string just begging me to buy them. Salesman are pretty good in my opinion, helpful but not a pain in the ass.

Dude, Cosmo was the first music store I went to ever. I lived in Richmond Hill pre-grade 4 and I could just walk over and look at the geets. That store is great. And the Cosmo out near Newmarket has so many nice guitars but they have real asshole salesman there as well. They are definitely ok with you playing kick ass guitars. Although removing them from the glass cases is something you need to convince them of. Did play a nice Tom Anderson 7 there last time I went in.

 

[Petie]

Reminds me of the time my girlfriend and I went to a store to try out Ibanez Jems. The guy looked at me and said no, I couldn't try it out, that he didn't think I was actually going to buy it, that I just wanted to noodle. So we walked out.

Kinda wished I'd gone back there 3 weeks later to show him the brand new Jem7VWH and UV777BK i bought elsewhere...

 

[iRaiseTheDead]

Yeah man, ask to speak with the manager. I think that is the point in having guitars just laying around. so you can try them... if they were put on 'reserve' wouldn't they be in the back or, not visible to the naked eye?