I used to work in a music store and the thing I hated the most was having to listen to "Guitar Players" who all thought they were the next Y. J. Malmsteen...I am no Clapton on guitar but there were times when I just had to go in the back and find a guitar to set up so I could close the door and put in some ear plugs!

And that is also the reason I don't go to GC on a Saturday afternoons!

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

+1

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Yeah really. Wish I had been on the ball but I was so surprised that I didn't know what to say.

Thankfully I have never had a bad experience in a music store,I guess that's maybe because I'm pretty well known around here for having a serious case of GAS and none of them want to lose me as a potential customer.Living in a smaller town can have its advantages.

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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.

I have worked with the public since the age of fourteen. I have washed windows, waited tables, worked a parts counter in a tractor supply store, managed an oil & lube, been an insurance agent, and now I manage a department of a hospital and work with surgeons, hospital CEOs, nurses and patients (and their families). I know how hard it is to work with the public.

I also know that it's very easy not to be an arrogant, condescending jackass...especially to my elders. In my 25+ years of dealing with the public, I have never "talked down" to a customer...and I certainly wouldn't have done it when I was a teenager.

Yes, the manager probably did tell him to watch out for a few of the higher-priced guitars; but I'm willing to bet that he didn't tell him to push the customers' hands away from the instrument and talk down to them.

The kid was wrong, his manager knew it and hopefully the little punk learned a lesson.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Well, you're fortunate in two ways. First off, by provoking the (already upset) customer, you could have gotten assaulted.
Second, you're fortunate you weren't working for many of the bosses I've had, because they would have fired your butt on the spot. To threaten a customer with removal and express your lack of compassion for their irritation/feelings, you possibly/probably lost twenty customers. For every customer you make mad, he/she will tell forty to sixty people and, on average, twenty will stop using your services.

The proper response (in a compassionate, understanding tone) is, "I'm sorry, but state law/corporate policy/my boss says we can't give refunds on Lotto tickets. I wish I could help you, but I can't. It's kind of a goofy rule, but I just can't do that."
You apologize, establish a common enemy (state law/corporate policy/your boss) and then empathize with their plight...and do it politely.
Suddenly, you're not the jerk who won't give their money back, you're another working stiff trying to deal with "the man."

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Thats right. I wouldnt like it if someone did that to me either.
Im currently pursuing my diploma in tourism management. And ive also dealt with customers in restaurants and at the travel agency im interning in now. And never have i once talked to a customer that way. If the one i just handled was rude, i would have just talked about it to my colleagues behind closed doors at most. (Not like they dont do it as well)

One of the music stores here have 2 small individual show rooms for the more expensive fender and gibson guitars, no one is allowed to enter them without being accompanied by a staff. Luckily they are pretty cool with the rules, no obligations. The guy allowed me to sit inside alone to try out the MK strat with 2 of my other friends sitting on the couch. The only thing they dont allow is photography.

Candycoke09: live in good ole Spartanburg (I use to have "Sparkle City" as my location a while back) And I work over at Roper Music thats on E. Main (its like two blocks down from Converse College). Its a great little store, and we're licensed with Fender and Taylor (we are sorta new to the fender line, we are up to American specials on the guitars, but we've gotten in Deluxe Reverb Reissue and super sonics in) My boss Matt is one heck of a guy, probably one of the best bosses I'll ever have.

I bought my old '68 Rocketreverb up at Blvd. Music. Last summer, we had to rent a house for two weeks as our house was being repaired for water damage, so we ended up staying up at lake Bowen. Trevor was a pretty great guy, and I spent a lot of that week up there trying out amps.

Edit: Its funny too, I believe my boss Matt worked at Hames with Trevor too, But I think Hames got bought out or something and both of them went off to form their own music stores. Its cool hearing how my boss started his own business...

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Kid: "Hey Smokey! Where did you get your name?"
Smokey the Bear: "Well..."
(former user jimbo612)

I did try to de-escalate the situation, but some folks just don't want to be de-escalated. You really had to be there to realize what I was dealing with. If you think the kid was bad, this guy was acting like he thought he was my dad. He raised his voice long before I started raising mine. Since I was required to wear a name tag, he kept using my name to punctuate his sentences. If you treat me like I'm an idiot and then bat around my name like you live next door to me, I tend to become offended. I would have welcomed him to try an assault. And to be honest, it would have been worth it to me at the time even if I had gotten fired. I believe in showing respect to somebody even if you don't know them from Adam. And if I'm disrespected, I believe in letting the offender know about it. What that kid did was boneheaded, but by saying "Hey buddy, I know you're trying to do a good job but I wouldn't try that with just anybody" instead of speaking with the manager you could have taught him a lesson, established a rapport, and prevented his firing. That sounds like a better outcome to me. A little slip like that isn't worth a grudge, but I was very happy to see that my nemesis never darkened the doorstep of that store the rest of the time I was there.

Its funny the timing of this topic... Today me and a fellow co-worker got chewed out simply because a guy was refusing to pay for a repair. His reason for not paying: He couldn't tolerate the fact that earlier this week we didn't answer the phone when he was checking in on the status of his guitar.

The funny thing is: all of the employees at the store teach lessons as well, so they were most likely in a lesson when he called...

The repair was a simple replacement barrel jack too... he said that the input jack would not come out easily.

There's just people out there who just want to fight with you, its what drives them.

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Kid: "Hey Smokey! Where did you get your name?"
Smokey the Bear: "Well..."
(former user jimbo612)

I'm trying to think of bad experiences.
I've been fortunate to be able to have stores that put up with me when I was a teen, and now as an adult I get treated even better--they think I ave money...

But I do remember overhearing a salesman who was obviously BSing a customer--instead of saying--"Let me find out the answer"

I'm sure he made it up off the top of his head.

He was giving misinformation on Epis.
I don't want to buy anything there.

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

My worst experience with a guitar store was when I went into GC of North Houston.

I walked in with $1100 cash in my pocket. I saw a Fender Stratocaster hanging up so high that no one could reach it without a ladder. I stood there for at least 10 minutes looking at it. Nobody came by to even ask if I need help, or even hello. I ask one of the sales people if they could get the guitar down. He looks at me, looks at me up and down and says he'd have to get a ladder. I wait another 10 minutes and the guy had not returned yet. At this point I am a little miffed. I ask another sales person if they could help, and he disappears. Another 10 minutes goes by. At this point I am pissed, so I walk out the door. There stands both sales people smoking a cigarette. I get into my car, go around the corner to another store where the sales people are more attentive. GC lost my money that day and I will not make major purchases there ever again.

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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

That seems to happen in more than one Guitar Center I've been to. Must be in the employee handbook.

I've never had any really bad experiences. I've had a couple mother hen types watching as I played the guitars and I've had the typical "dude" treatement a couple times (not only at GC but at locally owned stores too), but I can honestly say I've never had a major bad experience. In fact, outside of the "dude" stuff, i've always been treated right at GC.

One advantage I see about being old (I'm 51), is most of the sales reps worth their salt don't give me a second thought when I ask to look at / play some $4,000+ guitar. They assume I have as much money as the gray hairs on my head and that combined with the fact I know what I'm looking at and asking for helps.

I remain polite, they remain polite and I never get the "you can't afford that" lecture or look.

i got that look a lot when I was in my 20's and even intomy 30's from time to time, but for the past 20+ years, sales people just assume I can afford whatever it is I'm looking at and pretty much leave me alone to look at and play whatever I want to look at or play.

That's about the only benefit I can think of to getting old. Well, that and the fact getting old beats the alternative...

Jeff

I can't say I've ever had a bad music shop experience. There are 2 large chains here, Long and McQuade and Mothers Music (which L&M just bought). The indie stores all closed down, but I always purchased from L&M. Bought my first real guitar (Fender Tele) when I was 17 and to this day, the staff who are still employed there know me by name and a few newer staff do too. They are always pretty casual about checking stuff out and more than happy to help even if you aren't going to buy anything. I have bought every piece of gear I own from that store.

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