In addition to paying a silly pittance, they then expect an EXPERT in every piece of gear or instrument that’s ever been manufactured or “you don’t know your stuff” and encourage infighting. Not everyone will make the fade, just like not every fish in the tank will grab the food before it gets eaten. GC knows this and then threatens to fire those who don’t make it.

A great guitar teacher may not be a great player and the other way around. It doesn’t take an “expert” (or the requirement to be a Richard Thompson with your guitar skills) to sell gear (not really, nor should it be expected) just like that 1000 pound guitar won’t make you a better player.

The whole thing – catering to people who haven’t done their research and being expected to know everything about mostly irrelevant details about mostly overpriced things that only idiots care about – and doing so for slave wages is absolutely silly. If they want CEO performance and people that care, they should pay the appropriate wage.

Even if you fade, it isn’t enough to put up with all that BS, and it doesn’t excuse the corporatist dropping the rest of the sales staff off the side of the boat (there are only so many customers and so much gear to sell) and threatening to fire them or just letting them wallow in poverty whilst the company rakes it in off their sales. (Selling enough to almost cover the fade but not enough to avoid being fired is a lot of work.) In short, the entire thing IS A RACKET.

Small business in any situation gives you the satisfaction of being involved in a community. We pay higher prices because small businesses unlike wal-mart usually don’t screw over their employees and force them to live under the poverty line with no health insurance. If paying $25 more for every purchase of $300 gives someone in my community a job for a year, you better believe I’ll pay it every time. Being a part of a community means doing everything you can to help that community succeed. Huge chains do nothing for the community other than put stores that were all ready there out of business. We all deserve a chance to work and prosper, and we all deserve the courtesy of being treated how we wish to be treated. If these people think a huge chain store can’t offer them that, then that’s their prerogative, don’t call them a pussy because their in a place that doesn’t make them feel welcomed.

Just because you have a lower price doesn’t mean you’re better. McDonald’s has the lowest price cheeseburgers and yet I’m not eating a cheeseburger there every time I want one. I’ll pay a little more for service and quality. Most of the mom and pops I go to set the guitar up for free with the purchase(increasing both service and the quality of the guitar). Guitar center won’t do that. So I pay more at the mom and pop (I’ve never paid more than $50 more than GC btw), and I get a free $50 setup including a brand new set of strings of my choosing. Not a bad deal IMO.

Now to all of the idiots that agree with the “I don’t like Guitar Center because they want me to spend money there” poor excuse for an article. Try to beat they’re price…You can’t. So if you want to spend more money at a little shop that has to make a greater profit off of each customer in order to stay afloat, go right ahead. I hope it helps you sleep better at night because it certainly doesn’t make yo a smarter consumer.
Lastly…Wah, wah, wah, I bet you don;t like Wal-Mart either because they’re such a sucessful merchant.