Help Big Poppa...Want your opinion

[CAW]

I have not been to the GC website to help me locate an "expert". Nor will I ever. Frankly, the very idea revolts me. It is not the way I shop. This is not because it's GC; the same would be true for ANY store/chain.

When I am going to buy something, I research the living daylights out of it online before I ever set foot in a store. When sales folks approach me, I cringe. They always want to upsell, or try to sell you extra addons you don't need, and that's assuming they're competent in the first place with regards to knowing the goods they have (Best Buy is the absolute worst in this case -- their salesfolks don't know a thing about anything). If the store is laid out well, I generally don't even need assistance to find the thing I am after. And if I can't find it on my own, then that says more about how screwed up the store layout is than anything...

I don't even go into GC to "try out" instruments. I have enough music friends that I've probably already played the instrument in question. The only thing in GC would be a quick test of the instrument to make sure there wasn't something obviously wrong with it, as sometimes happens with the guitars/basses that are left on the wall to be abused by customers. (The EBMMs are usually less abused, since they are the more expensive side of what GC carries, so often "up high" where people are less likely to pull one down and wreck it.)

Bottom line, when I visit a store (which has become increasingly rare these days, since I can generally order things online at a cheaper price AND I do not have to put up with any salespeople bothering me), I'm there to pick up the item(s) I have already decided on, and that's it. If I have to talk to anyone else besides the person at the cashier counter, I will generally leave with a bad taste in my mouth about the store. I have even left stores without purchasing what I came to purchase because of some salesperson hounding me from the moment I got there (and consequently, never gone back to the store). (Again, not attacking GC here -- I haven't been in enough of them for that to have happened to me in one yet.)

It may sound extreme, but I just can't deal with sales folks after all these years. Even the smart/knowledgeable ones just tick me off, as all the idiots/morons have given even the smart ones a bad rap.

And yes, I realize I am not representative of the norm.

 

[kylierider]

I personally don't do much shopping at stores. I order Most things online if I need them. My two EBMM basses were bought online. The first was threw an eBay auction and he other threw another bass forum. (My prized Fretless 30th.) All of my other needs are in the upright world which really doesn't apply to GC.

I do however like the idea of the expert page. I think anything you can do online to attract customer interest is a good thing. I agree with the others about sepertating the guitar and bass experts. Maybe my location doesn't have a bass expert either because one is not listed. I also like knowing a little more about each of the sales staff. Their names, playing experience, bands playing in or played in, musical background and education, bands liked and instruments used. All this info gives me more insite to the personality of the sales staff. How can that be bad?

Oddly enough my first upright bass was purchased at the Guitar Center in Cincinnati Ohio in 2001. I called around trying to find a used upright in my price range. They had one on trade in my range. They had the brand wrong on the phone, which unless you are an upright guy, can be hard to decipher anyway. I checked I out and bought it an hour later. The staff was nice and helpful.

 

[cyoungnashville]

i am an expert. it takes some serious dedication to know more than i do about recording studio gear / musical instruments from a time span of roughly the 1940's - to what will exist ten years from now. that being said, there are more than a few guys at the nashville gc that not only qualify to wear the "expert" label , but go far beyond it to perhaps obsessive lengths... which i digg (and I'm NOT just talking about the GCPro division either). there always seems to be one of those cats on duty whenever i pop into the store announced (gcpro) or unannounced (front of house) . i can go in knowing exactly what i want, and if they suggest something "better", i will almost always do a 180 and buy it on the spot. i have that much faith in them, so i got no problem with the find an "expert" button, but i already know who they are. though i can see the feature coming in handy if i was working out of town, needed some doodads, and wanted to maximize my lights per dollar ratio.

 

[bbernard]

I would not use the feature. Rather than have this available on the internet I would prefer to be able to tell who has an expert designation in the store. Via a badge or sign indicating the experts currently on duty.

That being said, the expert designation as it is constructed misses the boat a bit. Electric guitars / acoustic instruments (guitars, banjos, whatever), and basses are really different beasts with their own specialized knowledge. More useful to cut these up.

I suspect the expert designation would be most useful to those who don't live and breathe music. Mom and Dad buying something for their student, a young person just starting out, any adult new to music. Heck, maybe an expert designation in "beginners" would be useful.

Anyway, cool idea and I appreciate a company that tries to improve their level of service.

 

[five7]

GC, you have a great manager in Lake Forest, California. I believe his name is Ryan. I had a problem with a bass listed on Guitar Center Seems it has been sold weeks ago but was still available online. Ryan diffused the situation in a professional way!

One thing, if you could make your used website current and have better descriptions of each bass. It is not easy to decipher the abreviations used.
Oh, and quite often when I call the store to ask about a bass I have seen online, I am connected to a salesman that knows little about MM.
When I have tried in the past to contact the store via email that is listed under "contact store", well that is a 50/50 chance anyone contacts you back.
A few changes might really help your used sales!

 

[Steamthief]

I'd worry less about finding experts and worry more about stores that simply don't respond AT ALL to inquiries about used gear. Yeah, yeah, a phone call might work better, but if e-mail inquiries are just ignored, why even bother having that method as a contact option?

 

[mrpackerguy]

It does take me to my home store in Madison, but it does nothing for me as a bass player, unless bass players are to be lumped in with "guitars". As a bass player, it's off-putting, but it is "Guitar Center" I guess.