Guitar Center, Brooklyn NY

I would like to relay my experience at the Flatbush location because I believe it is important for the management to be informed of what's happening there.

At around 4: 45pm on Wednesday, Dec 22nd,  I was at the acoustic guitar department choosing guitar for my 10 y o student. The girl and her mom were with me and we settled on an almost $700 steel string acoustic guitar.

I asked the guy who was handling the acoustic guitar department   (taller, short light brown  hair, white) : if my student buys that guitar would it be possible to adjust the action of the neck because it was low and there was fret buzz?

He grabbed the guitar from me, played a bunch and said that there is nothing wrong with the guitar and that it doesn’t buzz. He said that they don’t sell guitar that have “problems”, that it was a normal sound and that’s how guitars are supposed to sound.

Being a session guitar player for the last 15 years  with a conservatory degree in guitar performance (I make my living as a performing/recording session musician and a teacher),  playing and owning multiple guitars throughout my career, I know what guitars with low action and fret buzz sound like.

I mentioned to the guy again: ” the neck  definitely needs to be adjusted and that it has a definite fret buzz. Would it be possible to adjust the truss rod at this location? “. This set him off yelling at me in the presence of my young student and her mom saying that I either buy that guitar or not.

The mom stepped in for me asking him why he was so rude. This set him off even more and he left us saying that he doesn’t have any time for us.

The  level of sudden anger and hate in how he was treating us was surprising for someone who you just met.

I especially didn’t want a 10 y o girl who was so happy to come to a music store to choose a new guitar for herself witnessing a man 3 times her age treating a female guitar player like that and refusing her any assistance.

Stale, old school misogyny is the last thing I want my young students to see and experience. It is unacceptable that a guitar seller would behave like this around a child.

This should not be happening in a professional environment.

This experience entirely ruined the mood for us; the girl didn’t look as enthusiastic after that. We left without buying any guitar because the vibe was completely ruined.

This semester I have 5 students who  need new 4/4 size guitars and I was planning to bring them to the Flatbush location. Not any more. I told my fellow musicians about this experience. I don’t want my female students to experience the misogyny and  incompetence of guys who work there and have such a negative association with playing guitars.

If I was treated normally I would have brought in 5 more customers.
Many new guitars need neck adjustments; not a big deal. There is no reason to yell at a customer who requests a slight truss rod adjustment.

I hope that the management at 139 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn NY location will have a meeting and conversation with the guys that they employ (they don't employ any women ever). No child or woman should have such an experience at a music store and if no one cares about that, then, at least,  they should care about the damage they wreak on their sales commissions and on the business.   Women  buy equipment and guitars as well and some are teachers with multiple students who buy guitars. These should be good enough reasons to address the toxic environment at the Flatbush location.

P. S. The location at the 14th is much better- way more professional sellers and treatment of female musicians.

Order this microphone stand, but sadly they didn't bother to check until we found this cracked

Called to see if they had a specific guitar tuner in stock. Got hung up on after a short hold the first time. Called a 2nd time and got put on hold for 10 minutes before I decided to hang up and call back a 3rd time. Don’t know who picked up the first 2 times but their attitude wasn’t exactly customer service friendly. The 3rd call I spoke to Shawn who also seemed a little short with me until I requested to speak with a manager. I spoke to Nick, to then get transferred to a different manager, Miguel, who finally could tell me if there was a tuner in stock in less than 2 minutes. Too much of a run around and unenthusiastic employees. I shouldn’t have to call 3 times and talk to 2 different managers to have the simplest of questions answered. The speed that Miguel answered my inquiry, should’ve been the way it was handled from the first time I called. Disappointing to say the least.

The drumming section is being renovated right now, so things aren't all together. I had to go get Sunriver downstairs to come help in the drum section upstairs. There was literally no one available on that floor

I used to LOOOOOVVE Guitar Center, for both the ease of access and amazing prices, but recently when I went to get a new guitar, amp, etc, I was way less than impressed. The selection was nowhere near what I expected. Example: they had the same exact guitar model, but in different colors. I felt like the guitars were all variations on a theme. Like, there was no variety in style, body shape, etc. Very disappointed.

It's alright, cluttered and messy sales floor. Sales people are aloof. Took me a week to pick up my guitar because they had to process it into the system. I ended up calling on the 7th day to cancel the order and it took someone from guitar center management to prevent me from canceling the order. They gave me 2 packs of guitar strings in return. That's okay really wanted the guitar but funny situation as they they were snarky with me following up with the store about eta to pick up the guitar. I get it but I find it interesting it took management to rectify the situation when it was a 1k guitar order. Oh well, will continue to do my purchases with Sweetwater as tho they don't have a store front they are able to do better job at having customers make pick ups at drop off spots. Yeah you could say why not deliver it hoke, right but let's not forget porch holidays bandits!

I wanted to buy a mixer and the one I wanted was not in stock. I asked the sales person if I can have the floor sample, and it appeared to me I became some what of a nuisance. His customer service skills left much to be desired. If you are not customer oriented, do not take a job that requires you to interact with customers.

Lots of selection in terms of guitars and basses, quite a few keyboards, drum kits and other instruments as well. Friendly staff, call ahead if you need a left-handed guitar

Matthew in Keyboards was so helpful. I called to ask about a specific, hard-to-find Nord model and he held it for me all day. I came by around closing but he still took the time to set me up with the keyboard and make sure I liked it- plus he brought it out to my car in the middle of a rainstorm. Absolute hero. Highly recommend this location. I live on Long Island and although there are closer stores, this one has the best stock and the best service.

Large selection friendly helpful staff and really nice patrons.one of my fellow customers gave me great advice and was very knowledgeable.helped my decision immensely

For being in a random area, in a random spot in the mall, it is a pretty complete store. I personally would take the time out to go to either 14th St or 44th St Guitar Centers though. They both have more stock and are more helpful in general.

Great service. I’ve been going to this store for 10 years, bought, set up and repaired my bass guitar there. The guitar/bass staff is super knowledgeable And helpful.if you need special bass/guitar help Tray is your guy. ️. -Sebastián (@mochuelopez)

I made the mistake of ordering online from them and they literally sent me 130 spam emails in 8 weeks. 130. From 3 different accounts (guitar center, guitar center lessons, and Robert Hart @ guitar center). Even by the lowest spam standards this is insane. Will just order from Amazon next time I need anything. (But the lavmic I ordered was fine.)

I’ve been sitting in Guitar Center for an hour and a have, with no help from the staff. I’ve seen a plethora of people come in, get some assurance and go about their business. They helped everyone else except my group. I’m starting to wonder if this is a racial situation. I tried to speak with the manager in which he would not come out of the ‘Lessons’ section to speak to me. I will be contacting corporate.

Horrible inventory management. Drove over an hour after calling and confirming availability to then be told they do not have the item in stock.