Gotta Love The Guitar Center "July 4 Sale" Exclusions

The following manufacturers have chosen not to participate in this promotion on GuitarCenter.com:

A Designs, Adam, Allen & Heath, Alvarez, American Audio, American DJ, Ampeg, Aphex, Apple, Apogee, ART, Audio-Technica, Audix, Avalon, BAM, Behringer, Besson, Bixonic, Blackheart, Blue, Bogner, BOSE, Boss, Brio, Buffet-Crampon, Carl Martin, Cerwin-Vega, Chandler Limited, Chauvet, Cleartone, Conn, Cordoba Music Group, Courtois, Crate, Daking, Digitech, Drawmer, DW Drums, Eden, Edirol, Electro-Voice, EMG, Eminence, Engl, Epiphone, ESP, Euphonix, Eventide, EVH, Fender, Fishman, Fox, Fuchs, Fulltone, Furman, Gator, Gemeinhardt, Getzen, Gibson USA, Gibson Custom, Godlyke, Golden Age Project, Grace Design, Gretsch, Guild, Guyatone, HHB, Ibanez, ISP Technologies, Jackson, Jet City Amplifiers, Jupiter, Kanstul, Kawai, Korg, Kramer, KRK, Langevin, Line 6, LovePedal, Ludwig, Mackie, Manley, Marshall, Martin, Maxon, Meinl Weston, Mesa Boogie, Millennia, Miraphone, Mogami, Mojave Audio, Moog, Music Man, Music XPC, N-Tune, NS Design, Ovation, Parker, Pearl, Peavey, Pigtronix, Pioneer, PreSonus, Propellerhead, PRS, QSC, Radial, Randall, Rane, Rivera, RME, Roland, Royer, Rupert Neve Designs, Schecter Guitar Research, Selmer, Selmer Paris, Sennheiser, Serato, Shure, SKB, Solid State Logic, Squier, Stanton, Steinberg, Steinberger, Stephanhouser, Sterling by MusicMan, Summit Audio, SWR, Takamine, Tama, Tapco, Taylor, Tech 21, Telefunken, Tobias, Traveler Guitar, Traynor, True Systems, Tube-Tech, Ultimate Support, Universal Audio, Vestax, VOX, W.Nirschl, Washburn, Weber Speakers, Weril, Yamaha, Yamaha Band & Orchestra, Z Vex Effects.

:unamused:

The above list pretty much is excluded for ALL Guitar Center special “sale” discounts. It’s a challenge to find even one major manufaturer that DOES participate. What a scam.

I complained to the owner of the corporation about this two years ago, related to a discount coupon misrepresentation. He put a regional manager onto the matter who did nothing to address the issue. They obviously haven’t learned from it, and have not changed. 'Nuff said. I don’t do business with them.

Yeah, I’ve been hit by that list a number of times. The good news is, their online list is not the same as their in store list and much stricter. In addition, most of the time the sales people will even allow you to get the discount on an excluded brand. So if you have a store near you call them and ask them. I wouldn’t be surprised if the brand you want is not excluded in the store - unless it’s something like Mesa for example. And even if it is you might find the sales guy telling you “Don’t worry about it, come in and see me and I’ll get you the discount”.

If you don’t have a GC around you… well then the above is pointless LOL.


Rev.

I have personally… PERSONALLY found many many items to take advantage of that special. It is so easy to simply look in their catalog and just purchase $300 worth of items for the promo… VERY easy… I just ordered 600 guitar picks - DONE ! hahahah jk…

ya - I noticed EVERYTHING that was on my list - was also excluded :frowning: bummer.

The Only BIG sales promotions that I do get what I need are their walk-in preview sales that you get a postcard limited invite to attend…

Ooh and finding the non-advertised markdowns and open box items in store as Rev mentioned… often salesmen pass up a 1 time comission in order to secure a repeat customer… I like that.

I ordered the SM 57, cable and stand deal and asked if it was eligible for the discount. Was told yes at first, then no as it didn’t meet the minimum amount for the 5% off. I then asked for a 10% “good customer” discount which was granted by the supervisor. Squeaky wheel, baby! :wink: :mrgreen:

Watch the rubber thats on them stands. I have seen the rubber stain the back of a guitar neck once. This was years ago, but… made in china woo hoo! :mrgreen:

One other thing that Guitar Center has gotten MUCH worse at is actually carrying any quality guitars in stock. 95% of the inventory is geared toward 10-14 year olds, which is also mostly their in-store clientele (along with their completely overwhelmed parents).

Dudes, unless I’m way off, this is really about advertising – the manufacturers listed are simply not allowing GC to advertise their products at the discounted rate. If you call or go to a retail outlet and ask for the discount on products of ANY of the makers listed, you can most likely get it. The manufacturer has no control over what the retailer sells their products for, only what the products are advertised for, which can’t fall under the MAP (Minimum Advertised Price), and even there a retailer CAN advertise a product below the MAP, but they risk termination of their dealer agreement with the manufacturer if they do.

I actually saw this in action recently. A local keyboardist got his Roland G8 fried by the employee of a local university when he hooked it up to a lighting tree. :laughing: The university told the guy they’d buy him a new one, as long as they bought it from the cheapest source they could find. They found some independent advertising the G8 at well below the MAP, but before purchasing it, they called the local store that is owned by a good friend of mine, and managed by an even closer friend, and asked if they could match the price.

My manager friend told them he’d check with the owner and call them back. After hanging up, he was highly irritated that a store was violating the MAP; after shipping, my local store wouldn’t be able to make hardly anything at that price after ordering it from Roland. Knowing my considerable business experience :wink: he asked me what I thought he should do. I said, “Just call the university back and tell them you don’t know how that store is able to sell that keyboard for that low of a price… but you can go another $100 lower than the MAP (I think he actually offered to go another $200 lower). We’re willing to do this because we really want your local business… plus, both you and the owner buy stuff here all the time, and we’re an authorized Service Center for Roland.” (all of which was true). The purchasing agent at the university immediately placed the order with my local store.

My manager guy then called his Roland rep and ratted on the store that was advertising below the MAP. Th next day, the store had changed the price on the website back to the MAP. :laughing:

I have a few similar stories, but I won’t bore you.

Personally, neo-liberal that I am, I find the MAP scheme quite repellent – it’s a form of price fixing, and has hurt margins at both the majors AND independents – which ends up hurting the independents more, since they don’t enjoy the volume or marketing reach that the majors do.

Hi all, browsing this forum for the first time- couldn’t help but comment on the Guitar Center exclusions. To save ink and eyes, they should list the companies that DO participate, that list would be short indeed!! Visited my local store for a few minor items a couple of times in the past , went back again for a “large” purchase and was totally ignored (employees buzzing all around me). Emailed the manager when i got home- recieved a Gee-I’m sorry, please give us another chance response. Never been back. :open_mouth:

I’ve never found GC to be particularly outstanding when it comes to help, or products. They seem to lean more towards the hobby musician. I’ll go in for accessories or things where I don’t need the quality. But I’ll go (online) to either B&H Photo or Sweetwater for the best quality stuff. (B&H slightly beats out Sweetwater for the prices).

This is why I think you should always call your rep and get a price, or to get a better price, because even Sweetwater is bound by the MAP regime… unless you’re okay with the advertised price, that is