GC let me down....

[dteverhart]

...Yeah I know, big surprise.

The story is, I go into Guitar Center Yesterday before the Super Bowl looking to buy the stuff to assemble a pedal board. They didn't have any smaller boards in but they did have a Voodoo Lab power supply which I bought for around $120.00.

Today, I'm going through my G-Mail and I see GC sent me the Friends and Family Coupon on Jan 29th but it expired Feb 1st (Yesterday). I was figuring on ordering the pedal board online so I get online Customer Service, explain the situation and ask if they could honor the coupon towards the purchase of the pedal board since it was only one day late. They said that they couldn't but that I should try to ask the local store I purchased the power supply from to honor the coupon.

So after work I drive the 20 miles back to the only GC in SW Idaho, and explain the emailed coupon situation to the manager. He told me there was nothing that could be done and that "Corporate" was really cracking down on it.

I guess I could have went with the "Look me up in your system, total up the amount I've spent here in the last two years alone*, and think real hard before you decide that's your final answer." strategy, but that would probably just make me the asshole. Also in the managers defense he said that they send out coupons all the time and that I still had 29 days to use a new coupon for a price match refund on what I bought yesterday. If that's the case though, why not do me the solid now and save me the hassle?

Anyway, I said "Thanks for your time." and left. I didn't go all fire and brimstone and threaten a boycott because I like to try guitars out before I buy them and GC is the only authorized Gibson dealer in a 5 hour radius so it's not like I'll never go back. And I DID go 4 days without checking my e-mail.

But for the near future, anything that I'm more willing to buy online (pedals, electronics, PA's, mixers, ect) will be bought from another source, starting with that pedal board.

*$5000.00 in major purchases the last two years to say nothing of strings, picks, cords, straps, ect. A $2000.00 subwoofer online 5 years ago, and lot of other more minor purchases in 10 years since they drove out most of the local mom and pops. Not as much as some but way more than a lot of the loiterers hanging out in there scuffing up the merchandise.

 

[NHDave]

return it... getting credits after the fact is way too hard... a lot of good rescources for GC discounts... cashback sites, 12% off e-certs (a promotion that was running in the last week but not sure it's still active)... coupons that you can often waive the limitations on if you call them or talk in store and aren't too much if a jerk.

GC is a slow moving monster, after the sale support is not one of their strengths... what they do understand is when you return it, and are free to negotiate a better deal or buy where you please... just sayin.. and I spend a lot of dough there.

 

[tzd]

GC coupons are not worth anything, if you read the fine print all major brands are excluded.

 

[dteverhart]

GC coupons are not worth anything, if you read the fine print all major brands are excluded.

Yeah the excluded list is pretty long, though the last one I used was accepted for 20% off a Fender Tweed hardshell case.

 

[ARandall]

Some of those coupons are just suckers.....or completely useless.

I buy bike parts a lot through a big online store called Chain Reaction. When they send you the goods they also include a coupon in the mail. Almost inevitably by the time it has reached most of the places they send to it will have expired.

 

[uwmcscott]

Why didn't you just call about the coupon instead of driving 20 miles?

 

[sonar]

You drove 20 miles to save what, $12?

 

[snow and steel]

returning the PS and buying it on line would make a bigger statement.

Then go buy it all at sweetwater - if you are making a big purchase all at once they sometimes will deal a touch. plus you'll save tax.

Or go my route - buy a board used on a forum [there are tons of them out there and its not like you can break a board], and then get the pedals either used or direct from the guy who makes them [if you like the boutique stuff like I do].

 

[flats750]

It's their fault because you looked at your emails late?

The manager should have given you the discount on what you did purchase however. Him not doing it, was him being lazy...

 

[dteverhart]

Why didn't you just call about the coupon instead of driving 20 miles?

Because at the time, I was confident they'd work with me. Also, had they wanted to play ball, they probably would have needed my receipt. Plus i wanted to see if by chance any boards had come in. Sure, in hindsight calling would have saved me 2 hours but at the time it seemed feasible.

It was a 20% coupon on 100 dollar or more purchase. The power unit was 120.00 so I would have saved more than 12 dollars.

And gas is currently averaging 1.85 per gallon here.

It's really more principle than anything else.

 

[dteverhart]

It's their fault because you looked at your emails late?

The manager should have given you the discount on what you did purchase however. Him not doing it, was him being lazy...

Hey, i copped to that... It just seems just seems like an awful short time for a coupon's validity, and it was only one day.

Guess i should spend less time playing and more time online

 

[scalibur]

Just dont go to GC anymore. Sorry but my local GC is great for used gear.

 

[stgreg]

Wow.. $1.85 per gallon, where do you live? I'll move there. When it comes to GC, I go there to look at things and try them out, but I don't buy in store. I call that "central online" number. Those folks have always been willing to drop the price and work with me regarding "online only" coupon codes.

 

[dteverhart]

Wow.. $1.85 per gallon, where do you live? I'll move there. When it comes to GC, I go there to look at things and try them out, but I don't buy in store. I call that "central online" number. Those folks have always been willing to drop the price and work with me regarding "online only" coupon codes.

Nampa Idaho,
The cheap gas prolly wont last much longer....exxon, mobile, and company wont allow it.

 

[stgreg]

Nampa Idaho,
The cheap gas prolly wont last much longer....exxon, mobile, and company wont allow it.

Gas around here (gas as in fuel ) hasn't been $1.85 since the 1980's. Now... back to Guitars...

 

[Fuelish]

Gas around here (gas as in fuel ) hasn't been $1.85 since the 1980's.

Gas around here is around $1.86.9 .....with "gas points" from shopping at our local grocery store, got $1.00 off per gallon!!! $0.86.9 per gallon @ a Shell station ....wished I had a bigger gas tank...LOL

 

[Zepp76]

They let you down because they wouldn't honour an out of date coupon? Times are hard hey.

 

[AudioWonderland]

GC coupons are not worth anything, if you read the fine print all major brands are excluded.

Except that those lists generally meant nothing if you went in the store. They seem to be changing that policy which is somewhat puzzling given the easy access to the competition thanks to the internet. I will find a deal somewhere else or find a used option. Playing hardball with customers is really not a great choice in the current climate

 

[dteverhart]

Expired by 1 day. Emailed on the 29th, expired on the 1st. That spanned the weekend. Not everybody is a slave to their technology and checks their non work email constantly.

I'm not outraged by all of this... merely disappointed. As I said, with as much money as I've given their store I would think they could do a little better and if that makes me demanding, then Mea Culpa. The manager in a nutshell said "well, the next coupons will be out before the 30 day period so lets do it then." If you could do it then then why not do it now while I'm already here and the sale is fresh. I'm not making him the villain in this... it's GC's corporate level.

They are not banned from my custom... just in "time out" for a while.

 

[SGeoff]

yeah, make em suffer