Guitar Center

[LostandWeary]

I stopped by GC today in Vegas and apparently if you want trem springs you have to custom order them. :rolleyes:
I never got the GC bashing but now I fully understand why their employees get the flack they do.

[2fat2furious]

Yeah I never got why so many people hated GC either til a went to locally owned store and saw how helpful the people were there and there prices were about the same as GC, and they sold ESP, and they had STOCK!!!! and if people come in and abuse their display guitars they either make them pay for it or kick them the fuck out. also they clean each guitar after someone looks at it. Guitar center doesnt do any of that.

failure at a nationwide level

[DUKE]

for some reason the GC in my town is not bad at all. i can't say they're the best (they don't go around cleaning the guitars after they're used...which can be helpful), but the people that work there are very helpful and nice.

GC should really consider stocking ESPs though.

[KFW]

You have to go there knowing what to expect. The atmosphere is different from the mom and pop type guitar stores, it's more of a car salesman atmosphere at GC. I go in there fully expecting that kind of treatment, so it doesn't really bother me.

Actually I like that I can go there and usually get some pretty good deals on cheap stuff like picks and strings. Here the mom and pop shops need more money so they get kind of tight on stuff like that, but when I go to Guitar Center to buy 1 pack, they try to sell me twelve. I politely decline, so then they ask me if I'll take it with a discount! :lol

[FakeAssNikes]

^^ GC will have some good deals from time to time. I got a Cry Baby for 35 bucks because it was pink.

[Zangetsu]

The worst part about GC is ordering stuff that either isn't in store stock but they can get one. or when you want to order something that they can get you but isn't part of standard stock and products. as previously stated they have good deals from time to time but overall...I hate them

[Jafis]

I bought a Boss DD-20 from GC a while back and the girl who sold it to me called me a week later to see if I was pleased with the pedal.

Such nice people. :)

Of course trying to get their employees to understand that you want fretboard oil NOT guitar polish is an entirely different matter all together but they do try!

[FakeAssNikes]

I bought a Boss DD-20 from GC a while back and the girl who sold it to me called me a week later to see if I was pleased with the pedal.

Such nice people. :)

Of course trying to get their employees to understand that you want fretboard oil NOT guitar polish is an entirely different matter all together but they do try!

What the fuck you got called back, maybe she liked you cuz that shit aint normal.

[Jibboom]

ohh you should try to get them to understand the concept of 7 string guitar strings

"so you want 7 guitar strings?"

me-"no I want the 7 string pack"

"7 of the same string?"

me-"NO..I want the pack made for ra 7 string guitar!!..ITS RIGHT THERE!!"

"sir you cant come behind the counter ...we have a value box of 12 sets of strings we dont have a pack with 7"

FUUUUUCK

yes, I nearly developed 7 brain tumors that day.

[Dark Alone]

Guitar Center is like the McDonalds of music stores. I just don't even bother.

[Jafis]

What the fuck you got called back, maybe she liked you cuz that shit aint normal.


I thought it was a bit strange myself but I was touched by the call.

[KFW]

Haha. I was going there for some Jazz III picks, and I saw them fucking hanging there in their cute little package. I pointed to them and said I wanted some Dunlop Jazz III picks, and the guy stood there in front of the wall of picks for like 2 minutes with his jaw open. I was looking right at the fuckin things. So I just went behind the counter and picked them off the wall and said "These".


I thought it was a bit strange myself but I was touched by the call.


The guy I bought my MicroKorg from called me a couple weeks later as well. AND he sent me a Christmas card, and then he made me a scrapbook with a bunch of pictures he took of me.

[LostandWeary]

Actually, I did see the springs there too but after he responded to my question with that ridiculous answer I just walked out.

[FakeAssNikes]

The guy I bought my MicroKorg from called me a couple weeks later as well. AND he sent me a Christmas card, and then he made me a scrapbook with a bunch of pictures he took of me.

he probably like you...in like a homosecksual way.

[MikeC]

:lol

my GC isnt all that bad around here. sure, they dont have everything but they have most of what i need. they always bug me in the store though, you can never jam without atleast 5 salesmen trying to sell you the guitar your playing. its annoying most the time, but SA is right next to it and they dont bug you so much.

[the disturbed one]

i hate CG, this one guy there is always watching me, and if i ask him to get something high up on the wall down for me he says that is too expensive and you can't play it

[D-EJ915]

ohh you should try to get them to understand the concept of 7 string guitar strings

"so you want 7 guitar strings?"

me-"no I want the 7 string pack"

"7 of the same string?"

me-"NO..I want the pack made for ra 7 string guitar!!..ITS RIGHT THERE!!"

"sir you cant come behind the counter ...we have a value box of 12 sets of strings we dont have a pack with 7"

FUUUUUCK

yes, I nearly developed 7 brain tumors that day.
holy shit what a dumbass :rollin

[Racerx881]

i hate CG, this one guy there is always watching me, and if i ask him to get something high up on the wall down for me he says that is too expensive and you can't play it

Thats when you ask him to get his manager & say "Pity, i walked in here with a few grand to spend on a guitar, but since you're employee is a tool, i'll take my business elswhere."

after you say "a few grand" all they do is apologize & give the stupid clerk dirty looks. got $100 off my jackson pro series (the really nice japanese-export series from a few years back) just "for the trouble"

[the disturbed one]

i will try that next time

[Riff Master Mike]

GC is good for a few things... strings, picks, trying out amps or guitars before I buy them online, and most of all, it's great for getting headaches!

[BrazilianBootyLover]

ohh you should try to get them to understand the concept of 7 string guitar strings

"so you want 7 guitar strings?"

me-"no I want the 7 string pack"

"7 of the same string?"

me-"NO..I want the pack made for ra 7 string guitar!!..ITS RIGHT THERE!!"

"sir you cant come behind the counter ...we have a value box of 12 sets of strings we dont have a pack with 7"

FUUUUUCK

yes, I nearly developed 7 brain tumors that day.

Dude are you fucking kidding me?! That sucks they keep the strings behind the counter.

[the disturbed one]

Originally Posted by Jibboom
ohh you should try to get them to understand the concept of 7 string guitar strings

"so you want 7 guitar strings?"

me-"no I want the 7 string pack"

"7 of the same string?"

me-"NO..I want the pack made for ra 7 string guitar!!..ITS RIGHT THERE!!"

"sir you cant come behind the counter ...we have a value box of 12 sets of strings we dont have a pack with 7"

FUUUUUCK

yes, I nearly developed 7 brain tumors that day.

that actually happened to a friend of mine too

[2fat2furious]

Well, I admit that GC isnt that horrible, but I dont like the fact that every time I've gone there, they NEVER have stock of the guitar I want. Thats why my Epi explorer and SG were both damaged when I got them (and I didnt even get a fucking discount for this big chip on the finish on the horn). At the guitar center I go to though you can go behind the counter, but I think you need to ask the guy if its ok first. The best thing I got from guitar center was my Hardcore max for $200, not sure if its a deal or not but its decent if you dont want anything but metal/hardcore sounds. also they keep fucking changing the layout, of the store, i swear it's the fourth config this year. before all the used gear was in one area, now they are all spread out through out the store and you have to make it a quest to find them.Schecter is owned by ESP, right? then why cant they carry ESP, they have plenty of schecters.

[mrclean77]

:lol @ Jaffa & Jibboom

-every time I go there, I take my wife b/c SOMEbody is gonna have to pull the person outta my ass that I feel get lodged up there every 10ft

-got my Spider II there (not floor model, new one from the back)

-mostly makes me appreciate my job, if I had to listen to 13yo kids come in every day, butcher Metallica songs and wank all over the Epis & $200 Ibbyz, I'd shoot myself in the face

[xchumfiestax]

-mostly makes me appreciate my job, if I had to listen to 13yo kids come in every day, butcher Metallica songs and wank all over the Epis & $200 Ibbyz, I'd shoot myself in the face

Seriously, I worked there when I was 18 and after a couple of months I requested to move to the warehouse :\

[mrclean77]

^I've had some pretty crappy jobs, but as much as we bitch about GC, I can't IMAGINE working there and putting up with what those dudes have to see on a daily basis - I'm not defending anybody or anything, I'm just saying for ME, it would blow

[2fat2furious]

-mostly makes me appreciate my job, if I had to listen to 13yo kids come in every day, butcher Metallica songs and wank all over the Epis & $200 Ibbyz, I'd shoot myself in the face
Reply With Quote

lol, i'm one of those kids, well a little older. but I dont think they minded as much, seeing how I was in a wheelchair playing an out of tune Jackson dinky with no pick and still sounding somewhat decent. and I still bought that 200$ amp. so they really shouldnt mind then. lol, if i worked there, i'd just take one of those sound canceling headphones off the wall, plug them into an amp, crank upo the gain and sit there listening to static and go to my "happy place" while ignoring every incompetent moron that walks by that cant look at a shelf and grab. I hate going to guitar stores to be perfectly honest, as soon as I walk in there I forget every song I know and play like shit, and it always sounds crappy in the store for me, even a triple recto!

[Ramses1134]

DA, if i have to go to GC, i go to krypton, mainly cus he isnt a noob and knows his shit. then again hes always trying to push me to buy a les paul custom.

but it is a car salesman atmosphere, they get shitty pay and work for commishion(sp?)

[KH Guitar Freak]

DA, if i have to go to GC, i go to krypton, mainly cus he isnt a noob and knows his shit. then again hes always trying to push me to buy a les paul custom.

but it is a car salesman atmosphere, they get shitty pay and work for commishion(sp?)

:rollin

[JMad81]

for some reason the GC in my town is not bad at all. i can't say they're the best (they don't go around cleaning the guitars after they're used...which can be helpful), but the people that work there are very helpful and nice.

GC should really consider stocking ESPs though.

HELL YES THEY SHOULD. I get so pissed that they dont sell ESPs. Anyone know why that is?

[Dark Alone]

I'd rather they don't, personally.

[jet66]

There are a few guys at our GC and Sam Ash who are pretty knowledgeable. I don't usually need to be 'sold' on anything, as I know what I want when I go there. I just look for these particular guys. If none of them are around, and I don't meet anyone worth dealing with, I politely say 'just browsing.'

Both GC and Sam Ash had a fair selection of parts, which can vary from time to time, of course. I took my son guitar store hopping last weekend, to pick up a few parts and to let him fart around with some different basses. I remember seeing trem springs at both stores, and GC even had LSR nuts in stock. (The latter being part of my reason for hitting the stores.) Sam Ash had a really good parts selection, and quite a few models of Duncan and Dimarzio pickups on hand.

When I bought my Vetta II, I thought I'd go to the store to see if they had them in stock. I knew I'd have to pay tax vs. no shipping nor tax if I bought online, but I figured if I could walk out with one that day, no big deal. So one of the guys I usually look for tells me they don't have them in stock, but he can order one. I say I'll just order it online, since it was free shipping and no tax, etc. He says 'let me see what I can do.' He set up the price so that even after tax, I saved a bit over $100 vs. ordering it online.

[AlasTyranny]

HELL YES THEY SHOULD. I get so pissed that they dont sell ESPs. Anyone know why that is?

ESP makes X guitars per year at this price point.

I am making stuff up, but lets assume that 1/2 of the US's dealers are Guitar Center, and 1/2 are everyone else. Let's also assume that 1/4 of all dealers ( and 0 guitar centers ) carry ESP.

If Guitar Center carried ESP, then ESP would have to provide guitars for 3/4 of all guitar dealers in America. This means one of two things:

1) Price goes up to compensate for the added investment in new factories
2) Quality goes down so the same factories can churn out more guitars faster.

[DWH87]

i hate CG, this one guy there is always watching me, and if i ask him to get something high up on the wall down for me he says that is too expensive and you can't play it

I get that shit from one of my local guitar places CITY MUSIC (remember the name and if anybody should every go near cornwall STAY AWAY)

They mainly do gibson and ibanez but at rip off prices. And unless you can prove you have a couple thousand in your back pocket ready to spend there and then they wont even talk to you.

I get pretty childish after being ignored for twenty minutes and start un-tuning guitars when they are not looking. :o

[2fat2furious]

I get pretty childish after being ignored for twenty minutes and start un-tuning guitars when they are not looking. :o



That's not childish, it's called revenge!:evil:evil:evil

[gcsucks]

I have worked in sales at Guitar Center for about 2 and a 1/2 years now. Let me give everyone the true run down on what this company is about.

When I was hired I was told that it was minimum wage plus commission of 10% proft, 2% sales. I had to find out the hard way about "FADING". How it works is You have to cover all of the hours that you work with this 10 and 2 percent before you get to see any "Commission".

An example would be:

You make $1200 dollars a month from minimum wage. Now you make $1300 dollars a month from the 10% gross proft and 2% gross sales. You're now thinking, "oh that's not bad, I'm going to make $2500 for the month..." NO, how they have it set up is you have to cover that $1200 with the $1300! $1300 minus $1200 equals $100. So you end up with your minimum wage of $1200 for the month and a $100 "BONUS"...if you're lucky. This is just a big loop hole in the law that Guitar Center is getting away with. Do waiters and waitresses have to cover their tips? Does the pizza delivery guy have to cover his tips? NO, so why the fuck do we have to cover ours?

Technically it's not even really commission, it's really just a bonus on top of minimum wage! Everyone else that has been hired since I have hasn't been told about fading either, They are hiring people and misleading them into thinking they are getting something they aren't.

Because of this fading system they have set up Guitar Center gets to tell you how many hours they want you to work without having to worry about paying you anymore because you have to cover those hours anyway. These hours include staying late usually past 1am having mandatory merchandising "parties" preparing for sales and making the store look good. During all of these hours that they have you work as a sales person, you are expected to not only sell AND FADE, but also to mercandise, clean (including the bathrooms), take out the trash, count your draws/money before and after your shift, inventory control and be security to name a few. Basically sales people are running the store for minimum wage, oh and did I mention that Guitar Center still expects you to FADE your hours? At most locations a sales person will be fired if they don't fade after three months from what I hear, but I have not faded for over a year and I'm still employed!

Why havn't I been fired even though I'm not fading? Because it doesn't cost GC anything to employ sales people since they have to fade! If you think about it the only employees GC has to actually pay are the warehouse/operations staff and management!

Since they can't keep coverage and the turnover rate is so high the people that have to suffer are:


*The empoyees that stay because they now have to cover the hours that were being covered by the person that just quit or got fired!

*The customers because now the new people that are being hired are not knowledgeable and hence where most of the customer complaints come from!


If GC actually was legit and didn't try to think of every possible way to screw their sales staff this problem with not having knowledgeable employees wouldn't exist! Most of the sales staff at GC have less than a month experience because of this! I know my district sales manager wanted to fire me but they wouldn't because they knew they don't have enough help as it is.

Now on top of this FADING BS you have to deal with stuff like this that makes it even harder to fade:


*If you're opening shift you have to come in an hour early before open which is pointless! These are extra hours that you have to fade against!

*If you're closing shift you have to leave "as a team" with all of the other employees even though it usually means standing around for an extra hour and a 1/2! These are extra hours that you have to fade against!


*So you work @ GC and you think your going to still be able to perform at your gig on Friday night? NOPE, You have to work Saturdays, they are mandatory!

*GC makes their sales staff work 6 days a week during March, August and December on top of even more extended hours every day! These are extra hours that you have to fade against!

*They extended store hours! We get the same amount of business compared to before having extended store hours, it's just spread out over more time! These are extra hours that you have to fade against!

*When you are doing all of the stuff that GC requires you to do like be a telemarketer and call customers, merchandising, cleaning ect...your "managers" are the ones taking the sales because they don't have to do these things.

*Customers saying "what's the best deal you can give me" after spending a 1/2 hour with them and you're now at the
register...Do you say the same thing to the pizza delivery guy or girl?..."What is the best price you can give me for that pizza...oh and is it ok if I don't give you a tip?"

*Marty Albertson creating a letter that goes out to "Only our most valued customers"...(Everyone that has ever purchased even a pack of strings in the past). The first time it was 20% of your entire purchase and the last one was 10% off your entire purchase! WTF! That's all of the profit margin right there and they still expect you to "FADE"!


Guitar Center lies to their employees! COST on the green screen ISN"T really GC's COST! GC makes more profit than what's displayed on the green screen! This is profit we make the company that we're not credited on! On top of this what exactly is the "St Ad Pack" in between "COST" and base cost? I was told numerous exuces such as "That is what pays the bills like rent, electricity, heat..." If that's the case then WHAT THE FUCK DOES GC DO WITH ALL OF THE PROFIT? BULL SHIT... "AD PACKS" are just another way for GC to make profit without giving the proper percentage to the sales person that busts their ass merchandising, being inventory control and the janitors!

Why do you think GC plays 90% of the shittiest fucking music on earth in the store on Guitar Center radio? Because they are looking for the songs with the cheapest licensing fees! This also brings me to another point. GC recently setup a program for employees called "GAIN" where empoyees have a chance to get their music on GC radio. This is just way for GC to not have to pay licensing fees for the music being played on GC radio!

Oh I'm sorry, I forgot to mention for those that didn't know that the Green Screen is just what Guitar Center calls their sales terminal computers. They look like Microsoft DOS from 1980! What the hell does GC do with all of their profit that WE make for them?

When I quit Guitar Center I'm going to send most of what's here in a Green Screen email to everyone in the chain so that I can open most of the employees eyes that are brainwashed!

I can't wait until I quit. Guitar Center can suck my fucking balls.

[KH Guitar Freak]

:rollin

[BoogieII]

I bought a Boss DD-20 from GC a while back and the girl who sold it to me called me a week later to see if I was pleased with the pedal.

Such nice people. :)

Of course trying to get their employees to understand that you want fretboard oil NOT guitar polish is an entirely different matter all together but they do try!

oh my god this reminds me of the time i went with a band mate to guitar center when she was getting her LP setup. the dude behind the counter tried telling us that he used turtle wax on his fretboard. he actually busted out his guitar and did it right in front of me. which was funny because there was a whole setup of fretboard cleaner right in front of him and it said fretboard cleaner right on it lol. he told us not to buy the cleaner.

yes turtle wax.

i watched him get fired.