guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

[jr73]

music store salesmen are asses. before buyin my 10string bich i went to most of the LI guitar shops, w/a big pocket full of CASH. dress as my usual dirt bag self old jeans & t-shirt probably with stains & all.

you dont know how many times i was asked are you looking to buy today, or are U seriously going to buy something or just looking. one guy an owner asked if i gave u a good enough price would U buy it today. he told me the price, I told him well not good enough. then starts yelling why waste my time you if dont have the money. I laughed fanned a wad of 100 dollar bills & told him i could have bought any guitar on your wall cash, now i will never buy anything from you & walked out. the sales guy was actually laughing at him.
why is it if not some dumb kid with his mommy & a credit card, i dont exist. I had to tell the salesguy at GC hey if you want a comission you'll take that guitar down for me. he did & i bought it. its so amaizing what do u have to do to get help at one of these places tape a CC or money to your forehead. jump up & down yelling i want to buy something FOR REAL i do, im not kidding I have real money.....well i cant tell anymore im getting too angry [img]graemlins/rant.gif[/img]

[Swillmaster]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

I'll have to try the "credit card taped to the forehead" trick! I usually go to GC in my business clothes and can't get anybody to wait on me either, figured it was 'cause I looked too conservative. If some dork told me I was wasting his time, his manager would be getting an earful as well as a "nice" letter to the corporate office.

[PartsMutt]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

You are learning a lesson in life. It only gets worse. When I bought my first house, I caught crap like that all the time. I was making okay money, about double what my wife made, but I had long hair and wore jeans all the time. My wife was into nice clothes and could be very fashionable or ultra conservative at a moments notice. EVERYONE we dealt with talked to her, and ignored me until they got paperwork in hand showing where the money was coming from. When we went to pick up the keys and paperwork from the neighborhood clubhouse, the jerk asked which house I was renting. Cops (frikkin pigs!) use to stop me on a weekly basis, even the same cops, over and over again, just to check me out for driving in the neighborhood. All because of appearance. The second I cut my hair it all stopped, as I became a conforming member of society.

It isn't just the guitar stores, it's everywhere. And as Swillmaster pointed out, looking conservative doesn't work in some places either. Gotta blend in with the sheep of the environment, or just get used to it and shrug it off.

[Jeremy]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

I must admit guitar shops are the strangest places, they never take you seriously. I dont know if its to do with being 18 or not. But you really have to work hard to convince them you are serious. Usually all it takes is you to get playing the thing, coz i guess they must get floods of people who just wanna try out nice guitars then end up strumming nirvana tunes on it.

However working in a high end hifi shop i do sometimes wonder if people are wasting my time and dont have the money but as long as you remember every visitor is a customer there should be no problems. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[JacksonShredder]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

You Don't need to tell me brother
i know all about it
heck after 20 some odd years of buying guitars you would think it would change but NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!.............................

Case in Point.
Last year i went to a Music Store Here in town
i was warring my lazy clothes (old shirt and sweat pants)
the store had some custom shop BC RICHS
one i really liked it was a Speed V
well i stood around for about 30 mins looking up at the V and no one came to help me so i went to ask for some help
the Sales guy i asked was the Asst. Manager
he asked me are you buying today i said i don't know i have not tried out the guitar he then said well when you are ready to buy come back.

i looked at him and said what did you just say.
he looked back at me (me being 6 foot 7 370lbs) (him around 5 foot 9 and maybe 220lb) said look i am short handed today i do not have anyone in guitars. so when you are ready to buy come back.

i took my wallet out and threw three credit cards on the table and said look dude i have not even looked at the guitar or even played it
i have more then enogh money to buy the guitar RIGHT NOW!
he said well i would not sell you that guitar i would order you a new one.
I told him, What i don't think so if i want that guitar i will buy it. it is for sale right?

well to make a long story short i walked out and then called the owner and left a message on his answer machine what had happened
but i never got a call back
go figure.

I only go in that store once every two months now just to see what they have.

Man i would just have to say People all over the world are just Plan Rude and they are getting worst.

[JACKSONFREAK]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

There was a place near me in Naperville once right down the street from the largest and most repsected music store in that area at the time. I go in there one day to look around. I see a brand new BArrington neck thru archtop This baby looked sweet. I asked the lamo ( the owner) behind the counter how much it was and he said " Are you go8ing to buy it?" I said I may have if you would've let me play it See ya. I never went back in again. He soon went out of business. From what I was told by a friend of mine who owns a music store The guy had a choice to make given to him by his parents. Either open an Italian resturant or a music store. He chose wrong apearently. Dumb ass.
Gil

[Metalcop]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

Partsmutt - [img]graemlins/thebirds.gif[/img]

[SITHV]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

As I have admidted before I was a manager at GC here in Miami before, I started in the strings picks pedals area. The more & more I tried to make a better work inviroment the harder it got from upper MGT you talk to long to a guy who left empty handed stuff like that, they breed it into you there at GC I tried to learn everyones first name wheither they came into my dept. or not I just said hello. When I was a customer there it would take a half hour just to get service,the industry is sadly like that. Buying it today is beatin into these sales people what they're going to buy today not in a week or a day or 2 sell it now so they have room for more stock. I was really happy when I got moved into operations as a systems MGR. All I did was fix sales people mistakes then. [img]graemlins/bs.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/rant.gif[/img]

[warhead]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

It`s not like that just with the guitars. It`s like that with everything, if you have a long hair. I once stepped into into a gas station and asked the salesman:"do you have motor oil?". He said back:"do you have the money?". No motherfukker, I don`t have the money for the fukking motor oil, I am just asking if you have it. And I could go on with so many things like that.

[wombat1]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

i worked for ESP guitars a few years ago and was up in New Hampshire doing some shopping with the wife i heard on the radio that George Lynch was doing a meet & greet ay a local music store before a concert that night. i find the store and go in a hang out waiting to meet george..while looking around at the gear i see a black and white serpent gl sig on the wall and take it down and start checking it out...this sales guy comes over and says "the owner would prefer you not play that guitar" so i ask "why ??" the sales guy says "those were brought in for the meet & greet and will be returned to the factory later today" so i ask the sales guy to go and get his boss for me...the owner comes over and with a nasty attitude asks what my problem is..i said i can't believe that your sals guy asked me to put this guitar back now what if i want to buy it ??? the owner says if you're not buying it put it back and he walks back to the counter..now i didn't introduce myself as being the empolyee that sent him the 4 guitars he asked for for the meet & greet so i let it go....about an hour later George shows up with AR Rep John Edwards from ESP (john and i are friends) they come in and start asking where will geroge be signing stuff ect. at some point the owner is talking to John about guitars abd stuff and happens to mention the fact i had the nerve to play the guitar (i was dress in jeans a t-shirt leather jacket and black cowboy boots) and he's just ranting away at some point he pointed me out and John recognized me and called me over....i walk over shake hands and get a hug from John and the look on the guys face is priceless..john says "this guy had the nerve to play the guitar ???" "well i'd have to agree not only does he have the nerve to play the guitar he most likely built the guitar" i stand there and smile and we both turn and walk down to where george is signing stuff and hang out. as george and john are ready to leave the owner comes over to me and asks if he can speak with john and i and he makes a weak attempt at apologizing for what he said john brushes him off and says he's late and has to leave with george and off they go now i'm still standing there while this guy is attempting the most sincerest sounding apology he can think of. needless to say that both john and i sent e-mails to this guys sales rep letting him know of the way he treats people wanting to by ESP's gear.

my short rant

big daddy wombat :-}

[IrfaanSE801]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

K, I might have some kind of answer for you guys here. @ the store I work for which is currently owned by ------, the base pay is extremely low, and for people living in Manhatten, it's barely enough to afford rent. The managers are ALWAYS pulling the salespeople up to their offices and threatening to take discplinary actions or fire them if they don't have more items per reciept or more high end purchaces. They go as far to put up memos on our elevators threatening the salespeople like this and pointing out people who have met their req sales goals for the week. I think that's a horrible thing to do, and the memos tell the other employees to learn from those individuals.

The reason the sales guys are so cranky and bastard-like most times is because of the preassure to increase sales. That DOES NOT mean they should take it out on the customers, but I totally understand where their coming from on this. Most kids (some adults too) just come in to play and it's frustrating because they know that's a sale they can't make to keep the managers off their back. I remember back in the days when my store used to be owned by the family, the salespeople would bring home $700 a week on a bad week, but somehow the company managed to bring itself about X million in debtand had to sell. That's when I hear the salespeople were awsome and the prices were lower. Everything is now a monopoly really and prices are high in most stores and the base pay and same actions are going on in almost all stores I can bet.

Well, next time the salesperson is a pain in the ass, there's most likely the reason why

[jr73]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

yeah but its BS....i went shopping for jewelery around christmas I would walk in & the sales people would have KISSED MY ASS IF I ASKED THEM TOO. & yes i was dress tshirt jeans maybe dockers. walk into a guitar shop & im invisible or just someone who wants to waste his day PLAYING guitars in music stores. BS attitudes. Its funny too because these sales guys brag about how great the guitars on the wall are & give all kinds of flase info especially on the old or used stuff. I had a kid tell me "this bolt on rich is from 1980 before they ever made neckthrus" i laughed & told him i own 2 late70's neckthrus....."oh?" was all he could say, he left me alone after that.

partsmutt how true i HAD hair down to my ass & drove a hugger orange mustang I couldnt go to 711 for a pack of smokes with getting stopped.

wombat thats great that the kinda thing i would luv to have seen.

irfaan , i see your point i just dont agree with it. there is a store i do like. u walk in "Hi", a salesman walks over & asked can I help U or if you need anything let me know. no attitudes, no asking if your goin to buy, no treating people differently because they are not with mommy.

[jgcable]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

The smaller stores around where I live will let you play anything you want in the store regardless of how you look. The large chain stores almost want a credit check and a urine sample to just touch one of the nicer guitars. That is because most people that walk in fit one of the following:
1. they have $99.00 in their pocket from mowing lawns all summer and they want to try out the $4300.00 PRS 10 top.
2. they have $999.00 in their pocket but they look and smell like they just crawled out of a box thus giving the impression that they might possibly be homeless.
3. they have no intention of buying and actually they are in the store at least 2 times per week and they even know all the sales people but they are just coming to jam out.
4. Kid comes in with parent flashing credit card!!! YEA!!!!! SCORE!!! They are definately gonna walk out with a guitar and amp.
I know that it ticks me off when I walk in with intention to buy and there are 20 snot nosed wanna-bees playing Sum 41 through every concevable amp in the store at the same time. Usually after 30-40 minutes of them all playing they eventually leave after buying NOTHING. Not even strings (or 1 string to replace the broken high E that has been missing from their Korean Squire for the last year) or even the pick they they just "borrowed" off the counter!

[shadowcat]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

Hm, I'm always pretty surprised about these GC stories...

I'm 19, wearing mostly jeans and t-shirts, and I live near Hamburg in Germany.
In every guitar store I ever went to I was treated well.
Even when I went to some big store in the middle of Hamburg for the first time (in old jeans and T-shirt, and with sunglasses... it was a hot summer day), I got the immediate attention of a salesman, and I was allowed to play their fresh and new Jackson RR-1T Pile O'Skulls that was haning above the door of their testing room.
The first time I played a USA Jackson, and it wouldn't have been possible if the salesman would be anything like the people you guys described.

Well, I guess our salespeople in the guitar stores don't have to deal with such pressure as mentioned above, all the ones I met so far were friendly and helpful. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[pro-fusion]

Re: guitar stores & salesmen WHY...rant

When I was a long-hair, I went through the same stuff the rest of you did. But it was a double-edged sword. After I cut my hair and went 'civilian', I missed the feeling of being distinctive and always being noticed--I was just another shmoe at that point.