Ponier Music

I give two stars because I had a very bad experience, but I believe in the benefit of the doubt. I went in one day to see about selling an amp. I was kindly told that regardless of specs I could provide, I had to bring it in. That’s fine I totally understand. It was an inconvenience to drive back to load a half stack and bring it back, but I get the logic. I was told to be back by 430 to have it seen that day. I got back and had the amp inside and was in line by 422. I waited patiently and it was my turn about five minutes till 5. (Patient indeed) then the guy told me I would have to bring it back next week because the owner wasn’t in. Notice however that the reason he couldn’t give a ballpark estimate is because the owner wasn’t there the first time I went. Obviously a b.s. Excuse. He still had an instrument rental to do behind me and gladly took them and just blew me off. I loaded my amp up but then decided I didn’t have to take this seeing how the others in the store were just as shocked that he did that to me. So I marched back in there and busted the guys balls for trying to waste such a massive amount of my time. He finally agreed to take me after all the other instrument rentals which all took much longer than me. So it’s 525 and he calls the owner to see if he will consider buying it. He agreed and in the end a deal wasn’t reached. I will say however that I was given a fair offer, just not enough for the extra trouble I went through. The irony is that there’s a lot of stuff posted in the store about support local business instead of massive companies, but the point in doing that is because the local stores are supposed to care about their customers, not tell them to buzz off because they can’t be bothered for another 7 minutes. Yeah it took seven minutes of his time versus 80 to 90 minutes of mine. This guy should be fired for being a rude and lazy excuse for an employee. He basically lied by trying to twist the truth and his reasoning for not seeing me. So yeah I had the worst retail experience in my life here, but I can’t speak against the owner because he wasn’t really involved. It’s not a bad store, but there are some major service issues that need to be addressed. Also I’ve had the same job in a music store myself and we always kept our word and always strived for excellence and it worked very well against our competition. So that guy has no excuse. A few twisted truths but no excuse. The owner should take note of such. It would serve him well to be sure his customers are served properly.

Rented my daughter’s second flute from here. Doug, and everyone else I spoke with was awesome. We already own one flute, but she wanted a second one for concerts. Since she wanted a open-​holed flute, I wanted to rent before buying another flute, to make sure she really liked it. Everyone was so nice, and gave us some great advice. Really appreciated all their time to make sure she got the flute she wanted. Also, love that there’s no penalty for turning in early, so if I do decide to buy before the end of the year, I can give up the rental. You guys rock!

I honestly wish I could leave a no star rating however Unilocal has a minimum of 1. I will add I personally called the owner which was clearly of no help in a few words or so he made it pretty clear he does not hold his employees to any sort of professional standard. I informed him of the situation and hear is a quick run down:
A buddy of mine and I was in the store and a young man attempted to sell a guitar and a deal wasn’t reached. My buddy and I were leaving (empty handed of course because there was no good deals and everything was over priced in comparison to pretty much all the stores competitors such as Guitar Center and Ken Stanton music. It prob would have helped if the staff was more helpful in looking at guitars as well but again this is all typical stuff you expect from a business that is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau. As we walking out my buddy offered the man who had clearly dismissed the offer 180 and the employee flipped out. He began screaming profanities at my friend and when I asked him to calm down he began verbally assaulting me as well. I called the owner and explained I was disappointed in how we were treated and fully understood that it was a problem to them because we would rather buy someone else’s guitar however I do not understand why it is acceptable for an employee to yell at a store patron in the manner in which he did. The owners response was probably most disappointing because he was clearly very unconcern with his employees running his company like a dirty mob style store. Infact his word for word response was «I am sorry that you are offended that my employee cussed you out but he did exactly what he should have done». I would not recommend such a business to a friend relative or anyone or that matter especially anyone whose young and impressionable. This is a horrible environment. Not to mention Ponier Music is known for hosting drug infested parties in the form small concerts for the local kids. As a successful manager of many businesses my advice to the owner Doug would be hold yourself to a more professional standard and be more competitive with your competitors in both service and price so you will have more people patronizing your store. I know I myself will never be back and anyone I speak to who plays instruments will be informed. Hopefully with a improved sense of how a professional business is ran you won’t feel the need to result to desperate cheap measures in order to pay rent.

I am a musician of over 25 years, so when my daughter decided that she wanted to take guitar lessons, i was very happy! I decided to take her to Ponier Music, on Cobb Parkway. I had been in the store a few times before, and a friend of mine had given a drum clinic there before. I felt pretty confident that this would be a great place for my daughter to learn. Well, I was not disappointed at all. My daughter has been going to lessons for a month now, and is doing very well. She is reading music, which is very important when playing an instrument, because it gives you a full rounded view of what is needed to succeed as a musician. Her guitar teacher’s name is Star, who is an excellent instructor. She really takes the time to show my daughter everything she needs to suceed. She also challenges her, which will an added plus to make my daughter go above and beyond with her new found skill. I recommend Poiner to anyone who is starting out or who just wants to improve their skill!
Their prices are also outstanding, not like some of those other commercial music stores!