Guitar Center

They want you to buy stuff whether or not you need it.
I have regrettably purchased things that I was told would be suitable for my needs, and I have also refused to purchase things that I was told would be suitable for my needs, but was sure that these expensive things were not suitable for what I wanted.
Recently, variety for parts and accessories seems smaller than it was years ago.
If you need something inexpensive and they don’t have it, they can order it. Trying to get them to is another matter.
Last time I was in, trying to get a part for my bridge, the miserable man behind the counter dumped a bunch of stress on me, then said he couldn’t get the part, didn’t check, then said he wouldn’t check. He even said that my gutiar was out of print. Obviously guitars aren’t printed. Bottom line is that he would not help me.
I asked someone else and they said they’d call me about it, but that never happened.
Basically they want to sell you stuff. That’s why I don’t trust them when they tell me what I should buy. They’re there to sell what they have in stock.

Whenever possible I like to support local businesses. I was searching for an instrument and it was all the same retail price online and GC, so I decided to head over to GC and buy from these guys, I like their store and they have tons of stuff to check out. So I had to pay tax, worth supporting a local store.
I ask for the item, the guy brings me the box, I pay, take it home, open it, and it is apparent this is a used item (I bought it as new). Missing parts, and scratched. (I know, I should have checked before I left the store). I take it back, the guy doesn’t apologize, tells me it was the last one and I can get one from the warehouse shipped to my house. «These things happen» he says. At this point, I’m so upset I had to drive all the way back, that I just told him to refund me. Had he offered me a discount for it being ‘open box’ or taken some $ off a new order, I may have been more eager to stick around.
Ended up ordering online from an online seller, no tax, free shipping, and better (much better) customer service. Sorry GC, but from now on, I will browse in your store and buy online — exactly what I was trying to avoid doing, but you leave me no choice.
Your employees don’t seem to care, so why should I? This is how local stores go out of business: careLESS employees. There’s better service online.
(extra star for having a great selection of items to look at)

This is by far the worst guitar center. I went in to look at the Roland V drums. The employees didn’t help at all and were playing the drums so loud that we could not hear the V Drums. It was awful. We were not greeted at all while entering or exiting. My father was going to make a purchase in the accessories department but no one could find someone with the keys so we could try out the pedal! No one wanted to help. They just wanted to sit around and play guitar
Honestly I’ve shopped at guitar center for over ten years but I’m done. Hello Sweetwater, Sam Ash and Amazon.

BF is a pro audio guy and we are always impressed by the level of customer service these guys provided. They match prices which is an extra bonus so we prefer to come here rather than buy online.
Parking — street meter. I always park at the meters by Whole Foods where the turnover is faster

Rude assholes prevail consistently at Guitar Center. I’ve been forced to come here for years for last minute items but thanks to overnight shipping, I won’t be coming here anymore.
Finding someone who doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder is next to impossible.
If you are a woman, forget about being taken seriously.
You will be underestimated. They won’t ask what kind of guitar you want and lead you to the acoustics. That’s sexist, boys.
Last time I went in the guy did not want to let me try out a $ 300 vocal affects pedal (for 2 minutes!) and said, just try it on your PA at home and if you don’t like it return it. Lazy.
I said «I don’t own a PA».
He said «what kind of singer doesn’t own a PA».
I said politely that I played placed with sound systems
so I didn’t need one
at which point he said sarcastically
«How nice for you».
NEVER AGAIN. What a douch bag.
This place is for wanna be musicians who are desperate for the attention they get when they schralp away in the store instead of handing the gear over for you to try.

Guitar Center as a whole have lost me as a long standing customer. This review spans both San Francisco and San Mateo stores.
⁰⁴⁄₁₂ Needed to purchase an NI Komplete Kontrol S49 Keyboard Controller. Since I live in Mountain View, I checked San Jose, followed by San Mateo which neither had any in stock. San Francisco’s Van Ness store did. So I placed the order for in-​store pick up, despite the 80 mile round trip drive. I also had to pay $ 5.00 parking in the garage around the corner for a 15 minute visit.
The staff were very nice, followed Guitar Center protocol and I picked up my «brand new» keyboard at the door and left. I got home and opened the box, which had clearly been opened before, only to discover that they sold me a floor model or very used piece of equipment. Fingerprints and grime all over the equipment, cables had been unraveled and dumped in the box, definitely not the $ 600 brand new keyboard I paid for and was expecting. I immediately called the store and asked for a manager and spoke to Matt Cox. He was nice and understanding and agreed to have a brand new replacement sent to the San Mateo store for me to pick up. But not same day. He said to go ahead and play with the one I already had and consider it a «loaner».
Upon trying to authorize the software for use in my DAW I received an «Invalid Serial Number» error which indicated someone had already registered the equipment. Now I am pissed because other than standalone, the equipment was useless for my purposes.
⁰⁴⁄₁₃ 10:29am I called San Mateo GC and spoke to Andre. Again, very nice person. I asked for an ETA of the new equipment and was told if it was coming from the central warehouse it would be 2 –3 days. If it had to come from the manufacturer, 4 — 6 weeks. More pissed, but ok as I was hoping for the best. I was told they will email me when it was ready for pick up.
⁰⁴⁄₁₄ 3:42pm I called San Mateo GC just out of curiosity to check the ETA since I basically did not have anything solid. I spoke to Rodney, who was the nicest yet. He had to call me back after he called Native Instruments for the ETA… uh oh. But ok.
⁰⁴⁄₁₄ 3:55pm Rodney called back and told me the ETA was 04/​20, over 1 week after I had purchased the used equipment in my possession. I called BS and said I wanted to cancel my order. He said ok but he needed to transfer me to Andre. Andre asked if I was sure I wanted to cancel my order and I told him yes. I then said I would drop off the equipment I had, when I had a chance.
At no time did anyone seem concerned about the situation. The gas I burned, the frustration, the deception of selling me a used pice of equipment as new (which is probably illegal to some degree). It was dishonest to allow me to leave the store with a used piece of equipment that I purchased at full price. Despite the niceness of the staff, there was little to no customer service. It just felt like «Oh well too bad for you.» I will not be using Guitar Center following this issue.