"I ordered a podium for a high school marching band in August. It is now the end of November and I have yet to receive it. I have called once a week to keep checking on the progress. I kept getting the same old stories. They were shipped but we haven't received them yet. And, They came in dammaged. I have contacted the manufacturer to have a podium direct shipped, as per guitar center. The company was willing to do this, but somehow the paperwork never showed up. I am dis appointed with both companies, to say the least. The season is over for the marching band, and now I am told theat the podiums aren't listed anymore. Guitar center let down over 50 musicians. That is 50 potential customers. I don't know who is running this company, but they should be fired!"

"I ordered a set of bongos from guitar center, two weeks later I am still waiting for them. Customer service is no help, keeps sending me a training number that doesn't work. I will never again ordered from guitar center. Amazon.com is so much better and their customer service actually cares about you."

"Guitar Center does business as Music123 on Amazon.I purchased a bass at a deep discount on Amazon Prime day 7/11/2017.

Following day I receive email saying my order is cancelled for "technical issues" When I call them they blame an amazon pricing error. When I call amazon they say that Music123 submitted the price and that is was correct. They also said Music123 told them to cancel the order due to out of stock. Amazon rep investigates and finds same item still in stock and on sale on their website for 629.00 vs the 112 that they sold it to me for the prior day.

I open an investigation with amazon. I call back Music123 (who claims on the amazon website that they are a Philadelphia family owned music store even though research reveals that they are actually based in California and they answer the phone as guitar center) and inform them that I found out they were lying to me earlier and they try to sell me the same guitar at a "generous" price of 580.00. Quite an elaborate bait and switch. Very dishonest company.

Do not buy from Guitar Center or any of its shadow companies (Music123, Musicians friend, etc.just do a wiki for the whole list)
UPDATE.....

And to add insult to injury here is their response to my complaint. They ADMIT it was their mistake after numerous lies blaming it on amazon and telling amazon it was out of stock and think a "goodwill" 20 dollar gift card will just make it go away.

Here is proof that they not only have no respect for you as a customer or any respect for basic business ethics but think you are *** as well. Yeah sure....I'm naive enough to believe that you "accidentally" make a pricing mistake and conned me into buying your imaginary product on AMAZON PRIME DAY thus causing me to miss out on LEGIT deals that were available. It was all just an honest mistake right? BS!!!!!!!!

Music123 - Amazon Marketplace To ****@**** Jul 13 at 9:17 PM Dear Musician, You recently placed an order through Music 123 on Amazon.com. As you may have noticed, there was a pricing error with this listing and, regretfully, we are unable to fulfill your order. The error was entirely on the part of Music 123. As a token of our goodwill, we will be sending you a $20 gift card in the next few days to use on Amazon.com.

We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.--Original Message-- From: [e-mail address removed] Date: 07/12/2017 01:37 PM To: [e-mail address removed] Subject: Order delivery inquiry from Amazon customer William R Madden (Order: ***-***-****-9782633) Order ID ***-***-****-9782633: 1 of Schecter 2852 Session RIOT-4 ANS Bass Guitars [ASIN: B00HQWR7LA]

AND AS IF THIS ISNT RIDICULOUS ENOUGH ALREADY GUITAR CENTER SENDS ME THIS EMAIL......

Hello Madden,
Unfortunately we are separate from music123 so I don't quite know the situation in regards to that. I would be more then happy to assist you in any of your musical needs through Guitar Center though!
Have a fantastic day and let me know!
Thanks,
Jennifer R. Wallace

well.....Wikipedia seems to disagree with them.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Center"

"Bought Scarlett solo recorder for our church but the software has to be downloaded from focusrite. Got the merchandise March 31,2017 and returned to the store April 4, 2017 but they said you can't return it. Try to call customer service pretty much the same even the manager. They just don't want to help you. I don't have that problem with Best Buy and Amazon. I'm not buying from Guitar Center anymore."

"I purchased a Sonor Martini kit on President's Day during their sale. It was a good price, with free shipping. I didn't realize it was not going to ship until 2 days later, and at the slowest ground method possible. So slow, I can't even track it yet even though I have the number. After the fact, I find out that Musician's Friend had the SAME SALE and offer FREE 2 DAY SHIPPING. Sorry Guitar Center, you have permanently lost my business. "

"I purchased a used item from Guitar Center with the expectation that it would have been tested and checked prior to listing and selling.
I found an item on their website as used and what appeared in good physical condition. I purchased the item and paid shipping and taxes. Once I picked up the item from a local store, will not ship to home, I returned home.
I plugged it in to test and immediately noticed the unit's display is broken. It was packed VERY WELL therefore it was defective when sold. Thanks for wasting my shipping costs and time.
"

"I bought a used guitar and had it shipped to my local Guitar Center for pickup. Guitar was listed as "Excellent Condition", which per Guitar Center's own website is defined as:

"This product is in like new condition and shows little to no signs of use. Free from blemishes, scratches, and user wear. All controls are completely functional."

Well that simply wasn't true in this case. Guitar has a 1/2" gouge on it, deep enough that wood is showing through the finish. Granted this may have happened during shipping or when the employee was removing it from the box but that wasn't the only problem that was completely contrary to their definition of excellent.

Back of neck has a 5 or 6" scuff running down it. It's not detected when playing but it's there, doesn't look very good, and certainly not something that should be on a "like new" guitar.

Finish has substantially worn off tuning knobs and also a bit on the tremolo.

Finish flaked off on edge of tremolo spring cover where someone probably used a knife or whatever to pry cover off at some point.

Appears that one of the original black chrome strap buttons was replaced at some point with a chrome button. Not a big deal but not "like new" either.

Frets could use some touching up. Their not terrible but they're not "like new" or "excellent" either. Fret board was fairly filthy, which is another obvious sign of user wear.

No tremolo bar included. When I called to verify it wasn't perhaps overlooked in the box full of styrofoam peanuts it shipped in I was informed it probably didn't have one because most people keep them when they sell Guitar Center a guitar. I would bet at least $3.07 it came with one from the factory. Silly me assumed "like new" and "fully functional" kind of implied it would be included. If you can't use part of the guitar without buying a replacement tremolo bar, it's hard to call it "fully functional".

Plenty of surface scratches, especially picking marks. Not a few, but enough to take the mirror finish down to a dull haze where your fingers normally rest while playing. These are impossible to miss and guitar should never have been listed as being in excellent condition.

Some of you reading this might think I'm just nitpicking and shocked to learn I'll probably be keeping the guitar because the problems aren't major and I know I can fix all of the issues myself for under fifty bucks... but I shouldn't have to do any refinishing on a "like new" guitar, and if I couldn't do it myself it would cost a considerable amount of money to bring it back to "like new" condition. It's how Guitar Center responded that prompted me to write this. Their stance is basically "take it or leave it". No compromising on their part. Best I could get out of them is "maybe we can track down a tremolo bar" but that's a $20 part and barely worth driving across town to pick up and really not worth dealing with them again. They left me feeling pretty confident they really don't give a **** whether I keep it or not, and if it wasn't a one year only guitar I've been seeking out for a few years I'd have several suggestions pertaining to what they could do with it after I returned it.

As always buyer beware, and remember to take their claims of "excellent condition" with a sizable grain of salt lest you too end up disappointed with their poor customer service. Saying "that **** dude!" is a far cry from asking the customer "how can we fix this?". "

"I ordered a new guitar and was sent a used and defective item - a floor model from a store that was clearly abused. Obviously no one checked it from the store being shipped. I then called and ordered another guitar as a replacement and was assured it would be new and factory fresh from the warehouse; 15 minutes later got a call from another supervisor that my order was cancelled. He said I could only exchange this guitar for a similar used floor model!! Argued with him for 15 minutes because the previous supervisor OK'd the replacement! Nowhere does it say floor model on the website when I ordered the guitar. Terrible. Customer service was customer NO service! Stay away - there are plenty of other music stores on the web and brick and mortar that you can order from - choose one of those over this crappy company!"

"SOLD COUNTERFEIT BC RICH INSTRUMENTS !!!

After a positive, near 40-year relationship with GC Hollywood, I feel the need to disclose the details of a very disturbing situation. In 1993, A GC customer purchased four BC Rich USA instruments from that location. In or about 2010 or 2011, he retuned with them claiming that they were counterfeit (fake's). David Weiderman, a decades long employee and one of the sales people who initially sold the instruments, refunded him 10K and took possession of the products. Mr. Weiderman then put them back out for sale in the store. In 2011, I purchased one of them, a 1993 build, BC Rich USA Bich Supreme. He informed me of the history of the first buyer and I insisted on a purchase order copy from GC showing BR Rich itself provided them the guitar in order to avoid any future confusion as to the instruments legitimacy. A week or so later, he produced what he claimed was the P.O., I placed in the case and drove home with the instrument ... five years ago. The P.O. in fact was simply a copy of the original customer's receipt from 1993. I sold the guitar two days ago in the amount of 2500.00 to a respected dealer who blew up on me a day later over the fact it (and the other three) had been deemed 'fakes' on more than one website. I verified his claims with the actual (still living) makers of all BCR instruments from 1977-current. They (all four instruments) were left over B stock unfinished guitars purchased, then pieced together and finished by Ed Roman Guitars in Nevada. I have had two days off work, numerous hours invested in finding the truth and over 20 hours of anger and grief dealing with this. Guitar Center is possibly criminally liable as well for knowingly selling counterfeit guitars. A Civil Action is being prepared this evening and I will notify the SPD Detectives on Monday to, at least, report this as a intent to defraud."

"I purchased a clearance amp from guitarcenter.com and it wasn't updating my status to processing or shipping ,etc. So I emailed customer service to see what was going on with the order and asked if it was new or a floor model.
They replied that the system is glitchy sometimes and that it definitely was a new amp.
It arrived in an old beat up box for something else. I opened it up to find a 2 year old floor model. It's a tube amp so it kinda matters how old the tubes are. It also had absolutely no paperwork or manual.

Very shady. They will boldface lie to you to make a sale. Sent it back and will NEVER deal with them again. I will go to one of their many competitors that don't have to lie to make a sale.

"

"I have to give 5 stars to Manager Garret at Bedford Park IL store, who helped me solve a confusing issue from a item cancelation, it took about two hrs, he was very polite and gentle with me, he never stopped digging into the problem until finaly found the answer and then after all I got my refund ...! If you ever have an issue in this store ask for this guy! He'll definatelly help you!"

"At the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year my grandson wanted to join beginner band and learn the clarinet. I ordered him the Student Clarinet Model ECL-100 Standard from guitarcenter.com, it seemed like a great deal as the list price was $399.00 and it was on sale for $159.00. At first everything seemed fine until my grandson had to learn the more complicated keys, it was at this point we found that some of the keys on the Student Clarinet Model ECL-100 Standard did not function. As I had purchased the clarinet new in September of 2015 and this was January of 2016, I was sure that guitar center would offer to repair or replace the clarinet. Boy was I ever wrong. They refused to do anything, sorry you can only return an instrument for the first 45 days. To add insult to injury, in an email to me, they admit that the Student Clarinet Model ECL-100 Standard is a cheap piece of rubbish but then offer to sell me a more expensive model at full price. Here is a quote from their email "these models do incur a bit of defects, due to their inexpensive build." I for one will never do business with Guitar Center again and I would highly recommend that everyone avoid this horrible company. On the bright side, I did find another company, Instrumental Savings, that offered a reasonably priced clarinet with a 3 year warranty included, unlike guitar centers 45 days. "

"This is the last time I will order online with Guitar Center. I'm taking my business to Sweetwater, where they excel at customer service. I ordered a discounted 'open box' effect unit for an upcoming gig. I received it Wednesday. Removed the 'Quality Tested and Inspected' sticker, plugged it in, and heard a high pitch squeal. The squeal did not go away, tried different cords, guitars, amps, outlets. Definitely a defective unit. Called customer service and explained the situation. They said I would have to return it. I asked for a new one at the same cost, and to be expedited. They refused.

I found another unit at another guitar center online, used. I ordered it Wednesday night and paid $50 for overnight delivery as I needed it for the weekend. They didn't ship until Friday, delivered Monday, wasted $50, and had no effects for my gig Sunday.
This is the second time this has happened regarding receiving defective products.

Buyer beware - Guitar Center recirculates defective units, rather than pulling them from the shelves.

Absolutely unacceptable and incompetent service. I have had great experiences with my local guitar center, but will use Sweetwater for online purchases from now on. "

"ATTENTION!! DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING AT THIS STORE - ESPECIALLY ONLINE! THEY DISPLAY PRODUCTS THEY DON'T EVEN SELL!!! And they don't let you speak to their supervisor they hang up on you!!!"

"I received an e-mail with a 20% off coupon. So I bought a Rodelink microphone. When I bought it, the website did say it was back-ordered, but I was OK with that since the 20% off was a good deal.

I waited a month and checked back on their website. The Guitar Center website said the Rodelink was in-stock. So I called customer service and asked why my order hasn't shipped. They gave some BS excuse about how it might be in-stock in some stores, but not available for online orders. But when I place it in my shopping cart online, it says "in-stock and ready to ship." So the CSR told me it would ship out in the next day or two.

One week later, of course it was not shipped.

Two weeks later it still has not shipped. The whole time the same item shows in-stock and ready to ship on their website.

I finally just cancelled my order and lost my 20% off coupon too. Of course, the CSR at guitar Center didn't care. Now hopefully the order actually gets cancelled. We'll see.

I doubt they were ever going to ship my order."