i'm super passionate about what i do. to the point that i let a lot of things get pushed to the side because of it. one thing i'm super passionate about is danelectro guitars. these were student guitars built in an era where things were built right. even things for students. i have a small collection that i'm always hoping to add to. this was my goal yesterday.
yesterday i went to try and trade for a guitar. the store was "the music store", also known as the drummer superstore in clarksville, indiana. i've never had personal issues trying to make a deal with this store, but i have heard tons or horror stories, and have had lots of issues trying to make right the "custom" guitars they've created. as well as try and help the people that bring gear they've bought from these guys to my store to learn to use it. after yesterday i will never go back.
i went in to trade for a good condition old danelectro built silvertone guitar they had. nothing crazy, just a nice little short scale, single pickup guitar. missing a few parts, but nothing that bothered me. i've owned this model before and wanted another. a friend told me they had it.
i walk in to no price tag, but a nicely set up guitar. ask the owner greg how much the guitar is. he sighs and says i'm welcome to make an offer. i again asked what he wanted and he refuses to give me a price.
i asked if he was willing to trade, he asked what i had. i told him: a parts p bass (listed what the parts were)in a hard case, an acoustic 260 mini, a roc and soc throne, a japanese snare, a 50's supro guitar with changed parts, a rat: we went and looked at it all.
he starts asking what i want to trade, to which i reply any number of the things in my car that we just looked at, what would you take? i tell him i'd trade the bass and amp, or vintage guitar straight. i was expecting a counter and i had a few small things to throw in boot. his son and other workers start getting in the deal. i continue to explain to each guy what i have and what i would like. they just keep telling me how perfect their guitar is and how my pbass, that i told them was a parts instrument, was parts. how the other vintage guitar i brought had changed parts, after i told them exactly what had been replaced. that everything i had i should give them for a guitar that they wouldn't even give me a cash price on. they continue asking what i want to trade for the guitar, after i've told each guy and greg at least 3 times.
at some point they decided to tell me that they were being so wierd because they had just put the guitar on ebay 45 minutes before i walked in, and they just want to get as much as they can. i understand that. still doesn't mean they can't work out a deal (and the guitar isn't on ebay, i checked as soon as i left the store. this was a flat out lie to try and get my blood boiling in hopes i'd make a bad call). the owner starts asking me what i want to get for certain items i have, he still hasn't told me what he wants for his. i tell him what i would price the items i have for and what i would give trade if i were making the deal, he tells me that has nothing to do with what we're doing. then why did you ask?
i ask one more time what the cash price would be so i can know what i'm trading for. the owner again asks what i'm willing to trade, and keeps telling me "you still haven't told me what you want to trade". when i ask one more time what he wants he says everything in the car, quickly with an attitude. this entire time tension has been mounting with the staff when they figure out that i know what i'm talking about. guess they do this tag team, try and confuse the customer stuff regularly.
the guitar they have is worth 350-500 on any normal day. 800 some days on ebay for the cleanest one missing no parts that someone puts up buy it now, which this one certainly isn't. i had at least $1000 sell price worth of gear in my car. the vintage supro i had was very similar in condition and value on its own.
at this point i got mad. told them i'd received nothing but attitude since i walked in and headed for the door. all three of them started yelling at me at once. they screamed $500 on my way out, i said thank you and left.
at this point i don't even care about the guitar. i mean i do, but its not worth fighting over. was it a nice version? yes. was it perfect? no. missing strap buttons, knobs and changed screws. as well as repaired electronics. the vintage supro i was hoping to trade had a changed bridge and tuners and knobs and repaired electronics. pretty similar condition really. and if they had bothered to look them up it generally brings more in any condition, i just happen to prefer the danos. i was trying to be fair, even brought several small items to throw in as boot.
this is more about not treating a relative stranger with any sort of respect. because they showed me no respect they lost a deal. on something thats gonna be hard to sell, not too many people looking for short scale dano's these days. i'm sure they treat people like this all the time. from working the same job i know that there are a lot of people you can push around when you're a salesman. to a lot of people thats the game, push people around until they finally break and you get your way, and therefore your sale. i like to sleep at night, i'd rather not work this way.
i do the same job they do. do i have bad days and bad moods? yes. have i ever not given a price to a customer just so i can see how much i can get out of them? no i really wanted that guitar. because i love those guitars! but i couldn't handle any more. if i'd stayed i could've made a stupid trade to get it. but the reality is i can buy one just as nice on ebay, for less than i would have had to trade them for that one.
i now understand why people have such an attitude when they come in to my shop. if they're used to dealing with salespeople like that no wonder. i rarely go to stores so i guess i'd forgotten how it can be. i hate it though. i really start each day trying to be pleasant. but because of a customer thats been burned and is now standoffish, or customers that have the same attitude as some salespeople (read: beat you up until you cave just to get them to go away) my days generally turn to shit. if there were just less people out to get one over on the person next to them out there maybe my life and hopefully the lives of a lot of other people would be so much better.
closing notes.
greg made sure to tell me several times that he knew what he was doing since they sell 600-800 items a week on ebay. well with the kind of treatment i got no wonder you have to sell everything on ebay. no one would put up with that kind of treatment just to buy a guitar, or anything for that matter. even if it is their passion.
yesterday i went to try and trade for a guitar. the store was "the music store", also known as the drummer superstore in clarksville, indiana. i've never had personal issues trying to make a deal with this store, but i have heard tons or horror stories, and have had lots of issues trying to make right the "custom" guitars they've created. as well as try and help the people that bring gear they've bought from these guys to my store to learn to use it. after yesterday i will never go back.
i went in to trade for a good condition old danelectro built silvertone guitar they had. nothing crazy, just a nice little short scale, single pickup guitar. missing a few parts, but nothing that bothered me. i've owned this model before and wanted another. a friend told me they had it.
i walk in to no price tag, but a nicely set up guitar. ask the owner greg how much the guitar is. he sighs and says i'm welcome to make an offer. i again asked what he wanted and he refuses to give me a price.
i asked if he was willing to trade, he asked what i had. i told him: a parts p bass (listed what the parts were)in a hard case, an acoustic 260 mini, a roc and soc throne, a japanese snare, a 50's supro guitar with changed parts, a rat: we went and looked at it all.
he starts asking what i want to trade, to which i reply any number of the things in my car that we just looked at, what would you take? i tell him i'd trade the bass and amp, or vintage guitar straight. i was expecting a counter and i had a few small things to throw in boot. his son and other workers start getting in the deal. i continue to explain to each guy what i have and what i would like. they just keep telling me how perfect their guitar is and how my pbass, that i told them was a parts instrument, was parts. how the other vintage guitar i brought had changed parts, after i told them exactly what had been replaced. that everything i had i should give them for a guitar that they wouldn't even give me a cash price on. they continue asking what i want to trade for the guitar, after i've told each guy and greg at least 3 times.
at some point they decided to tell me that they were being so wierd because they had just put the guitar on ebay 45 minutes before i walked in, and they just want to get as much as they can. i understand that. still doesn't mean they can't work out a deal (and the guitar isn't on ebay, i checked as soon as i left the store. this was a flat out lie to try and get my blood boiling in hopes i'd make a bad call). the owner starts asking me what i want to get for certain items i have, he still hasn't told me what he wants for his. i tell him what i would price the items i have for and what i would give trade if i were making the deal, he tells me that has nothing to do with what we're doing. then why did you ask?
i ask one more time what the cash price would be so i can know what i'm trading for. the owner again asks what i'm willing to trade, and keeps telling me "you still haven't told me what you want to trade". when i ask one more time what he wants he says everything in the car, quickly with an attitude. this entire time tension has been mounting with the staff when they figure out that i know what i'm talking about. guess they do this tag team, try and confuse the customer stuff regularly.
the guitar they have is worth 350-500 on any normal day. 800 some days on ebay for the cleanest one missing no parts that someone puts up buy it now, which this one certainly isn't. i had at least $1000 sell price worth of gear in my car. the vintage supro i had was very similar in condition and value on its own.
at this point i got mad. told them i'd received nothing but attitude since i walked in and headed for the door. all three of them started yelling at me at once. they screamed $500 on my way out, i said thank you and left.
at this point i don't even care about the guitar. i mean i do, but its not worth fighting over. was it a nice version? yes. was it perfect? no. missing strap buttons, knobs and changed screws. as well as repaired electronics. the vintage supro i was hoping to trade had a changed bridge and tuners and knobs and repaired electronics. pretty similar condition really. and if they had bothered to look them up it generally brings more in any condition, i just happen to prefer the danos. i was trying to be fair, even brought several small items to throw in as boot.
this is more about not treating a relative stranger with any sort of respect. because they showed me no respect they lost a deal. on something thats gonna be hard to sell, not too many people looking for short scale dano's these days. i'm sure they treat people like this all the time. from working the same job i know that there are a lot of people you can push around when you're a salesman. to a lot of people thats the game, push people around until they finally break and you get your way, and therefore your sale. i like to sleep at night, i'd rather not work this way.
i do the same job they do. do i have bad days and bad moods? yes. have i ever not given a price to a customer just so i can see how much i can get out of them? no i really wanted that guitar. because i love those guitars! but i couldn't handle any more. if i'd stayed i could've made a stupid trade to get it. but the reality is i can buy one just as nice on ebay, for less than i would have had to trade them for that one.
i now understand why people have such an attitude when they come in to my shop. if they're used to dealing with salespeople like that no wonder. i rarely go to stores so i guess i'd forgotten how it can be. i hate it though. i really start each day trying to be pleasant. but because of a customer thats been burned and is now standoffish, or customers that have the same attitude as some salespeople (read: beat you up until you cave just to get them to go away) my days generally turn to shit. if there were just less people out to get one over on the person next to them out there maybe my life and hopefully the lives of a lot of other people would be so much better.
closing notes.
greg made sure to tell me several times that he knew what he was doing since they sell 600-800 items a week on ebay. well with the kind of treatment i got no wonder you have to sell everything on ebay. no one would put up with that kind of treatment just to buy a guitar, or anything for that matter. even if it is their passion.
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