The 'In' Groove — Local services in Phoenix

I cringe having to give ANY stars.

The owner is not only incredibly rude and arrogant but he is extremely condescending.

I was looking for a specific record for my husband's Xmas present and wanted to shop local (not from a big e-commerce company).

Upon opening the vinyl and playing for the first time, it was skipping all over the place. I called the store and spoke to an associate who looked up my order and said they didn't have any more of that specific record but we could exchange for something else.

My husband took the drive (25 mins South) to do the exchange. He went right to the counter and the female associate said "absolutely - go pick out a replacement." My husband went to do the exchange and a man came over and said I'm going to clean the one you brought in, it'll take about 7 minutes and then I'll play it on my system. So the only option my husband had was to take back his original record. There wasn't an option to exchange apparently. Got home and played it on our system and to no surprise it skips! (Note - we do NOT have an old record player AND NO other records have skipped). I was so disappointed as I chose this store over a store closer to me and this was my husband's Xmas present. I called and asked to speak with the manager/owner but was told they weren't there. She asked me to hold then a guy gets on and says he's the owner. Let me just say as a customer I have NEVER been spoken to in this manner. Demeaning is putting it lightly! He led the conversation stating that it was MY FAULT for the following reasons - #1. My record player was the issue. #2. My lack of knowledge about how new vinyls play differently than older vinyls (but it didn't matter that other new vinyls work on our player). #3 It worked in his store so.... He continued to argue and speak over me. He even had the audacity to say "bring it in and play in the store'. My response was - why would I want you to play it in your store - I bought it to play in MY home. I said as a business owner he should want to work with his customers not scold them and tell them it's their fault. His response was I have no problem telling the customer they're wrong. He then began to say - I am known world wide. How long have YOU been working with vinyls? I said, you should train your employees better so they don't give out the wrong information about being able to exchange. Again, not taking ANY ownership (he seems to be pretty good at that), he says "I don't know who you would've spoken to that said that. The bottom of the receipt has the return policy."

I am always very aware of the return policy when making purchases and did not recall any return/exchange info on it at all. I went to my invoice (ordered it on their website) and sure enough - NO details other than basic info. I found a button to press on that has "more info", it brings you to another page and at the very bottom of that in tiny font it has a return tab, so it took 2 pages to even access it! Why was I told we could exchange it if we couldn't? The girl who told me no problem on the phone PRIOR to making the drive down there. The same girl the next day told my husband - absolutely, pick out something else. Seems as though the owner is not only a horrible business owner and probably miserable to work for but he hovers over his associates and screws over his customers. But he in no way is fazed by it because - do you even know how famous he is (said in the most sarcastic tone). Warn your friends and family -- don't give this douchebag...

Visiting Phoenix for the week. This was the 4th record store of 5 I stopped at and it was my favorite. The new arrivals bins were plentiful and full of good finds. And the walls had quality rarities. Those are what I look for in good record shops. I walked out with only 3 records but they were gems and I could have left with 6. So if you're in town and you're trying to figure out which one to go to I recommend In Groove. Edit Stopped in again and I have to adjust my review because they package all their records in completely sealed plastic sleeves. Which you can open, not sure if they allow it, I assume they do. It might be a policy where they want you to do it at the counter, I'm not sure. Also they put all the records on the outside of the original card sleeves thus making it impossible to read the back. Point is I bought a record thinking it was an early pressing, wasn't all that big of a deal, but now I'm back in Minnesota and it clearly states on the back 1987 which makes it pressed 20 years after the original. Edit #2 So I discovered there is a YouTube channel which I've grown pretty fond of mainly because I now understand the sealed sleeves. It's to protect the records from dust. Which I'll now commend for being very thoughtful and caring. And it was explained why the records are on the outside, to protect the covers. Which again is very thoughtful but I'm not completely sold on that. But! I'm still impressed with the knowledge and care Mike does. His attention to quality and respect for the medium of vinyl. Probably one of the...

I shop at record stores all across the country. But, have just recently moved to the local area, and this is my closest record store. I had some time to kill and wanted to check out the store. I forgotten my wallet, but had some cash. I had $8 and had interest in a $9 record. I took my record to one of the clerks, and asked if they could work a deal out with me. The first time I asked the clerk ignored me. I spoke up, then she told me “oh no we are not that kind of store. The prices are firmly set by the owner.” And then proceeded to try to ring it up without asking if I still wanted it. When I told her I didn’t want it, she scoffed. The larger gentleman working (who was loudly sharing his ‘cool’ music opinions) proceeded to laugh at me as I walked out the door. Which lead me to two conclusion:

1. The “in groove” has real “in crowd” vibes to it. This record store wants you to think it is a local/mom&pop vibed record store, but has very corporate record store feel. Kinda like a Hot Topic but for overpriced jazz records and hifi systems.
2. this record store would rather potentially make a single dollar than put a record in the hands of someone who wants it, and in my ‘cool’ opinion, I think this is the issue with the record industry.

Either way, I am thankful this store did not and will not ever get money from me. Drive across town to The Record Room. You’ll still save money on records, even with...