“Bought an Oahu Tonemaster lap steel guitar from the Omaha store online. I called before buying and asked if all the electronics worked and if it came with original hard shell case. I was assured that they only sell instruments that work, and it came with original case. If the answer to either question had been no I would not have bought it. I received a guitar in bubble wrap, no case, with a dead pickup. I called the store, and after telling them my problem, they gave me a 60 dollar refund that I never got. I'm looking for a case, and spent 75 dollars to have it looked at and let me know where I stand. Don't buy online!!!”
“Just purchased a pre-owned ev powered speaker from guitar center in Florida to cherry hill. Took 4 days and the purchase was effortless. Thank you for an amazing shopping experience.”
“Absolutely horrible experience trying to shop their website. I had $3300 in gift cards from a bonus I received at work. I saw a Martin HD28 that I wanted, but before I was able to order the "Open box" guitar, someone else bought it. I continued to watch their site and a few days later it reappeared and I rushed in to order. The next day I get an email stating the guitar is not available in the condition described. They explained the guitar has a serious crack on the back and if I still wanted it, they would take $400 off the price. I declined and sure enough, the next day, the guitar is back on their site offered in the same "Open Box" condition with no mention of the crack. I contacted them via their chat and told them that putting the same guitar posting up would only disappoint more potential shoppers. As of this post, it is still misrepresented on their site
I decided to switch gears and saw a used HD28 advertised in excellent condition “in stock” at the Greenville Guitar Center about 1.5 hrs away. I got in my truck and was there before they opened. I asked about the guitar and they said they did not have it but had used the ad because it was too hard to modify. The guitar they actually had was lightly cracked on the face and not a HD28. I was very angry and was pretty verbal about their poor business practices. I figured there was no way I was going to try again and living a good distance from GC, I decided to settle for something different. I found a nice Taylor for $3,000 and mentioned it had some gouges from being mishandled by potential buyers. They said they had one a new one in the box or they would give me a break on the display one. I asked about the break and was told $60ish bucks off. These were not small dings! I opted for the new packaged one which they ended up not having. They did have a new HD28 in the box that was offered for 10% off. I took it and paid an additional $230 out of pocket. I really didn't want to give them the business, but felt it was better to be done with them than continue wasting my time looking. I will never buy so much as a pick from them in the future. On the bright side the new guitar is wonderful and I never have to deal with them again.”
“Called, cash in hand, manager said he would call back with response to one question, never heard from him. Called again clerk said he would check and...15 min later hung up on me.....AVOID Guitar Center”
“Ordered an effects pedal and instrument cable from website.package arrived and the only thing in it was the cable.contacted on-line chat.the woman contacted the warehouse said they would check and get back to me.no one ever got back with me.next day I finally called and after some checking was offered a refund for the effects pedal I never got.i never recieved apology.i would have been happy if they would have just sent the effects pedal out right away.very poor customer service.”
“Guitar Center suppresses negative reviews on its website.. This is a big red flag in my book.. Don't trust cherrypicked positive reviews published by GC.”
“I bought a new Squire Telecaster at: 2750 W Peoria Ave. Phoenix 85029-5202. I'd like to give a compliment to the young lady who helped purchase it. Her name was Lily. She was professional, courteous and knowledgeable. That store is fortunate to have a person like her on staff.”
“Live in Mission TX - 6 months a year. Snowbird shop guitar center Mc Callen TX. Guys there are knowledgeable and have good attitude lm sure it not easy putting up with all us and endless questions”
“Last week I called to reschedule my grandson’s guitar lesson, I called two days before the lesson, would have been his last lesson. The person I talked to on the phone rescheduled it for a week later, same time. When we came in we were told that we were done, no lesson. The reason he gave was because time had expired on the contract. They didn’t tell me this when I asked to reschedule. Instead of trying to make it right they pretty much didn’t care. Guitar Center 👎🏼”
“I bought a used 1x15 bass cabinet from guitar center and when I turned on my amp, it immediately burned up. I didn't check the cabinet for a changed speaker with the wrong impedance or dead short. Guitar center said they would look into it and get back to me. After several week of calling them, they denied any responsibility for my amp, which up untill then had worked fine. I would suggest not buying, especially used gear, from guitar center”
“Bought a used cymbal stand from the Arkansas store. and the wing nut was oversized and wrong. I live in N.H. Manchester store does not carry used gear. Went to return the stand or at least try and get the problem fixed. I spoke with sales associate Johnny Callahan about the problem. We were going to do the return when I asked if it would it be easier to replace the stripped-out part. He went and found new hardware to replace the stripped-out part. problem solved within 10 minutes. it was apparent that the Arkansas store did not check the stand for quality when it was taken in. Thank you, Johnny Callahan for your help. Much appreciated”
“Very pushy sales people that won’t leave you alone and let you think about a purchase. Instead bought $900 new guitar and also a case. No paperwork or box for anything. Bought 3 days ago and having serious buyers remorse as we found a big scratch.”
“To California..
You guys burned you own state stop helping people who aren't victims!!! What about North Carolina, or Virginia that got hit worse!! California you did this to yourself!!! Help North Carolina first!!! California has money North Carolina doesn't. They are still struggling and no one cares.. well I do!!! North Carolina lost instruments too but what about them?? What about NORTH CAROLINA!!!!”
“Danvers, mass guitar center is by far the worst guitar center i have ever experienced. You leave your guitar there for mods or repair, their so called two week wait takes an entire month. And i know that they can do better because RI guitar center literally takes less then a week. Also you call them for questions or support they answer rude or keep you on hold until it hangs up when all you want is to pick something up. Ridiculous, its like they slack off so they don’t do customer service when that is the entirety of the job. Hate Danvers guitar center so much, they are infuriating.”
“Once again, I was scammed by this company and left holding the bag. This time, with a mesa amplifier. The item started malfunction ing right after the "return window". Shocker. It kept getting worse, guitar center refuses any connection to it, and refuses to address this issue in any way other than "should have paid hundreds for our pro coverage."
Avoid these people. Sweetwater always honors their deals, and always goes above and beyond to make sure the customer is taken care of. Go through them instead.
I have had guitar center close my account, and remove all data from their back end. Scammers till the end as per usual.”
“I never understood why do we keep buying anything from Guitar Center. Their merchandise is in very low quality, and their guitars look cheap even though their prices are up in the sky. Whatever you want to buy from Guitar Center, you can find it anywhere for way less. Moreover, the resale value of their guitars is zero, according to them.
10 months ago I bought a guitar from their Sherman Oaks store for nearly $500. I went there earlier today, I wanted to exchange the guitar for another one they have and I was willing to offer money on top. They offer to buy my guitar $75 !!! A guitar that I bought 10 mo ago, from the same store, for $500, and wanted to sell it back in the same condition I got it, they offered $75 for it. By that they told me "Do not buy anything from Guitar Center, you won't be able to sell it later". I didn't ask for $500 and I knew to expect way less than that. But $75 ???!!!....It happened to me a few times before at their store. Why will you buy anything from Guitar Center? No wonder they are bankrupt, we are suckers but only to a point !!!”
“Trying to support brick and mortar stores, I entered a guitar center, interested in a crash symbol and noise canceling headphones.. the symbol I wanted was the one on display, so very used and no box, headphones I wanted we're not in stock,.. I was told that if I would order them directly from the store and have them shipped to my house that I would get a new symbol and a box and there would be no shipping. The following Monday I got an email that my headphone order had been cancel because they did not have them in stock. 4 days later I received a symbol a much smaller symbol a $50 symbol I had to ordered $130 symbol, another display symbol wrapped in bubble wrap..after I had paid cash for all of my purchases inside the store.. I'm told on the phone that I have to return the symbol that I did not order before I can receive a refund or my original symbol be shipped to me.. a complete fiasco.. very very disappointed. Will never enter a store, or order anything from them ever again...”
“Avoid like the plague..will never buy anything from them ever again. Selling used guitars as new..multiple times keep giving them a chance..I remember when they were a good company”
