Gotta love GC employee discount

[Agileguy_101]

So apparently if any used item has been on the floor for six months or more, employees can get the item at cost. Not only do I get to buy a Super Sonic head for 390, but a customer just brought in a 69" Les Paul Custom Black Beauty. The store gave him 3k for it, and if it's still there in 6 months, it's mine. I love it here.

On a side note: I hear a lot of people complaining, especially here, about poor service and a general lack of knowledge on the part of salespeople at Guitar Center. Let me just be put on the record as saying that y'all must have **** experiences at your local branches, 'cause just about everyone at mine knows as much as, if not more than a lot of the people here. It's pretty cool actually - even the in-shop tech really knows his stuff. He's been doing it for 20+ years. It's awesome that we have such good customer relations in a chain store.

 

[cakire82]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

Which GC store are you working at? Maybe I should come take that black beauty a look.

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

Concord, CA

 

[JOLLY]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

even the in-shop tech really knows his stuff.

Well I would hope so....lol

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

Well I would hope so....lol

u know, right?

they just hired a new tech at GC by my house. he seems competent enough, we, er rather i, will see how that goes:scratchch

 

[JaySwear]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

good to hear! the GC near me always seemed pretty decent. the guys there were nice and never really pushed any products on people (too badly).

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

The last time I shopped at a GC, i told the salesman I had more than $600 and wanted to buy a new guitar, and he insisted that i needed to hear a pair of old solid state Vox combo amps.

After I explained to him that I use a vintage Fender tube amp and that I wasn't interested in upgrading my amplification, he said "Yeah that's cool but YOU GOTTA HEAR THIS AMP."

**** y'all morons. There are plenty of stores that will let me spend more than half a grand without dealing with pushy pricks.

Glad your store is different man. The world would be a better place if guitar stores were all awesome.

PS your employee discount policy is way cooler than my shop's. If i want to get a cool used piece for the cheap cheap cheap, i have to have the cash in my pocket when the dude walks in the door with it...then quickly take my lunch break and take the dude with the cool piece to the Hooters next door :smokin: Otherwise we gotta buy it in, sticker it a bit less than they go for on eBay, and if we wanna buy it down the road they give us a discount off the sticker price. WEAK!

Although our new policy of undercutting eBay / Craig's List pricing has meant our used stuff is stupid cheap. I have an Epiphone Les Paul Standard for $200...LTD EC-256 with Duncans for $250...it's rad. I like it.

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

The last time I shopped at a GC, i told the salesman I had more than $600 and wanted to buy a new guitar, and he insisted that i needed to hear a pair of old solid state Vox combo amps.

After I explained to him that I use a vintage Fender tube amp and that I wasn't interested in upgrading my amplification, he said "Yeah that's cool but YOU GOTTA HEAR THIS AMP."

**** y'all morons. There are plenty of stores that will let me spend more than half a grand without dealing with pushy pricks.

Glad your store is different man. The world would be a better place if guitar stores were all awesome.

that dude sounds lame. the store by my house is cool, i tell'em what i want and they let me try the gear out. there's a couple pricks that work there, but they're not really any trouble.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

The last time I shopped at a GC, i told the salesman I had more than $600 and wanted to buy a new guitar, and he insisted that i needed to hear a pair of old solid state Vox combo amps.

After I explained to him that I use a vintage Fender tube amp and that I wasn't interested in upgrading my amplification, he said "Yeah that's cool but YOU GOTTA HEAR THIS AMP."

**** y'all morons. There are plenty of stores that will let me spend more than half a grand without dealing with pushy pricks.

Glad your store is different man. The world would be a better place if guitar stores were all awesome.

PS your employee discount policy is way cooler than my shop's. If i want to get a cool used piece for the cheap cheap cheap, i have to have the cash in my pocket when the dude walks in the door with it...then quickly take my lunch break and take the dude with the cool piece to the Hooters next door :smokin: Otherwise we gotta buy it in, sticker it a bit less than they go for on eBay, and if we wanna buy it down the road they give us a discount off the sticker price. WEAK!

Although our new policy of undercutting eBay / Craig's List pricing has meant our used stuff is stupid cheap. I have an Epiphone Les Paul Standard for $200...LTD EC-256 with Duncans for $250...it's rad. I like it.

Listen, I've met cool employees at Guitar Center, and I've met assholes at Sam Ash.

For some reason though, I've never bought a guitar from Guitar Center.

...not even a bass

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

^ not trying to make it a GC vs. Sam Ash thing...i've met assholes at Sam Ash too. The one I went to in Florida the same day I stormed out of that GC had the most condescending employee I've ever met. Here was our transaction:

Me, playing a Fender with Duncan humbuckers in it: Hey man, what kind of Duncans are in this guitar? Do you know?
Employee: Umm lemme see... (he leans in for a closer look) ...ah, yeah, they're SEYMOUR Duncans.

So yeah. That's insane. Just saying that Guitar Center's got their reputation for a reason, and that i'm glad it's trending a different direction (at least at one store in California).

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

^ not trying to make it a GC vs. Sam Ash thing...i've met assholes at Sam Ash too. The one I went to in Florida the same day I stormed out of that GC had the most condescending employee I've ever met. Here was our transaction:

Me, playing a Fender with Duncan humbuckers in it: Hey man, what kind of Duncans are in this guitar? Do you know?
Employee: Umm lemme see... (he leans in for a closer look) ...ah, yeah, they're SEYMOUR Duncans.

So yeah. That's insane. Just saying that Guitar Center's got their reputation for a reason, and that i'm glad it's trending a different direction (at least at one store in California).

:smack:

I guess you really can't win 'em all. Why doesn't guitar center hire some knowledgeable musicians, and not any ******-bag off the street? If I had the time (college + band) I'd LOVE a job at either company.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

These vary so much.

I have two sets of these stores near me- one SA & GC are located fairly near each other in CT. The other SA & GC are not too far from each other in NY ( I live on the CT/NY border)

IME- that GC in CT is full of the "typical" music store employees we love to hate from sales guys, to upper mgmt- we have the clueless, the arrogant, the burnt out on drugs 20 years ago, the "lame hard-sell" has-beens, etc. The Sam Ash near it however is full of a bunch of laid back, cool guys who have always been super courteous and helpful to me on every single occasion. I no longer go to that GC, and instead go about 20 minutes past it to shop at that Sam Ash.

In NY- the situation is totally the oppposite- the Sam Ash is full of the dooshbags, and the GC is populated with a bunch of helpful friendly people who give you space, and will find answers for you if they don't have them. Again I drive an extra 15-20 minutes past the SA, to go to that good GC.

In my experience (both retail, as well as other service industries) this often comes down to Management- A store that has exceptional management will hire exceptional employees, treat them well, and in turn ensure the customers have a great experience on a consistent basis.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

^ word to that

 

[phil_104]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

These vary so much.

In my experience (both retail, as well as other service industries) this often comes down to Management- A store that has exceptional management will hire exceptional employees, treat them well, and in turn ensure the customers have a great experience on a consistent basis.

Could not of said it better myself. In my experience with the major canadian music chain we have up here though, good management is apparently super rare, lol.

 

[iceman79]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

The GC in my town is pretty bad. Poor selection of gear, and the majority of the staff aren't musicians and are pretty clueless. Even the manager didn't know what a TS808 is. He was trying to get his sales stooge to sell me a Green Screamer and I had to school him about tube screamers.

 

[Bass_Medic_05]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

So apparently if any used item has been on the floor for six months or more, employees can get the item at cost. Not only do I get to buy a Super Sonic head for 390, but a customer just brought in a 69" Les Paul Custom Black Beauty. The store gave him 3k for it, and if it's still there in 6 months, it's mine. I love it here.

On a side note: I hear a lot of people complaining, especially here, about poor service and a general lack of knowledge on the part of salespeople at Guitar Center. Let me just be put on the record as saying that y'all must have **** experiences at your local branches, 'cause just about everyone at mine knows as much as, if not more than a lot of the people here. It's pretty cool actually - even the in-shop tech really knows his stuff. He's been doing it for 20+ years. It's awesome that we have such good customer relations in a chain store.

Sweet perks! take full advantage while you can!

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

^ haha yeah some advice from a friend / former coworker at my shop was to get in, make enough money to buy all the gear you've always wanted, then find a better job ASAP ahahahahah

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

^ Excellent advice, especially as I only make 9.25 an hour working the door. Barely anything man.

And I can attest to the good management bit. All of the AM's and above are awesome.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

when i was your age i made like $7 an hour working in greasy hot kitchens...stop *****in kid :smokin: ahahaha

 

[Jake]

Re: Gotta love GC employee discount

$9.25 isn't bad when you're 18. I definitely wasn't making that kinda scratch at your age. If you like it, might as well stick with it, right?


As with any store, chain or otherwise, service depends on the salespeople there and the competency of management to make sure they have competent salespeople out there.


The GC near me used to have this one dude that I would always buy from. He really knew his ****, and every time I went there he'd stop and say hello, even if I was just buying strings or whatever. I always made sure that when I made any major purchases there it would be through him. One day he disappeared...and just about every time I go in I have to deal with some jackhole who doesn't know what they're doing.


The only mom and pop nearby charges way too freaking much - I realize due to economies of scale they can't seriously compete with GC....but seriously, there's a point between paying a little more for mom & pop products and extortion.