everybody at my local GC's know me well. i'll buy if i like it.
they also know that if i put my hands on it there is a great chance
im gonna buy as well. i have 1 salesman that i go to period. if its
high dollar i'll have the item transferded to his store and i'll buy it
that way. i just dont have problems at GC's. i dont take no shiot either
from any of the sales guys. i put a stop to that very early in the game.
i think people go in there expecting BS and they have an attitude just
walking in the door.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Ditto. These weekend headbanger balls are the reason why I consider all guitars on the wall as 'used/demonstrators', and worthy of an additional 10% off street price.

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"Another day in paradise!"

i remember when i was a teenager. you couldnt just walk into a guitar store and pick up what you wanted and play. you had 5 minutes if they did allow you to try one out.
i see kids in there for hours just setting there playing and playing. crazy ya know.
personally, i think GC is a great store. they have usually the latest/greatest in gear and
their prices are pretty dang good too.
i understand folks every so often having issues with GC. i really do. but if there is an issue
every time you go in there, chances are, its not GC after all.
(not saying this is the cast with the op here, im just sayin in general)

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

I can see your point. Mine is that, if they want to provide a venue for a musical daycare center, they ought not to be selling these guitars as new. Some of them show an awful lot of wear. That's why the PRS's, the LP's and the high end Strats are up in the stratosphere where you need a day's climb to get to them.

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"Another day in paradise!"

thank God they keep them out of lollypop hands reach.
i agree that there should be some kind of discount for floor models.
they do get some damage being played every freakin day. plus when
you get the fiddle it already needs strings and a proper setup to boot usually.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

I can fully understand the GC's manager's point of view.He's running a store that most likely sells thousands of dollars worth of inventory a day and most certainly a week and some guy comes in off the street and tries to nickel and dime for a deal on a $40 used item.I'm sure his time is more valuable to him for him to be haggling over just a few dollars.The $9 price difference isn't near worth getting your knickers in a knot over,if it had've been me looking for a junk guitar I certainly wouldn't have blown a gasket over $9 and would have paid the full price -that was quite reasonable anyway-and gone on my merry way.
You never know he may have just had to deal with 3 or 4 people that day coming in trying to negotiate great deals for the themselves at the expense of the store's mark up and profit policies-you could've just got him on a bad day.But it seems to me that you're cutting off your nose to spite your face on this one.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Not every GC is the same. There is another store here in Houston that is way better than the other. Yes I can understand that the employees deal with a lot of outrageous people, but customer service is customer service. Rude is rude and thankfully I do not have to deal with it if I do not need to. So that store does not get my business.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

wow. what if that store has something you want and none of the others have it, then what do you do?
i refuse to cross any store off my list. they might have something i need one day.
i wont cut off my own foot.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

I've had good and bad experiences at the local GC. The next closest GC is a three-hour drive from here, so here's where I shop. I typically go into the store 2-3 times a week just to see what's new, what's been traded in and what I can't live without.

Last weekend was their big Trade-In & Swap expo. I wandered in and saw some pretty sweet Fender guitars getting their pictures taken, after which pics, serial #s and other info was emailed to headquarters and an offer was then tendered. One guy had an awesome green Tele and a double HB Strat I'd never seen, that he was looking to unload. I gave him my card and told him whatever they offered, if it wasn't enough, give me a call. He didn't.

I generally deal with just two of the salesmen at the local GC. Both have been there from Day 1 and they are the ONLY guys still left from the opening. These guys still make just minimum wage plus commission and I bear that in mind whenever I am dealing with them, knowing that whatever discount they give me takes a little chunk out of their commission. They, on the other hand, know that I've dropped a lot of cash in that place and they take that into consideration, along with the fact that I am not going to deal with any of their co-workers. It generally works out well for both of us.

I never try to haggle on pocket-change purchases. These guys appreciate that, too.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

I find that there store differ greatly in design and content. I've shopped Kirkland and Seattle WA; NYC area: Jackson Heights, midtown Manhattan; LI: Carle Place, Commack,
and Palm Beach Co Fla. My local store in Commack seems to have the most paltry selection of the lot. The Manhattan store is a very uncomfortable place to be in. Of the lot, I prefer Kirkland WA over all.

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"Another day in paradise!"

As fashionable as it may be to bag on Guitar Center, I have always received good deals, quality instruments, and friendly service from the staff.
What I gather from this post is that after a manager refused your initial offer, you followed him to his office and made a rude comment before storming out of the store over $9 on a $40 deal. This guy wheels and deals on $5,000 guitars all the time. He probably did not feel like going through the motions over a few bucks on a used instrument that's more suited to serve as a doorstop.
If I were the salesperson in this scenario, I would have politely said, "Thank you for your interest, but the instrument is already priced as low as we can go.", and walk away. Its a common tactic to outright refuse a low ball offer and walk away in sales. If the buyer is really interested, he/she will make a more reasonable offer. If the second offer is in the ball park, the salesperson will more likely to make a counteroffer, and express some willingness to negotiate. If your initial offer is refused, the thing to do is walk away or make a better offer, not ask why he wont give it to you at that price. You have much to learn about haggling.

i have no problems dealing with guitar center.

i often go to their used site. many times the prices on used gear are less than you would see on e-bay. you also have 30 days to return the item if you don't like it.

the other day i saw a valveking 112 amp on the used page for 199.00. i haven't found a used one for less elsewhere.

now carigslist. has anybody got a good deal on used from there? it seems prices are a little higher tan you see elsewhere. at least with g.c., i can return somrthing i don't like

Jnasty makes an interesting point. I'm not so sure about the wheeling and dealing on $5000 guitars. Perhaps at The Music Zoo, but the bulk of what I see going out the door at GC is more in the MIM line. They couldn't adequately handle my order for a '57VHR last spring. What a disaster that was. Pathetic organization to say the least, and totally disinterested in their customer base.

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"Another day in paradise!"

I drive 40+ miles to go to Music stores in Nashville and drive right past the one in my town...a store that I and a lot of friends used to spend lots of money in,before we finally got tired of the woman who owns it going out of her way to try and make us look like we don't know what we're talking about.
I don't buy anything there anymore...if she had it and nobody else did,I would do without.

The 'Art of Negotiation' is more than "here's my deal - take it or leave it".

It amazes me more people do not understand that fundamental idea.
And also that they don't understand why it doesn't work.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield