Woodsy's Music - Kent Headquarters — Attraction in Kent

I really want this place to be good. I've lived in the area for about 10 years and have given them so many chances to impress me, but I'm disappointed nearly every time I'm in there. It's a nice store with a good selection and I've had a handful of good experiences with the younger staff, but by and large, the older guys seem disinterested and are often rude.

I had an old guitar set up in there years ago. They seemed more interested in convincing me that the guitar wasn't a quality item and trying to sell me a new guitar than they were in answering my questions about the issues I was having with it. To be fair, it was only a $300 guitar, but I had owned it for ages and it was my first guitar. Quality item or not, it's bad form to insult a customer by telling them that the instrument they have should be thrown out and replaced with one of theirs when that instrument might have sentimental value. At one point the luthier was telling me about a problem with the bridge and I asked, "how can you tell?" genuinely interested in understanding how he was able to diagnose the problem. Instead of explaining it, he just snapped back "because I've been doing this [X] number of years!" (I forget the number at this point.) I wasn't questioning his abilities. I actually wanted a better understanding of the issue I was having with the instrument.

Now I only go in there if I'm absolutely desperate for strings and forgot to order extras on Amazon. I was in the store for this reason several weeks ago for the first time in ages and there was a customer complaining to a young staff member about how one of the other staff had treated her. I just thought to myself, "well, nothing's changed."

If I need work on any of my instruments, I make the hour drive up to Sam Ash who I've always had exceptional...

One of my guitars had low E (and some A) fret buzz. It's a strange beast -- a Brian May replica, a nice mid-price guitar with some unique qualities and quirks. I don't play it much so it lives in its case most of the time so was blemish free and in shiny nearly-new condition. I'm not a guitar setup expert but can handle the basics (truss rod, bridge saddles, intonation etc). I had tried everything but couldn't get rid of the buzz. It has a zero fret so not much that could be done with the nut. So, I figured it needed professional attention and brought it in. I explained the problem to the guy at the desk and he said they would check it out and do a complete setup ($85 + strings). When went to pick it up I tried it out in the store and the buzz was still there along with lots of swirly scratches all over the body and the finish on the fingerboard was messed up (it had been shiny ebony, now it is dulled in many places and ugly looking probably from the fret polishing which was included in the setup). To add insult to injury the guy on the desk said there was no fret buzz. I could hear it plainly but realised arguing would not be productive. I just gave up, paid and went home as I couldn't be bothered with more hassle. I don't think I will be going back in a hurry. That was $85 wasted and the guitar came back in worse condition than it was before!

Udate:

After speaking with Paul (the store owner?) I brought my guitar back. I met with Don, the guitar tech/repair guy, who worked with me to get my guitar set up. He was great and went over everything with me and made some more adjustments. The guitar now plays as well as is going to. Thanks Don for taking the time to...

I went to buy some mandolin strings and a mandolin beginners book (my current strings snapped while tuning, so I was already slightly frustrated). Once inside Woodsy's I asked for strings and the man behind the counter gave them to me. I then proceeded to go upstairs to grab a beginners book. This all took about 5 minutes. I went downstairs to check out, no problem so far. When I put the strings and book on the counter, the young man looked at me and said, "empty your pockets". I was taken aback and was confused. He just glared at me. After shaking my head no, he roughly proceeded to say, "we won't survive as a business if people steal strings". Then while paying, the gentleman stopped talking to me and began talking to a young lady behind me. After the transaction was completed, I then left. Incredibly awkward and awful costumer service. I've been with Woodsy's for years, spending so much money. I was just baffled at his audacity to accuse me of stealing with no evidence. I'm a short young man, clearly not intimidating in the slightest. Sure, this was just one bad experience, but it was incredibly frustrating. I lost so much respect for this business. It might had just been a frustrating day for him; however, I would never accuse someone of theft without concrete evidence (I also work in retail). I'd rather travel an extra 30 minutes to a separate music shop in order to avoid an experience...