Complaint Review: Guitar Center

I recently went to the local Guitar Center to purchase a Mesa Boogie item. The store had sold the item recently and told me that it's a normally stocked item and eventually the computer would order another for their store.

I waited a couple days and came back to go ahead and have them order one for me, that way, it would be placed on order for the store for them and it would already be paid for by the time it arrived. I was told that it was considered a "special order" item and I would have to pay shipping for it. I questioned them on how it could be a "special order" item if it's a normally stocked item. The cashier asked another employee about it and was told that if the item was not already in transit to their store, I would have to pay shipping for it.

I declined the item. Odds were, in the next couple of days, the item would be there and I would just pay normal price. Second of all, Mesa Boogie regulates how their items are sold and priced, and you cannot buy new Mesa Boogie items via mail order through any authorized dealer of theirs. Mesa Boogie also regulates their prices, so this same item would cost me the same price if I were to try to buy it in New York or in California.

So, why am I asked to pay shipping for an item that I can't have mail ordered and that is normally stocked anyway in their store? They tried to pull the same thing on my drummer when he tried to purchase a drum head for his kit and they had just sold them all and he was told the price would double if they were to order one for him, even though it was a normally stocked item. Normally stocked items usually mean that they get them on a regular basis for regular store inventory due to the item being sold on a regular basis. Watch out for this one, guys.

Buddy
Las Vegas, Nevada
U.S.A.