Guitar Center — Attraction in New York

UPDATE - Since my previous review, I've had an AMAZING experience thanks to Rob Digiulio and David Perez.

Rob reached out to me a few days after my review. He asked what it would take to keep me as a customer. He went WAY above my expectations. Rob said he understood my frustration and the time & expense I incurred traveling to the Manhattan store from the Jersey Shore.

Not only did I get the guitar I was looking for at a nice discounted price, Rob also threw in very expensive gig bag. He had offered me a case, but when I told him I preferred a gig bags he made the switch on the spot. I never made any demands nor did I have to. He made this switch to make sure I was getting exactly what I would have bought as a matter of preference. Finally, Rob is sending me the leather strap of my choice at no cost. David made sure my order was processed correctly and out the door. A short time later I received a notification that my order was on the way.

As I mentioned above, the responsiveness and courtesy shown to me really exceeded my expectations, I'm truly blown away. I never write negative reviews and didn't really expect a response. Rob has changed my entire perception of Guitar Center. I feel as if I was treated by someone who's known me a long time, a friendly local merchant. He made me feel like I mattered. This was all done before Rob knew I am a professional musician and teacher. I perform 4-5 nights a week all year, so I spend a lot of money each year on accessories - strings, etc. I also take my students and friends shopping for guitars, or make recommendations. I feel like I can gladly take them or send them to Guitar Center with confidence.

Rob is a true professional and knows how to provide great customer service. I shared with him that I worked in customer service many years ago. I understand people make mistakes, it's what you do after that makes a relationship last. Rob and David certainly turned me around. Thank you both so much!

In my original review, I said I would rate GC with 0 stars if possible. I would now rate this experience a 6 if could!

Great job Rob and David!! I would rate it 0 stars if possible. I saw a guitar as being shown in stock on the GC website. I called the Manhattan store to make sure they had it. I was told yes, was told that it was a floor model etc. I traveled over 2 hours to pick it up, plus the cost of train, taxis etc. When I got there, the sale rep told me it was in the basement and he would go get it. He disappeared and never came back. When I finally found him, he said “oh it was sent out for repair” and walked away. I’ve had issues with GC in the past and this is the last one because I will never enter another of their...

Unfortunately service really impacts any positive customer experience at this Guitar Center. I have 2 examples that have occurred in the last month and am surprised given all the previous replies in the reviews from Guitar Center about how important customer service is / how they will prioritize this - despite nothing being changed. You guys really need to get your act together as most musicians in the city rely on you.

I had a rental order scheduled for over a month and the week leading up to my pick up, I tried to call Guitar Center given I was never provided with an email confirmation of my rental reservation and wanted to make sure they had everything correct. I kid you not, FOUR times I called, a guy would pick up, transfer me to rentals, the phone would be on hold for 10 minutes and disconnect me. I complained by the final time and nothing was done so I gave up trying to confirm. To make matters worse, when I arrived to pick up my rental, the guy at the front of the store called a sales associate over and no one arrived. We waited 10 minutes, he did this again…no one arrived. THREE times this happened until I started stressed the urgency of needing to pick up the rental for our soundcheck - we were waiting 30 minutes when we had a reservation already scheduled. There was a total lack of organization and care in the way this was handled.

Additionally, I tried coming by the store to pick up a headphone chord and waited for a while to get help. The sales associate pointed into the general direction of the cables and said it was over there. I went over to where he said and the item that I was looking for was not there. I went back to the register and he disappeared in the back for 10 mins. He comes back and I say I can’t find it - he begrudgingly goes over to the cables and says “it’s this one.” I say - “can we check on my headphone model over there to make sure it’s correct?” He goes “no sorry, we can’t check” and I go “what if it’s wrong?”. Begrudgingly again, he agrees to go over to the headphones and goes “oh it’s not the right one….” And the proceeds to walk away from me muttering “check Best Buy it’s the 3.5 oh wait the 2.5 cable.” I was literally speechless - it’s this guy’s job to help customers and his apathy was off the charts.

I’m predicting I’m going to get a general reply about how customer service is important and how you’re going to fix this but your team really needs to prioritize employee accountability and empower individuals to attend to customer’s needs and emotions in store and over the phone. There’s a massive gap here in your service experience. Hopefully the next time I need help there isn’t a repeat...

WORST Experience ever.I went in ( with cash in bank) looking for a specific guitar which they advertise that they sell: Gibson G45 with Player Port. Not a salesperson in sight. It took 20 minutes , 20 minutes for someone to finally show up. Salesman looked at me with a dumb look on his face and said he'd never heard of this before ( remember , he's supposed to be an expert) the only guitars they sell with player ports are lower priced Ibanez.I distinctly told him I only wanted to buy a Gibson. I asked him to check the computer and he still couldn't find one. Told me me to look at the G45s w/o ports on the racks in the quiet which i did and hated them both.( whole other story, Gibson, I'm disappointed, for 2K I'd thought I'd see better product) I then went into to the "big room" where I found a really nice Taylor I played for about 15 minutes and decided I was going to buy it. ( yes I know i wanted a Gibson, but to be hnoest, this was a very nice guitar for the money) I walked up to the new salesman who had switched shifts and asked him ( it being 4th of July Holiday sale and all ) "whats the best best you can do on this"? . he actually got angry and indignant and told me in a loud voice with tone in front of 6 or 7 other patrons, "that's the best you see on the label, I won't go any lower!". I told him to slow his roll and in a cool calm voice said, "look I want to buy this guitar, its a holiday sale weekend, everything in life is negotiable, please check with your computer and/or manager what, if any, deal you can give, I'm ready to buy." After 15 minutes of fiddling around on his computer he comes and says he cannot do anything and he checked his price matching tool which compares prices to other sellers and said they are on the money. Needless to say I walked out. But the balls to almost yell at me for asking for better price. As an experienced player and buyer ( over 45 years ) I've rarely had a good experience at Guitar Center since the buyout in 2007. At least you could walk in pick something off the rack without it being locked up and play it quietly and get a decent answer from whomever was on staff that day. I've bought a few guitars from them before then. It's a shame Sam ash went out of business. at least you knew you were going to be treated right by experienced players who knew what they were talking about and would at least try to work with you on putting a deal together with service that was bar none. Oh how I miss...