I love this store and eagerly awaiting it to re-open. All the others are far from home. This is MY guitar center

Their telephone system is not working properly.it says to push one for a department and two for a different department, and then you get an announcement stating you won a medical device ? And the other one says incorrect choice ? read more

My experience was in reverse. Returning the item was more pleasant than purchasing the item. We went there to buy a speaker for our son. Buying it was a bit stressful, the answer to our questions were hard to come by and we had to carry this big speaker to the car. That said the experience wasn't bad, but, I believe for someone like me who doesn't have knowledge of speakers, a little more education would have been helpful. I am sure this an ideal place for musicians who know what they want. Unfortunately, I bought the wrong speaker. When I returned it, the staff member was pleasant and didn't make a fuss about it. read more

I went in to buy my very first instrument, a ukulele. The staff were all super nice and encouraging, not intimidating. One of the staff Nick congratulated me on purchasing my first ukulele, which meant a lot! The staff that rang me up also kindly offered to tune my ukulele, and informed me about discounts. Would love to work here! read more

I hate to leave a review like this but I have to echo the other reviewers who have pointed out that this place really lacks in customer service. Pros: easy parking, large store. Cons: they make you check ALL bags at the door, only so an employee can put your bag on the table next to the front door and turn their back on it so quite literally nobody is paying attention to your purse. It would be incredibly easy for someone to steal it and run out the door. We also found it so difficult to get someone's attention while we were here to buy a gift card that we nearly gave up and left. Employees actively ignoring us, helping other customers who came after us without even looking at us, etc. We practically had to beg them to take our money. In the future, I would avoid this store. read more

Recent ludwig Backbeat drum set purchase for 12yo son was rough til it all got worked out by store management and keen handywork of Nick in the drumming dept---shout out Nick. In spite of communication hiccups these guys owned uo to the problem, clarifying what was and was not in the store's control re package shipping error. Bottom line they finished strong in true customer-centered fashion and left me ready to quickly refer this location to anyone in the valley. read more

Guitar Center - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Sherman Oaks, California

I have been a customer of this store for years, but after I moved 20 miles away, I have shopped mostly online at this store. It was always the best equipped store in the West Valley. Today, I needed to look into some actual instruments and this is what I found. No word sent to me as a customer about a closure. Surprised and sorry to see this one go. read more

Guitar Center - Back entry showing barrier tape. - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Sherman Oaks, California

See all

Thank you very much for your service, you helped us with the choice, as always, the quality and service are super at the highest level, we are very happy. special thanks to Dan and Sam, thanks guys very quickly helped with choosing a guitar read more

Temporarily closed because of a water hydrant crash, collapsed the roof. I hope they come back and better

Can't believe I've never reviewed this Guitar center but let's be real, I don't have a musical bone in my body. I told my dad I wanted a tambourine and he told me to come here. I picked one out on the sole basis of "this one looks fun!". Now I need some lessons. My bestie says it's the most annoying noise he's ever heard and my sweet Charley girl (feline) hates it. I went to a Pink Martini concert the day after purchasing and watched many band members play them from such a close distance and I'm literally obsessed. I'm hoping it doesn't become stored away like my uke has because I'm actually very interested in jingling my way into 2022. Service was great here. I didn't find the selection to be as big as the Hollywood location but I'm very happy with my purchase. My Dad's a musician but I wouldn't dare bother him with my tambourine fascination. If I get good enough I'll pop into our studio and ask to get myself on a track lol. Looking for a teacher I can pay in cocktails, day drinks, long lunches, life advice or a fair price. I'm adding tambourine to my list of new learns this year, along with pickleball and a dozen other activities to have fun with. Private parking lot in back. Friendly staff. read more

I cannot understand how this location continues to exist with the continued poor customer service which has been its business as usual approach for several years. Honestly, the last time I received good customer service at a Guitar Center was when it was at the old location which is now a Goodwill. I made the mistake of stopping by today to pick up a humidipack and was repelled by lack of existence of any sales person at the main desk with no less than 10 customers standing around with zero staff present. I seriously hope the new CEO has an actual plan to get this failing business back up to the level it had in the 1990s and prior. read more

****Update #3**** The Manager Mark finally made it all right regarding the refunds. Thank you Mark. read more

My husband is a bass player, and he has always done really well purchasing his bass guitars from here. In fact, for his birthday, I bought him his newest bass (Fender Jazz Bass) from this location (a few months ago). Today, we're here trading in a couple of old bass guitars that he no longer wants. They have really good policies on that. I love looking around and listening to the various musicians testing out the gear. read more

See all

I would never in 1 million years recommend that you give this company your credit card or a dollar of your money. I put my children in lessons here and they have been so extremely unprofessional. I canceled these lessons three months ago after countless issues with scheduling. They continue to charge me every single month. They have not refunded any of my money. No one knows anything about anything. It is such a terrible place. I have to call constantly to try and get my money back. Which apparently they can't figure out how to do and now I have to go through the bank to cancel everything. They are fraudulent do not go here. read more

It's evident by looking at this review page that there is a fundamental problem with this Guitar Center, especially because I am echoing a complaint for the exact same issue referenced by another customer 9 months prior. My daughter has been getting guitar lessons every Tuesday at 3pm. On July 9th, Guitar Center called us to let us know they could no longer accommodate our weekly lesson at our scheduled time due to a staffing issue. They asked us if we would like to reschedule to a to a new day/ time moving forward, but we were not prepared to commit so we asked to pause our recurring lessons. We received an email that day (July 9th) informing us that our subscription for recurring lessons had been cancelled. Except a week later we saw we had been billed for a brand new month of lessons as of this week July 15th. We called to point out this obvious mistake but "the manager" told us us we are at fault because we did not officially cancel the service.....the service they had told us a week earlier they could no longer provide. She further stated that while she understood we wanted to pause our subscription, she didn't think that necessarily meant we would pause payment. Instead of helping us rectify this, the manager told us that it would be very time consuming for her to get a refund issued and that it was Guitar Center's policy not to provide refunds except in the case of death (even if it is their OWN mistake), so our refund request would be denied. Just to re-cap: 1- guitar center cancelled our lessons 7/9 AND informed us in writing that our subscription for weekly lessons had stopped. 2 - guitar center charged us for a subsequent month beginning 7/15 for services they knew they could no longer provide, and then refused to refund on the basis that while our recurring lessons were cancelled, we had not "officially" requested payment be cancelled as well. I will be following up with corporate and reposting this occurrence on other review sites to spread awareness in hopes that Guitar Center can keep this from happening to yet another customer. read more

Waited for twenty minutes outside for a curbside pickup which is offered on their website. Had to call to get an update and was told "they're not really doing that anymore". You corporate website begs to differ. I eventually had to go inside and deal with the whole fiasco in there. Based on other reviews this place is in serious need of a corporate intervention. read more

I had the pleasure of working with the store manager, Michael, who was an exquisite human being. I purchased a new guitar and accessories. He was knowledgeable, pleasant and very helpful in my selecting a beginner's level acoustic guitar. My total experience was perfect! read more

I was in town, just browsing around. I didn't plan on buying a new guitar today. I've been eyeing a Kremona Solea. One of the employees named Dan came to the acoustic room and helped me out. He pointed out that the Kremona Solea I wanted was actually on clearance. The guitar with case woulda cost $2700. He checked out final pricing and he said the price for the guitar and case was $1300. From $2700 guitar/case to $1300 guitar/case. It's the guitar I wanted for almost half off. It was significantly cheaper because it had some superficial scratches and blemishes on the top of the guitar. That wasn't a big deal for me because it didn't affect the sound of the guitar. The blemishes also added some character to the instrument. And if I was really nitpicking, the blemishes are something that can be repaired. For sure I need to bring it back to have new strings and cleaned but all in all it's a very nice sounding guitar. This will be my workhorse for the next few years until I get something better. Side note, I was torn between buying the Kremona Solea or Kremona F65C. Both guitars sounded amazing. I was having a hard time deciding. Dan ended up coming back to the room, and he played both guitars for me so I can assess which sound I liked better. I really appreciate the customer service he provided. It helped me make my final purchase decision. Thanks again Dan! read more

Guitar Center - Kremona Solea - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Sherman Oaks, California

Jesse is amazing. He helped me navigate replacing my guitar after it was lost in the flood. Super communicative and kind. He made the process simple. Thank you Jesse and Guitar Center! read more

Michael is a terrible manager. No help, never left his office and just too distracted and rude. Brian is a great guy deal with him. Generally if you need help you can't find it in this store. But if you're just browsing sales people are all over you. I spend a lot with GC and I'm a Pro Member I wish their manager Micheal was better.. he's dragging down the experience. And most people come there for happiness. Maybe someone will let corporate know. read more

Leaving this review for anyone who wants the best guy ever to repair their guitar because Joe is simply the best. He is so sweet and kind and pretty much the only reason I come in to Guitar Center! He is nothing short of great! If you need someone that knows their stuff and will make your guitar sound and look brand new, Joe is your guy (: read more

The manager is a dick, I'll stick to Hollywood DJ for my equipment. No courtesy at all here.

Alright, an update to this story... After posting the previous review, I was a bit skeptical as to whether GC will reach and out to me. I was thinking, "why the heck would they bother...I'm a small fish." to my surprise, even though the initial response seemed to be a generic one that is automatically generated when they get a review, I received an email from an actual person that handles these types of issues. I was assured that someone will reach out to me. They did! It is my ultimate pleasure to announce here that Guitar Center is absolutely GOOD FOR THE MONEY. Jordan and Matt, from corporate, did everything in their capacity to make things right! I was shipped a BRAND NEW guitar, and more! Yes, it was not an ideal experience at first, but the support and the effort that the team put-forth to make things right made a world of difference. Because of this whole experience, I will never hesitate to continue to make Guitar Center my primary source of musical gear. As far as I am concerned, you are HIGHLY recommended. Well done, Jordan and Guitar Center! Thank you. read more

Guitar Center - Yamaha FSX5....what a dream!! - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Sherman Oaks, California

See all

Ive been a loyal Guitar Center customer for over 20yrs Easily spent over 30k in guitars and gear Have a 10k limit on my GC card that has a $3500 balance right now.. I come in when im in the area to look at the gear. I also sometimes have to use the restroom Today I walked in and was asked rudely by the security guard to bot use the restroom as these are employee only right now I was about to buy a $1500 taylor guitar Told him ill take my business elsewhere and left Guitar center i spend a lot of money here And u wont let me pee!! Forget it u lost me as customer I get better deals at sweetwater and sam ash anyway Goodbye forever read more

Employees seem kind at first but are greedy and only after the commission for a sale. After we decided not to make a purchase at their location, the Employee who had been assisting us started pestering and pressuring into making the purchase at their location because they wanted the commission. They made us very uncomfortable. Do not shop here. read more

The sales-people and managers here are very friendly and knowledgeable on the products. Sam was great with helping me make a hassel-free exchange. Thank you, Sam! read more

I just have to say... I LOVE MY LOCAL GUITAR CENTER in Sherman Oaks! This place has customer service extraordinaire! Even if I'm coming in just to buy something really inexpensive (like guitar picks), they still treat me as well as if I were spending the big bucks. And... for those of you who are in the market for music equipment... let's face it... there is not any place else in town that can compare the the selection Guitar Center has. Not only do they have a huge selection of instruments and supplies, they will beat any advertised priced and give you an additional 2% discount to boot, woot! woot! We went in recently to buy new drum heads, sticks and a crash cymbal. Jonny U (Warner Drive's drummer) helped us get everything we needed and for the best price. Thanks Jonny! I used to always go to the Hollywood location, but since my connection went on tour, I've been staying closer to home. I have no regrets. I like the layout of the store, it's closer to home, they have their own big parking lot, it's never as crowded... plus, plus, nothing but pluses. read more

Guitar Center - Got drums? Ya think? - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Sherman Oaks, California

Let me start by saying, John Schmidt was an excellent sales/customer service rep. He kindly strummed the guitars from high end to low end. he met and exceeded my expectations. Above all else, he is a very personable and stand up Representative of Guitar center. We ended up going with a. Yamaha Guitar that was right in the sweet spot along with a case. Thanks again John we need more like you. read more

Literally the worst music retail location on the planet. Zero help, poor attention to customers and rude staff.

Very bad customer service. Have tried many times to purchase products from this store. Sales staff knows very little about merchandise and it is very obvious they are only pushing sales and insurance. Stay away if possible. read more

Don't come here if you're not white. Every single time I go to this store with my brother and dad we are asked if we're going to buy something to the point of harassment. They think we don't notice them following us around or sitting close by to keep an eye on us for just playing guitar.The manager who is tall with a face mask and glasses finally backed off once I told him we had placed an order for pick up. read more

Shout out to Alex. We're not a high value rental customer - renting the smallest possible PA for a pre-school party. Alex kitted us up with what we needed, made sure we had the right XLR, and didn't laugh us out of the store with serious musicians renting gear for the weekend. A credit to the brand. Thanks, all! read more

Today I experienced some of the worst customer service ever! It started this morning when I tried to chat with their online sales department and the chat got disconnected several times. I then called to place an order over the phone, which took forever! The sales person told me my order would be ready for curbside pickup at 1 pm. I arrived at the store to pick up my order and the representative there had no clue about my order. He said this was the third time today that someone showed up to pick up an order they placed over the phone and they never received it. I asked if he could please look it up and just get me the speaker that I ordered. He said he couldn't do so as my order hadn't been processed. I showed him on my phone that my credit card was charged and asked again if he could just get me the speaker I already paid for. He refused and was very rude. I then told him to just cancel my order, and instead of trying to fix the problem, he just said ok and locked the door in my face. I then called the customer service line to try and speak with a supervisor but they refused to speak with me. They were apathetic and obnoxious and refused to take responsibility for their mistake. Long story short, I will never buy anything from them ever again and I sincerely hope they go bankrupt! You would think that during the coronavirus, they would embrace every customer and go above and beyond to close every sale. Very poor management! 5/28/2020 - So the other day, Beau from Guitar Center asked me to email them my contact information so that they could contact me to discuss my issue. I dis so, but still haven't heard from them. read more

Tried calling several times during business hours. No one is answering the phones. I've seen a lot of other reviews saying that they're not answering their phone. So obviously this is their standard for doing business right now. There's no excuse for not picking up the phone even given Covid. read more

Over the years I have bought 5 instruments from Guitar Center in Sherman Oaks. While definitely sales oriented, it was always possible to get recommendations and assistance. Last week, September, 2020 I went to buy a Digital Keyboard. I wanted to try out a Yamaha and Casio model. The woman assigned to help me knew nothing about keyboards, and was trained just enough to only be able to order something if I gave her the model number. We looked for the model I wanted to try, and after 25 minutes she disappeared and I found it on display myself. But it wasn't plugged in. I asked another salesperson to turn it on for me, he said he was busy but will help me in a minute. He did not ever come over and help. Additionally NONE of the Casio keyboards were connected to speakers or power. With no one to help me, and after an hour of waiting I left. Don't know yet if it is a company wide problem but this store does not have it's act together. Covid 19 concerns are no excuse. read more

I placed an online order for curbside pickup because I have a high risk (for COVID19) family member. The order was placed 2.5 hours before curbside pickup ended. I drove by the store so that I could be in the area when it was ready. Curbside pickup ended at 7pm (store closes at 8pm). I called the store before placing the order. They wouldn't pick up their phones. I called before 7pm. Again, nobody would answer. Online support let me know plenty of the items were in stock. I wasn't going to stand in the line of people waiting to go in with no social-distancing in place! At 7:02pm, I was notified that the pickup was ready. So, the website automatically showed that pickup had closed. I tried calling the store again. AGAIN, no answer. I had to go back the next day to get the order. On this end...no patience for bad customer service! I'm going back to a Sweet competitor with the same price next time. I actually bought another of the exact same item recently from the competitor a couple of weeks prior. Their customer service reached out on their own just to check to see how everything went AND followed up via email! Just wanted to get the item faster and take advantage of local, same day pick-up. My mistake...and theirs! read more

I came in to buy a Gretsch Electromatic guitar that was listed in stock. When I got there they had the guitar but it was missing hardware in the pick guard with scratched to hell and the neck was severely bowed. This was a brand new guitar! It was discounted so I was still considering buying it except there wasn't one sales person that stepped up to help me. I stood there for about 20 minutes with nobody else in the guitar department, no other customers, no sales people. This was at 11 o'clock in the morning so they can't even claim they were too busy. No sale. I walked away empty-handed and won't return to this location. read more

Poor customer service; tried several rounds to make this work, but employees and management do not seem geared towards follow thru and customer service. NOTE TO OWNERSHIP: After the generic response that you've left, I have to say your responses to a lot of your reviews are insulting to intelligence. If someone orders a guitar and it's the wrong guitar (AND 3 days late), don't ask them to send an email detailing their experience all over again so you can better improve your staff. Offer to exchange the wrong item and to send them a discount card for a future purchase. And if you've got a full year of negative comments that nobody on staff answers the phone and puts people on hold for over 10 minutes - don't send a generic response asking us to send an email to "explain our experience" - train employees and insist that they pick up the phone after two rings so customers wanting to spend money aren't wasting valuable time reaching out to a store that apparently is apathetic. That's how you get customers back, NOT by cut-and-paste responses asking us to write a whole separate email (for free, on our dime) so you can "better improve customer service" in the future. On with the rest of the review: When you call, you will most likely be left to 15 rings before anyone picks up, then get put on hold for several minutes and have to hang up and call back. This happened both Saturday (when I finally gave up) and Sunday when I tried again. Most of the store personnel are unable to help you of it requires more that a "in stock" query... in my case when I specifically asked for a senior manager I was told that they would be back "after lunch" That was at 1 PM. Left my name and number with the rather indifferent male voice in theory writing down my info. By 6 I had not received a call back from anyone so called and spoke to a "lead" by the name of Toby, who sounded like he genuinely cared and did try to help (tho he had no message that I'd left word 5 hours earlier)- but the conversation was not one where he could make "final decisions", and would need to speak with his GM. I asked Toby when the general manager would be available; he said that he would not be in until Monday; I asked what time. He responded he would be in by 10 AM, so I asked Toby if he would please let the GM know I've been trying all weekend to work with this location. Toby promised that not only would he get the appropriate message to his management, but that when he came in on Monday at 1 o'clock he would ensure the manager followed through, and take necessary steps if they had not. I asked him to please follow up, so that (yet again) a whole day would not go by without help from a Manager. Another part of our conversation involved the fact the phone rang for at least 15 rings before anyone picked up, each time I'd called, and then I was put on hold for several minutes without anybody checking back. Toby not only apologized but said that he was aware this was an ongoing problem with the store and employees, but felt helpless as a "lead" to do anything to address it. He said that he would try but past communication had not yielded results. All Monday went by and at 4 PM I called the store, of course got put on hold for more than five minutes, hung up, called back, and finally got to Toby - who sounded confused his manager had not called. At this point I shared my frustration that the GM had not taken the few minutes to call, and that despite assurances, Toby had not followed up to ensure I got to a manager; even though I had stated it was important and time sensitive and Toby assured me he would follow up. After about 5 minutes, he put me on hold ... and Michael comes to the phone. Although Michael is made aware that this is a customer calling back because he failed to actually reach out all day, he plays the game of not apologizing, just asking how he can help- and ignores my concern of no one following thru; when again asked why despite a message that a concerned customer has been trying to get in touch with him, he had not yet taken the 5 minutes to return, his unkind response: "I'm busy." Enough said. Again : this is after several messages left throughout the weekend and a promise from Toby that his management would follow up and did care about good customer service. My experience with this store in the past was disappointing enough that I ended up going to Sam Goody in Hollywood to purchase all my studio gear and Avid package; but given Covid as well as all the advertising this store spends, hoped it was now be a customer-friendly experience. 5 years later, nothing is changed, seems undertrained and overextended, and unconcerned with great customer service; it should not take several calls just to reach an appropriate staff member, then end up on the phone with an unfriendly GM uncaring about customer service. Thank You. read more

The people who work here are incredibly decent. Wanted to make sure I said that before I go off. DO NOT order anything online. They probably don't actually have it. Their entire online system is a mess of mismatched pictures and product names. Over the last decade I've patronized the store less and less as the overall quality has gone down and the price gauging has gone up. Guitar center is just a subsidiary of a hedge fund that clearly hates musicians. read more

Depressing dump. Trash and leaves on the ground throughout the store. When was the last time you vacuumed? Walk in, ask the employee at the front if they carry an item and only get "I wouldn't know I'm just security" as a response. Thanks! No one working at the tech desk. No one to assist inside the acoustic guitar room. No one inside the drum room. One guy was actually helping some families that are in the market for some beginner gear, good for him! Was hoping to avoid ordering parts on Amazon and maybe have a real person that knows guitars to point me in the right direction. That's a negative. And now I feel like I need some hand sanitizer. read more