Guitar Center just hacked their COVID-19 return policy

[wetordry]

Brutal.

 

[DCross]

[sarcasm]Those bastards!!! Do you mean to say that now I can't buy a brand new guitar every 6 months, play the sh1t out of it, bring it to the beach, spill beer on it, get my doritos covered fingers all over it, sleep with it, and then simply give it back - no cost to me? But I can still do that every 3 months???
They totally suck big phat donkey d1ck. I'm never going back there again! That'll teach 'em!!! [/sarcasm]

To the OP - 3 days for a vintage guitar isn't really so bad... have you already played it in person? If you still want it, then maybe the only question is "how does it sound with my rig?" A couple of hours at home should honestly answer that.

 

[budglo58]

Last year I bought a Vintage Martin and I’m pretty sure I had a 3 day return window . First thing I did was take it to the local Martin repair shop to check it out. Once I got his blessing I played it and the 3 day window was more than ample time to make my mind up .

 

[Sampler]

While I agree 3 days is a short amount of time, it is within the accepted norm for vintage dealers....usually 48-72 hours....I’m not sure there are many places that are better - it’s just part of the process unfortunately.

 

[LongLiveGuitar]

I love Guitar Center, especially the used section.

 

[lostpick]

At least I can get used gear at GC for less than Reverb these days.

 

[budglo58]

At least I can get used gear at GC for less than Reverb these days.

GC used , if it comes and I don’t like it, it’s not in the condition they described or it’s defective you get an instant refund if you ship to the store. No back and forth with the seller or third party waiting for a refund.

 

[lostpick]

GC used , if it comes and I don’t like it, it’s not in the condition they described or it’s defective you get an instant refund if you ship to the store. No back and forth with the seller or third party waiting for a refund.

And if it's in my store, I can play it first.

 

[olejason]

Serial returners shouldn't be rewarded with overly generous policies. Three days is more than enough time. If it was up to me I wouldn't even offer returns on vintage gear unless it was somehow misrepresented and could be proven.

 

[bluejazzoid]

I don't disagree, as I'm not looking to take advantage of it.

However, going from 90 days to 3 on a vintage instrument makes me think twice.

If the change in policy at GC now makes you think twice about buying a vintage instrument, isn't that a good thing? Seriously - if now you are going to do a more thorough pre-sale assessment before purchasing a vintage instrument because of this new policy, then that certainly will make you a more keen and informed buyer in the long run.

 

[Denzil Dexter]

I would be more worried about getting a order.
Ive seen a few YouTube videos over the last month about them being in financial trouble and shops running out of stock.
Also a couple of big name guitar companies have stopped supplying GC.
Also staff payroll problems.

 

[70 Mach 1]

45 days is a joke
What if it gets returned 6 times.
You just bought yourself a used guitar for the price of a new one

 

[COYS]

Yes, accusing a company of "hacking" their return policy and being uncaring about the Covid situation because they brought their return policy back to normalcy after nearly 6 months of allowing it to stay quadrupled (or in the case of vintage instruments, being multiplied 30X) is very much a display of entitlement.

Right... it was because the stores weren't open. Now that every store is open again, the free lunch is over and people are complaining as if 45 days isn't already generous? At a regular shop you'd be lucky to get 7 days.

3 days on vintage stuff isn't a long time, but I'm sure they don't want people test driving and gigging with their most valuable products of all and bringing them back worse for the wear. If the return policies aren't to your liking you don't have to patronize them

 

[COYS]

I would be more worried about getting a order.
Ive seen a few YouTube videos over the last month about them being in financial trouble and shops running out of stock.
Also a couple of big name guitar companies have stopped supplying GC.
Also staff payroll problems.

YouTube videos have all the credibility of the nearest supermarket tabloid...

GC is owned by Ares, a huge private equity group, and will have all the financing they ever need to conduct business. People have been predicting their demise for almost 20 years...

 

[JPH118]

I was about to buy a guitar and had 90 days to figure it out. Now I have 3. But you'd be thinking "ah man, 3 days is still crazy generous...I'm an entitled jerk if I'm upset yesterday they gave me 90.

And at some vintage shops, it’ll be a zero day policy.... play the guitar and make up your mind.

 

[Otter351]

When corporations change terms it's because customers are abusing the policy. Always astounds me when I read TGPers buy multiple guitars with the intention of only keeping one of them. Then, of course, they expect the company pay for shipping both ways and then sell that guitar as used. It's no wonder mom and pop stores can't compete

 

[ShredSquatch]

Boo freaking hoo...

No sympathy for people that abuse return policies.

~ss

 

[LesPaulfanboi]

Serial returners shouldn't be rewarded with overly generous policies. Three days is more than enough time. If it was up to me I wouldn't even offer returns on vintage gear unless it was somehow misrepresented and could be proven.

But how will I post a dozen NGD threads only later to say I couldn’t vibe with any of them?!?!?!?

 

[Totally Bored]

Yesterday the return policy was 180 days for guitars and 90 days for vintage guitars.

Well now it's 45 days and only 3 days for the vintage guitar I was eyeing.

Thats insane


You can return a guitar 6 months later

why would a company allow that and do people really do that ?

 

[LesPaulfanboi]

YouTube videos have all the credibility of the nearest supermarket tabloid...

GC is owned by Ares, a huge private equity group, and will have all the financing they ever need to conduct business. People have been predicting their demise for almost 20 years...

Demise? Maybe not. Bankruptcy and restructuring? I’m betting on it.

Retail itself has been on life support for awhile. People buy online now. If you look at GC anD it’s sister companies MF, W & B, their websites are still in the early 2000’s.

They need to switch to something more modern like SW or even Sam Ash. At least Sam ash gives you 1 or 2 photos of guitars over $2k. The GC website gives you nada.