Guitar center messed up my used order

Since this whole thread got going on my account, I may as well give the update. I went in and told the manager that I'd keep the bass if they knocked 200 dollars off of what I paid. He called the original location it was shipped from and they came back at me with about 60 dollars, so I left the bass there. They also refunded my shipping, which was nice but expected. Overall, I'd rank Guitar Center a 1/10 for logistics, a 5/10 for apathetic yet pleasant sales people, and a 7/10 for complaint resolution.
 
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If you order something else in the future, I would have it shipped to the store. Then you can take a look at it closely for possible damage, missing case, etc. and decide to accept it or not right then and there.

Having been thru this *a few* times, I wouldn't - and here's why: given my past experiences, odds are high that you won't have to make a return - and in that case, you save yourself a trip to the store by having it shipped to your home... If you think about it, you really don't gain anything by having it shipped to the store - but are risking an additional wasted drive if everything's OK - besides risking the local employee opening it up and additional store handling in the process, besides probably more hassle and delay...

IMO/IME, you're really risking nothing having it shipped to your home - and gaining nothing by having it shipped to the store, unless you live somewhere that receiving packages isn't safe, that is...
 
If you order something else in the future, I would have it shipped to the store. Then you can take a look at it closely for possible damage, missing case, etc. and decide to accept it or not right then and there.

I have to whole heartedly agree with this. Both of the basses I ordered were shipped to the store. When I picked them up at the store both were opened for me to inspect them before I left to insure that they met my expectations as far as condition was concerned. I couldn’t have been happier with the condition.

I think both Guitar Center and ups are both at fault for the damaged bass. If the bass had been packed the way it should have, chances are even if the box was torn or banged up pretty good, the bass would have not been damaged. If ups had handled the package in the way that they should have, there should have been no damage. I know that things like this happen from time to time but it happens way too often.
 
To partially summarize what some others have stated, and to add my own experiences on this....

When ordering used from GC....
1. Screenshot the original listing so you have the pics and description available after the purchase.

2. Have it shipped to the store so you can open it in front of them and refuse it immediately if something is wrong or if it is missing pieces.

3. ONLY use a credit card. They are on the verge of bankruptcy and once they file or go to liquidation, there is nothing they will do for you. Anything you paid for and ordered will not be delivered or refunded, anything you bought no longer has a return policy and any extended warranty is void. Your ONLY recourse would be to contest it through your CC.



My reasoning for 1 and 2 is the time I ordered a used Jackson RR1 through my local GC from a store in the northeast. It arrived with no case despite being listed with one, no trem arm despite being pictured with one, and there were chips all over it despite being listed as "excellent condition" by the store it came from. I opened it at my local store, showed them the screenshots of the original listing and explained that I would not be taking it, nor would I be paying the shipping cost since they clearly lied about the item.

My reasoning for #3 is the time I bought a CD player from Tweeter for $500 cash. I tried it out at home for two days and determined that the other one I was auditioning was better so I returned it. They didn't have cash on hand at the store so they said they'd mail a check for the refund which was pretty standard at the time. Two weeks went by and I didnt have the check so I drove to the store to ask for a cash refund or find out whats up with the check. They were dragging their feet because they had just filed bankruptcy. I was told that no check would come, no money would be given, and I could not have the item back since it was in their inventory and now belonged to the liquidator. If I had just used a CC I'd have been fine. While I was there another guy was flipping out on them because he had ordered a $4,000 television that was now sitting in the store but they wouldnt give it to him and wouldnt refund his money. As I was leaving they were calling the police since he threatened to kill the staff if they didnt give him his television.
The sickening part to me was that the staff was even there at all much less complying with this nonsense. Two of the workers were a husband/wife with a young child and they were both losing their jobs in 3 weeks anyways, and they had no base pay so they were essentially spending almost a month ripping people off while working for free for the company that was firing them and leaving their household income at zero. Pretty much defines spineless.
 
View attachment 2851843 So I got a pretty decent deal on a used bass at Guitar Center. Unfortunately, the person who packed it didn't do such a good job and it got damaged in shipment. The website said it had a case, but instead of shipping it in the case the person just packed it in a cardboard box with some bubble wrap around it. As somebody who used to work at UPS and saw what a meat grinder that operation is, I can tell you that this is not something a smart and/or giving a crap person would ever do. Anyways, I'm planning to wait until after the holidays to go in and see about either returning it or getting a partial refund and keeping the bass, and of course seeing about getting that hard case shipped from the other store if I do keep it (those things cost over 100 dollars, you'd better believe I'm not giving up on that). If I do keep the bass with a partial refund, I'm curious about if there are any decent repair options out there. The bass has a sunburst finish, and as you can see the part that was damaged was the black part. I suppose that bodes well? Will your average guitar luthier be equipped to make this look relatively shiny and new again? And if so, what price are we talking about? Also, they didn't ship the truss rod adjuster with the bass. Is that normal for Guitar Center used?

Ouch!!! That's a bad hit dude!! But to answer your question accurately more info on the bass would help !
To see if it's worth keeping it/dealing with all the BS at guitar center will give you! I mean if it's a squire Bass
NOPE mite not be worth it !
if it's a higher brand bass like modulus,warwick,smith,fodera etc.
it mite be worth it!
Good point on the case thing!
So to answer your question better Please share
1.brand/model
2.value (new or used)
3. How much did you pay for it?
I wouldnt wait till after the holidays to return it , I would take care of ASAP before you get stuck with it!
 
Since this whole thread got going on my account, I may as well give the update. I went in and told the manager that I'd keep the bass if they knocked 200 dollars off of what I paid. He called the original location it was shipped from and they came back at me with about 60 dollars, so I left the bass there. They also refunded my shipping, which was nice but expected. Overall, I'd rank Guitar Center a 1/10 for logistics, a 5/10 for apathetic yet pleasant sales people, and a 7/10 for complaint resolution.
The OP stated here that THE ISSUE HAS BEEN RESOLVED.
While I agree somewhat with your scoring, I would have given them a 9/10 for complaint resolution. You got your full amount back. I'm thinking maybe you knocked off points because they didn't offer you enough of a discount?
 
I definitely believe GC & Sam Ash throw out all that stuff, gig bags, toolkits, all of it.
except perhaps they resell the gig bags

Sam Ash didn't give me a bag with my Mexican Fender Blacktop & it clearly stated on the Fender site that all of them come with a gig bag.
The guy moaned about it when the manager asked him to give me a deluxe Fender bag for it, claiming they wouldn't have enough for their other instruments. What a crock of poo that was!

It's sad that so many customers walk away w/o even asking for the accessories that are supposed to come with their instrument, but they must or else these retailers wouldn't be tossing the stuff.
In extreme cases I'll bet customers unwittingly buy back those accessories before leaving the store.
Makes me want to start dumpster diving GC and Sam Ash stores!
 
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I love my GC's (three in my area), and I routinely take them for a serious ride and save lots of money, they generally bend over backwards to fix a problem, and they provide lots of freebies and discounts just to win your loyalty, but their entire online "Used" department approach really needs to be improved. Most of the problems I've had with GC have been in the Used area, and a few were outright screwings where I never got satisfaction and that should never happen.

The trouble with Used is it requires the kind of care we TB'ers would show each other, from start to finish, with the exception that the average GC employee doesn't care nearly that much, and the GC online system has some serious bugs and counter-intuitive paradoxes built in. Word.

OP will get his satisfaction, they will make it right, but still a giant PITA IMHO.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah everyone.
 
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