Guitar Center has become a complete joke ...

[DennyC]

I think that is the trend with GC. When I lived in Socal, all the local GC's
carried the current good stuff. The guys at my local GC are very nice but they are just hamstrung....they let me know that after they sold an M3 that they would not be getting any more in and of course they would not be stocking the Kronos or the Jupiter 80.

My Kronos 61 is supposed to ship 9/18. I have only been waiting sinde July 22. My heart goes out to Greg C who has been waiting since Feb. It seems we are all sharing similar experiences.

[dregsor]

Well the 15th has come and gone and I'm informed that GC did not receive their promised shipment of 73's, again. I was told Korg notified them weeks ago they would get x number of 73's by 15 September.

As insurance, I'm leaving my order in at GC, do you believe in miracles? But today I put myself on the list at Sweetwater. In hindsight I should have done that last month but like a moron I believed GC corporate when they said it would be in this month for sure.

Words can't describe the level of frustration. I know I'm not alone. I hope no one ever asks me again what I think about GC cause it won't be pretty. I don't think I'll ever see this keyboard show up at my door.

The title to this thread is 100% spot on BTW!

[maestrophillips]

Today is the day we were absoulutely positively promised that the Kronos 73's would ship from Guitar Center for pre orders. I just talked to my sales guy and he says they are getting none in and do not expect any until September.

I'm not going to go crazy here and rant like a mad man. Which is what I really want to do. I'll just say GC has lost at least one decades long customer for life. I also urge anyone else considering purchasing anything from this pathetic company to run, not walk to any other music store. They could not possibly do worse.

Does anyone know for sure, of anywhere one might get a Kronos 73? And if not, make a suggestion of a reliable store to order from? At least one that will not blatantly lie to their customers? Or is that just to much to ask.

Hi Dregsor,

Ironically, I experienced a similar situation at Guitar Center in my local area. Luckily, there was another local music store in town that happened to be carrying the Kronos and I immediately purchased mine from them.


You asked for a reliable suggestion, so my suggestion is that you give Sweetwater a call. Since I purchased my Kronos locally, I do not know the specific order status of their stock of Kronos, but they are usually on top of their game. The sales rep that I deal with and have dealt with for many years with is Ted Hunter (1-800-222-4700 x 1397). Give him a call...he is a good guy.

Best!

[dregsor]

Thanks maestrophillips,

You might have missed it in my post but I ordered from Sweetwater today. The guy I am dealing with has been in contact with me with regular updates and checking how it's been going for over a month. Wow!

Bad news is I'm way down on their list but they are expecting a large shipment around the 20th. It would be the shock of the year if I got one shipped then!

[maestrophillips]

Thanks maestrophillips,

You might have missed it in my post but I ordered from Sweetwater today. The guy I am dealing with has been in contact with me with regular updates and checking how it's been going for over a month. Wow!

Bad news is I'm way down on their list but they are expecting a large shipment around the 20th. It would be the shock of the year if I got one shipped then!

See,

That is what I get for not reading every one of the posts before responding (ha, ha). Ah, the details.....

I will keep my fingers crossed for your order. It will probably work out sooner than you think.

Peace!

[macmedic]

I get all my gear from Chuck Levin's in Wheaton, MD. They always take care of me and I can't even describe how they discount with quality service. Mike is my sales guy there.

[popmann]

Aren't I lucky? Nope. GC has ALWAYS been a joke. Useless chain.

Mom&Pop...service. Worked with me on price...took my Pc2x in on trade...threw in a Korg half pedal damper...

Maybe it's because I grew up in a day that most music stores were local. The utter take over of everything by Sam ash and GC has led to NO lower prices...only better selection of cheap gear and accessories...and not an opinion worth trusting in the place.

When I read threads like this I just kind of...it makes me wonder what it is that people actually think they gained by giving up service and local ownership of a mom&pop store.

[ScottB601]

I have always gotten significantly lower prices at GC near Aurora, IL. Lower than Sweetwater and other online sources. Excellent service, no hassles on a few returns, and timely orders. I guess I'm the exception, but I couldn't live without that place. They often match B&H also. And by lower, I mean lower than others with sales tax included. I think part of it is that they deal with a lot of a-holes and egos and if you approach them like a cooperative and positive human instead of a "rock star" they treat you the same. Been dealing with them for years and years and they are always my first choice. Having said that, you also would be hard pressed to beat Mr. Nick Church at Sweetwater. I've done very well with them also. I'm looking forward to driving down to Fort Wayne and buying a Moog in person from him someday, just for fun.

[Synthoid]

I have always gotten significantly lower prices at GC

Yes, me too... especially during their seasonal sales. I received a HUGE discount on my M3 back in 2007. I haven't shopped there in awhile though, since their keyboard selection has really dwindled during the last 2 years.

Still waiting for them to get a Kronos in stock. Oh well.

[timfruge]

My GC experience was bitter sweet. I got email about a promotion a few weeks back offering 15% off any purchase max $500 discount on any item puchases between 8-11 Saturday Sept. 24th. I called my nearest store(Baton Rouge, LA) and was told that the store didn't have any, the warehouse did have one in stock and that I could get the $500 off by ordering the K88 that morning through gc.com, and that it would ship out the following Monday. Monday the 26th I get a backorder notification. Waited a few days and called gc.com to check the status. Was told that a shipment was due October 3rd. On October 3rd, I got another backorder notification. Called a few days later and was told the shipment never arrived from Korg, but an additional shipment was due on October 10th and which would take care of all backorders. Called back on the 10th(last Monday) and was told both orders had arrived, and to give them a couple of days to process the order. Called back last Friday and was told it was still on back order and the next shipment was due November 10th. Was not a happy camper at this point. Called my sales rep at the store back to express my unhappiness. He called me back a few minutes later and informed me that the warehouse had fufilled the store orders instead of the customer orders and that the New Orleans store had received 2 of them. They were nice enough to send a runner from New Orleans to Baton Rouge to deliver 1 which I picked up Friday afternoon. For my troubles, he threw in the pro-coverage, and the damper pedal for free.

Long story short, even though I was given the run-around and had to wait 3 weeks, I got the Kronos 88, an M-Audio oxygen 25 (came free as part of the promotion), the replacement coverage, and the pedal for $3299.

[DennyC]

Congratulations, sounds like overall a pretty nice deal to me.

[Randelph]

Zeroesque wrote:

Comparing Sweetwater and GC is difficult, especially on the salesperson side of things which people are calling customer service here.

Sweetwater reps get paid twice as much as an average GC or Sam Ash sales guy (especially in technology departments like keys). They are paid that way because they are expected to have far more education and/or experience in music tech, demonstrate a relatively higher level of professionalism, and they have to move to Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Most of their day is spent on the computer and the phone, and usually the customer only interfaces with this one person. Manufacturer reps can easily educate the entire sales staff by visiting just this one location.

Contrast this against GC: it is closer to a Best Buy type of retail model, where you don't need everyone to be a superstar expert because the tough questions can be fielded by one department manager, and the other guys can simply know how to find the gear on the floor, stockroom and the computer and then ring people up after the customer has usually seen and touched the stuff they will buy. Notice this last bit of difference: you can usually play the gear that you will buy. Obviously that is a gigantic advantage over buying online, on the phone or through mail-order. Also, manufacturer reps have to visit hundreds of stores to educate the entire sales staff.

Ask yourself if you think GC could make money paying top dollar for all of their sales associates in all of those stores...or if Sweetwater could make money by hiring check-out people.

I'm guessing that a lot of people on this forum use both sales models to their advantage from time to time.

I hope I'm not offending anyone w/ this post, as it is, of course, somewhat of a generalization.

+1, very well said. It's all relative.

Sounds like the GC experience varies a lot, mine is not so bad. If nothing else I don't complain too much 'cause it's the only game in town (SF) where I can kick the tires. They have a very large selection of keyboards, most hooked up in stereo, and its not overwhelmingly chaotic most of the time. I actually bought two of the last 3 large ticket keyboards from them out of loyalty, 'cause if the brick and mortar stores don't have business, there'll be no place to try before you buy.

But when I've got money for a Kronos, I'll likely make a little bit of a trip to Bananas at Large, a bit of a drive, 'cause they can match prices as good as anyone else and make a big point of being part of and giving back to the community. This was where the Kronos clinic was held.