Guitar Center selling New Guilds

idealassets

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Just to be clear, my personal experience here was that you buy the item first to get it delivered to your local GC (or any GC you want - I bought something online from my home in MA and had it shipped to Emeryville, CA where I was visiting). It's clearly not the same as just trying something that's "in stock" in a store. That said, as we all know, there's a very lenient and easy return policy if your real intent is just to get something into the store so you can try it out. I don't know what GC does if you "return" the item. My guess is they just ship it back to whatever distribution center it came from, but perhaps they put it up in the store. Dunno.

Don't know about new guitars, but in my experience GC does not have an easy return policy. They prefer to send the guitar directly to your address, then you drive it back to a nearby store- which the store of origin gives you with a computer search. Its all so easy until you have to explain to 2 managers "what is wrong with the guitar", and that I preferred a refund.

In my case it was an overpriced used "mint" JF65-12 that when it arrived needed a neck reset, had excessive top bellying and was missing some side braces that were removed or had come unglued. It also sounded bad and muffled. I brought along my Guild F512 so they could A-B the 2 guitars, and resulted in creating a scene right in the middle aisle of the store. I explained that the condition was not quite as described, (but still had a "mint" nitro finish), and very likely (from experience) would end up with costly and undesirable repair results. After a long wait, being the bearer of bad news, even though the guitar "looked mint, just like new" I got my refund.

I was also informed that my local GC store was getting stuck with this guitar, would absorb the monetary loss, and it was not going to be sent back to Connecticut where it came from. It was then priced for sale at about $1000 less than what I paid for it, and it sat in the guitar room for nearly a year unsold, with the end game unknown.


After some time has elapsed I hope all is well with my local GC store. Although for today I am hesitant to risk having a repeat of my first experience.
 
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chazmo

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Craig, we were talking about an item that one orders from GC's site to have delivered to a (nearby) store for you to pick it up. In the case of some of the stuff I've bought, it was new and did not have a store of origin.

That said, your story is interesting and perhaps cautionary. I have not heard of other folks giving gas back to customers who are trying to return something. Perhaps it's different with used equipment.
 

walrus

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My two "return" experiences were very good ones, and definitely "easy".

Bought a guitar online (Godin Montreal Premeire), had it shipped to my local store, tried it and within 30 minutes said I didn't want it. They refunded my money with no questions asked.

Bought a Gibson ES-335 in one GC, took it home a few days, didn't care for it. Returned it to a different store, taken back with no questions asked.

walrus
 

ezstrummer

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That is correct. I ordered it from a store and had it shipped to the store. That way when it comes in I can try it out and look it over before I agree to take it.
 

adorshki

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Perhaps it's different with used equipment.
I'm positive that's the case.
We've even seen how they've changed their definitions of "used" into 2 categories in the last couple of years , and that "vintage" has different return rules, now.
I'm sure "new" pieces will get little if any "pushback" on a return because they're inherently less risky.
Heck, some makers'll even take 'em back in "stock rotations": they'll take back slow moving inventory as long as equal dollars of other stock is taken in replacement.
That's also another way a central warehouse can be more cost-effective, when processing such moves..
 

bobouz

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GC does not have an easy return policy. They prefer to send the guitar directly to your address, then you drive it back to a nearby store- which the store of origin gives you with a computer search. Its all so easy until you have to explain to 2 managers "what is wrong with the guitar", and that I preferred a refund.

It is easy, if you know the policy & ignore the total baloney those particular managers were giving you (based on their own in-store run-around because they didn't want to get stuck with a POS guitar).

I've had used and new items shipped to my house, and then returned them to my store of choice, including a used item damaged in shipment, that they took back - no questions asked. If you get any of the silliness those guys were trying to pull on you, just insist on the refund, period, or call the online help number to have them talk to those idiots at the store.

Again, the best bet is to know the current policy (via the online help number) before you buy to make sure nothing has changed. But suffice to say, I've never received one iota of trouble at the three regional stores I've dealt with, both shipped to my house, or shipped to the store.
 

PittPastor

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My two "return" experiences were very good ones, and definitely "easy".

Bought a guitar online (Godin Montreal Premeire), had it shipped to my local store, tried it and within 30 minutes said I didn't want it. They refunded my money with no questions asked.

Bought a Gibson ES-335 in one GC, took it home a few days, didn't care for it. Returned it to a different store, taken back with no questions asked.

walrus

I've returned three guitars to GC within the 30 days allotted, and all I ever had to say was: "I didn't love it." Weird that people's experience varies so widely. I guess it depends on the manager. (For the record, it was to 2 different GCs but both in the greater Pittsburgh area.
 

ezstrummer

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I finally got my new 12 string yesterday, and absolutely love it. I tried posting pic, but for some reason this web site is darn difficult when it comes to posting picks. Other guitar forums I'm on make so easy.
 

fronobulax

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I finally got my new 12 string yesterday, and absolutely love it. I tried posting pic, but for some reason this web site is darn difficult when it comes to posting picks. Other guitar forums I'm on make so easy.

Host the pictures somewhere else and link to them here. Cost and liability are among the reasons LTG asks people to take one extra step to post pictures.
 

Westerly Wood

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it is easier to do it from the phone on LTG, from my experience.
 

chazmo

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Nice looking axe, ez. Hope it serves you well!

When you have a chance, have a look in the soundhole. I'm curious whether there are one or two truss rods in the latest MIC Guild 12s.
 

PittPastor

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Ill see if this works.

Works great! Looks Great! (FIFY)

My only complaint is that with all of the real estate on the headstock, they should have laid in a Chesterfield. But that's just one man's opinion...

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MCKxSEP.jpg
 

ezstrummer

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I agree 100% about the headstock. there is only one truss rod.
 

chazmo

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Mark, on the US-built 12s, that change order to go from 2 x single-action truss rods to 1 x dual-action rod (flanked by two carbon rods) took effect in either 2007 or 2008 in Tacoma. However, I'm fairly certain that I saw GADs being built with 2 truss rods after that time. In any case, I was asking ez about this as his is of fairly new vintage (probably under CMG's stewardship). Looks like they've picked up the single truss there too. I presume they're also using the fixed carbon rods, but that's a wild guess.
 
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