Guitar Center

Got attitude from some «B» with tattoos, piercings, and a ton of eyeliner because I was trying to understand their «string club». She needs to go work somewhere that doesn’t involve human interaction. Ruined my whole experience and I was so mad I didn’t even shop around and I forgot to get guitar picks. Thanks.

I’ve been to this store a couple times in the past and just recently went back, each time was disappointing. Customer service is awful, had to wait almost an hour to be helped. Never going back.

I spent almost an hour wanting to trade something in to purchase an item on the shelf. Right off the bat the guy tells me they probably won’t want it but they have to test it first. After waiting an hour and the sales guys helped 5 people in front of me while other employees are standing around they tell me immediately they don’t want my item! Avoid this store, customer service is horrible!!!

Went in to buy a strat, was in there for about a half hour and none of the employees even bother to ask if i needed help so i took my business elsewhere.

Going into Guitar Center, my daughter and I found a banjo right away. A salesman approached and began to help my daughter. Then it went wrong. A young man sitting on a bench playing a guitar asked the salesman a question. This interruption wasn’t a single instance, because that could be overlooked. However this happened again and again. Once the salesman put one guitar back for a customer and retrieved him another making us wait yet again. This happened at least 5 times by about 4 different male customers. Interruption after interruption. Here is the point. My daughter and I could have been taken care of in a matter of minutes. Instead my daughter and I were there almost an hour. Here is another point: What ever happened to first come, first serve. And other customers politely waiting their turn? It was rude by the salesman and the other (male) customers, who, by the way left without buying anything. This culture of helping male customers and ignoring what they were doing with a female customer, is uncouth. If you are a female, I’d ask the salesman to look you in the eye and promise to take care of your purchase without interruptions. Or be ready to sit down and wait until all the male customers are taken care of. (that can be an hour or more)

As a jazz player I’m incredibly disappointed in their lack of selection in strings. Hardly any flatwound strings, and none that I would use. off to online shopping I guess.

This store has improved leaps and bounds recently under the current management team. I’ve always used them for various things over the years, with results both good and bad, but with the current crew they’ve got it firing on all cylinders now. Gil in the repair shop is worth the trip alone… absolutely outstanding repair work!

Outstanding customer experience! Son’s used bass was shipped damaged. Staff went out of their way to fix the bass immediately. Great job and thank you.

Shout-​out to Gilbert, who is a guitar repair wizard!
My husband has taken his instruments into this location with various sound issues over the past 18 months. And each time, Gilbert has taken a look-​n-​listen and deciphered exactly what was wrong. He righted each issue quickly, for either no charge or a most affordable option! THANK YOU!

Between two recent visits, the first on black Friday (very busy!) and today (much slower) my boyfriend and I actually received better customer service on the busier day. We asked to try out a multi effects pedal and had no problems, however when we tried to do the same thing today the employee gave us a hard time & sent us off with a lame alternative. When asking questions about the multi effects pedals the two employees we spoke with did not seem to be very knowledgeable. Not only that, but with today being a slower day it was still impossible to try any equipment out without being completely drowned out by a Jimi Hendrix wannabe who admitted he was only there to play, not actually purchase anything. It’s common courtesy to keep your volume at a decent level when there are other customers trying to test out equipment that they actually plan to buy… all while an employee just sat and watched him play. My boyfriend couldn’t even tune the guitar he was using because of the ridiculously loud volume of the other person’s guitar. Even the other customers being helped had to deal with employees having to shout at them to be heard.
We’ve made the mistake of purchasing equipment before testing it and being able to test it is supposed to be one of the benefits of going to Guitar Center. If you want to make commission, instead of trying to feed customers some bs that you’re pulling out of your bum you should actually put forth that wasted effort on making sure your customers are having a good experience & are able test out equipment. I guarantee people will be more likely to make a purchase. You definitely lost a customer today as we will be looking elsewhere for future purchases.

I love GC. I hate GC.
It’s great that you can go play with anything on the floor. It sucks if you want to ask a question or god forbid try something out that’s high up on the wall and expensive. Gil, the GC garage guru is awesome. Knowledgeable, helpful and his passion happens to be in line with mine, Japan made guitars especially Charvel and Jackson. Everyone else doesn’t know jack about sh*t. The good is that you can spend an hour trying out stuff. The bad is that you can spend an hour trying to get some help from people that don’t know how to answer your questions. And aren’t willing to anyhow.
First issue I had was when I wanted a cheap-​ish amp for my 6 yr old to play on. Price under $ 150. Dani tells me they don’t have anything like that. Next to the registers they have «Acoustic» amps that start at $ 60. I buy one, it sucks, I return it and get a Peavey Vyper Vip1. Great little amp btw. No one there knew anything about it. Second issue, I wanted an acoustic that was smaller than a dreadnought. «We don’t have those.» They actually have several but no one seemed to know this (my budget was $ 500‑1000) I joined the string club and go there once a month for free strings. Other than that, ill spend my cash somewhere else.
There was a girl named Alex that was great but I haven’t seen her in a while. Also Jeremy sold me a used Jackson that kicks ass. He was cool and willing to help. But come on guys. Train your people or get rid of them. You lost at least $ 1000 from me because you didn’t want my money.
Here’s some advice: say hi when someone walks in. Don’t wait until they’re leaving to ask if they need help with anything. And you sell more than Taylor, Fender and Gibson. Sell it! Don’t berate me because I want something else.
The manager should be fired and replaced with someone that cares about the employees and customers.

Started playing guitar two weeks ago and went to a few stores to find the right beginner acoustic guitar. I found what I was looking for at a decent price but wondered around for awhile before I was helped. I went back again for a finger strengthener to learn chords and the same thing happened. I asked a lot of questions about tips for starting and what I would need and they weren’t informative at all I had to go back for more flexible picks too. Will be looking for another music store in town with better customer service.
I came back and had a much better experience got helped by 2 people and was very happy !

I’ve had really good luck here. Jeremy is the salesman I’ve worked with and he is an excellent resource. GC has a great inventory and overall really good prices. I’ve purchased guitars at GC and other places, for family /​friends and haven’t had a bad experience anywhere, including GC.
Had to have a repair done on one of my guitars and the local GC repairman didn’t do that kind of repair, referred me to Cremer in Aurora.
Nice folks here.

I will never like shopping at a place like this. A place that takes money out of the hands of the local mom and pop stores. They force brands like Fender to not allow anyone within a certain mile range to sell their products.
That being said, just like every other Musician out there, I’ve had to shop here for somethings. I don’t blame that on the individuals in the store. Not the people selling stuff. I blame it on their corporate, so I’ll just judge them by what I’ve seen.
Jeremy is a great guy. If you need something, he’s a great resource.
Also I’ve taken classes here on how to use Garage Band, that were 100% free and 100% got me creative again.
So, mixing the good with the bad I will say they get 3 stars. They serve a purpose I wish we didn’t need, but if you do need them… they usual can get the job done right. If you know who to talk to.

1÷22÷2014
is the day that I went inside to see if they had any Fenders on sale. I’ve been eyeing a Fender American deluxe or a standard and there were different ones on the wall. They had the one I loved but I wanted to know a little more about it. Besides the person in the front who «Greets» you, no one asked me if I had any questions or help. I had my wallet full of cash ready to be spent today since I’m a regular customer. I honest was shocked.
I had purchased a Gibson Les Paul Studio Deluxe ii about two months ago and the salesman named Jeremy who sold me that specific guitar did not even say hello. I was definitely not happy about that.
Of course, I walked around the store and see the used area and saw a guitar that I might have also liked. I asked to see it, and a red headed girl came to help get it down for me. That’s about as much help I received today. It wasn’t even busy.
So, I went to the accessories area for guitar and asked for a Gibson nitro finish polish. She did not seem familiar with the polish and gave me one that said Gibson on it. All I wanted was a polish for the body and a fretboard cleaner. I don’t think it was much to ask for.
I received better customer support at Sweetwater and Zzounds. I’m done being a GuitarCenter fan. You have lost a potential of $ 3000.

I came here to check out acoustic guitars after looking online for a while. An older gentleman came into the acoustic room and helped me out when I told him which models I was considering. When they didn’t have it in stock, I asked him for suggestions within a certain budget with a few different ideas in mind. He suggested a couple different guitars and explained the differences, pros/​cons between them, and seemed really knowledgeable about the products and guitar in general. Not only did he recommend a great guitar at a discounted price (I later went online to look at more reviews, which were all 5 stars), but he played a few songs for me on it since I was a little shy. The case meant for the guitar I was buying had a broken piece on it, so he gave me a hard shell case from the next model up. I wanted to get the 2-​year warranty, but it was a little expensive. He took off about $ 30 from the guitar so that net, the insurance was only ~$ 20. Overall, I was very satisfied with the customer service and he didn’t try up-​selling me at all.
Later on I went back for some odds and ends like picks, and everyone was pretty friendly then, too. Their employees didn’t seem too much like vultures, like other places with commissioned sales people.
I prefer this location over the Joliet location.

I rarely ask sales people for help, but this gentleman insisted on asking me questions and making recommendations.
So when I mentioned I needed a ¼ stereo to 3.5mm patch cable for a headphone amp, he insisted I didn’t need stereo and gave me a mono patch cable, assuring me this was needed for headphone amps (which the store itself was sold out).
It threw me for a spin at the store, how he could be so adamant on the mono cable, and it wasn’t until I tested it out that I realized he was full of it. Sound only out of the left earpiece.
I know the store is in Aurora, but it should relocate to Grrrr Ridge.

Normally I hate Guitar Centers because they employ cut throat salesman who know nothing about musical equipment, view you as a quick sale, and provide terrible customer service. This particular guitar center is different and a diamond in the rough…
I have been to this store numerous times and I’ve been very impressed! Everyone who’s helped me in this store has either been exceptionally knowledgeable regarding the products they’ve shown me, or immediately directed me to someone who is an expert on any respective product. They’ve spent time with me answering my questions and didn’t blow me off when other customers entered the store like I’ve experienced at other guitar centers.
I have to give props to Alex Benitez-​he sold me some fantastic equipment and was honest and thorough throughout the entire process. If you want some great customer service, speak with Alex. He’s a straight shooter…

Awesome store! Came in here to buy a X-​mas present and wanted to start playing! Helpful employees, very friendly! Everything imaginable for your music needs!

At the time of this writing there are three reviews for this Guitar Center. Two reviewers gave it only one star, and one review gave it four stars.
I’m going to give it two stars for the following reasons:
The customer service is beyond bad. It SUCKS.
What makes the customer service so bad? Good question.
a.. It is obvious that the staff works on commission, and that they are far more concerned with making a big sale, than getting the customer what he /​she wants at the best possible price. As evidenced by the attempts to upsell to more expensive items that most people do not need.
When they try to upsell they will say things like
«This is the industry standard.»
«This is a piece of equipment you can grow into.»
«This is what I /​my band uses.»
«There is more prestige with this brand.»
I could go on but I’m sure that you get the point.
I feel that when a customer walks into a story knowing what they want, the staff is allowed to make a suggestion if there is a «better» option. However, if the customer says they are not interested in said «better» option the staff should not continue to try to sell said «better» option… Maybe I’m crazy…
b. The staff is really in your face, always asking if you need help. That might seem like an odd thing to complain about, but I don’t like being offered help three or more times in the span of 15 minutes.
c. When you ask a question about something I believe (but can’t prove) that the staff will often just make something up. Often the thing they make up is to try and convince you to buy a «better» item.
Having said all that, it would be irresponsible for me not to mention that this store does have a very good selection of merchandise. The large selection is what saved them from getting only one star.
In the end: If you know what you want, and don’t mind having to fend off over zealous sales people who work on commission this is a good place to go. But if there is an alternative go to that place first.