Another reason I won't shop at Guitar Center

[drummer]

Not into bashing stores and we don't really like that kind of thing here but because it's been discussed recently in another thread, I will give another reason (other than preferring to support small or local business), why I don't like Guitar Center:

A few years back, I was searching for a gong type of cymbal and upon my search, GC came up as the lowest. When I clicked on the link, it took me to the "stand" for the gong only, not the gong itself. BUT... they were advertising it as the gong! I was disappointed and felt tricked.

Now, I'm reminded of that experience when I stumbled across one of their T-shirts today. It says $14.99 so they come out the lowest price, but when you click on it, you find that it's actually $17.99. They put the "small" size at $14.99 only. This is a form of bait and switch and it's pretty disgusting.

[Xoferif09]

Grievances:
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[funkyruss]

Grievances:
Please do not use DrumChat to air your grievances about a particular company you have done business with. We understand the desire to warn others about a company but this practice leaves too much room for abuse. Please use online consumer comment boards for that purpose

Wow blasting Drummer way to go! You got stocks in GC?

[drummer]

Grievances:
Please do not use DrumChat to air your grievances about a particular company you have done business with. We understand the desire to warn others about a company but this practice leaves too much room for abuse. Please use online consumer comment boards for that purpose

Right, but we let quite a bit slide around here. Maybe you haven't noticed. So it won't hurt that I add a comment to the already discussed (and advertised) Guitar Center.

[drumsetsnide]

I have never bought from the company that you mentioned. I like to support local business and if I can't get it at my local shop(s) after having the guys keep an eye out or look for me, I will shop the net and see if I can find it from a private owner (not a business using the net).

[itchie]

im so glad there is no guitar center in Australia

[kyle102565]

im so glad there is no guitar center in Australia

how true, i did walk into a Sam Ash in Dundee Illinois a month ago and had two thrashmetal goons playing 220 bbms on ekits, all i heard was driving on a railroad track with no amplification, they SUCKED
they had headphones on and were having a blast

i think they rode their bmx bikes there and never buy a thing.
manager looked at me as i walked out like she was grandma waiting for her grandkids to get picked up after 4 days.
i think she just sighed.
my GC kicks ***, big music town, all musicians

[cole1paul]

I don't particularly like Guitar Center, but honestly these things don't seem that bad to me. As far as the gong goes, did it actually say (whatever brand) gong and not mention stand at all? As far as the T-Shirt prices go, if a website is compiling prices for shoppers to find the lowest, it wouldn't make sense for them to randomly pick a more expensive size to use as their model. Sorry, not trying to downplay your aggravation but I'm usually a stickler for customer service and I wouldn't really get bent out of shape over either of those.

[Russ]

I think it's great to have feedback threads. You're helping me not waste my cash on a bad deal, and i'm especially appreciative because of this warning. I hope the advertising was not intentional by gc, and just a mistake by their web designer(for example - when I would see broken links here, I would update them with working ones or else report it). It doesn't reflect well on the company, I would probably let whoever's in charge know about the glitch or ask why it's advertised the way it is. That's not to defend GC or anything as i'm also a supporter of a local small music shop around here - I just like to explore every possibility and know all the facts before formulating my own opinion. I sympathize with you though, it's deceptive what happened and should be fixed before word of mouth leaves them with a rather negative end result.

[atomcorr2]

Grievances:
Please do not use DrumChat to air your grievances about a particular company you have done business with. We understand the desire to warn others about a company but this practice leaves too much room for abuse. Please use online consumer comment boards for that purpose

+1 whats good for the goose is good for the gander..... or is it ? this thread should be deleted.. its against the rules....

[Xoferif09]

Right, but we let quite a bit slide around here. Maybe you haven't noticed. So it won't hurt that I add a comment to the already discussed (and advertised) Guitar Center.

I understand that, but isn't guitar center store that just horribly gets picked on? I mean, any reason to not like gc ( such as the bait and switch with the lowest advertised price for the size that doesn't fit you) gets posted about. There is another thread on here also bashing guitar center due to employee mistake. I just don't think its fair...considering probably over half the people here could come up with something they don't like about guitar center.

Plus, it isn't like that rule is vague.

Unique Guitar Gifts

[Russ]

I see this as more of a topic about false advertising and bad marketing techniques as a general concept, than a poke at a certain shop. I mean yeah a particular place of business is named and identified, but isn't it more of a concern about what's going on in the world of retail as a whole? It's very similar to grievance threads about retailers, I just think it is aimed at a larger issue.

[gatlin5]

I think it's great to have feedback threads. You're helping me not waste my cash on a bad deal, and i'm especially appreciative because of this warning. I hope the advertising was not intentional by gc, and just a mistake by their web designer(for example - when I would see broken links here, I would update them with working ones or else report it). It doesn't reflect well on the company, I would probably let whoever's in charge know about the glitch or ask why it's advertised the way it is. That's not to defend GC or anything as i'm also a supporter of a local small music shop around here - I just like to explore every possibility and know all the facts before formulating my own opinion. I sympathize with you though, it's deceptive what happened and should be fixed before word of mouth leaves them with a rather negative end result.

I agree 100%. It doesn't need to get into foolish bashing but I would sure appreciate someone's experience good or not so good with a vendor.

I have run into the same things with Guitar center.

[drummer]

I don't particularly like Guitar Center... As far as the gong goes, did it actually say (whatever brand) gong and not mention stand at all?

Yes.

As far as the T-Shirt prices go, if a website is compiling prices for shoppers to find the lowest, it wouldn't make sense for them to randomly pick a more expensive size to use as their model.

You missed the point. The T-shirt was actually $17.99. They only made the 'size small' 14.99 to get people to click through (that's unheard of - nobody does that). It's terribly misleading and disappoints the customer when they show up to that page only to find that they've been tricked.


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[drummer]

I understand that, but isn't guitar center store that just horribly gets picked on? I mean, any reason to not like gc ( such as the bait and switch with the lowest advertised price for the size that doesn't fit you) gets posted about. There is another thread on here also bashing guitar center due to employee mistake. I just don't think its fair...considering probably over half the people here could come up with something they don't like about guitar center.

Are you kidding me? GC get's constant posts referencing shopping experience, products people are interested in, etc. How in the hell do you consider it unfair to them that they receive a little criticism when they use deceptive practices?

[drummer]

+1 whats good for the goose is good for the gander..... or is it ? this thread should be deleted.. its against the rules....

I explained already. Go back and read my reply.

[drummer]

I have never bought from the company that you mentioned. I like to support local business and if I can't get it at my local shop(s) after having the guys keep an eye out or look for me, I will shop the net and see if I can find it from a private owner (not a business using the net).

You sir, have my respect. That level of integrity is hard to come by these days.