Went looking for a new guitar, got legalese, T&Cs and a lot of gift vouchers

Christophe

If there is something you like the look of in one of their other stores online they will send it to Brum for you to try without obligation. That way at least you can narrow it down via the web but try the guitar in person

Bridgehouse

Christophe said:

If there is something you like the look of in one of their other stores online they will send it to Brum for you to try without obligation. That way at least you can narrow it down via the web but try the guitar in person

Get them to send EVERY guitar to Brum

Jack_

Buy loads of the cheapest stuff they have, up to the value of your vouchers, and then send it all back.

Or poo through their letterbox.

wackojacko

Turns out there is no such thing, there is only online support or in-store support because they have two separate T&C’s so I was redirected to the store manager and then the director who told me that they are not a “lending library” for musicians to come in and gig their gear, trash them and return them. They have been in the industry for X amount of years and seen everything. He regaled a story where a mother of a staff member overheard customers talking about how they were going to return gear after a gig so their policy was to stop people like me taking advantage of the company. I am left with the gift vouchers.

i fully agree with the above quote from the store manager. 

Its a massive problem in retail generally, not just guitars. It costs millions each year because so many people will buy something (mainly clothing for a friday night), wear it once, leave the tag on and bring it back in the next day. Its even more of a problem if purchased online too due to the extra transport/return shipping costs involved. 

Now because one of the golden rules of business is "the customer is always right" - the majority of companies will bend over and take it. 

Sadly, its part of the culture in this age of people using stuff once then returning it and using their "consumer rights" to full advantage. You can understand their scepticism. 

Your case is a little different obviously, a regular customer, who simply changed their mind but I can understand their stance.

I sell bits and bobs on eBay, and state in my returns policy, if the item is faulty, damaged/broken upon arrival then you'll receive a full refund, including the cost of return carriage, no questions asked. If you have simply changed your mind on a purchase then sorry - shouldn't have bid/purchased in the first place and raise the issue with eBay. I shouldn't lose out just because you purchased at 3am while wasted wasted  It's not like i hold a gun to your head and force you to buy. 

Anyway, just my thoughts on the matter. If it was me, I would take the piss a little - go in there with your wad of vouchers and play every single guitar in the store, really, I mean really take the piss and play every single guitar (if you;re sad like me and have the time) before buying one.

jonnyburgo

Ive never been to GG but they sound like the Halfords of guitar shops. That is full of young staff with poor social skills.

Strat_a_tat_tat

I've endured GuitarGuitar's hard sell tactics. Just puts me off dealing with them. Their loss.

fandango

I've nothing but very good experience with GG in Birmingham. I haven't had the hard sell. And would return.

As for buyer's remorse, I've suffered from it, and it sucks.

Mooster

To the argument that their policy discourages customers using them as a lending library, I actually think it encourages it. By wanting a refund, my signal is "okay, I could not find the right gear in your store, sorry." But guitarists are not the type of customer that buys one guitar and leaves never to return - if the store is good. Stores that do have a refund policy in-store are willing to trust their customers and have confidence in their store's appeal to draw in customers through service. GG Brum isn't the friendly store with Glenn, Jim and Mike, it's the store where I had to return a couple of times and had a few rows over the phone with each and every one of them. But I have been forced to study their T&Cs on section 4 very carefully and I will use my vouchers to buy a guitar from them after trying them out one by one in the comfort of my living room. Maybe after trying 5 or 6 or more one by one I might find something suitable. Or maybe I prefer to have a new guitar to borrow every week. The gift card maybe is my library pass.

maltingsaudio

The kicker here is the amount of money spent in the first place, but the principle is the same however much money you spend. You bought something you didn't like but had the chance to inspect it and try it befor purchase,and the store gave you a refund on their terms although they legally needn't . As to being pressured into a sale well I would just say I could be for a plectrum but not an item over £1k .

As to building up a relationship, that is just a personal thing between staff and customers, the big chains have thousands of customers and their computer and accountants don't know care, smaller shops where the owner is spending his/her own money to please you is a different case yet we will still kick these guys in the teeth for a tenner when it comes down to price.

Now let's discuss selling our stuff on eBay and the way our customers treat us 

DefaultM

What the manager said about a lending library was right, but completely out of order to use it on you.
You haven't gigged the guitar and trashed it, and if you had then I hope you wouldn't have received a refund of any kind. 

Musicman20

jonnyburgo said:

Ive never been to GG but they sound like the Halfords of guitar shops. That is full of young staff with poor social skills.

Laughed a bit at this !

Musicman20

Thing is, this whole 'lending library' is just a kickback from retailers hating online policies that they have to have in place....I bet a lot of online guitar stores get hundreds of returns a year, and there isn't really anything they can do.

If you don't like it, don't work in retail or open a business in  it....that would be my stance.

shuikit

DefaultM said:

What the manager said about a lending library was right, but completely out of order to use it on you.
You haven't gigged the guitar and trashed it, and if you had then I hope you wouldn't have received a refund of any kind. 

This sort of attitude is something I find really off.  Whether or not the OP was pressured too much into the sale or the rights/wrongs of the refund aside.  As a customer I want to be treated as me, I'm not the same person who would trash a guitar, never mind trash a guitar and then try and return it.  The main thing going for physical shops is the whole customer relation side of things and if they don't get this right then why would I want to go there?

RocknRollDave

maltingsaudio said:

The kicker here is the amount of money spent in the first place, but the principle is the same however much money you spend. You bought something you didn't like but had the chance to inspect it and try it befor purchase,and the store gave you a refund on their terms although they legally needn't . As to being pressured into a sale well I would just say I could be for a plectrum but not an item over £1k .

I agree with this. Sucks that you're not happy with the guitar you purchased, but the store has given you an option that goes above and beyond their legal obligations and which will allow you to get a different guitar. It's not really GG's fault that they don't have in stock the guitar that you have in your head. Hopefully they will get something in that you like.

Strat54

You need to find someone friendly and local on here that wants to spend £1400 at GG and go shopping with them. I'd gladly help if they had something I wanted...but can't see anything on there at the moment.

sunshinewelly

i am amazed at some of the stuff being posted here. they did not have to offer any refund in the circumstances so actually they have gone above and beyond what they had to do. I usually make all my purchases online so that if the item is not up to scratch i can simply send it back. 

Strangefan

Strat54 said:

You need to find someone friendly and local on here that wants to spend £1400 at GG and go shopping with them. I'd gladly help if they had something I wanted...but can't see anything on there at the moment.



I think that's going abit above and beyond, they would lose their right to a refund if anyhing happens,, op need to just suck it up unfortunately

Sassafras

I usually carry around a few prayer meeting leaflets so that when I come across pushy salesmen, I can turn the tables on them with invitations to join our Jehova's Witness group and promises that they'll burn in Hell if they refuse.
That soon gets rid of them.

sunshinewelly

never had an issue with sales men in stores - if they start bugging you then simply say that unless they leave you alone you will be walking out the store

Dave_Mc

prowla said:

Well, the shop behaved within its rights.

However, the consideration they have neglected is customer goodwill/loyalty.

Next time around, after the £1400 gift vouchers have been used, will you shop there again?

Also a note of caution on gift vouchers - remember you have no recourse if the shop goes under before you spend them!

Yeah that's a very good point. I was fobbed off a while back with vouchers from MusicStore, and I spent them sooner rather than later on the basis that at least I'd have something if the store went out of business.

Christophe said:

If there is something you like the look of in one of their other stores online they will send it to Brum for you to try without obligation. That way at least you can narrow it down via the web but try the guitar in person

Good idea.

wackojacko said:

Turns out there is no such thing, there is only online support or in-store support because they have two separate T&C’s so I was redirected to the store manager and then the director who told me that they are not a “lending library” for musicians to come in and gig their gear, trash them and return them. They have been in the industry for X amount of years and seen everything. He regaled a story where a mother of a staff member overheard customers talking about how they were going to return gear after a gig so their policy was to stop people like me taking advantage of the company. I am left with the gift vouchers.

i fully agree with the above quote from the store manager. 

Its a massive problem in retail generally, not just guitars. It costs millions each year because so many people will buy something (mainly clothing for a friday night), wear it once, leave the tag on and bring it back in the next day. Its even more of a problem if purchased online too due to the extra transport/return shipping costs involved. 

Now because one of the golden rules of business is "the customer is always right" - the majority of companies will bend over and take it. 

Sadly, its part of the culture in this age of people using stuff once then returning it and using their "consumer rights" to full advantage. You can understand their scepticism. 

Your case is a little different obviously, a regular customer, who simply changed their mind but I can understand their stance.

I sell bits and bobs on eBay, and state in my returns policy, if the item is faulty, damaged/broken upon arrival then you'll receive a full refund, including the cost of return carriage, no questions asked. If you have simply changed your mind on a purchase then sorry - shouldn't have bid/purchased in the first place and raise the issue with eBay. I shouldn't lose out just because you purchased at 3am while wasted wasted  It's not like i hold a gun to your head and force you to buy. 

Anyway, just my thoughts on the matter. If it was me, I would take the piss a little - go in there with your wad of vouchers and play every single guitar in the store, really, I mean really take the piss and play every single guitar (if you;re sad like me and have the time) before buying one.

I disagree. Just because some customers are dicks doesn't mean you can assume all customers are dicks, especially when this one appears not to be (i.e. was a previous customer who hadn't sent anything back).

DefaultM said:

What the manager said about a lending library was right, but completely out of order to use it on you.
You haven't gigged the guitar and trashed it, and if you had then I hope you wouldn't have received a refund of any kind. 

Exactly.

RocknRollDave said:

I agree with this. Sucks that you're not happy with the guitar you purchased, but the store has given you an option that goes above and beyond their legal obligations

I'm not sure that's strictly true. Once a store says it has a policy which goes above and beyond what it legally has to offer, it legally has to abide by that policy.