On my boycott list. I posted last year about my experiences with this merchant, and one of the…read moremanagers called me with the goal of having me remove my negative review, which I did. In hindsight I never should have done so.
If I have a bad experience with a merchant or believe I have been treated unfairly or as if they don't need my business, the place goes on my boycott list and I don't go back. There aren't many merchants that have a complete monopoly on a particular market, and musical instruments are available from a million places besides this one.
My first bad experience with this place was when I bought a used amp for close to $300.00. It worked for about fifteen minutes, and although it was bad enough that the store manager at the time (I have no idea if he's still there or not since I've never been back) refused to compensate me in any way. What was worse was his disrespectful, condescending way of speaking to me. I would have been glad to discuss it in the parking lot out back as I'm always interested in seeing whether or not a weenie has the cojones to speak to my face like this pathetic excuse for a manager did over the phone. But weenie boy wasn't about to do that.
In any event this representative of this establishment refused to help me in any way. We've got your money, you've got an amp that doesn't work, screw you. So I vowed never to go back.
I haven't.
However, last year when I went to the Experience Hendrix show at Strathmore, I entered a contest to win a "Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar" that was sponsored by 9:30 Club and Washington Music Center. Lo and behold, I won the guitar. Great, huh?
I picked the guitar up at the show, and took it to the car without opening the box or checking it out, because I had front row seats for this concert and didn't want to miss any of it. It was awesome by the way. Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Johnny Lang, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, Billy Cox, Dweezil Zappa, Brad Whitford, and others.
The box the guitar was in was sealed and reads Fender Standard Strat HHS on the label that is attached. When I got home in the wee hours and opened the box I was quite disappointed to discover that the Fender Stratocaster I had won was actually a Squier Strat. No one advertises or calls a Squier Strat a Fender Strat. There's a huge difference. You don't see Squiers on Ebay or anywhere else misrepresented as Fender Strats. I'm quite sure Gibson doesn't have contests to give away a Gibson Les Paul, and then when you open the box you find an Epiphone. Same freaking thing.
So I posted a negative review here on Yelp. When a manager of Washington Music Center left a message on my voice mail, I called back thinking he was going to make things right, do the right thing and take back the Squier and give me a Fender guitar. No such luck. All he wanted was for me to remove my negative review. He blamed the whole thing on 9:30 Club. "They don't know anything about guitars." I guess that's why they contacted you: So you could advise them on what kind of guitar to offer as a grand prize on an Experience Hendrix tour. A white FENDER Strat would have been the proper choice.
So I'm re-posting a negative review, and standing by it. Anytime Washington Music Center wants me to remove it, they can trade a real Fender for the lesser copy I was given.
BTW, the guitar I won still has the sleeve over the strings, etc. It's sitting on a guitar stand next to my two Fender Strats, my Gibson acoustic, and my Paul Reed Smith guitars. I've never played a note on it. I figured I'd sell it on Ebay, but just haven't gotten around to it.
Obviously Washington Music Center doesn't need my business, and they're doing fine without me. I'm posting because I boycott places that don't do business the way I think is right. Guitar Center, Victor Litz, and Music and Arts Center are all in the area. I bought two guitars last year, a few pedals, and plenty of accessories. None from Washington Music Center. They've seen the last of my money. I boycott them. I encourage you to do the same.