that sucks. I hate tthat crap.

I karate chop people in the neck if they say that...

If my sh*t doesn't arrive tomorrow, I will be walking around my office randomly punching people in the throat.

Many reasons why I don't support Guitar Center.

A couple of the major ones:

- I prefer to support the smaller, local stores rather than the large, faceless chains. Some of the local shops I support are Performance Music Center in Woburn, Joe's Drums in Beverly and occasionally Daddy's.

- Guitar Center is (on a fundamental level) all-about the "now". I have known at least 5-6 people that have worked there and they confirmed it. They do not care how long you've been a customer, how much money you've spent with them or what you know... they are trained to treat EVERY customer like they just walked-in for the first time and you need to "play the game" every time to get the fair price you "should" be paying. EVERY time. No matter how many times you've been there before and even know people by-name.

- I cannot confirm if they are TRAINED to do so, but I will protest that when you CALL them to ask if they have something in-stock BEFORE you make the trek to their location... they almost ALWAYS say yes. I have learned from years of experience (and being let-down) from both the Boston and the Danvers locations... that they want you to walk into the store no matter what. They will TELL you something is in-stock without knowing if it is, just so you go there... and when you get there... they look it up... and say "Well it shows we SHOULD have some... let me go check..." They disappear and come back to say that they must be out, BUT... They can ORDER it for you if you want...!!!

Well... DUH! I can order it MYSELF online and get it cheaper - I came here in-person because you said you HAD them in stock.

If this only happened 4-5 times, I'd say it was a collection of errors, but this has happened DOZENS of times between myself and my ex-partner from a studio.

Before I stopped using them, I would make sure that they put-down the phone and physically go and CHECK in-person for the item to have them hold it for me. More-often-than-not... they'd come back and say - "I guess we're out, it says we have XX of them... I can order it for you if you want..."

No thanks.

With the smaller stores, they remember my name, they give me good deals, they have EXCELLENT customer service, they do more for you, heck... Joe at PMC has let me TAKE GEAR HOME to try out to see if I wanted to buy it. Try THAT at Guitar Center. It'll NEVER happen.

---

There are a few smaller online music retailers that I use for some things... but to get what I needed, I had to go a bit bigger... and I wanted to avoid Musician's Friend because (a) Guitar Center owns them and (b) they have messed-up way too many orders of mine.

So - that's it, mostly...

As a reseller, I feel that I have to remind everyone that the vendor really doesn't always have much control over when the product actually ships.

Please don't shit on me for saying this, it's just the plain truth. Your retailer probably truly believed that your order would go out when the manufacturer said that it would.

But... we are in the same boat as our customers as far as what the factory tells us/you. We really have NO CONTROL over when they actually ship your order. I'm here in Tewksbury and they're somewhere in California. How can I even beat on them if they don't ship your order when I want them to?

It really is tough to run a business long distance, believe me.

This goes for me as a customer and Keeler Designs.

Keep people in the loop and everyone is happy.

{ fist-bump to Erin }

EXACTLY. If your online store says "IN STOCK" and it's the middle of the day and you explicitly want/need overnight shipping... I think it's absolutely unacceptable for it to take 2-3 days before it leaves the building.

---

I am spoiled, I have used online retailers for a LONG time... and there have been retailers (even Musician's Friend) that have made me think that they must have been waiting outside my front-door, waiting for me to click the "CONFIRM" button - and "DING-dong"... THERE IT IS!!!!

I have ordered computer parts around 7:30 pm and had them arrive at my desk at work the following morning.

I have had STANDARD shipping items from Musician's Friend (3-4 years ago) that have arrived next-day and 2nd-day - Yes, "GROUND" shipments making it in less than a day or two.

So, yeah - I'm spoiled. When I really, Really, REALLY need it overnight... I expect it to BE overnight - giving it a 1-day buffer (I thought) was fair.

I know that SOME of these online retailers warehouse stuff and others don't... I don't know "exactly" how it works, but I shouldn't HAVE to know.

Again - this isn't a world-ending crisis by ANY means... my stuff will arrive today (2-days late) and life will go on. I will just look for some other retailer to use next time. That's all.

If Joe @ PMC could GET HotSpot monitors, I'd have gone through him. But I needed to replace it (and some other things) before the weekend.

Anyhow - I've since calmed-down (seeing the tracking number and confirming it's out for delivery) and am over-it.

:)

"Look - here's the deal. If you don't have it in your hand to send out yourself - don't fkn advertise that you have it to send.... especially do not offer overnight shipping. That's fkn ridiculous."

I love it when she talks dirty.

AH! I had no idea... but after doing a search - apparently, Musician's Friend OWNS Music 123.com

GAAAHHH!!!

No WONDER...!!!!

The are (obviously) not upfront about it.

So... both Musician's Friend AND Music 123 are owned by Guitar Center. How wonderful for us consumers. *sigh*

done & done.

Sweetwater is also my #1 right now for music mail order