G.C itis is spreading

[sixty2strat]

Originally Posted by Jason2112

i don't know, sounds you probably overreacted based on your story. The guy asked you twice if he could help you - at face value I don't see a problem with that. It's not like he said to stop playing the guitar, turn down the amp, or get lost.

Well I'd agree maybe but the tone of voice, tells a lot. I did respond after his first question, even if it was pretty disstainful toward me, next time it was plain rude. at 40 I know rudness Just shocked me, guess they only want you come in and say what you want. Sort of like the old time PA state stores, for us older folks. Might as well deal with MF. Felt the guys at the guitar show were polite by contrast

[Swain]

Everybody has a bad day. Maybe the shop owner should be given a break? Especially since you've never had a bad experience there before. I know there ae times when I've sounded like an @$$, and realized my tone of voice, or my actions were directed badly.

[sixty2strat]

Originally Posted by Swain

Everybody has a bad day. Maybe the shop owner should be given a break? Especially since you've never had a bad experience there before. I know there ae times when I've sounded like an @$$, and realized my tone of voice, or my actions were directed badly.

maybe so but I am sure my response will not see me welcomed in there again. My point was shops were once much nicer places to hang, I made many friends their and learned a LOT and shot the shit, oh yes and spent a lot of money. NOW it seems it's are you buying anything is the new mantra the last 10 years

[teleman55]

I always liked the big stores 'cause they usually had a couple of left-handed guitars.

[jazzandmetal?]

Originally Posted by sixty2strat

maybe so but I am sure my response will not see me welcomed in there again. My point was shops were once much nicer places to hang, I made many friends their and learned a LOT and shot the shit, oh yes and spent a lot of money. NOW it seems it's are you buying anything is the new mantra the last 10 years

I think that this has more to do with the fact that shops now have to compete with other stores, chain stores and the internet. 10 years ago, it wasn't as bad as it is now. Shop owners/sales guys in the local stores didn't have to worry about shooting the shit with you about gear and you going home to buy it on the internet cheaper. You would just go back to your "hang out spot" and get it. That isn't the case anymore. Every person who walks in is a potential customer and person that is going to help keep the shop open another day via a sale. People still "hang out" at music stores, some stores are just more open to it than others.

Don't forget, it is a store and they pay their bills buy selling gear. It isn't the local video arcade.

[jazzandmetal?]

Also, I understand what you mean. I grew up at A&E music here in Va Beach. I was there EVERY day. They were very tolerant of me and my metal riffs when I was 14 years old ( 16 years ago ) and taught me a lot about gear and playing. I also bought all my stuff there. Some of the other local music stores weren't as tolerant of us kids hanging out. That was before GC and Mars were in the area.

[otaypanky]

If he's like me, he doesn't hear all that well ~ There's a possibility he didn't hear your reply the first time.

Or --
I heard a story of a man on a subway with several unruly children running around and screaming while he sat there in a daze saying nothing and paying no attention. When a nearby passenger reading a newspaper commented on how loud and rambunctious the kids were, the man looked out from his daze and said he was relieved to see his kids were able to play together, almost like normal, as they had just come from their mother's funeral ~ Then he apologized for the noise.
Sometimes you just don't know what someone's dealing with

Or maybe he's just a *******

[Flinx]

Originally Posted by Ken Ho

I dunno, that's a typical small store experience for me. I always found them expensive and unfriendly. It's the big stores and the net that introduced the idea of good customer service in my world.
You might have been part of the "in crowd" in "the good old days", but I wasn't.

+1

[Liquid Ranger]

Sorry fellows, gotta disagree...you've been drinkin' too much of the GC Koolaid. I've been told that great deals on Gibson's can be found at Best Buy as well. B

[Polynitro]

maybe hes deaf? Hes been working in a music store since 1982.

I go to Guitar Center just to fart around and nobody bothers me. I go to Alpha and I get accosted with "dude check out the new midi Strat!" as soon as I walk in the door.

[Scott57]

It could very well be that the guy had a bad day, going deaf, whatever. Unfortunately, first impressions are lasting impressions, especially if it's a shop I've gone out of my way to visit. I don't want anybody fawning over me but in this economy with the amount of competition (big box & internet), you would think sales people would watch how they treat their customers.

[Kenny D]

GC Up in Spokane is a great store. I am never hassled or watched.

I also like to demo pedals on a real amp, not that crappy pedal display running into a crappy little transistor radio of an amp. I ask for a pedal out of the box to demo on a real amplifier and I always get a positive response.

No problems with GC in general here. But they are just like any other store - good people and bad, I suppose.

There used to be a Mom and Pop place in Simi Valley CA where I did all my shopping back in the day called Music World, owned by a guy named Larry. That place was great and was the best music store I have ever shopped at. Larry would let me borrow a piece of gear for a few days to try it out. I miss that place.

[GerryJ]

My local small shop is successful because they do drums/keys/acoustics and especially all manner of PA systems for duos, halls, churchs, etc plus people give music lessons there . And they're very friendly and laid back. If you don't buy a guitar there today, you still might be back in 6 months to buy strings, or a PA, etc.

That's what it takes for a small store to compete successfully.

[Chuck King]

It's easy to try to imagine extraordinary circumstances that might have caused a particular guy on a particular day to act a particular way, but the stereotype of the bitter pushy mom-and-pop store owner emerged because so many of them are, well, bitter and pushy.

When the big box stores rose to prominence, there was a paradigm shift in the instrument market, and never again would stores (mom-and-pop, or anybody else) be able to sell instruments on the same margins as they had in the past. The good, smart stores adapted to the new world order, but there seem to be a lot of smaller stores that think they have a God-given right to always and forever be able to make the same profits off of guitars etc., and that anybody who doesn't want to pay MSRP for a new axe, or wants them to price-match with the store across town, is committing a personal affront and insult to them. A lot of those guys have (quite properly) left or been driven out of the market, although there still seem to be a surprising number out there. Ironically, the ones remaining probably pay their rent off school band instrument rentals and lessons, and don't even rely on guitar sales as a significant part of their business.

[Lance]

I've never had any problems at GC. But, the last time I was in Rocker Guitars, just trying to get some preamp tubes. That's all, just some tubes. I stood at the counter while not one, not two, but three guys were all standing around. Now, two of them were trying to fix something...a pedal, I think. So, ok I'll give them a little bit of a break. The other guy was just standing there, looking at tags on pedal in a counter display case. Like he's taking inventory, or something. I say, "High, I just want to get some tubes." I'll be right there, he replies. He keeps going from pedal to pedal, tag to tag, not writing anything down, just looking. NO less than 10 minutes go by, and nothing. So, I go over to the other two guys, and ask them about getting some help with tubes. "Well, that gentleman there (Pointed to guy I just came from ) will be right with you. I turned around, and said, "No, he won't," as I walked out the door. I even snarked, "I am betting someone at GC will gladly take my money, idiots!" That was almost 10 years ago, and I haven't been back there since.