Before reading this, scroll down and see how many manufactured five-star reviews there are on this particular business. I find this extremely suspect and deserving of Investigation which I intend on doing. Please see image of four "not recommended" reviews I found at the bottom of this page and learn more about this business owner...
[MY REVIEW]
Where do I start? I had to make four trips to this place regarding strings.
The first time I went, I needed one string for my 12 string guitar wich was missing the G string. When I got to the shop, I made the mistake of saying "E" string. They charged me two dollars on my first visit but swapped out the E string for a G string, on my second visit, (but the guy that handed it to me didn't seem sure if it was an exact correct gauge).
I got home and it immediately snapped, so I drove down a third time to just pick up a set of 12 strings in the packaging but, (and this is where I probably should have gone to Guitar Center in Concord).
Their collection of strings was sparse, at best and the gauge I wanted wasn't in stock, so the guy pulled the "Extra Light" off the peg and I said, "No, I need Mediums". He pulled the only other set of strings and said they were Mediums. (THEY WEREN'T, they were LIGHT). I didn't realize this until I was tuning the thin G string and guess what - it snapped and hit me in the wrist.
Infuriated, I drove down a FOURTH time.
I was fuming not only because the string failed, but because I've wasted more gas and a total of 18 bucks on strings that weren't the brand I wanted to get and were the wrong freekin' gauge! They are more interested in making a sale, at the cost of frustration of their customers. I say "You're not gonna' like this" - I plop the half used pack of strings down, and state that the damn G string snapped and that I want my money back.
He hurries around the counter, I unzipped my guitar case and before It's fully open, he tears it out of the case, (past the unopened zipper opening, scratching the finish in the process), saying "Oh, don't be like that", runs to the back room saying "Let me fix this, let me fix this" AFTER I said, "I want my money back".
I couldn't get a word in edgewise because he interrupted me three times, (a serious no-no with me), I lost all respect for him at that point. He rushed back out and asked where the pegs were and I said, tersely and through gritted teeth,
"...on my BENCH".
Before I could finish my sentence of "Look, man, just give me my guitar back", he rushed around the counter to fetch a set of pegs, (those things you put the string behind at the bridge), quickly waving it at me, (I didn't see it), stating that they were the same color, (you guessed it...they weren't).
So there I was left to seethe in his cold-ass showroom. All I wanted was my money back or a simple "we don't do returns on strings", all I knew is that I wanted to leave because, it was actually colder INSIDE his showroom than it was OUTSIDE!
IT WAS 50 DEGREES OUTSIDE!
During the half hour it took for him to install six strings of a LIGHTER gauge of freezing my ass off in that place, I was forced to listen to him and his coworker having a casual conversation about who played for which famous performer and on what guitar, blah blah blah blah blah...GAAAH!!!
When he was done, he stiff-armed the guitar at me, pointed to a drummer's thrown across from the counter and told me to try it out. reluctantly, I did two chords, and stood back up to put the guitar back in the case. That's when I noticed that three of the four missing pegs he replaced had black dots on the end. I'm OCD and this was enough to set me brain on fire. I just clammed up and left in silence but not before I commented on how freakin' cold it was in that showroom. I asked if he had a heater in that place and he said "yes, we have plenty of heaters".
"We are men of action; Lies do not become us..." should have leapt from my lips, but instead I opted for silence and made a bee line for the door. I had to get my frozen ass out of that place and in to a warm car. When I got home, and pulled the guitar out of the case, I unwound the whole set and threw it away along with the replacement pegs, one of which was slightly narrower than the rest...if I had strummed it with a pick, it would have shot out across the room and strings would have broken, anyway.
Life is too short to buy crappy strings at a sub par music store. If you know what kind of strings you like to buy, order them online or travel to a well reputed store who caries a wide selection...unlike Consumer Music's paltry and pathetic selection of strings...
I'm giving this place an F+ (the "plus" for the Herculean lack of effort in providing proper customer service...by that, I mean they need to LISTEN to their customers when things go wrong and NOT assume they can FIX a problem with...
(what's the metaphor I'm looking for?)
Applying a used band-aid on a sucking chest wound. read more