Guitar Center — Local services in Denver

I have had to go to this store three times in the last couple of weeks. First, I went to demo/play some guitars I saw online that I was interested in. Absolutely none of the five I had picked out were in the store. They seemed to either have really low-end acoustic/electrics, or really high-end ones. All the mid-range ones I was interested in were only available by special order. I finally ordered a guitar on their website and had that and some accessories delivered to the store. When I picked up the order, the sales associate cut open the boxes, checked off that everything was there, and gave it to me. Nothing was checked to make sure it was actually correct. When I got the order home, there were two problems. #1) the bridge on the guitar I received was different than the one pictured online. That may not seem like a huge deal, but part of the reason I aesthetically liked that guitar was the bridge. Also, it made me wonder if I had received a different model or something. #2) the gig bag they sent was for an electric, not an acoustic. The sticker on the bag even said electric, so whoever picked the order did a really bad job of comparing numbers and descriptions. I called Guitar Center that night and asked if I should bring the exchange to the store or call the online store. They said to bring it in.

So.....I went back to Guitar Center the next day (now the 3rd lunch hour I've spent running back and forth) to exchange the gig bag and ask about the guitar bridge. I worked with Alex, whose response to the guitar question was "I don't know." Extremely helpful. Then, it took TWENTY minutes to exchange the gig bags because he had to get manager approval, and apparently everything around there needs manager approval because managers were either no where to be found or already working with 3 other people. I explained to Alex that I only had an hour for lunch and that my drive to and from there already consumed most of my time, and I really didn't need to get fired over a simple gig bag exchange. He said he had no control over the situation and then paged any manager to come up because I was "getting upset". When the manager finally came to the register, he typed in a couple of things and said to Alex, "you could have done that." There was no apology offered for the mistake in the order nor any assistance given with my guitar question.

I called Guitar Center's customer service when I got in the car. They were MUCH more helpful and did in fact determine that I was sent the wrong model year, so they have paid for my return shipping of the guitar I received, and they also shipped out a new one within the hour. I spoke to Tony, x3100. He is awesome. I will not be making frustrating return trips to this brick and...

I wish this was the location near my house. I went to the store on the way to a gig with my car loaded up with gear including an entire PA system that I had just purchased at multiple places and had everything I needed except the mixing board.

I went into the store thinking they had the analog board that met my needs but realized after I got there that I have searched at the store close to my house by accident. There was no way to go all the way back there and get the mixing board and make it to the gig with enough time to set up. There was a young fellow with purple bluish long hair and fashionable piercings and Jewelry that started helping me. We quickly determined they didn't have the board that I needed and we were pretty much out of options, but the guy suggested that I consider a digital board. I had purposely been avoiding digital boards, even though I work in artificial intelligence, I was a little hesitant to cross over into the digital world of mixing because I have Decades of touring and playing on analog systems. The audio guy could sense my hesitation and gave me a run through on digital mixing including looking at the apps that are used with such clarity and detail that I started considering a digital board. He suggested a used digital board that he had actually personally used before, then, he showed me the app and waited for me to install it and then showed me exactly how to use it to set up a mix. He went through setting up the monitors, saving a show, mixing the channels, using presets, and a variety of capabilities that I needed to understand. He was a total Pro. I had also picked up two EV cabs, so anyhow, I decided to go ahead and go digital and give it a try come about the board he suggested, and then he helps me get everything out to my vehicle and even helped me load it up.

At the gig, it was incredible. It took some effort and we finished just in time, but it sounded awesome, worked great, and everyone in the band was amazed at how good it sounded and the fact that a little box had 32 channels, 8 aux send, 4 effects racks and all kinds of other features.

The employee at the store was more helpful than anyone has ever been at any guitar center or any music store for that matter. He was awesome and upgraded me into the digital mixing age with equipment and knowledge.

I'm an older guy, and I guarantee you not all of my reviews are shining examples of praise. I have a very high bar for what it takes for me to think highly of something. And this was extraordinary service. I don't know what this Young Guy's goals are in life, but I hope he achieves them to the fullest with great happiness along the way, and if you are seeing this, please accept my deepest thanks, for an awesome...

So my past experiences at other guitar centers around Denver has been pretty mediocre overall, but I'm not expecting guitar boutique shop level of customer engagement and relationship building. But even in spite of having lowered expectations for the quality customer service, I still manged to be surprised. Now I don't want to sound petty, but honestly I was so hurt and embarrassed by one of your employees I felt obligated to say something. If I recall correctly an employee named Matthew was helping me with some questions I had, but when I described my problem Matthew felt that it was more necessary to debate the validity of my issue rather than actively working with me on something that I believed to be a real problem. So I wanna get this out there right now, I'm no an expert when it comes to hardware, I've played guitar for ten years but I'm an absolute minimalist when it comes to playing (guitar, amplifier, distortion pedal, cable, done) so I don't know anything about this stuff. So what I'm saying is that I am ready to admit that from ignorance I may not have been able to understand my problem sufficiently to be able to intelligently describe it to someone who spends 40 hours a week working in a guitar shop. So when I failed to describe my problem to his standards Matthew became very agitated and literally started rubbing his temples when I was talking to him. When that happened I apologized immediately for not being able to communicate this problem adequately, and Matthew scoffed at me, making me feel both stupid and unwelcome to ask questions. Now that was very insulting, but I was willing to overlook that. I then politely told Matthew that I no longer had any questions, and was going to think of other solutions to my problem. So I stood there staring blankly at the pedals, feeling like an idiot, and feeling embarrassed for something I was very forthright and honest about. Matthew then returned to the section I was standing in, and in an effort to ease my own tension and to let Matt know that there was no hard feelings, I said hello to him again. He was literally inches away from me, and he said nothing. Not a word. Pretended like I wasn't even there. I've read other reviews about guitar center employees treating customers like ignorant vermin, but I always felt like they were exaggerating. Guess not. Never...