Guitar Center — Local services in Bloomington

Saw a Neve Shelford channel strip, it looked used and was trying to figure out the price, Took a bit to get someone to help, Once I did, the guy told me he’d have to check the price, And after that, I watched multiple other people step up to the counter and get checked out before my inquiry was answered, So I waited, Eventually walk up to the counter to get told that he still didn’t have any information on it, Then another 5-7 minutes after that, He show me a picture on the computer screen and said is it the same as this? To which I replied, yeah but I think the one out here is used because it’s next to all the other used rack gear, And it has a bunch of dust on it and scratches. He said no it’s New. It’s the floor model. ( Now, I’ve never seen a new have preamp in any Guitar Center in Minnesota, On top of that, they keep their new preamps and nice stuff in glass cases so why they would have this racked up next to the used gear doesn’t make sense, In fact, my hunch/ guess is still that it was a used trade-in that just came in It was not able to be sold yet.) But then he told me it’s a floor model so I’ll give you 10% off -$3600, I said OK if you can find the box to go along with it to prove it’s new then I’ll buy it, And I know you’re closing in 15 minutes, so no rush take your time if you’ve got other things to wrap up And he said OK sounds good. Well, then, within about 8-10 minutes after that, He says yeah sorry man I’m not gonna be able to get that thing out for you tonight. It’s too late we’re gonna be closing and I’m not gonna have time to unscrew it and get it out of the rack. I looked at him perplexed, as I just wasted essentially 30 to 40 minutes of my time waiting to be helped waiting,?for my question to be answered and then waiting for him to get the unit out, meanwhile my wife and kids waited in the car only for him to tell me that all of a sudden he couldn’t help me and that I can come back tomorrow, and they weren’t even closed yet. On top of that, I would wager that I’m one of the top customers here over the last 10 years if not the top spending customer, not that he knew that because there’s new employees at Guitar Center all the time, but regardless of that to show basically no ambition or service to sell a $4000 unit ($3600 after the 10% discount, plus I had a bunch of strings, a strap, radial power conditioner, and some mic stands, so I would’ve spent about $4000 total) And to get that sort of a response, and also waste my time on top of it and with my customer history, I find completely unacceptable and at this point, I’m sort of fed up with Guitar Center and would be surprised if I even go back there. I don’t feel my business is valued. I don’t feel like most of the employees know what they’re doing nor do they care and I’d rather spend money at a place with better service. So I walked out and left the other items on the counter. In just the last few years alone at this location specifically I’ve bought the following: UA LA-610 preamp, Apollo x16 & x8, two Apollo twins, a plethora of mics including two Neuman km184’s, U87, TLM 103, Royer R-121, SSL fusion plus, Line 6 helix floor, tons of mogami cables, strings& other accessories, bass guitars, two Dave Smith synths, a Gibson J-45, Yamaha Monitor speakers, Multiple fender custom shop guitars, Friedman 212 cabinet, UA Ox-box, two Akai MPC 61’s, Multiple pairs of high end beyer dynamic headphones, all sorts of effects pedals.. dozens of them and many other items that I can’t even remember … (Guitar center - if you get in touch you can pull my account and verify this) so yeah after this experience it’s pretty...

I have done business with Guitar Center and its entities for over 20 years. This most recent interaction displays an escalating pattern of poor customer service, deceptive billing practices, siloed management and a general lack of responsibility for issues they have created for themselves.

We worked with the institutional department to purchase sound equipment for a marching band. The large order was serviced through a purchase order and the local store (Bloomington) repeatedly mishandled the transaction. They asked us to provide the purchase order number and a tax exempt id and the purchase could go through. Having provided the requirements, they told us they could not process the payment without a Net30 account which would take up to 8 weeks to setup. They could not look up purchases we made with them from three years ago in order to reference the payment information. Every payment issue they encountered on their side they solved by making our organization do more work.

They also said they could not produce an invoice for us to present to our finance secretary to approve the payment. We ended up paying with an institutional credit card, which is never a good situation for a public school as it creates accounting difficulty and extra work. It is basically a last ditch effort to deal with companies like Guitar Center. Once payment was made, our order was split up into three UPS deliveries and they never told us. When the first part was complete, we were notified that our order was ready, only to drive to the store and pick up a handful of items.

They use UPS delivery notifications and pay absolutely no attention to how it is communicated to their customer. We picked up the next delivery several days later only to find that a product was damaged. They could not exchange the product in Bloomington and directed us to do so at Oakdale. We were told we only needed to provide the order number and identification and we would be "in and out the door". When we returned the item for exchange at another store (Oakdale), they refunded the item onto the institutional credit card and asked us to create another charge for the replacement. We had to pay for the replacement out of personal funds in order to leave. It took the better part of an hour and involved two more calls back to the Bloomington store while sitting in the parking lot with an unboxed replacement we had no way of paying for through the school.

Customer service blamed the store managers and told us we should have dealt directly with the institutional department. Customer service relayed no ability to escalate the issue to a complaint and dropped several calls. Customer service did not reply to any calls unless directed to do so through an escalation. Their final suggestion was to "keep telling our story" to mangement at Guitar Center in the hope that something would change in the future.

There are several reputable local music equipment dealers in our area that will give you a much better experience. I suggest trusting other local businesses like Groth Music and other online dealers like Sweetwater rather than working with Guitar Center at all. If they cannot get it together, the world will simply...

Do not recommend this store for the lack of knowledge of their own systems and processes. You will need to triple check everything you are being told and do your own due diligence.

I had 3 trips to this store: we brought in a guitar for a trade-in, after choosing the new guitar and looking at the receipt I saw that the discount I was supposed to get was not applied, manager had to be called in. The new guitar was not up to expectations, we returned it and got a new one, as as they always do they try to upsell you on paying for a Pro Coverage, which is covered not by them but by another third party (pay attention), we bought the Pro Coverage for 3 years as they said should anything break then they will fix it for free. A month later the guitar stops working with the amp, so we bring it in, and I mention we have the Pro Coverage, they tell me to leave it there and that somebody will call me about how much it is because if it is not much then maybe it does not make sense to use the Pro Coverage (this was confusing). They they call me that the guitar is ready to be picked up (so they fixed it without calling me) and I come to pick it up and they tell me I have to pay for the service. But, I say, I have Pro Coverage, why should I pay. I am being explained that they have a new rule that customers pay for the service and then I need to call this number (I am give a brochure in Spanish because they are out of brochures in English) so that I can be reimbursed. I go home and read about the Pro Coverage and file a claim on the third party website (asurion), and it tells me that since the manufacturer warranty still applies that Pro Coverage does not apply. Hmm. So I go to the manufacturer's website, and indeed, their warranty is actually a lifetime warranty as long as the product is with the original buyer, which I am. SO I did not need the Pro Coverage at all, and the Guitar Center did not intend to fix anything for free, I am instead dealing with an insurance company. My repair was fortunately about $20. Yours may be much bigger. Think twice whether you want to pay for a third party insurance when they are upselling it to you as free repair, as you will be the one who will need to deal with the manufacturer and the insurance company, you will not be dealing with the Guitar Center and the Guitar Center will not be helping you. From my three visits to that store it was obvious that people working there did not how to deal with their own systems and processes, did not know what they are selling when selling Pro Coverage and did not know how the customer will be using it. Not helpful at all, and in fact counter...