Re: Guitar Center report.


"Walker" <walkerent@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:llzkf.63116$qw.29872@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> "John Shaughnessy" <johngoogleplexNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:66wkf.1614$7b4.445039@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Walked into GC today for the first time in a few weeks, and I was
>> instantly
>> confronted with a swarm of waiters. Seems they've instituted a new dress
>> code - black dress pants, black shoes, white button down shirt. About as
>> UN-
>> rock and roll as you can get. It DID make me feel like ordering an
>> appetizer
>> though.
>>
>> They've also gotten a lot dumber too. seems like most of the guys I knew
>> there are gone and replaced by 16 year old morons. I was in there to
>> scavenge a shipping box, but on impulse I decided to buy a couple of drum
>> mutes that were on sale. They wouldn't take my VISA card without ID,
>> which I
>> didn't have because I wasn't planning on making a purchase (and which is
>> both useless in stopping theft and illegal to require me to produce on
>> demand, but that's another thread).
>>
>> Fair enough, kid's just doing his job. But the thing is, I gave him my
>> name
>> and address which pulled up fine in their computer. He's got my
>> transaction
>> history. People who work there know me. And I hate to sound like a
>> totally
>> arrogant ***, but any musician with a clue in this city knows me or has
>> heard of me.
>>
>> He told me how sorry he was. I told him I'm sorry he's gonna lose the
>> commission because I'm going to buy them at Sam Ash now, which I did with
>> ZERO hassle.
>>
>> There is NOTHING in this world that makes me crazier than blind obedience
>> to
>> authority; I would have driven to the Vic Firth factory myself if I had
>> to
>> just to prove the point. Yeah, I know it's not the kid's fault; that
>> bull*** starts at the top. What it tells me is that these guys don't
>> have
>> the power to make "point of sale" decisions anymore, which is sad. I told
>> my
>> buddy at SA the story, and he had a good laugh. Apparently our CG is near
>> the bottom or dead last in the whole chain.
>>
>> Sorry, I didn't mean for this to turn into a credit card rant. I was
>> actually wondering if this is a chainwide shift, or just a store thing.
>>
>>
> It's the face of corporate America and unfortunately it's getting to be a
> fact of life. Big box stores only want clerks to fill orders and hopefully
> there are enough personable operators who realize the value of servicing a
> niche market and can survive and/or help to support a broader supply base.
> If you are lucky enough to find a trustworthy and knowledgeable person who
> can not only service your needs but has latitude or is independent, treat
> them like royalty and shower praise and gifts upon them. If the local Sam
> Ash manager has a good attitude and can produce results for the corporate
> heads then obviously good for you but especially good for them. There's
> nothing wrong with a chain. The problem is when there's an *** in
> charge and it's
>
Whoops.....hit a key by mistake but I think that I basically said my piece.
I probably would have actually deleted the whole thing but what the ***.
--
Bob Walker
an old dog with no new tricks
www.walker-entertainment.com


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