Guitar Center Reviews 

Ordered a used Fender Jazzmaster, GC stated in excellent condition, description mentioned ships with hardshell case. Arrived no case, nor tremelo arm and no cream tip on the naked toggle switch, also paint flaking off the body near the strap button. This is the 3 time I have ordered a used guitar and did not receive the case a new guitar would have shipped in. Why state ships with hardwood case? This is deceptive business practice pure and simple. Excellent condition? What a lie.

Received a damaged Korg Kronos 3, I purchased used online. Took it back to G.C. In Canton Mi. Martin took great care of me! Processed the return quickly and he was genuinely sorry for the shipping damage. He hooked me up with a great price on a brand new one. I couldn’t be happier. Thanks Martin!

I didn’t walk into a Guitar Center Standalone Store — I simply called GuitarCenter.com expecting simply to buy a Yamaha S35 keyboard for my 11‑year‑old pianist daughter. What I didn’t expect was to be connected with Alex Koehler, a customer service warlock, a salesmanship deity, a man so talented he could probably sell sand in the desert and ice to penguins. A big box Magi so powerful he could probably convince Beethoven himself to upgrade to a digital piano.

Alex didn’t just help me — he guided me, like some kind of retail Gandalf with a headset. His product knowledge was so sharp it could slice through steel-wrapped granite. His professionalism? Off the charts. His charisma? Honestly, I’m shocked my phone didn’t melt. He's like the Tony Robbins of customer service support.

In my brief interaction with him, I came to realize that it is only a matter of time before Alex becomes CEO of Guitar Center… at minimum. Realistically, he should be running the entire global music industrial complex. This man deserves a raise, a promotion, a parade, the Presidential medal of Freedom, and possibly a throne forged from the weighted keys of pianos made with real elephant tusks. The rest of the employees? Wonderful humans, I’m sure — but compared to Alex, they’re mere mortals and basically background characters in the epic saga of Guitar Center Godliness.

If you ever call GuitarCenter.com and don’t specifically request Alex Koehler, you are depriving yourself of a life‑changing, soul‑enriching, borderline spiritual retail experience.
11/10. Would buy again and...would trust him with my Wi‑Fi password and even my tax returns.

You must understand, Alex isn’t just good at his job — he’s operating on a level of customer service mastery that future generations will speak of in hushed, reverent tones in the same way sailors talked about mythical sea Captains.

Shine the spotlight on this man! He deserves the limelight!

Sincerely,

David M. Bishop
Airline Pilot

I called the Paramus NJ facility at the close of business on Sunday the 8th of February. I was offered the chance to transfer to a representative with questions you may have about equipment. I was pleased to have the opportunity to talk to someone as I wanted a used guitar and wanted it before it was gone. Kevin greeted me and told me yes he would be glad to get my order in! So thank you much Kevin. I've bought from Guitar Center for many years and have not ever had a bad experience with them at any location I've frequented or on the phone or online. Keep up the great work Guitar Center!!

I ordered a NEW Bass pedal, but received a used, non-functioning, no box, no paperwork, no accessories pedal loose in a large box. They required that I return the item to a shipper or a store on MY dime. Then they suppressed and changed my review on their website. I gave them multiple opportunities to make this right, but they chose to do nothing.

UPDATE: The response from GC is merely an attempt to look as if they are willing to do something. They are not. I had already sent multiple emails to that address, as well as others without any response. My REVIEW is STILL ALTERED. I would never give such a bad review if it wasn't warranted. They were given months to make this right, but chose not to.

Well how can I say anything less about guitar center then your sales already tell I had a few thousand dollars in my pocket to buy a guitar I was just about to make the mistake and buy another guitar from your store until your sales associate walked up and asked me to not play so loud on an acoustic guitar mind you I am a very good player as well yesterday when I picked out the guitar I was going to purchase someone asked you have to be somebody well I might not be signed because Mayfeld records is unfortunately racist against white people and I made a mistake of telling Warner Records I was going to go with Mayfeld maybe I’m misspelling it it’s the label Rick Ross is on but it’s only a matter of time before I am famous and I guarantee you that the second I am I will give people guitars for free and make sure you don’t sell another one I can’t tell you how many times I have been disappointed by guitar center and Ive only spent probably 25k at the store you would think they would have the common decency regardless of how I dress I’m a born rockstar and every show I do in the future I will say guitar center sucks go to Sweetwater or get a free guitar from me when I’m loaded

I lost my credit card and a purchase of $1,592.69 was made on my credit card without my approval or knowledge I know nothing about these charges and they are saying I made the charges and that the item was Delivered when I didn't receive anything from anyone and I called UPS and without a Tracking number UPS can not help me and the Guitar center employees are claiming I made the purchase when I did not and I don't have anything here and UPS can't help me with this this place is absolutely ridiculous and they shouldn't be in Business if this is how they are going to treat people even my local police department is saying I Did not Do this I don't care what you have on File I Never received a thing and I know nothing about the charge on my credit card I don't know how you stay in business even my local police department said I didn't do this so you're calling my local police department a bunch of liars when my local police department outright said I wouldn't do this and there's no way I did this bottom line Just because an order says Delivered doesn't mean I received it and I've called ups and they said they know nothing about this and without a tracking number they can't help me anybody can buy something on a credit card it doesn't have to be me!

Just got ripped off from sales guys.
I mentioned that the price was incorrect and even after “correcting it” they still charged me more.
That happened in 4449 Lyons Rd Suite J-106, Coconut Creek, FL 33073, United States

I purchased a Fender AmPro2 bass online that stated it was in excellent condition. Well it wasn’t. It had a significant divet in the body by the cable plug in. Working with Joe And Liz at the Norman OK store, much better than the OKC store in terms of customer service and overall friendliness I might add, Joe noticed the flaw actually before I did and immediately adjusted things to make it right. I then turned my purchase over to Jeremy in service for a set up and string change and to drop in a set of Lindy Fralin pickups! Jeremy is truly a master at what he does and is the only one who ever touches my basses. He’s corrected other mistakes made by a professional luthiers on one of my basses. The man is gifted and you can tell enjoys what he does. So, you can’t go wrong with any of the staff in Norman but a big thanks again to Liz, Joe, and Jeremy!

I reached out to Guitar Center's customer support for assistance, as I was looking to purchase a guitar for my husband's birthday. In trying to keep this a surprise and knowing next to nothing about guitars, I was in over my head. I didn't call with the intention of receiving a ton of personalized assistance - I just wanted to ask about their return policy, as I figured that if I picked the wrong one being able to return it was extremely important. The gentleman who answered the phone, Dalton, was immediately very nice and seemed excited to help. I asked my quick return policy questions and I was ready to hang up when he started asking about what exactly I was looking for. This turned into a fairly lengthy conversation in which I explained that this needed to be a surprise so I had very limited information and zero experience looking at guitars - and he jumped at the chance to help. I was able to send him links to the specific listings I had found and he did a lot of research - even calling the store to confirm that the frontrunner was in fact in the excellent condition shown in the photos. We ended up exchanging over a dozen emails and multiple phone calls over two days as he answered my million inane questions and walked me through exactly what he was looking for and ultimately held my hand through the checkout and shipping process. With so much less stress than I had anticipated, all thanks to Dalton, my husband now has a guitar on the way. I truly can't say enough good things about this experience. As someone who knows almost nothing about guitars, the idea of buying one online was somewhat terrifying. Dalton was incredibly patient and beyond helpful. I would absolutely recommend that anyone considering purchasing from Guitar Center who isn't entirely confident in what they want reach out to the gear specialists, as this was by far the best customer service experience I can ever recall having. I can't wait for my husband to have his new guitar and get to chat with Dalton about the new amp he wants to go with it!

Ordered a guitar online 48 hours later GC cancelled the order, claiming the guitar was damaged. Photos and the original listing stated the guitar was in "great condition," but now it is mysteriously damaged. GC made no effort to help find a replacement; they basically said, "Well, you're S.O.L., and we don't stand by our website." The local GC rep was rude and provided no real info or proof that the guitar was damaged. They falsely advertised an item, undersold it, and then reneged on the sale. I would caution you to buy from another retailer because Guitar Center has no integrity.

Edit* and if you can even believe it two days later used Brendan smalls ghost horse explorer for sale. Who knows if it’s the same guitar as I purchased you can’t even be sure if the photos guitar center uses are even accurate.

I went back to guitar center,and it was a completely different experience.The staff was friendly,and professional!I was very happy with the knowledge of the staff,and what I bought!!!

UPS failed delivery for some unknown reason. They returned my package. I told Guitar Center this was unsatisfactory. I needed my mandolin case yesterday. Resend my package! Again, Guitar Center shipped it UPS Economy Ground Service. They do not value my buisness!

Ordered a $5000 amplifier for a price too good to be true. Amp was advertised as "fully functional," having "fresh tubes," and the staff said it came with factory dust cover and footswitch. Turns out, it was too good to be true. The amp arrived with a broken power tube, burnt up rectifier tube and no footswitch or cover.

Guitar Center customer support kept saying they would fix this. After a month, I was ready to return the unusable amp, but now it was past the return window. After weeks of back and forth with customer service, they sent tubes. They sent the wrong tubes, and I had to take time out of my day to print a label and go drop them off to be shipped back. Now been a few months, and still can't use the amp. I haven't shopped at Guitar Center for 20 years because of a similar situation (bought a Les Paul Custom that had all generic electronics and parts installed and they wouldn't accept a return because it was a special clearance price) and never will again.

The selection is awesome in all departments. Kudos to whoever decided to unlock the good stuff a few years ago. I never visited the store while they were locked up.

The absolute worst part of every single store in my area is the customer service...or lack of of service. I have had experience as a Manager of a retail store and realize staffing is an issue everywhere. In this day and age it is so easy to buy products on-line rather than visit a brick and mortar store. The only thing that could bring value to visiting stores is customer service. My local stores (RI & Southern MA) do not either have the staff or they just do not know how to sell and assist customers. The stores are poorly merchandised and staff is normally at the front desk congregating. As a previous manager, this would be unacceptable.

I am in my late 40s and have a collection of higher-end guitars, along with disposable income. Not once in the last 2-3 years has a single salesperson attempted to assist or try to actively sell an product. In addition to their lack of initiative, most of the staff really think they are rock stars and they are above their customers. While I understand they might be great musicians, the sales/personal skills are highly lacking.

My last visit I played several $2k+ acoustics and found a D18 I really loved. I was in the store for over an hour and not a single staff attempted to assist or "sell" the guitar. I did end up buying one on-line at a cheaper price. However, a single attempt assist could have led me to but directly from the store.

I realize that staffing is expensive but if you want to survive, there needs to be some attention paid to the customer

I called about a certain Harmonica, they said they had one and I said are you sure. I have a long drive, I decided to call again to make sure another person answered and I ask them to find it and put it up he said it was there so I drove a good ways to get it. and got there they said it showed they had it but wasnt there., I had ask him to look, its cost me gas and 18$ in tolls. I could have ordered it,

I have been a Guitar Center Customer since 1990. And I was just involved in the best customer service experience ive ever had anywhere. Guitar Center still offers the Human Connection, which is important when purchasing items that are tools for your passion (music). Phillip Lopez the mgr at Cerritos had impeccable follow through & customer service skills.

I had replacement item that was still under warranty. It was seamless, professional and felt very Rewarding. I advised all my band members and peers to buy into Guitar Center Pro Coverage.

Made a purchase and return was easy. Want to thank salespeople Brian and especially Sam for their excellent help and proffesionalism.

This year on Christmas my dad got me a brand new acoustic guitar, an Epiphone J45. I saw the unusual shape of the present and razed through the paper, leaving nothing but scraps in my wake. My dad knows I'm fervid for all things music, so this present was perfect for me. I strummed a basic F bar chord, the sound was euphonious, not from my playing, but from the build of the guitar. This present was munificent, I had never received something so grand in my life. My dad told me he went to five guitar stores, meticulously trying each guitar until he found the one for me. The guitar sounds so good, I practice it everyday, my mind is torpid with this instrument, there are so many songs that would sound so good, how do I pick what to learn? I pick songs viable to my skill level, someday, I'll learn harder songs. Every time I learn a new song I am transient, I jump from song to song, my mind discursive as ever. Sometimes in my practice, I break a string, it makes an awful din. Lucky for me this guitar is super easy to restring! Everytime I come home and I see my guitar, I pick it up and strum with alacrity. Not only does this guitar sound amazing, it looks amazing too, its beauty is the opposite of prosaic. Some things I play on this guitar are nefarious, because I’m not the best player, but I am sure this guitar will help me be great. I am an impecunious young man, so getting this lifetime guitar is great, thanks dad and thanks Epiphone! Ten out of ten stars.

I would say I was pleased to see the product was in great physical condition, but when I finally used it, some keys are either bugged out or won’t play at all. I would like to request for a repair if possible as I also purchased a 12 month repair warranty. Thank you and please let me know the next step to solving my issue.