I don’t normally like to blast anyone publicly. But this experience has left me very bitter and I will not be giving Guitar Center my business again. Just because I’m inexperienced at guitars, does not make me stupid. I certainly don’t appreciate being treated as such when my suggestion not only gets ignored, but had they tried it, it would have worked as you’ll see in the video below.
On July 22, 2024, I just finished up my yearly cardiology appointment. I had brought my Fender Acoustasonic Player Telecaster with me. I live 3 hours away from Saginaw, which has the closest Guitar Center to me. I was interested in using their Trade-In Program as I’ve just never been very happy with my guitar.
The frets are horrible and will hurt your fingers even after I had them filed down some (at a more local guitar tech). While it was in the shop, I had the strings changed and had the tech check the intonation. If there was a problem then, he never mentioned it. Still with the fixes, I never really liked the sound of this guitar. So I decided I wanted to try and trade it in for an actual acoustic guitar.
Anyway, I went in the Saginaw Guitar Center and asked if the program was still available. They said yes, but because of the whole CrowdStrike issue, they were unable to do it that day. But could offer me an estimate of what my guitar would be worth. So I went and got the guitar out of the car.
They took the guitar to the tech bench and I could see the tech trying to use a tool in the truss rod access hole. He kept moving the tool rapidly from side to side. This confused me and I walked over and asked what was wrong. He told me that he couldn’t find the truss rod. I found that to be odd. So as a tech savvy person in my other fields in my life, I immediately thought I have everything that came with my guitar in the case the guitar came in. So I grabbed the truss rod tool (which is an appropriately sized Allen (hex) Key). I offered it to the tech. He refused and said the tool he was using is the same size. Then he tilted the guitar up. Using a flashlight and a set of magnifying glasses said he didn’t see anything but threads in the opening. Then handed the guitar back and said my truss rod was incomplete and he could no longer help me.
I’ve never had good service at this Guitar Center to begin with. This of course, makes me even more angry. I was shunned at my suggestion and treated like an idiot. I really don’t like being treated this way. So I made this video after I had calmed down enough to do so. Just to prove that I’m not an idiot and that I don’t like being lied to.
So Guitar Center. Specifically the one in Saginaw Michigan. I will no longer support your company in any way. Nor will I suggest you with people seeking new gear, repairs or anything related to your company.