Complaint Review: Guitar CenterAaronLehman Darrell Smith And The - Bakersfield California

After reading through the initial report, and through the comments I will tell you a lot of this is unfortunate circumstance.  I have a part of this industry for many years and I love this company.  I will tell you why.

I understand the terms and grounds products are purchased.  Commission and markup is no different then if you were to buy it online for the price marked.  There are laws around what things can and cannot be priced at and advertised for, but then it leaves the floor open to negotiations, package deals, etc.

I agree that people will be misled at this company.  This is a result of uneducated sales people or uneducated consumers.  Either way, if it is not dealt with properly the situation can be ugly.  Making sure management at any retail establishment is competent and able to perform their primary duties of taking care of the customer is absolutely key.  I believe in most cases these type of instances do not occur when a manager simply does the right thing.

I also agree, that a consumer should go online to Musician's Friend and price shop so you know exactly what to expect.  They sell legally at the price they are allowed to sell product at.  Sometimes, there is room to wiggle, sometimes not.  Companies need to make money to.  Don't be fooled by people telling you about excessive markups, or hiding profits.  It does not exist in this business.  This industry is too legally bound when it comes to pricing that there is not any secret margins.

I can't help but believe that a lot of the issues surrounding this initial report was the exception rather than the rule and also a circumstantial instance around that one store with specific people. 

I have worked at other major retail sales environments and there are bad apples in all companies and through reasonable complaint procedures and through proactive management, these people weed out of the companies, like Pedro, and eventually pay the price, and hopefully learn their lesson.

Come into my store in Ft. Worth, TX and I will guarantee extensive product knowledge, fair pricing and package deals, and excellent customer service.  Do not base an opinion of an entire company because of one or two people's wrong doings. 

Thank you for sharing your concerns and stories with everyone.  Try a different store, and give us another chance.  I think you will be surprised.

I have several points I'd like to make about Guitar Center: 1) The issue with buying from Guitar Center is in knowing that the sales staff work on commission. Once you know this fact, you can better work with the sales staff to get a price that works for you. Commission == Haggling. Once you understand that you can haggle, then you can get them to a price you are willing to pay. Remember, though, as they lower the price of the item, they lose more and more commission. So, you should try to remember that and be fair when asking for a discount. 2) Price tag issues. The main issue I have with Guitar Center is that the price tags are almost always incorrect. If you want to know the real price of an item, either visit the internet prior to visiting the store (print the price of the item and carry the paper with you) or ask them to price the item in the store and then have them double check the internet price on a computer there. Usually, the tagged price is higher than the computer rings up, but it can sometimes go the other way. Also, make sure that the price tag is under the correct item. I find that tags marked for similar items are, many times, next to the wrong item. This misleads you into thinking an item is cheaper (or more expensive) than it really is. So, double check the item to the tag. 3) Price matching. If you find the item cheaper on the Internet, Guitar Center WILL match it. If you visit Sweetwater or SamAsh and find a price cheaper than Guitar Center, GC will match the price. Price matching was still valid the last I knew. Always ask to make sure Guitar Center is still price matching before you ring up as retailers can change policies at any point in time. 4) Internet comparisons. Always use the Internet to both price and feature compare. When you walk into Guitar Center, you'll be lucky to find an employee who fully understands how a given piece of equipment works. For musical instruments, most of the employees play. But, for highly technical gadgets (like synthesizers) and computer software, expect lack of knowledge. If you plan on buying software, try for a downloadable demo before you buy it at Guitar Center. 5) Restocking fees. When you buy certain types of gear at Guitar Center, you will also need to understand that they charge a 15% restocking fee for an opened item. Most electronics retailers today are charging this fee, so it is no surprise that Guitar Center is also doing this. This means, if you buy something, open the box to try it out and then attempt to return it for a refund, expect to get 15% less than you paid in your refund. Now, none of this will prevent you from feeling ripped off, but it may help you from being overcharged. Of course, you could always find a cheaper price later. It's just that when you walk into a store, like Guitar Center, that operates based on commissions, be prepared to ask for pricing on everything you're interested in and double check it with the Internet (and other music retailers for price matching). When they ring you up, make sure you either watch them ring the price in (before you pay) and also double check the receipt before you walk out the door. That isn't to say that every commission employee is out to rip you off. But, these employees are on commission. This means that they want the maximum amount of money they can get out of any transaction. So, you need to be extra cautious of that fact. Most retailers in the US are not based on commissions for the sheer number of problems that commission based systems cause. Because I am always fully aware of these issues when I walk into Guitar Center, I have yet to be ripped off once. There have been many times were I've had to correct the salesperson/cashier before the transaction completed. I didn't attribute it to deliberate mis-marking more than the computer pulled up an incorrect price than what was stated on the tag and the salesperson didn't notice. Once told, however, they are able to correct the price in the system.

I would first like to apologize to Brenda for the fact that she feels as though she wasn't treated properly. No matter which side of the story you hear (I remember things a bit differently), what really matters is perception of not only the customer, but of sales people as well. It seems as though you feel (and by your story, it's understandable), you weren't taken care of the way that any of us expect to be taken care of and for that, I will be the first to say that there is no excuse and you deserve to be angry. I'm really sorry for the turn of events that transpired and left you with the poor impression that you have currently. Upon reading the comments that were made, I stumbled upon one made by Revxus or Pedro "Peter" Perez and I found it rather interesting his views not only of me, but of Guitar Center in general. I find it disturbing that Peter has made these comments, not only of me, but of my boss Aaron Peaveyhouse, as Peter was fired from Guitar Center for stealing money from customers as well as from the company and is currently in court proceedings to decide his fate. It actually is Peter that I am much more worried about, and am glad that you never had to deal with him and for the customers that he preyed upon, I would like to apologize to them as well, specifically because I know Peter would never apologize to anyone, especially his friends and family, whom he hurt the most by doing this. Once Peter left Guitar Center, he went over to Stockdale Music, where he was subsequently fired for stealing a large sum of money. It really is people like Pedro "Peter" or"Pete" Perez that gives Guitar Center and any retail environment a bad name. Again, Brenda, I would like to personally apologize for any discomfort that you may have felt or even still feel. Thank you and please feel free to reply at any time Brenda, Jay Smith

I can't say it any better than the last ex employee who clearly stated his opinion regarding Guitar Center. I must say this however, I worked directly with Darrell Smith and Aaron Lehman, or as he likes to hide as Aaron Peavyhouse. Since my departure from the company, it's been a nightmare for me and my family. This is one of the workplaces I most regret working for, and considering the circumstances of the situation I now face against this company and its people I must be careful in choosing my words and statements to avoid further legal problems. Darrell Jay Smith, Jr. is one of the most incompetent staff members Guitar Center ever hired, and the person responsible for hiring this individual is none other than Aaron Lehman/Peavyhouse. As common procedure would have it, a candidate would go through a couple or more interviews with other assistant managers and department managers such as myself. In this instance, Aaron failed to follow store procedures that would have avoided lots of customer dissatisfaction. Darrell is no longer with the company as of this statement, probably due to his incompetence in his ability, or disability (no pun intended), to act foolishly to daily, challenging situations in a retail sales environment. Aaron, however, will continue to scam customers like yourself into "thinking" you're getting a good deal, when in reality you're not, but you already know this. In reality, they have the comprehension of the rest of the teenagers that "w**k" on the guitar floor daily. The mentality is, "who cares?!" They don't keep track of up-to-date sales tags, and when they do they will insist on mentioning the RETAIL value of the item, followed by Guitar Center's "lowest price guarantee" which is commonly known as the fair market value of something. So what is it you're getting? The same item displayed available online with no sales tax, even then they throw a fit when you request to have the sales tax removed. We were trained to "take the deal" and outsmart the customer in every way possible, and keep the money within the store in order to meet a "quota." I have no problem with this, I always exceeded this "quota" because I dealt with my customers in an honest, respectful manner. The only suggestion I have is avoid them at all costs. Shop elsewhere if you can, and unless absolutely necessary - "grind" them down on price, name your own and threaten to walk away to the next competitor. Try it. They're trained. And they'll "take the deal."

I work for this company. We don't have a discount key on our computer. Our computer system makes the Comedor 64 look like Deep Blue. We have to do the math ourselves. That is probably a bad idea, seeing as most Guitar Center employees are starry eyed youths that just want to be around music while they are trying to get their bands off the ground. Sorry you had a bad experience, we're just retail clerks that would rather be playing music, trying to make a living while working for "the man". The don't pay us much, and any commision we earn is subtracted from our hourly pay. If we earned less commision than the minimum wage we made just showing up, we get no commision check. When we complain about abundant hours and crappy pay, we are told that we aren't selling hard enough. Every discount we give comes out of our commision, Guitar Center doesn't loose any money. They pass that on to the poor sap working on commision. They buy for Walmart prices, pad the price, and give us the ability to give "good deals", but at our own expense. When we have big sales days, (for instance Labor Day Sale) it just means the salespeople work longer hours for less money. They discount things, but they are discounting our commision. They make the same amount. A lot of greedy #$@# are involved in this company, and they use brainwashing techniques to get you to buy into it. ( as a salesperson) Yeah, and the price tag stuff... they change the price tags every month, but basically they are rarely lower, they just print the price tag on a different piece of paper to fool people into thinking it's some sort of new deal. No one keeps up with merchandising or price tags other than that, so when prices change, chances are you won't know until you get to the register. There, a conscience sales person will change the price to match the tag, but chances are, most of the dopes that work there won't even notice until the customer notices and complains.

Realizing its most practical to review receipts, I dont think any of us do an itemized review before leaving the store, and especially during the Holiday season. The truth is I agree we should review receipts, but to what extent? Ten items or less? or over $100 or more? This person spent quite a bit of money and was only asking for a small amount back..Not to mention if the paper work didnt add up and if it was handled by the business as such, obviously something was wrong within the business, and the consumer is "guilty" of being human. I have been both a consumer and have worked in retail and I believe the business was totally out of line.

Realizing its most practical to review receipts, I dont think any of us do an itemized review before leaving the store, and especially during the Holiday season. The truth is I agree we should review receipts, but to what extent? Ten items or less? or over $100 or more? This person spent quite a bit of money and was only asking for a small amount back..Not to mention if the paper work didnt add up and if it was handled by the business as such, obviously something was wrong within the business, and the consumer is "guilty" of being human. I have been both a consumer and have worked in retail and I believe the business was totally out of line.

As all of this could have been avoided had you checked the receipt immediately after the purchase before leaving. You could have then pointed out to Jay, the different shelf price and all would have been taken care of. Just remember after any large purchase check your receipt before leaving the premises. Aaron was rude and wrong. But you could have avoided all of this dealing with him.