All's Well That Ends Well

[Slingy]

Thanks for the Happy Birthday email. As a gift to myself I found a teal sub bass used at a local GC on their website at a very nice price. Really want a Sub bass to match my Sub guitar.

I went in to check it out and it was nowhere to be found. After about 30 minutes, they found it in the back and brought it out. It was on a list of transfers but had not been paid for. I was told to go ahead and play it for a while while they cut through some red tape. Then I was told to pay for it, but I wouldn't be able to take it home until later in the day. I could see what could have happened.

Finally after an hour the manager informs me that he's sorry he can't sell me the bass that's sitting right in front of me on the workbench. But he does find another one online in black, (which will look better with my graphite guitar anyway) and I can have it at the same price delivered to my house. The black one was listed at a significantly higher price. It looks like the Teal one immediately went up at another location for sale at a higher price, they didn't even have a buyer.

All in all I spent 1 hour and 45 minutes in the store waiting. Awaiting delivery now. All's well that ends well?

 

[Kirby]

Really does not sound like too much of a horror story since the bass you are waiting for is a color you would like more anyway.

 

[Slingy]

That's true, I am getting the one I want which is cool. But kind of goes against my policy of seeing used gear before buying it. I just think it's odd they wanted me to pay for it and couldn't leave with it.

 

[robobass13]

are you sure this didn't have something to do with the local pawn brokers license agreement with the sacto. police, and that the one you saw on another store site wasn't another unit altogether? GC has human beings working for them who make mistakes just like the rest of us, the cool thing is the store managers have the ability to run the stores like it's there own and try to make things happen for the better, like this one trying to get you another bass for the same price. It is a shame what happened to you, but understand there is a lot, and I mean a lot going on behind the scenes at these stores, and customer is first priority. and If another store has that same bass up for sale the store in sacto can get it for you, so you should pursue that.

 

[robobass13]

again, used gear goes through a police dept. hold in most counties in calif. and they probably wanted you to actually buy the instrument or at least put money on it to hold it while they got the police hold released. and come on, is it really a horror story when you get the GM of a store himself get hands on and try to rectify the situation.

 

[Slingy]

Could be. In all fairness if the bass was promised to someone else then they should get it. I was told an employee at another store was having it transfered but they hadn't put any money down on it. I'd say the only mistake they made was bringing it out from the back before being sure they could sell it. They were extremely helpful and took a loss to get me the other bass at the same price. I've always had good dealings with them, and I always manage to save money.

 

[robobass13]

Cool, sounds like an honest mistake on there part and a win for you.

 

[midopa]

so... not a horror story at all

 

[jaylegroove]

That's true, I am getting the one I want which is cool. But kind of goes against my policy of seeing used gear before buying it. I just think it's odd they wanted me to pay for it and couldn't leave with it.

OK, but I would be surprised if the bass you are waiting for delivery were different (except colorwise) than the one you tried. EBMM bass are very consistent in quality. I would not call your experience "horror", IMO.

 

[Slingy]

But I could have been playing it all morning.

 

[bovinehost]

Given how this turned out, I've edited the rather inflammatory thread title.

 

[Slingy]

Sorry about that. Us guitar players are often a little bit expressive. We all love GC. But the next day delivery came and went. Still no bass.

 

[robobass13]

be proactive, call them. I know they should have contacted you, but give them a call and let them know you are not happy with the service, give them a chance to take care of you.

 

[Ken Baker]

again, used gear goes through a police dept. hold in most counties in calif. and they probably wanted you to actually buy the instrument or at least put money on it to hold it while they got the police hold released. and come on, is it really a horror story when you get the GM of a store himself get hands on and try to rectify the situation.

Yes, used gear does have to be held off sale in retail stores in California. The person selling or trading in the used gear in question also has to fill out a form and be fingerprinted. Then the gear is held off sale for the required amount of time. Once the hold time has expired, said gear can go on sale.

There is no state-mandated post-sale hold on the purchase of used gear, such as there is for handguns. Once it's legal to put on the wall, it can be legally sold and carted out of the store.

If a retail store sells an instrument whose hold time hasn't expired, that store is in violation of state law and can be held accountable. For example, if the mandated hold time is 30 days (which I believe it is here), and the store sold a traded in instrument after it had only been in the store two weeks, then the store could be in a whole heap o' trouble.

Ken...

 

[robobass13]

actually the hold time in calif. is 35 days. and at GC we do put the gear out on the floor the moment we receive it, this practice is legal. If you look on a used tag on a piece of gear at GC there is a date, that is the release date. the used gear can be sold on a layaway and held for you in the store until the release date ay which time you can take it home. this process is to run a background check on the piece as much as the person selling it.

 

[Ken Baker]

actually the hold time in calif. is 35 days. and at GC we do put the gear out on the floor the moment we receive it, this practice is legal. If you look on a used tag on a piece of gear at GC there is a date, that is the release date. the used gear can be sold on a layaway and held for you in the store until the release date ay which time you can take it home. this process is to run a background check on the piece as much as the person selling it.

If that works for you and GC as a policy - cool! I'm sure it keeps the GAS flowing.

However, it's contrary to what a reputable retailer that I frequent explained to me as I was filling out the form for a trade-in. So long as the letter of the law is maintained, it's all good.

Ken...

 

[Slingy]

This is exactly what they do at the MusicGoRound store here in town also. They have tags displaying the pricing and some of them display the hold times. Honestly I always thought it was a courtesy to the seller or something, in case they changed their mind. Thanks for the information, that explains alot.

The added protection also seems to make a great case for buying used gear from a retailer. I've never felt comfortable buying from a newspaper ad or craigslist because of the risks involved.

 

[robobass13]

If that works for you and GC as a policy - cool! I'm sure it keeps the GAS flowing.

However, it's contrary to what a reputable retailer that I frequent explained to me as I was filling out the form for a trade-in. So long as the letter of the law is maintained, it's all good.

Ken...

yep Ken, the codes/laws differ slightly from county to county but the letter of the law is being followed at my GC, as I'm sure it is at the rest. It's all about integrity!

 

[Slingy]

Well, the new bass arrived at 9:30 A.M. today packed up nice in a nice new case. I couldn't be happier. Thanks for putting up with my ranting, condition on this one is much better than the Teal one, almost perfect, and it looks great with my Sub guitar.

I'm confident I'm going to love this bass and the low end spectrum of my tracks are going to improve drastically. Wow, I've recorded over 20 songs with a Squier P-Bass, EEEK! I'm off to send a thank you to the store GM for getting it for me and to try out the new bass.

If anyone has any general tone, maintanance, or string gauge tips for these that would be appreciated too.