I'll never bash Guitar Center again...

[petedz]

So you know how I posted that I got a great deal on a Vetta at Guitar Center a few days ago? Well, today I heard on another board that one of the Guitar Center's in my area was blowing out what they had left of Vetta heads for $499. [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

Well, I figured it was a long shot, but after work I took my receipt in and asked about a price match. The initial response was, "nope, we don't do that on clearance stuff." Sure enough, they have that clearly printed on the back of the receipt.

...but then the guy says wait here and disappears with my receipt. Twenty minutes later he comes back and says, "alright, I just need to enter this into the computer--do you want store credit or should I have a check issued?" [img]graemlins/notworthy.gif[/img]

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...so I got an FBV with the store credit. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Budman68]

Re: I\'ll never bash Guitar Center again...

Hey that's great!! Very nice [img]graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

Dave->

[StuTDavis]

Re: I\'ll never bash Guitar Center again...

After being a dork who's worked in several retail stores earlier in life, I kinda have some experience with issues like this. Hrm...lucky me.

As long as you are still within the stated return policy dates, and there's no OTHER reason they can't take back the item, like if you damaged it after buying it, or if they had a pre-stated policy against taking it back, then they kinda have to give you the difference.

The idea, being, well...you have the right to take the item back for a refund. So, if within that 30 day period, you see the same item for cheaper, you could take the one you bought back to the store, get a refund, then buy the same exact one back for the cheaper price. There's no reason you couldn't do that, if you wanted. The guy who told you wrong in the first place was completely wrong himself--obviously, you know that now. By just taking your receipt and giving you the difference, they are avoiding you HAVING to bring the item back, and they are avoiding HAVING to do multiple time-consuming transactions on their side that would be required if you actually were refunded on the item and bought it again. They really don't have any choice on issues like this, again, as long as there's no reason you couldn't bring it back under normal terms of the store return policy.

At one time, I had heard that it is actually illegal for stores to refuse this kind of service, and that makes sense. Because refusing to take back an item that's clearly within normal return policy guidelines is going against a stated contract policy with the customer. Many stores nowadays actually have policies that state that they guarantee their own prices during your return policy, they just don't always flaunt them.

Take Wal-Mart, for example. You buy an 8-pack of soap for $3.50. The next week, they have that same 8-pack of soap for $2.99, whether it's advertised or one of their "price drops". Wal-Mart has, as I remember, a 90-day return policy. As long as you haven't opened that soap, you should be able to take your receipt (and the soap, in this case, to prove it's still returnable) and be refunded the difference in the price of the soap. If they give you a hassle, ask for a manager.

Now, there are exceptions. All those earrings and panties you guys buy might fall under a special no-returns policy at the store. Some items, for various reasons, aren't returnable, or have more restrictive return policies, and that could change the situation. But, with general items without restrictions, you should be able to apply this with most any items. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Stu

[petedz]

Re: I\'ll never bash Guitar Center again...

Stu, that's absolutely true if they still have some at that price. In this case, not only was every store in the area already out of stock, but the store that helped me out had never dropped the price that low. I believe that Guitar Center definitely came through for me on this.

[hammer84]

Re: I\'ll never bash Guitar Center again...

I wish I knew which store had that Vetta head on sale ????

[petedz]

Re: I\'ll never bash Guitar Center again...

Here's where I got the info:

The Gear Page Vetta link

I can add that the "GC in Chicago on north Halsted" is sold out.

[pro-fusion]

Re: I\'ll never bash Guitar Center again...

It's been my experience that well-run GC's will work to earn repeat business, if you deal with the right people there. The Seven Corners GC here in Virginia has always treated me fairly, even if I'm spoiled by getting stuff for cheap on eBay.

[Tetsuo]

Re: I\'ll never bash Guitar Center again...

That is an amazing price... awesome deal no doubt..

there are some great people at Guitar Centers...

[StuTDavis]

Re: I\'ll never bash Guitar Center again...

Ahhhh WOWZER! Yeah, they really did you right on that one, then. They could have told you to drive to another store that had one in stock at those prices to do the transaction, if they wanted to be jerks hehehe.

Personally, I've never really had any problems with Guitar Center, myself, that I haven't had at other stores of any size. It's just like anything...depends on the individuals you end up working with. So many people always want to bash "chain stores", but I've had some nasty experiences, and got pretty ripped off by the very tiny individual-owned stores, too. Some of those guys end up having to cut things so close to survive, anytime somebody has any kind of issue where they might lose a cent or two, it becomes a huge live-or-die hassle for those guys and they turn into jerks. Again, just depends on the individual.

Stu

[xenophobe]

Re: I\'ll never bash Guitar Center again...

I have to admit, Guitar Center San Jose has treated me better than I could ever expect. Ron is the general manager, and he always says hi when he sees me. A great guy and he's always willing to make a great deal.