WhiskeyChick

An open letter to the staff at Guitar Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas:

(Updated to include response) We recently moved from Phoenix, AZ to a tiny town in middle-of-nowhere Oklahoma, putting us a good 45 minute drive away from any real shopping, and from our nearest Guitar Center location. Today I convinced my husband, an avid guitarist with his own recording studio, to go all the way to Fayetteville for an errand then surprised him by stopping into Guitar Center instead to pick out his Valentine’s gift. The intention was to pick out a new guitar, as well as upgrade his studio monitor speakers, both of which are not pocket-change purchases. Above that there was a list of small things we needed.

To begin with, there were many, many representatives in the store adjusting shelving, moving things around, and otherwise working, but not one offered to assist us. When we asked for assistance in seeing their selection of lefty 6-string electrics, a young salesman very enthusiastically tried to convince us that a right-handed Zakk Wylde strung upside-down was JUST what he needed. Had my husband been a 16-year old boy maybe that sales pitch would work. However, he is a sponsored guitar player who has played for countless years, some of which was with a signed and touring band. After having his sales pitch rejected, the salesman went back to his busywork without showing us any other guitars.

We eventually found a guitar that was semi-interesting, however, again, no salespeople seemed to find the time to help take it down from the top row of hangers, so we moved on to the studio monitors.  For this my husband had narrowed it down to two models of KRK VXT monitors. We then asked a man behind the counter if her could demonstrate the sound on them. He logged into the computer the VXT 6’s were plugged into, turned up the volume on a pop song for a moment, then turned it right back down and went back to his counter without saying anything. I don’t know about you, but 15 seconds on Lady Gaga is not enough time to determine whether I will spend several hundred dollars on a pair of monitors.

Overall the service at that location has been either neglectful or just plain rude. The only person who has provided us with consistently positive service at that store (I believe his name is David) was not there today, and I will not be visiting that location again in the future. There are other locally owned and far more service-oriented music stores within ten minutes of this GC location that will be seeing my business in the future.

Thank you for your time, but short of completely retraining the staff at that store, I am not sure how you could change the customer experience.

Cheers!

Shauna “WhiskeyChick” Castorena

www.thedhnetwork.com

Response from rep:

Thank you very much for taking the time to write. I’m incredibly embarrassed and sorry for the lack of service you experienced at Guitar Center Fayetteville. I am going to forward your comments to the entire chain of management above that store which includes the Store Manager, District Manager, Regional VP of Sales, VP of Stores and VP of Training. We do take your feedback seriously, and I assure you this will be a topic of discussion and training in Fayetteville.

I understand that you have options of where to shop and that this experience could very easily turn you away from the store. Your business is important to us. I would be honored if you would grant me the opportunity to earn your business back.