Guitar Center, Inc Corporate Office & Headquarters

Placed an order in store for a new Denon X-600 mixer. Was told at the time that I would have it by 12/4. That was changed to 12/6. 12/6 comes and goes I hear nothing. I make a call to find out that the date now has been changed to 12/13. On the phone I was told that there was nothing they can do and that the manuafacture basically is at fault. I had purchased this mixer to replace another under the impression that I would have it already and now I feel my hands are tied. If I pull the order now and go somewhere else and end up in the same boat but, lower on the list. Not sure why Guitar Center doesn't have a good working relationship with Denon.

UPDATE TO ORIGINAL COMPLAINT SUBMITTED ON 11/05/2010: Guitar Center Management team stepped up to the plate and contacted me immediately (by phone) in an effort to provide a remedy to the communication problem I was having with a purchase. They were extremely professional and took credit for the communication problem and provided me with more ‘detailed information’ concerning my purchase. I told them this was a non-confrontation form of communication with one (1) objective, resolution. They, in turn, resolved the issue in a timely manner and were very apologetic for the inconvenience as well. They told me to always report things of this nature so they can take a proactive stance and see where the breakdown is and take preventive measures to make sure it doesn no recur. Anyway, I want to thank upper-management for taking care of this matter. I look forward to doing a lot of business with Guitar Center in the future. Sincerely, Mark Woodruff

I am once again extremely disappointed with Guitar Center‘s customer service. Or should I say your lack there of. I have been a musician for over 30 years. I stopped shopping at Guitar Center over 15 years ago because of your horrendous customer service. Last year, I was on vacation in Reno and found myself needing a guitar quick. All I could find was a Guitar Center so, against my better judgment I went to see what I could find. To my surprise, my experience was fantastic. The sales person was outstanding and hooked me up with just what I needed at a great price. Because of this experience I thought I would visit the local Guitar Center in Covina when I returned home. I was in the market for a new amp and a hollow body electric. Once again my experience was tremendous. Now I’m in the market for a nylon string guitar. Last night I once again visited your store in Covina on Azusa Ave. I was outraged at the way I was treated. I selected a Cordova guitar that had a very, very low price tag on it. I know in the past your stores will mark down one particular item in the store and I thought this was the case with this guitar. As I went to pay for the guitar I was approached by your sales person (I was unable to see the name on his name tag) who immediately said “you know that guitar is $399.00 not what’s on the tag.” I asked why the price on the guitar did not reflect the price he mentioned and he rudely said it was because they did not have a chance to fix the tag. I mentioned to him the laws according to the department of weights and measures and he said he didn’t care about that. The price was $399.00. He at no time apologized for the confusion or attempted to offer me alternatives. He was impolite and sarcastic. Because of this horrible representative for Guitar Center, I will once again no longer shop at your store and I will encourage all my friends to do the same. Which won’t be difficult since most of them would never enter a Guitar Center because of your appalling customer service. There were several ways this sales rep should have handled the situation. It’s a shame he could not think of one. If you wish to contact me please do so by email at hang around@live.com or by phone at 626-814-9720.

10/26/10: I ordered a used Spector Rex 5 bass guitar from the Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania Guitar Center(Scott Moore) and I requested to pay ¾ of the payment at the Dallas location on the same day and the remainder on 11/03/10. I went to Guitar Center Dallas and had them wire 3/4 of the money to the Pennsylvania location. I called the store in to ask for confirmation that they actually received the funds, via wire, from Dallas and.. they did. Also, Kevin confirmed they did receive payment and the bass was on hold. 10/27/10: I called Kevin to request a better photo of the bass be sent to my e-mail address. He said he would get right on it! The photos were never sent. 10/28/10: I called Kevin a second time to remind him to send me a photo of the bass prior to shipping and he finally did. 11/03/10: I made the final payment on the bass and ask when it would be shipped to my home address. Kevin said it would be shipped the following day(11/04) after 3:00 P.M. 11/05/10: I called the Pennsylvania store to ask for a tracking number. I spoke with Sara and to my surprise she said the bass had yet to ship out..and..it would probably be Monday 11/08/10. She said, “They were having trouble finding a box big enough to ship a five string bass in.” REALLY???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? One would have to actually go to the back of the store where they keep the instruments and look around!!! Please……I wanted to ask her if that was the best excuse she could give! Hundreds of guitars on the wall and hundreds in the warehouse...NO BOX???? I have been a loyal patron of Guitar Center Dallas and Plano as well. I know there are extenuating circumstances that happen from time-to-time…I have spent many-many hours in GC and I know how things work there. That being said, I know when there is a break-down in quality customer service and I experienced that firsthand. There aren’t enough hours in the day to begin to tell you how disappointed I am about this matter. There aren’t enough pens, ink, or paper to write down all the negatives I experienced while attempting to do business out of State. I am just one patron here….but I know enough about business to know that I will tell at least a minimum of seven (7) people about my bad experience with GC, Pennsylvania…and…they will probably tell seven and so-on. At the very least they could ship the bass overnight for all the trouble I have been through with the lack of quality customer service. Disappointed Customer, Mark Woodruff markwoodruff777@yahoo.com

I currently work for GC. And most of you are correct. The managers I have are fine except for the actual store manager that will physicaly threaten his workers. Wheather he is seriouse or not doesnt matter. Cussing out your employees is not a good way to make them work harder for you. Apperintly some bosses' are allowed to conduct themselves in any way they please. Even if it means humiliating his associates in front of people. I was a loyal customer until I got the job. Im sure not all the stores have this going on but for my protection i will not reviel the location of this one particular.. BE cautouse of snakes!

we have many problems with the G.C store in Dallas Texas.ordered power mixer for the church was told we would get 10%off the sale price they also charged us tax and we were told that would be deducted which was not we told the salesman we would buy extended warranty. he said for 2.00 more and the tax would cover 2 year extended. we want the extended warranty issued to the church name.. this man we have been dealing with is a goof ball I believe. and to top it off cant get phone number to corporate office to talk with some who may help with this problem.. Terrible...

I have had nothing but the worst buying experience with guitar center.com than I have ever had with anyone else. I know guitar center is a large company but the service I have received has been terrible.I went to my local retailer and purchased a drum set and some extra hardware which the associate ordered online due to the items being unavailable at the store. Once the item was ordered I was told that one of the pieces was on backorder.I waited for two weeks before calling guitar center to find out where my order was. I was told that due to one of the pieces being on backorder that the manufacturer would not ship any of the items until the backordered item was available. To me this was unacceptable and I was never told this up front.The store associate I had been dealing with told me he would take care of it,he then proceeded to cancel my order so as to give me a discount and reorder the drums so I could at least use what was available. So 2 weeks later some of the items showed up but not all of them.1 of 2 extra hardware pieces showed up and the second was never ordered. As far as the drums I received the backoredred drum but did not receive the 13 inch drum that was not on backorder. Still to this day I do not have the rest of the drum pieces and it has been close to 3 months since first ordered. When contacting GC.Com I was told that they were working on it and that they had put in a special order with the manufacturer in order to get me the drum I am missing and it would take 4 to 6 weeks to be delivered.Well over six weeks has passed and guess what,still no drum! In addition to the poor service I have received the GC.Com call center associates basically told me their hands were tied and that they could do nothing to help me other than send e-mails to the manufacturer, when asked if they could call the manufacturer they told me the only way they could reach the manufacturer was via e-mail what a load of bull. I was able to contact the manufacturer directly via a phone call.Not that it has mattered because their customer service has been no better. Again I still do not have the drum. In spite of all of the issues I have been having with GC.Com I still placed another order with them for some minor items.One of the items was buy 3 get 1 free and they couldn't even get that right,I received the 3 but not the 1 free as advertised. They did however correct that issue. Still no drum though.All in all this has been a horrible experience and being a musician for over 25 years I rely on my equipment. The moral of the story is,bigger is not always better and if you are shopping for new musical equipment try a smaller mom and pop type shop because I am sure you will be better served because mom and pop shops still care about their customers where as GC.Com surely does not.Signed a very disgruntled customer.

Guitar Center, San Fransisco lies over the telephone in order to get customers to come in. They will tell you they have something in stock, when they don't, then when you come in try to sell you something different. You will be told over the phone that they pay up to 80% of used price when they buy gear from you but, when you show up at the store they actually pay 50%. They will hold items for certain people when they put no money down but, tell others that it's store policy not to hold items without money down. They lack all reasonable standards and hold no integrity. Corporate office will support the bad behavior of store managers therefore creating a totalitarian environment.

I visited the Lancaster, California store two weeks ago to purchase a new guitar and amp; realizing that the Labor Day sale was just a week away, I asked the sales person about price protection. He assured me that GC would honor the lowest price for up to 30 days. Of course, the items I purchased were priced lower during the sale and I requested the difference. Although GC did honor the lowest price policy, the sales person was such an amateur, and so unprofessional that he made comments about how much more important it was to be on the floor than to process my refund. Wow - I've been a customer since 1995; I actually worked for the company in 1985. I can't believe the lack of training these people receive. Sales people actually think that the deal is about them; not the customer; not the company; about them! I agree with the Dale Carnegie training suggestion above; oh and by the way, how about a haircut - the 60's ended!

I too, have had problems with Guitar Center staff in the past - after three such incidents I wrote a letter of complaint to the corporate office. However, within a short time thereafter, I recieved a phone call from the managers of 2 of the three GC stores I had complained about (poor, flippant service; inaccurate info, etc.)and I recieved seemingly genuine apologies from both Mgrs. I even recieved a $150 discount off the Fender amp I had on layaway at the time. So, GC corporate demonstrated a sincere desire to provide good service. Recently, at the Seattle GC store; I have made several purchases of guitars through Sales Assocoate IAN DICKINSON, and he has always been very professional and courteous, has always provided accurate info, and on my most recent purchase of a "Road Worn" Fender Strat, Ian went way beyond the norm and provided EXTREMELY EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE. When I was close (but not close enough) to take my layaway guitar home, but still short $43, and knowing I was dying to take my new guitar with me but would have to wait another 2 weeks to raise the $42 for the last layaway payment, Ian asked his Mgr. if they could discount the $42 off my purchase, so I could take the guitar home NOW. His request was approved, and because of him and his manager I was thrilled to take my new guitar with me, and even got to use it on an important gig that very night! Ian and his Mgr. (I believe the Mgr. was Jeremy) did and do provide excellent service. I have also worked with BLAKE at the Seattle store on many occaisions and he, like Ian, is a top-quality person to deal with!!! (I do not, however find ther service at the Lynnwood, WA GC to be very good...)

Update: I have received my T1 headphones and was given a small price adjustment,which I presume was to make up for the long wait. For this I bump up to 2 stars.

Guitar Center must be doing quite well financially as they apparently see no need to respond to inquiries for used merchandise posted on the GC Website.

I special ordered a Beyer T1 headphone from Va Bch. store on April 1, 2010. I'm still waiting. This is pitiful service.

Last night I went to your Roseville, CA store with my son to purchase a new guitar. We came in with a coupon for 15% off that we had received in the mail. Literally one and a half hours after asking an associate to help us by the guitar we walked out with the order. The manager at the store was very inappropriate and lacked a certain level of professionalism. The manager literally said to my wife and I that he realized he should not be mad at us and then went on to complain about the people at corporate. He also discussed how he was trying to leave the store early. I urge you to provide this young man Dale Carnegie or some other training. The only person that did a fair job in the store was Bruce. Finally when our transaction was done, we were told that we could not have a printed receipt and no I am not making this up. We then said please provide us receipt and were giving one. The following evening we looked at the order it was for the wrong color on the guitar. We called customer service. The first person we spoke with instead of changing the order literally cancelled the order. After another two hours speaking through the customer service rep and account manager, we were left with the notion that yes we made a mistake but we can't do anything until Monday. My experience with Guitar Center has been awful. I have literally spent 4 hours trying to get a guitar from your company. As a business person, my father taught me a very valuable lesson. It is not the employer that pays the wages but the customer. We are in the process of getting a new drum set. I am looking for a another music store to spend my hard earned money with that will not treat me sarcastically. Guitar Center has lost our family's business and I will share this story with other musicians we know here locally. I would appreciate your company issuing my son Zachary Baker a formal apology. You may contact us at 916.435.3228. James Baker

i would like to say thank you guitar center. i have been a customer for well over 12 years . i recently had a credit card issue and the used keyboard i could afford became unavailable oh no... but the stm manager @ the manhattan new york store chris okchialina promised to make sure i was happy and would get some thing to me so i could keep making the music. thanks to chris for all the phone calls and leg work he put into making me very happy wih my new oxygen25 i love it. and do not stop playing with it . i just want to say that he and his co worker adrian ? did a great job . and i will always think of quitar center when i have money to buy more tools for the trade. thanks again phil thompson maine. intelligentlight@rock.com