GC Disinformation Cycle

[BatUtilityBelt]

I see this happen too much, and it seems systemic. Guitar Center lists a guitar in their Used Guitars area with very wrong information. It gets bought on the basis of that bad info, shipped to the buyer's city's store, and returned there. It gets re-listed with the exact same wrong information that cause the return. And the cycle continues.

Here's a recent example. The GC in Salt Lake City last week listed "Used D'Angelico EX-SS Left Handed Hollow Body Electric Guitar Black". Now I do not own any D'Angelicos because I don't care for their headstocks, but the Excel Series EX-SS is one I would buy, especially for the price GC listed it at. Now here's the rub: D'Angelico also makes a lower end version of that guitar in the Premier Series, but it does not have the EX-SS model name. And the price GC Salt Lake is asking is more in line with the lower end Premier version than the Excel EX-SS they listed it as. It's like saying "I'll sell you a Gibson" when you know it's an Epiphone. And the listing has no pictures, or I could tell which model they really had. So before I buy, ask them to verify it is the Excel EX-SS and not the Premier. Crickets, no response, and the listing disappears. I guessed I had alerted them to the disinformation in the listing and they took it down to correct it.

Nope. A week later, a different GC store (Las Vegas) puts up the same exact listing: "Used D'Angelico EX-SS Left Handed Hollow Body Electric Guitar Black" for the same price, with no pictures. My local GC has told me they reuse listings when a return happens, so I know what really happened. Last week, someone in Las Vegas saw a great prices on an Excel EX-SS, bought it without verifying the model, saw it was not that model, and returned it. GC Las Vegas then relisted the guitar with the same bad info that caused the return (along with the shipping cost GC had to eat).

So why do they habitually not correct the listing?

[mozz]

Mismanagement. Even if you tried to explain the situation to a email contact, chances are you will get a canned response if any. You would have to start the email with
" You can save money if you just....................."

[uwmcscott]

So why do they habitually not correct the listing?

Because people still buy the stuff anyway

[BatUtilityBelt]

So why do they habitually not correct the listing?

Because people still buy the stuff anyway

Well, yeah I suppose they eventually do, but meanwhile X number of GC stores get grief from customers returning it, and it has to seriously eat into their profits.

If I have to guess, it is that they all use the same software to put up the listing, and that software is probably cruddy enough that it does not allow certain features (like the title, description, etc) to be changed after the listing is created, and the listing's primary key is tied into the inventory so they can't create a new listing without screwing up their inventory. But I've never seen their system beyond the POS screens, so that is all an educated guess.

[uwmcscott]

Well, yeah I suppose they eventually do, but meanwhile X number of GC stores get grief from customers returning it, and it has to seriously eat into their profits.

If I have to guess, it is that they all use the same software to put up the listing, and that software is probably cruddy enough that it does not allow certain features (like the title, description, etc) to be changed after the listing is created, and the listing's primary key is tied into the inventory so they can't create a new listing without screwing up their inventory. But I've never seen their system beyond the POS screens, so that is all an educated guess.

I don't think it's any big secret that GC's customer service is questionable and variable by location. It's been a while since there was a good GC hate thread here, maybe this can revive one? It would not also surprise me if their internal systems were either not well managed or not fully understood by their users ( or both ).

I've purchased used gear from GC before and I've always called the local store that had the item and asked questions or for better pictures. In most cases they were happy to oblige. In one instance they were not so I just didn't buy it.

[BatUtilityBelt]

I don't think it's any big secret that GC's customer service is questionable and variable by location. It's been a while since there was a good GC hate thread here, maybe this can revive one? It would not also surprise me if their internal systems were either not well managed or not fully understood by their users ( or both ).

I've purchased used gear from GC before and I've always called the local store that had the item and asked questions or for better pictures. In most cases they were happy to oblige. In one instance they were not so I just didn't buy it.

I really don't intend this to be a hate thread. It's just something I've noticed with some frequency that seems to apply to many, if not most GC stores.

I too contact the listing store and ask, usually don't get valid responses, and that is its own problem.

I am seriously wondering how much this problem costs GC. If it does apply to every store, and not just guitars, but everything that might be listed erroneously enough to warrant returns... Explode all costs beyond just the first person to catch the error, and I imagine it might afford a redesign of their used gear database and software.

[Chocol8]

When executives don’t care, managers don’t care. When managers don’t care, the employees don’t care. When the employees don’t care, they just hit relist and move on with their day.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if their IT system makes it hard to change a listing when a product is returned. It was probably setup intentionally to keep the low level employees from making mistakes or changing things to get good deals for friends etc. and no one thought about the consequences.

[uwmcscott]

When executives don’t care, managers don’t care. When managers don’t care, the employees don’t care. When the employees don’t care, they just hit relist and move on with their day.

And from a business perspective, why should they care to be honest? They emerged from bankruptcy in near record time and despite all the complaining people still line up with open wallets to buy stuff from them.

[mighty_duck]

Can also confirm it happened to me multiple times. Some of these bounce around multiple times, some of them get sold and are not returned despite the errors after a.bounce or two.

As long as the rate of returns is low enough, corporate won't care enough to do anything about it.

[aullucci]

Plus there’s the unintended benefit of having people who have no idea what they’re buying. Not everyone can spot the difference between a Premier and an Excel.

[redman]

I will only buy from GC for things I want that I can't find elsewhere or they post something at a really good price. The reason I try not to do business is the way I'm treated when I go there. I'm fat 281 lbs. and live in a wheelchair but when I go in their store the employees scatter none of them want to help me although I'm only there to spend money and have cash or if I don't have enough cash on me I have 5 credit cards all with 5 digit credit limits so I could make a huge purchase if I so desired but even when I go to the counter a get someone to help I have to ask several times to get waited on. Last time I went to the local GC I bought 2 guitars one new a GC exclusive the reason I went there in the 1st place and a used Godin Freeway Classic, a set of SD pickups and a bunch of other stuff $1300 worth while most customers are just looking around or playing their guitars. I hate being judged by my looks because I'm handicapped, fat and broke down but it happens a lot but GC in Asheville is one of the worst.
I can't do anything about how I look I was 175 most of my life but have been on steroids everyday for the last 6 years as well as a couple of other meds that will cause weight gain I take 37 pills in total everyday and been unable to use my left leg since my accident in 2014 but my brain still works and I still have feelings so I avoid places that treat me differently and again GC in Asheville is the worst I've dealt with.

[BatUtilityBelt]

I will only buy from GC for things I want that I can't find elsewhere or they post something at a really good price. The reason I try not to do business is the way I'm treated when I go there.

Some stores are way better than others, and I agree - if they don't treat you right, someone else deserves your hard earned money.

[pdcorlis]

GC is last on my list of online retailers. Sweetwater is my first. I have found what look like “deals” at GC, but in almost every case, after doing my due diligence of calling the local retailer I think I’ve kept exactly one guitar that has been shipped to me. In fairness to them, their business model is built on high volume with limited customer contact.

[slowhand84]

I see this happen too much, and it seems systemic. Guitar Center lists a guitar in their Used Guitars area with very wrong information. It gets bought on the basis of that bad info, shipped to the buyer's city's store, and returned there. It gets re-listed with the exact same wrong information that cause the return. And the cycle continues.

Here's a recent example. The GC in Salt Lake City last week listed "Used D'Angelico EX-SS Left Handed Hollow Body Electric Guitar Black". Now I do not own any D'Angelicos because I don't care for their headstocks, but the Excel Series EX-SS is one I would buy, especially for the price GC listed it at. Now here's the rub: D'Angelico also makes a lower end version of that guitar in the Premier Series, but it does not have the EX-SS model name. And the price GC Salt Lake is asking is more in line with the lower end Premier version than the Excel EX-SS they listed it as. It's like saying "I'll sell you a Gibson" when you know it's an Epiphone. And the listing has no pictures, or I could tell which model they really had. So before I buy, ask them to verify it is the Excel EX-SS and not the Premier. Crickets, no response, and the listing disappears. I guessed I had alerted them to the disinformation in the listing and they took it down to correct it.

Nope. A week later, a different GC store (Las Vegas) puts up the same exact listing: "Used D'Angelico EX-SS Left Handed Hollow Body Electric Guitar Black" for the same price, with no pictures. My local GC has told me they reuse listings when a return happens, so I know what really happened. Last week, someone in Las Vegas saw a great prices on an Excel EX-SS, bought it without verifying the model, saw it was not that model, and returned it. GC Las Vegas then relisted the guitar with the same bad info that caused the return (along with the shipping cost GC had to eat).

So why do they habitually not correct the listing?

Look up what they pay their sales associates, at $12/hour you probably wouldn't care all that much to do your job 100% properly with attention to detail either. I for one am VERY happy about the general lack of knowledge/care at GC...it has enabled me to buy pretty much every guitar I currently own for several hundred dollars less than it should have cost used (and in a few cases, more than $1,000 less) because they often don't know what they're selling or how much to sell it for. They make all types of mistakes on the regular, from confusing higher end models of a guitar with lower end models (and vice versa) to selling a guitar for $99 not knowing that it has $250 in pickups in it, etc. Often times they'll just take a random guess and choose a price for a guitar if they're unable to find a used one that sold...and you end up scoring a custom guitar that's $3,000 new for $600.

I have run across many situations like the one you're describing, in fact once I returned a guitar I purchased from GC used because the neck was completely warped and unplayable (like beyond what could be fixed by a tech), they told me they were basically going to throw the guitar away, and the next day it was back up for sale on the used site with the same "great" condition rating. It doesn't surprise me anymore, it's just par for the course...but it's also this type of incompetence that allows me to score what I score there, so I am very grateful for it . GC is well aware of how things operate, which is why they have a 45 day no questions asked return policy. If they didn't, each of these situations instead of costing someone a couple of minutes of their time would become a big thing and probably run the company into the ground. They could rectify these issues by hiring more knowledgeable employees, but I'm guessing that would cost them more money than eating shipping on messed up guitars every now and then.

[redman]

@slowhand84 That kind of stupidity is most likely why they are in bankruptcy now.

[slowhand84]

@slowhand84 That kind of stupidity is most likely why they are in bankruptcy now.

Eh they've been "in trouble" for like a decade+ now, I don't even pay attention to the news about it anymore because they always manage to weasel their way out of it anyway. I just hope they never go under for good...that place is a goldmine

[RockYoWorld]

I had similar issues on GC Used as well as Reverb when looking through used Schecters recently (there may be a NGD coming this week). I love my Schecters that were a little bit north of $1K new. I've had some confusion looking through older used Schecters, trying to discern the quality of the guitar and whether it was a guitar around the quality of the ones I have now or if it's a lower end model. I think in THIS case, the confusion is moreso Schecter's naming convention's fault, but GC and Reverb's sellers' inaccuracies or lack of certain information can make it difficult.

But a business like Guitar Center should really be a lot better at getting the right information for the guitar. And also, I'd expect better pictures. The guitar that I have coming from GC used had a terrible pic, so I'm kinda unsure of what I'm getting, but hey, it was only $20 shipping!