Guitar Center — Attraction in Mayfield Heights

TLDR: Don't shop at Guitar Center when Sam Ash is a superior experience in every single category.

I want to point out that I don't think that this rating is truly representative of the people who work for Guitar Center, rather the sort of mental state that this company imposes upon their employees. The attitude in this place is stagnant. All the benefits of shopping at a corporate store are mitigated by the atmosphere created by a staff that is obviously not happy. I was not greeted when coming into the store, the tone of the staff was initially indignant and uninterested. Like I didn't belong there. What's the point of the corporate structure where you know what you're going to get if the attitude is so bad. They only perked up their tune over the course of time I was there because I refused to meet their attitude with the same attitude. I made sure to be as polite and positive as I possibly could.

I'll give an example. I asked someone that was stocking, "Per chance, maybe off the top of your head, do you know if you have an Ibanez TMB100 in stock in store?"

To which they replied, "Uh, off the top of my head? I dunno dude, guitars come and go all the time."

I said, "Oh, that's ok, I'm really just curious to see how it sounds while I wait for this trade in assessment." and my brow must have furled as I replied because the she sort of became aware of how generally rude this response was. Sure, I could have been more direct, but I expect a lot of retail workers (I've done it, but not in a pandemic sure) are not getting much politeness these days, so I've gone out of my way to attempt to use as nice of a tone and wording as possible.

After that initial response she turned it around and tried to find out, and even went into the back. So, sure, I understand that we should have some patience, but the problem is that was the consistent experience. The person who assessed my trade in barely spoke to me or looked me in the eyes until I declined to take their, admittedly paltry, offer. I, again, did so without an attitude and merely explained that my goal was to get enough to buy 1 inexpensive passive Bass Guitar (Ibanez TMB100 is $179 on sale) and 1 very inexpensive warmer sounding acoustic guitar. They were not willing to take some of my gear and were only going to give me $175 for what they would take. I went down to Sam Ash and they were an immediate 180. Unfortunately, Guitar Center has lost all of the reasons why someone would go there, and with a clearly better option right down the street I don't know why...

I called in cause I wanted to know if the guitar I wanted was in stock and after I called, I was encouraged to order the guitar through the store for a small discount or maybe they can give me a better price than online. After I thought about it, I decided to call them back and order my guitar through the store.I got a 5% discount which wasn't bad and I thought it was fine but there was a back order and it was going to take a week. I could wait a week no problem. I gave them my billing, mailing and email address and waited. No confirmation email and no receipt. I thought it was weird but I waited the week then when I got no guitar, I called to see what was going on. Apparently, the back order was so big that the guitar wasn't going to arrive until May 19th now. Angry about it, I still wanted to make sure I was going to get it so I waited again. Long an behold, May 19th rolled around and no guitar again. I called the store and they said the order had been cancelled and after he read the email that I "gave" to them, not only was it the wrong one, but was my father's old email. I was worried cause I paid half of the guitar with a $50 gift card and I was afraid that I lost it but the guy that I talked to (Garret. the only person that was kind and helped) gave me my order number and told me that I just had to come in the store, give them the number and would get my $50 gift card back. Right away, I went to the store and when I gave my order number to the guy (unfortunately Garret's shift was over and he went home) he acted very sketchy and unsure about my situation. After 15 minutes, I finally got my gift card back but I still got the vibe that they didn't believe because the computer system didn't "break down" my payment. Awful services and they didn't even try to make up for almost nearly a month of waiting for a guitar. hat if I needed it? What if it was a gift for someone and it wasn't on time? Except for the one guy, it was awful service and I should of just ordered the guitar myself online. If it wasn't for the gift card that I have, I would of just took my business elsewhere like my local guitar shop where I would have paid about $80 more but would have gotten it that same day without any fuss. I liked Guitar Center but after this, unless I get a gift card, I won't buy anymore from Guitar Center. Support local...

UPDATE 11/2024. After visiting GC in Mayfield a couple times in the past couple weeks, it's like night and day. The staff acknowledged us when we walked in, and they engaged with us as we looked around the store. This is completely the opposite of how this particular store has operated the past several years. The experience was wonderful and I look forward to returning soon. Whatever was done...kudos!

I have been going to GC for years. The new location is nice, but the associates are not helpful at all. I emailed the Mgr several months ago...no response. I have been in there as long as an hour, sitting in the acoustic room, playing, with no staff interaction. The other day I was by the amps and wanted to try (and buy) the new Boss portable amp. I had to move one and find a cord from another, rhen crawl to plug it in, and still no help. There was an associate nearby, talking with some guys. No help, not even any interaction. I have a 100 dollar gift card I wish was for Sam Ash down the street. Robert, Steve, Isaiah and the others at Sam Ash are great! I am at GC about once a week for several years, but I buy from Sam Ash or from Greg and the guys at Music and Arts down the street. Sorry GC, I guess you don't want to sell me anything. The last helpful employee we met at GC was Romario at the old location. I bought a nice axe at Sam Ash the other night after not getting help at GC. Oh well, maybe it's me. Seriously, I am in your store all the time, and no acknowledgement. I'm doing my part to give you business. You have a great selection, just nobody helps me. By the way, I've talked to customers and have sold 4 guitars for you. Just the other night I sold one....