Guitar Center — Attraction in San Bernardino

I have shopped many venues over the years and, my greatest disappointment has been how often I have observed that many people who are employed in the retail sector are not personally invested in their positions of employment, and exhibit a kind of disconnect between themselves and the customers with whom they come into contact during their shifts. It is obvious that they do not enjoy what they are doing to earn their daily bread, and that does tend to drive people away from their place of employment. I have noticed that there are certain retail concerns that I also tend to avoid revisiting, because they are, simply put, depressing places to visit and much more so when one tries to engage the employees in conversation necessary to selecting items for purchase.

I am glad to say that this is not the case with this Guitar Center brick-and-mortar presence.

Everybody I have come into contact with in this store seems to be genuinely happy in what they do, are comfortably conversant with the customers, have hands-on knowledge with the subject matter of questions asked, don't try to shovel BS your way, and appear to be genuinely interested in assisting a customer in making purchases which will fit the customers' needs and desires.

The occasion of product returns is where I usually see a bit of attitude creep in between me and a store employee, and I try to make it a rarity if I need to return merchandise because of that. However, just a week ago, I needed to return a Vintera VI and a P-Bass, as I had purchased right-hand orientation instruments, and discovered that I am a left-handed player.

(Long story about that--from the times when parents forced left-handed children into faux right-hand dominance--but suffice it to say that I have had a lifetime of discoveries about the things that I can only do left-handed, and the guitar happens to be one of those things, and is of very recent discovery.)

The individual with whom I interacted accommodated my needs with a brief consultation with the person in charge, and returned with a satisfyingly equitable arrangement which enabled my purchase of a left-handed Strat, listed for sale at an out of state Guitar Center outlet, as well as the purchase of an appropriate amplifier and other necessaries.

(Now, the “person in charge” could have admittedly taken a “by the book” approach to my return request, and insisted that both instruments be treated as used instrument purchases, which would have likely prevented me from purchasing a left-handed instrument at that time, however, that individual was wise enough to see the advantage of doing a return and used-buy on the instruments involved, which allows me to realize my goals, and leaves enough money in my wallet to consider lessons—which means that the excess will be coming right back to his store anyway.)

The entire time I interacted with this person, I had the impression that he was interested in assisting me in the achievement of my goals, and that my contentment with my purchases was a priority for him.

Now, this is only my most recent interaction with the people at this Guitar Center, and I feel that I must hasten to add that every person that I have had interactions with at this store has demonstrated the same level of engagement and concern, and has rendered the same high level of customer care that this last individual did.

Their service delivery and pleasant demeanor across the board makes me regard this store as one of the pleasant stops that I can make during my day, and actually has me looking forward to speaking with the people who work there; which I will enjoy doing today, as I just now noticed an email notifying me that my left-handed Strat is in and...

Guitar Center San Bernardino is a total bust! Came here to get a few things for a guitar and to have it restrung. Got what I needed and upon checking out. I saw they have music lessons. I inquired about having 2 of my children for guitar lessons and trumpet lessons. The lady checking me out told me I needed to make an appointment. So she set me up and told me everything was good to go. She told us to come back to our appointment that night and that our guitar would be ready as well.

Before our appointment got a call from the repair guy. Who had a super sour attitude from the moment I picked up my phone. Telling me he would not be able to fix it by tonight and whoever told me that it was is lying. He goes on about how his coworkers don't know his workload and shouldn't be promising anything. So I told him no worries I would just like to pick up my guitar tonight and I would take it somewhere else to be restrung. He just hung up on me.

I still went in for our appointment with the music teacher and after getting there 10 mins early and waiting 10 minutes after our appointment. Someone comes and says who are you waiting for. I said I'm here for lessons for my sons. He pointed to a lady who is in charge of music lessons. I give her our names and she has us wait for another 10mins. Just to come back and says sorry that instructor isn't coming in tonight. She acted like I'd wasn't a big deal wasting our time.

I was beyond livid and just decided to leave and find someone who is reliable.

I found IB music center 415 W Valley Blvd, sp. 8, Colton, CA 92324. Omg talk about NIGHT & DAY! IB MUSIC CENTER IS 1000 TIMES BETTER! So happy I decided not to go with...

My business has been a Guitar Center customer for over 20 years. Today, I was waiting for the customer service manager to find my online order, which was missing some items. I took a seat to wait because the situation was stressful and took some time to resolve. After sitting for 10 minutes, I was approached by a heavy-set woman who identified herself as the LESSONS MANAGER. She told me to leave my seat because I was sitting in reserved seating for the LESSONS DEPARTMENT. At the time, there were NO OTHER AVAILABLE CHAIRS in the store because they were all occupied by other customers. But, there were plenty of open seats in the LESSONS DEPARTMENT, which could have been shifted to help other customers sit comfortably while being served. My total time in the store resolving the online order was well over an hour. Yet, this woman could not stand to see me in one of her 5-6 open seats while another manager was assisting me. @guitarcenter, managers should be courteous, able to deescalate situations, resolve problems, and support each other across departments. "Managers" who are immature, inconsiderate, disrespectful, and pick on customers while waiting deserve a pink slip! It pained me to do this, but I returned my entire $2K+ online order based on the bad behavior of the GUITAR CENTER LESSONS MANAGER, SAN BERNARDINO STORE who couldn't tolerate me patiently waiting in "her seats" while my order was being corrected and fulfilled by other staff. C'mon guys, we have to do...