Guitar Center
reviews and complaints

I was given a Guitar Center credit card about two years ago with a $1000 credit limit. I purchased about $300 worth of stuff, made several minimum payments and finally paid off the last $100 in one payment. I put the card away for about 9 months, and then just recently pulled it out to purchase my girlfriend a keyboard for Hanukkah only to find that these a-holes lowered the credit limit to $300 without even telling me! I never missed a payment, never even returned anything I bought and these ### lowered my limit for no reason other than I wasn't using the credit enough for them. ###s! The keyboard I wanted for my girl was well over $300 but well below the $1000 I had and they wouldn’t raise the limit back up to where it was and I have perfect credit.

F U Guitar Center! I will NEVER EVER buy anything from Guitar Center again, I will never even set foot in Guitar Center again, I will not even accompany someone to Guitar Center and wait in the car!

Guitar Center can kiss my ###!

I was treated and talked to like i was an idiot by an condescending manager . I was looking to talk about recording gear and he was more interested in correcting my grammar . i was thinking to my self are you for real. it took place like this .
do you mind if i ask you something about software .
he said yes you can ASK me what ever you like. in a condescending tone . do to the was i said ask.

at least 5 time while we where talking he did this . but i just blew it off . well a few guys came up and where trying to ask something he very rudely told them to wait and they walked into the dj room he then looked at me and said ###ing Mexicans always think they are more important then the person in front of you. the ### probably doesn't speak English. I had my kid with me . and in a tone like he was tring to talk " black " he said you know what i mean.

my last name name is Martinez. i Dominican and Mexican. at this point I started walking off and he said . Well hey my name is Robby I am the sales manager here if you need and thing just ASK for me.

i mean really i felt like he was a racist and if Guitar Center rolls like this i am done with them

Don't buy at Guitar Center! I bought a DW 5000 series bass drum pedal from the Guitar Center in Ft. Myers Fl. My chain broke on the pedal a few months after buying it. I went back to the store to get a replacement chain. They did not have the part in stock. Instead of ordering the part. The stupid sales guy told me to go to a near by
Harley Davidson Motorcycle Dealer and have them fabricate a chain for me. I thought this was kind of weird but I went to see if what he told me to do would work. When I explained my problem to the motorcycle dealer and told him what the Guitar Center employee had told me to do. I got laughed out of the building. So... I went to another
music store in town called Brent's Music ( which by the way, was my first experience there). The drum dept. sales guy not only knew what the part number was but also had the part in stock. I showed him my DW pedal and he not only sold me the part at a good price but also installed the part on my pedal for me with NO EXTRA CHARGE to do so. He simply called it customer service. How do you like that.

I purchased a new guitar from their online store and when it arrived it was obviously a previously damaged and repaired item. The body of the guitar had been dropped, filled in and then painted over with matching paint. I sent it back promptly using their return process and have yet to receive a replacement. Customer service keeps telling me it is in the system and I will be notified when they ship.

If you shop, I would suggest a visit to their store versus going online. Their online business is not as responsive as the local store and if you deal with them online you can't work with the local store to resolve an issue. That is just dumb as a business practice.

I called the East Brunswick NJ Guitar Center Sunday 8/23/2009 in the early afternoon to order a used guitar amplifier from their "USED" website. I spoke to Cameron and purchased the amplifier and related to him that I would like it shipped out on Monday 08/24/2009. Cameron said that it was no problem at all and it would go out Monday 08/24/2009. I called on Tuesday 08/25/2009 to get a tracking number and when I spoke to their operations person he related that the amplifiers had not been shipped yet because "they did not have enough shipping material". I then talked to the manager Mr. TJ Shovlin and told him I was very irate because I was told my purchase would go out on Monday 08/24/2009 and that I had not received any calls telling me about the delay. I said that it was unacceptable not to contact a client about the apparent dilemma. TJ responded by saying that it was too early for him to be "yelled" at and that he would refund my money if I didn't stop "yelling" at him. All the time referring to me as "Dude". When I requested that he not call me "Dude" he stated that he would call me "Sir" but that I was acting like a 5 year old and I didn't deserve to be called "Sir". I was irate but I was not yelling.

TJ's lack of professionalism and inability to turn around a negative situation shows his complete failure to manage successfully a nationally recognized corporation. I apologized to TJ for being upset and I related that it was a common occurrence throughout the Guitar Center Chain where customer service is lacking in quality and expertise in problem solving. He reacted by saying that this had never happened in his store and since I was being unreasonable that he was not going to expedite the shipment (presumably to teach me a lesson not to "yell" at him "this early in the morning"). All the while threatening to give me a refund instead of sending the amplifier.

I can see many things wrong with TJ Shovlin's managing Skills and they are:

Lack of respect for customers. Calling someone "dude" shows total disrespect not to mention immaturity.

Inability to manage negative situations and turn them into positives by threatening to not expedite, threatening to not sell, and basically using cheap tactics to get his point across.

Lack of responsibility by acting as if he is the victim. Apparently one can't complain too hard to Mr. Shovlin or he starts extorting. Not a good quality in a General Manager.

Finally, lack of professionalism. If a client is angry (very angry in my case) due to a company's obvious mistake/bad service, the last thing a Manager should do is to aggravate the situation further by fighting with the client.

As frequent on-line and in person customer of Guitar Center, I have had many issues with the Guitar Center chain of stores in particular:

Lack of professionalism

Lack of product knowledge

Lack of ethics when selling

Lack of communication skills

Lack of common sense overall by their sales personnel

One thing must get into Guitar Center's management heads:

The customer is the one thing that keeps you in business. Treat them with respect and professionalism.

Ok well after deciding to expand my ddrum amx kit by adding a kick drum... I wanted the blue burst 22x20...

I call in they said it was in stock, being A SUNDAY they said it would ship tomorrow (monday)... so I called in monday night to confirm because I recieved no email.. they said what they always say. (yea there was a problem today in the warehouse). any ways they said it will be shipped out tuesday.. LOL nope.. and they used they same thing about warehouse problems.. then wednesday around 3p. m. I get a BACKORDER NOTICE so I call tell them they've been telling me it will ship out the next day so they give me a 20 dollar credit and next day air shipping! great right (wrong) they said thursday it will ship out because of the shipping choice nope they shipping it on friday... the billing info I come to find out was shipped on wednesday... wow I don't know who they have answering there phones and working there warehouse but i'm gonna say there all #ed... not to menchin I got one guy on the phone who told me that there product specialist know nothing about musicial equipment! he told me this and I was blow away so remember that when you order from them and they recommend a certant product lol. haha. anyways... it is monday the 12th my delivery date for this kick drum that will probably show up a zildjian t sirt and a note say gottcha! so I guess we will see but my advice to you is stay away from guitar center... AND MUSICIANS FRIEND ran by the same company and did this same crap to me a week before I ordered to blue toms they sent a red one and orange one so avoid but.

My complaint is, in may I went to guitar center and purchased a Fender Squire Affinity Strat
with 3 sets of strings and picks.Now I called up about a week before, ( after I got on line
and researched evrything I wanted to buy), So then i called them up and talked to a guy
named Shawn, Ole Shawn! said we got everything you asked for here, So me and a buddy went and drove an hr and a 1/2, we get there I asked for shawn and have to go find him so when I did
it was like I was bothering him, So I ask him about about the strat I wanted and he tells me they don't have in stock, all they have is black and a honeyburst in stockand no tabbaco sunburst at all so i sit down and play it for about 2 hrs test everything out clean then dirty back and forth with out a wammy bar then
I asked him about a wammy bar and he's like getting rude and I started getting irrataed with at this point in the deal, so I go back to playing, Now I'm 52yrs and I been playing since I was 12, and I get the bar and play some more finally I'm gonna settleon this guitar, So it comes to the time for the price, he says 195.00,
well I had gone buy musicians friend and they have it for 165.00, see guitar center has to
honar musicians friend price and I just happened to have a copy of a musicians friends catalog
with and I show it to him he starts getting rude again, so I start asking for a few other things
and a pack of picks and 2 recording tapes a sm10 and a sm 30 nothing.So i buy the guitar for
165.00 and leave, bout a week later I e-mailed corperate office a week later the manager calls
and I tell him the story and he's tells me there keeping an eye on ole Shawn, and next time
I'm there I should only deal with this guy.( the manager)...Well if you go there you don't get any kind of service ... this place sucks!...Guitar Kenny.

I use Guitar Center regularly through thier website, and I'm always e-mailed "limited time" coupons and offers. Today I was sent a coupon for "Dad's and Grads Get 20% Off of Qualifying Merchandise". They give you a list of brand names that qualify when you go to the site. As I browsed, I noticed something wierd. I don't know if this applies to ALL of the couponed merchandise, but everything that I was interesed in possibly purchasing had been marked up in price. I price checked with Musiciansfriend.com and music123.com just to be sure, because thier web sites are almost always identical with prices. Also for example, I wantd to buy this half stack I found a few weeks ago that was $400. During the special coupon sale, it was listed at $500 before the 20% off coupon. That's only $20 off, not the $80 it would have been if they kept the price where it should be. So what's up Guitar Center?

Also, if you cancel an order because after waiting a week you finally get a notice that your item is out of stock, make sure they add the balance back onto your card. Afterwards, make sure they refund the tax! Every time I had to cancel n order, they still charged me tax. I didn't know it either untill I did some digging.

Nude DJ, dude, what you describe in your response is a "same day return policy." Guitar Center sold a "30 day return policy." In fact, they brag about their 30 day return policy so that customers feel comfortable with making a purchase, even if they have reservations at the time. The trouble is, they failed to say anything about a restocking fee, whether the box was opened or not. That is deceptive and misleading and therefore it is a rip off. Furthermore, if you can't open the box, it's difficult to know whether or not the purchase is satisfactory. Your point of returning the speakers the same day versus after being "used" for a week is weak. My point of making the complaint is simply to warn other potential customers of the deception they practice at Guitar Center with respect to 30 day returns. As for the microphone, I understand now what the law is. My point is that they should have stated the law when I made my purchase, i.e. "It is against the law for us to accept returned microphones once they are purchased, so your purchase is final." To tell me afterward is deceptive and a rip off.

I doubt this will change your opinion since I noticed that you responded in favor of the Guitar Center on another complaint. You must have some sort of interest in supporting them.

The guitar center is a major ripoff store for refunds! Read the back of the receipt carefully! The problem is, you don't have the receipt until after you have made the purchase and after the salesperson has already lied to you about returns. I purchased a speaker system and was told I could return it within 30 days. I returned it a week later and was told there was a 15% restocking fee. That was never explained by the salesperson! When I returned the item, he turned over the receipt and showed me the miniscule print that explained the actual return policy. Beware! They also said they could not accept a returned wireless microphone, but that was not told to me in advance either. After fighting with the salesperson and then the manager, I got my money back 100%. Don't let them rip you off! Better yet, don't make the mistake of buying there in the first place!

Today, April 23rd, I called my local Guitar Center in Chattanooga to ask about a Digital Voice Recorder adapter cable. I'm a frequent shopper and former employee of the store.

My boyfriend I called to ask about a 1/8 inch cable unto USB. Once we were transferred over to Pro-Audio a man named "Jonathan" answered and we asked him about the cable. He started to laugh and say "Cmon man, what is this a joke?" and continued to be oblivious to the fact that we were good customers, and nothing else. We told him, "No, I need a cable" and he explained "Oh, no I don't think we have it". By the time my boyfriend hung up the phone, 'Jonathan' had been rude to us, disrespectful and displayed no customer service skills what-so-over. We were asking a legitimate question, and he had scoffed at us like we were so below 'his level'.

I don't think anyone deserves to be treated like this. Especially not two good customers (and former employees).

Congratulations, Guitar Center.

You just lost two more customers.

And I will be contacting Guitar Center corporate.

We'll be shopping at Humbucker Music and Picker's Exchange from now on. :)

Bought a drum kit there. Found when replacing the coated batter heads the shells were delaminating. Brought it back but because it was clearance they explained how great of a deal it was and how I'm the jerk. So no returns on clearance items even if they are junk. Talked to managers and everything. 100% satisfaction my butt. They gave me a performance guarantee but that doesn't kick in till 2 months, then it will take 6 weeks to repair the kit and then I will have working kit after 5-6 months of waiting. I hope this company goes out of business. Absolutely the worst customer service I've EVER had the displeasure of dealing with.

Do not use this company/Outfit. I ordered an Epiphone dot 335 ($399) and a case ($80) by credit card. I got an email a few days later saying there was a 3 month backorder on the guitar but they have sent the case? I mean what idiot in their right mind would send a guitar case without a guitar? Its all about getting your money!

Eddie

Guitar center just wants to sell you *** guitars, they don't care about quality. All they want is money. They pay low wage dumb monkey turds to try to sell you a guitar, that is messed up.

Then they'll never admit they're mistake and try to convince you that nothing is wrong.

Guitar center is a music store so you all who work there quit treating people like *** and trying to rip them off theres enough *** going on in this *** up planet and if a guitar is worth more then what ever in trade or so... them give that person credit on that and quit being and *** hole about it... that goes four all you courpret *** also... so help out every one that loves music and not money you are suppose to help music get better four us all so quit fooling around and get your *** together.

Shopping online via Guitar Center was one of the most horrid experiences I ever had. I ordered from them before a Tama 8-piece drum set with no problems about 3 weeks ago. However, the problem began when I ordered 2 kick pedals and a Roland kick trigger. What a disappointment.

At first, everything seemed ok. I ordered from them on a Thursday, and then they left me a message saying there was a problem verifying my order.

I called their customer service number to see what the problem was. According to their representative, she said that the bank put an access block on them and that I needed to call the bank. She then put the bank representative on the line.

When they asked me my account number, something smelled fishy to me. When I asked why they needed to my bank account number, the GC rep said that Guitar Center wanted to verify the information did their own stop on the order. This was not what they originally told me along with the fact that the bank rep was dialed for me as opposed to letting me dial them on my own kept saying "SCAM!" in my mind. After asking why a $500 order needed verifying when my card went through just fine for an order that costs well over a grand, they couldn't get their story straight. Eventually, I got tired of the BS and asked them to cancel the order.

To top it off, they actually had the audacity of attempting to charge me a $34 sales tax despite the fact that in order to be charged a sales tax, I'd have to purchase something in the first place. I checked with the bank before they can attempt to bill me and reported it as a fraudulent charge.

My friends, do NOT order anything online from Guitar Center unless you want to run the risk of getting ripped off by an unscrupulous employee. Either go to one of their stores or backorder want you need at a local shop.