Everyone HATED Sam Ash! (I was shocked at the comments)
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- My recent video about the reasons behind Sam Ash going out of business generated some incredibly passionate comments about how much people hated the guitar store! I thought there would be a few people happy to see them go, but not THIS MANY! The negative reviews of Sam Ash just keep going and going! Even Guitar Center gets thrown under the bus.
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Rubric: -5 points for Danzig references. -5 points for not reading the description. -5 points for not watching far enough into the video to answer your own question. -5 points for misquoting me in your comment. 20 points possible. Everyone starts with an A!
The problem is, when people have a good experience at a store, they may tell 2 or 3 people. When they have a bad experience, they'll tell 20 to 30 people.
This is truth.
It's not really a problem. It's the reason great customer service is so important.
This is true about any retail sales ....I bought several things 10 years ago.... never had a problem but everyone's different and the location as well ....
Yep. Always look for the neutral-positive reviews for the most honesty, imo.
Good spread the word
Here in São Paulo/Brazil we don't have Sam Ash, Guitar Center, Manny's or anything like that. We have a street called Rua Teodoro Sampaio where there are dozens of the best Music Gear Stores of the city, where you can find the same condescending attitude from employees who didn't make it as musicians, pissed off with their own lives, being rude to anyone. It looks like failed musicians tend to end up as Guitar Stores pissed off employees.
Only in Brazil we also have the pleasure of paying AT LEAST double the price for any imports. And that's after the currency exchange.
After the bankruptcy announcement I saw a Facebook ad that was obviously a scam. It linked to a site using the name of Sam Ash in the domain and copied the graphics, but was clearly not the real Sam Ash site. If I needed more proof, it was offering Gibson Les Pauls for ~$200. I reported the ad as a scam to Facebook. A few days later they responded to me and said they found nothing wrong with the ad and that it adhered to their policies. I guess it is Facebook's official policy to allow scammers to advertise on their platform.
I also reported the FaceBook fraudsters. Like you FaceBook reviewed and found nothing wrong with the ad's OP. You folks that get/got duped there, feel free to use our statements in your eventual class action suit against FB. They are in the public domain.
Yep I just left a comment on here I saw a Michael Kelly telecaster for 129 or something like that. I looked at Google and it was 900 plus.
#facebookisshit
Never buy anything from a f-book add. 99% are scams.
Don't try reporting any scam to Facebook. It's a waste of time
I see a common thread here with customer service that could happen in any specialty store. You can hire people who are great in their own pursuit using the product, have great product or technical knowledge, but you cannot teach people skills if it doesn't first come from the heart. Wouldn't hurt to hire the odd retail generalist people person; don't even have to be a musician, they can learn about the product and defer to someone more knowledgable when needed. Going into a speciality store, many customers already have knowledge & skill.
That's a great point!
Totally agree. 20 years ago you needed that knowledgable sales person. Today, with so much info available on the internet, You just want a friendly face to walk you through the buying process.
I was treated poorly at Sam Ash stores in 3 different states. To this day they are only musical instrument stores that have treated me like that. I made it point to never purchase anything from them again.
Why would you not shop there because actions of others? If it’s a deal I don’t care I buy it and will go to manager or someone else nice in a store of 10. Not everyone at every store sucks and if your treated that bad I can’t comment other than maybe it was you lol no offense what your saying 3 states I find that hard to believe could have happened but a holes don’t stop me from getting what I want
@@jittboy1Cool.
Yeah, half of the Sam Ash employees were complete a - holes to me, who generally f***ed their way out of a good sale where I was even willing to pay full price.
Truly dogs*** retail rejects that deserve to eat s*** and unemployment when Sam Ash fully closes in mid July.
I liked the Columbus Ohio store I visited from out of town and they allowed me to play two Gibson SG’s and it showed me that the Epiphone ones I have are just as good for a third of the cost!
@@garyhundsrucker7771 yeah not gonna let employees dictate what I want to purchase . I am the one buying not there to socialize with employees lol I find the reason not to go employees.
we used to call them "Sam's Ass" for good reason
This was back in 2016. I purchased brand new American Strat form the 34th street store in Manhattan. After dropping close to $2K in the store they wouldn't let me use the restroom while they "setup" my new guitar.
Sam Ash's luthier fucked up my Yamaha Revstar, but the company replaced it, no questions asked. While their luthier was brain dead, their local management was great.
Ummm are you sure it was the luthiers that were brain dead?
Guitar Center always kicked Sam Ash in The butt
Sam Ash replaced it? Or Yamaha?
What store was this at?
@@BlueberryStinkFinger62 The fake luthiers at Sam Ash and Guitar Center suck.
I never shopped Sam Ash but how in God’s name could they be worse than GC? I used to slam a door on my hand just to see if I was not transparent.
Depends on the location and who's working there at the time and literally minding the store. Everyone's experience varies, which sucks.
@@joellebrodeur1015is he talking about ALL THE STORES or did you assume this?
I’ve been to probably forty or fifty Guitar Centers versus twenty or so Sam Ash locations. Every single GC has done better.
Yes, Sam Ash was worse the worst!
At SA (Hawthorne, CA) about 5 years ago I took a vintage guitar in to get set-up and, a few days later, was politely informed by the repair guy that the guitar deserved better than he could give and I went and got it back. While I was checking out, the young guy that fetched it told me that it was valuable as if I didn't know it (I'm black) and skeptically asked me where I got it. I took a deep breath and informed him that I've had it since the early 80s (which was probably 10 years before he was born) and I left it at that. Never went back.
You’re a good man. You didn’t lose your cool. Ignorance is the norm these days. Hope you got a good setup on your guitar 🎸👍
Yeah, let's make it racist. This is just your side of the story. I wonder how true it is.
Come on. I'm white and he'd be curious about where I got it too. Thats a basic question among guitar guys regarding valuable guitars. (And they called you to retrieve it because they didn't want the liability).
@@GUITARTIME2024bullshit. My guitar playing best friend is Black, and he got mistreated as well.
.....
I just fell victim to the Sam Ash credit card Scam - it’s so rampant, my credit card company pro actively cancelled the card and sent me a replacement card. That said - one of the last few days the local store was open I did get a killer deal on a Michael Kelly hybrid guitar for like $300 - new the guitar listed for $1,000 - so it was a killer deal, and I love the guitar …. My neighbor works for Sam Ash as a manger for the past 3 decades and is now unemployed, seeing the real impact the bankruptcy has had on real people and their livelihood, gave me a much different perspective. Hey Max - I ran into you and your girlfriend at Knott’s last Year and you were super gracious and nice - you are the real deal man - keep up the great work and good content !!!
Oh yeah! At the gift shop right? Was nice meeting you, and thanks for you comment!
What exactly was the scam and Did you get your money back?
The guy who works closing at the Southfield, Michigan Guitar Center helped me. He greeted me, left me alone when I said I was just looking, and then was helpful when I needed a bass tuned and finding a case.
I bought a bass from gc online and had it shipped to the monroeville pa store, when I came to pick it up they offered to do a fresh setup on it for free, really nice folks
great to hear!
@@jaykay0401 Like many others have mentioned, there were a few times I found myself waiting around longer than I would have liked, but I've never experienced the rudeness or ignorance others complain about at their local gc...never had a sam ash anywhere nesr me so I can't comment on their customer service, but I've tried to navigate their website and it sure does suck compared to gc or sweetwater
I will not miss them. Rarely did I ever shop in there store. Never online. Employees were clueless; just like at G.C.
Clueless concerning........ Keyboards, Audio, Drums, Recording, Accessories, Rentals, Repairs?
IDK where all these negatives are coming from - I had a Sam Ash rep that called me regularly and helped me return things that didn't fit. The nearest store is where I bought my first drum cymbal and online they always had better deals than anyone else 15-20% off anything. Don't get the hate
I’ve got stories as a customer AND an employee…
Most of them bad.
Mismanagement by the family all the way down the chain.
Problems decades before Covid.
Without saying what I was doing and for who, I dealt with all the large music chains in New England. I had to deal with employees and management 6 days a week. Absolute nightmare from the top down. Majority of employees were okay to me, but treated their customers like garbage. It started at the top. Majority of management were absolute pos. Shoutout to Natick Guitar Center and Steve for being one of the biggest c'ntz I've ever met.
I’m a New Englander, I cut my teeth during the Daddy’s Junky Music hay days.
I’ll never forget the feeling I got there as a teenager. I’d go in with a pocket full of cash only to be treated like a 2nd class citizen by the majority of the staff. Asking to check out a guitar was like asking the salesperson to donate a kidney to me.
I refused to spend my money there and ONLY shopped at the other local mom and pop stores. Now those shops are closed and I buy from Sweetwater for new gear.
@@coastalgenetics6512 I always had better dealings with Daddy's
The COVID years were guitar boom years to the companies with great website sales. Since everyone was stuck at home, learning guitar became a thing and sales went crazy. Having a cash business was the death knell for Sam Ash.
I have the opposite experience with costumer service at Sam Ash and Guitar Center as the Going to miss Sam Ash E-Mail. Whenever I go into one or the other I always make a purchase, I have spent thousands of dollars at Sam Ash and many times not even an hello from the sales person that made the commission, in the beginning of June in Springfield N.J. I went to buy a Casio key board and I couldn't try the floor model because they didn't have a power source for it, instead they just said sorry about that and I left and went across the Ave, to Guitar Center played a Casio 400 and bought it at the same price as Sam Ash's closing the store sale, the Guitar Center employee's are always friendly there, the sale person even carried it out to my car for me gave me his card and told me to just call him if I have any questions. All the employees are friendly there at Guitar Springfield.
We never stop talking shit on guitar center either tho and they go bankrupt every other year BUT they keep that used guitar site going and tons of product goes through there which is their saving grace....Sam Ash couldn't be assed for the website
Not surprised. I retired a year ago in FL and needed to find a guitar store. There was a Sam Ash 10 min from me. I had never been to one but certainly heard of the me so I went. I thought GC has the worse customer service. Nope Sam Ash out did them. What these guitar stores really don’t get is they are in the customer service business not the guitar business. My guess is there is little to no training on customer service and if there is it’s very ineffective at best. And hence why Sweetwater a company that you can’t even touch a guitar before you buy one is dominating the industry-it’s not the gear of course it’s important- it’s the customer service experience- period. End of story. Every time I email my Sweetwater Rep I get an answer very quickly and it could be the simplest question. Ya see they “EARNED” my business!!!
We'll see how good Sweetwater does after they have the total monopoly that they have worked so hard to get. I have NEVER seen any good come from people who run monopolies. They don't care because they just don't have to. You will pay what THEY, not the market, decide you will pay
In my experience yes, the SW customer service is excellent. Their Achilles heel is that they're at the mercy of the delivery duopoly, though. If those clowns can't get a metal box with knobs to my door undamaged, how tf is a guitar going to make it through in one piece? It totally ruins the experience, especially when you're dealing with a hot new item you've waited weeks for and they're now telling you it'll be weeks more before they can replace your damaged gear. Just my 2¢.
T H I S.
my dad was a used car salesman
Every type from prestige to taxi cabs to everything
I came home from school once and asked him why he didn't change his job or at least what he was selling because it must be boring to sell cars over and over again!
He looked puzzled and replied I don't sell cars! I don't think anyone really does, do they…?
I asked him what the hell he's been selling all these years & he said "dreams"
Big box stores have huge overhead and can't afford to pay or train good help, especially in this age where companies hyperfocus on next quarter's results at the expense of the future beyond that. It works for Wal-Mart or Target because you don't need experts to sell shampoo and socks. Specialized retail like musical gear is different. Heck, the customer service at Home Depot is almost as bad now (it used to be pretty good).
@@chrisoberst3531 You are 100% right! I don't know if they can't afford to pay people properly, but the low base pay + commission model is especially prone to poor results when combined with zero training. And you are also right that specialized retail is different. Musical instrument retailers should train their staff to act more like "techs and roadies" than sales people.
I worked at Sam Ash from 2001 until 2006 in their stock department. I met a lot of cool people who worked there and some are still friends of mine but that place was run horribly even back then. The Ash family were so cheap and they treated all the employees like crap. I remember they bought this new POS system and rolled it out right at the Christmas rush and it kept crashing when the lines were long. I still remember the name it was GERS. They probably got it because it cost 5 bucks less than the competition they were looking at.
Sure it wasn’t called Grrs?
@@jmanned What location?
Guitar center won’t go down anytime soon. Not even in the next decade. Sam ash had 42 store locations when they closed. Guitar center currently has over 305. Sam ash didn’t expand like GC. The closest Sam ash to me was a 17 hour drive away. Closest guitar center is less then 30 minutes.
I can honestly say that I really liked the Sam Ash that was in my town for a little over 3 decades. I was very lucky to have some really cool people to work with when i was in there as a customer.
Were do you live?
@@Jeremya74 sorry for late reply. Central NJ
I commented on your last video, but watching this one made me think I should share my experience with the Sam Ash in Clearwater as well. This was years ago, but one day I walked into the drum room at that crazy building Sam Ash was in there. There was a 70s clear Ludwig Vistalite there. It was in VERY poor condition. It was missing several lugs, mounting hardware, heads were all horrible, bass drum spurs missing, and even had some cracked shells etc... However, I never had a Vistalite and I wanted to see if I could make a deal and put some work into it. I talked to the guy working in the drum room and offered to trade my almost brand new Gretsch Catalina Birch on the condition that he would order the missing hardware for me and give me a set of new heads. He agreed and told me to bring in the Gretsch in a week or so and he should have the parts. I brought in my Gretsch but he said the parts haden't arrived yet, but I could take the Vistalite and he'd take the Gretsch and assured me the parts would be there in about another week. I took his word and left my Gretsch there and took the completely unusable Vistalite home. A week went by and I kept calling, only to be put on hold and never answered. Two weeks went by and the same thing. Nearly a month later I was furious at this point and loaded up the Vistas back into my car and just decided I'd take them back and get my old drums back. I went into the drum room and I could see a look of panic on the guy's face. We got into an argument and I reminded him that he hadn't even given me the heads yet. Then he was like, oh don't worry it's all good, follow me. Then walked me to the back and started sneaking out heads and other drum gear from the store to load them into my car!!?! I was like what are you doing? I am not comfortable with this at all! I just want my old drums back and you can take back these. Then he admitted that he had already sold my Gretsch. I was super angry and told him that I wasn't leaving there without a functioning drumset, and not one he steals out of the back of the store! I ended up having to settle for a used Ludwig Accent worth 1/3rd of the price of my Gretsch. I did manage to get him to give me a full set of new heads with it though, and an actual receipt to prove the transaction was legit. It was completely insane and one of the worst shopping experiences I've ever had. The good news is, I didn't actually hate the Accent. It sounded better than I thought it would, and I ended up playing that kit for a few years.
No way!! I liked SA yo. Scored some great deals online over the years. Especially on some of the more rare signature guitars with a case and everything. Much like GC. This is not a good sign of things to come imo.
I agree overall with this criticism and the comments are HILARIOUS. Very common unfortunately. Guitar Center shares some similarities.
I'm glad I got to live through the big box music store era. We had Mars Music in Albany, it was the size of a Macy's. If I can help it though, I'm always going to buy at my local mom and pop, they've been there my entire life. A good music store employee is a player him or herself, and is enthusiastic about playing, not stuck up
We had Mars Music too in Orlando that was that big, and Sam Ash eventually bought it out
I put $400 down to 'hold" a pair of $1,200 JBL speakers at a Mars store in Minneapolis. A week later they shut the doors and I never got my money back.
Totally agree. There's a nice locally owned, non-franchise type od music in our town. They seem to gave a nice variety of instruments and other gear.
Used to have a Mars here. Met a guy who would end up at GC later after Mars went under, and I always went to him because of his customer service. He's long since gone, passed away from cancer, but I bought from him for damn near 25 years. I even have his CD somewhere. I'll still head to GC on occasion, though they've gone off a cliff in the last decade.
My experience at a local mom and pop place was to be yelled at "Don't touch the guitars". I walked out and never went back. The other local shops are long gone, so it's GC or Sweetwater, and Sweetwater sent me a guitar with a cracked headstock, and refused to replace it. It'll be a cold day in hell before I buy from them either. Fuck Sweetwater.
My most recent online purchase was direct from ESP, and I had to tell the UPS service rep that they had until 3pm or I was filing a police report for theft. Driver drove by two days in a row, no stop, no attempt to deliver my guitar. I stayed home from work and stood on the porch until he showed up and was at the road before he could leave. I love the ESP, fuck UPS.
Compre un procesador de efectos para guitarra y a los 15 días dejo de funcionar totalmente, nunca quisieron darme la garantía y estoy seguro que incluso me enviaron un equipo usado, despues de eso nunca mas volví a comprar en sam ash
Around 4 years ago I went into a Sam Ash looking to buy a Strat. I found one that had a button next to the volume and tone knobs. At the time I didnt know what it was for. Great looking Strat. So as a Sam Ash associate was walking by I asked, "Hey, Im interested in this Strat. What does the button here do?" The associate looked at me and said, "Dont know. Im a Gibson guy." And walked away. So, I took my money somewhere else.
Obviously not everyone hated Sam Ash. Pretty much every business is gonna' have customers who have had a bad experience or feel they were "wronged" in some way. And of course, the internet is the perfect platform to bad mouth a business to millions of people.
I bought a Jim Root jazzmaster from the website and it came with a Jim Root Jazzmaster neck that was falling off and the pickups that weren't screwed in. They replaced it but it was a very very sad moment for a 22 year old me.
Be a man and get an esp
The unwritten signs in SA & GC are : all sales are final. We have no service dept.
I ordered a Schecter before any store closing was announced. It arrived in a Epiphone box with a warped neck and corroded strings. I refused the guitar on the spot. An uppity employee tried to force a final sale. Eventually I got my refund. Brilliant idea, offer anniversary sales, then announce store closings and change the return policy in the middle of the sale.
There was not a Sam Ash near us. In Annapolis we had GC They were Good they were in Glen Bernie MD. We are Closer To Earl Teeter & Music & Arts in Del Now Beach area.. however Typically we order online. My wife & I play piano, violin, guitar. Mod platforms. We were at earl Teeter in Del the other Day & purchased The DR NEON Strings they were on Close Out 75% Off $3 a pack cheap . They have been out for years & personally I always saw them as a GIMICK... However They will look Cool on Stage So My wife & I said That's get a few. We feel its easy as well as cheaper online. If we are Shopping in the area we hit Earl Teeter & or Music & Arts, Sometimes the Guitar Man all though his store is dirty so not often. Cheers 🍻🥃🥃🎸🎼🎵🎶🎶🎶🎶
If you're always treated like shit by a store's employees, why do you keep going back to buy'piles of gear?
Could be the only store near by. That situation sucks ass.
@@xamislimelight8965 I guess. I go way out of my way got avoid stores like that. No matter...
In the 80s, no one could beat Sam Ash for pricing. Music Emporium was ok, but Sam Ash was better.
What happened?
I agree with the Guitar Center hate. I play bass, and if you go in there for bass gear, they just stick their nose up at you. I had one guy say to me “This is Guitar Center, not Bass Guitar Center”. I haven’t shopped there since.
I was talking to this GC guy about what gear I needed for a good 30 minutes and he listened to everything. Then he says "well I don't play guitar, I'm the drums guy so I really don't know what gear you need" 😂😂😂
I've never had that experience. At my GC I went to, I had a guy come up my first time and we had a great conversation. I didn't get anything that day, but when I went back a week or so later, the same guy was there, remembered my name and generally my preferred brand. I never had a bad experience.
That's weird, because about 10 years ago when I was at Guitar Center LI Carle Place or G. City, they had an entire room for bass and bass amps! But I think a few years
later they phased a lot of the bass stuff out. Why, god knows.
@DonovanMcNabb5 That sounds like a comedy sketch!
I very much prefer Sam Ash over guitar Center. I went to guitar Center to buy some drums and couldn’t get anyone to help me so I went to Sam Ash, was immediately helped, and dropped six grand.
Sam Ash going out of business doesn’t bother me at all. Every single location fucking sucked. Their prices were god awful, the selection was bad,clueless employees, etc. By comparison, they made look Guitar Center look great.
Sam Ash Cincinnati was absolutely terrible. One case I was interested in an N.J Virgin, they wanted 575.00 and wouldn't even throw in a gig bag. Got the same guitar at Guitar Center for 375.00 with a gig bag. Guitar center always treated me good no matter what I got. Sam Ash , bad experience every time I went in.
Sam Ash in LA, CA was absolute garbage to the guitar center rock of fame. I was busking out on Hollywood blvd and I broke a string. I had just enough money to buy a string and get back to making money to grab a full pack later on. At that time, Sam ash was a pretty big deal so I wanted to check it out and see if they could help me out and I’d get them after the day was over. The nasty looks and just down right snobbish tone was enough for me to walk in and walk right back out and cross the street to guitar center. Not only did they hook me up with the string for free, they even did a two for one when I came back to buy the pack like I had promised. I’ve always had an awesome time with guitar center out here in Illinois too. My Hartke can came from NY and my amp head came from MI. All used gear and works like they are brand new (bought 2023). My acoustic, my bass, and my practice amp as well came from GC and they all work over a decade later(2010-2017). Not to mention when I was first figuring out my disease, GC allowed me to use their actually awesome electric kit to write the drum tracks for my demo, for FREE. Don’t get it mixed up, if you’re an asshole you’re gonna get treated like one but if you actually show to know what you know and admit to what you don’t know, the conversation can go ALOT farther. If there was a ma and pop shop to go to around me I would, but since I don’t, this is the best way I’ve been shopping for my gear at GC all over the U.S. since I was 13 and I’m in my 30’s now. Rock of Fame will forever be the greatest place to jam and make friends by far though!
Well...tbh I didn't even know Sam Ash was going under until I saw the previous video. 😳
Can't really voice a meaningful opinion because I've done business with them exactly one time, two days ago. Went online & nosed around a bit - what did strike me as odd, was their discounted prices on a fair number of items weren't all that competitive. I ended up buying a Yamaha soft case via online purchase & store pickup at the Ontario, CA store. Pulled in a timely fashion, store employees were reasonably helpful & courteous (making allowances for the fact they'll be out of work in a little over two weeks time), no real complaint.
Only other oddity - for being on the verge of shutdown, they had no shortage of stock on hand. No joke - display instruments all over the wall, plenty of stock on hand. Maybe they'll be more vigorous in cutting prices in future, but right now not so much.
Hi Max 😢. It's a shame that another retail guitars store has gone bust. I used to visit the one in Clearwater and Tampa, Sarasota as well.Its okay 👍 for everyone to voice their opinions. but at the end of the day there will be less choices for musical instrument fans. Someone or company needs to put the shops back on the map and diversity the guitar business. Such as having 😺 open mike nights at some stores with cafes and food shops a bit like a community meeting point, where they could have celebrity guests and clinics to show people techniques and maintenance. It's very hard for me purchase a guitar online 😹 unless I've tested it in real life. Anyway all the best 👍 to you and your sonic adventures.😊John. 😊😊😊
I've had nothing but positive experiences from GC, never been to Samash.
I never bought anything at Sam Ash. It was always more expensive than eny other store i shopped. try getting 20 percent off retail price at Sam Ash, they laughed at you. And forget trading in your gear, they would totally try to rip you off.
The problem with these stores is customer service. My local GC wouldn’t unlock the locking tuners on a guitar I really wanted to buy but it was so out of tune the fine tuners wouldn’t do it. They said the “didn’t have time”, and they wouldn’t let me do it. This is a store I’ve spent thousands of dollars in.
I was wondering why all you youtubers were talking so positive and sad about Sam Ash when I've always felt they were the worst of the bunch.
Huh... I didn't know people hated Sam Ash. I've never had a bad experience there. I've never had a bad experience with Guitar Center either, for that matter. 🤷🏻 ...also you don't use dark mode on RUclips? What's up with that?
The thing about any store or company or doctor or Enterprise or restaurant what have you is that you're going to see good reviews and bad reviews. That's just normal. You could have a perfectly good experience at a store and give them a good review and two days later someone else will give them a terrible review. Maybe you got the good sales staff and they got the worst. And then it creates a stigma. So you have to kind of look past people's comments inform your own opinion in conjunction with what other people say. The truth lies somewhere between.
That’s why I shop at these little mom and pop’s music stores every new town we play at I’ll try to find one, you’ll be surprised on what you might find.
Not to mention that a lot of manufacturers, especially smaller ones, don’t want to deal with the bureaucracy of big chain brick and mortar stores. So much of the marketing happens online these days, and they keep a much bigger chunk of the profit if they sell through their web store, so there’s not the kind of motivation to deal with them anymore.
Sammy Ash dying was the nail in the coffin that killed Sam Ash.
I just don't understand the mindset of people that go into a retail store and get mad that they aren't instantly greeted by a worker. When I go in I want to be left alone. If I need help I'll ask. Never had any issue with someone helping me when asked at any store.
Sam Ash over 5 years ago had basses that i wanted since then they have had all beginner and basses I would not be intersted .
Employee turnover was crazy too . I think they do the thing that most retail companies do is make employees try to sell programs and warrenties and let them go if they dont sell enough of that.
I also believe that the 3rd and 4th gen family didnt really care they were all trust fund babies by then😮
Was never a fan of Sam Ash!!!! Just horrible all around!!!!!
Governments illegally shut things down, not Covid.
It still stuns me that these noobs demand a multi-thousand-dollar Custom Shop guitar, or even a standard Gibson… but recoil in horror at a couple dozen dollars for a setup.
My only experience with Sam Ash is through Reverb, and it hasn’t been good. 3 purchases:
1) Squire Bass IV, advertised as mint condition, but was defective. I returned it.
2) Michael Kelly Patriot Decree OP. Sam Ash canceled the order four days later, without informing me.
3) another Michael Kelly Patriot Decree OP, advertised as mint condition, but was far from it. I returned that too.
The return process was slow and cumbersome both times, but they did pay for return shipping and issue full refunds.
(Beware of Reverb listings that use stock photos for “Mint condition” items.)
I wish the shirt in the thumbnail was real. I’d purchase lol
SAm Ash was my least favourite music store. If I could buy it somewhere else even at the same price I would.
Went to Sam Ash a few years back to purchase a really nice Epiphone Les Paul that I'd seen on one of the floor stands. I noticed a small crack in the neck pocket and took the guitar up to the counter to let them know that it should be discounted or taken off of the floor. They sold me a brand new one from the back and stuck the cracked one back on the floor stand, full price, just waiting for the right sucker. Never went back.
It's all true. Serious management problem.
I bought 2 guitars a bunch of pedals and other gear plus countless patch cables etc from the Sam Ash in San Diego. Always had a great experience with the employees and am going to miss it. It sucks that another physical music shop is going extinct.
I personally have never had a good experience at Guitar Center in San Diego. It always feels like your request is someone else's responsibility, on one trip I picked up a random Jackson, plugged it in, gave the Floyd a wiggle, all the strings came out. I pick up another one, go to plug it in, the whole input jack falls out. Brand new gear is just not set up or even properly checked for quality issues. You can never get any help and it takes 2.7 business days to do anything in there.
I never had any problems with getting help in the guitar department at sam ash but other departments the associates did not have time to wait on customers. If you went to buy a cheap piece of gear they did not want to be bothered. Guitar center is the same way so I just purchased a les 50s les paul stanard through reverb. Seems the online stores push customer satisfaction. sweetwater for me is the same way. I was interested in a new interface and was asking questions when the sales rep hung up and never took my calls so I did some research online and bought the unit from amazon !
This probably won't be read but watching these two videos is digging up some core memories of just starting to play guitar in the late 90s for me. I had no clue where to get anything, was totally green. But all my guitar playing buddies mentioned the Sam Ash in Cherry Hill, NJ about half an hour away from me.
There wasn't a single incident that turned me off to them, but every time I went was an uncomfortable experience to say the least. Especially for a 14 year old grunge/punk kid who's just trying to get his feet off the ground.
I definitely remember being looked at like they just thought I was going to break something. Took ages to ever get a salesperson. They were always off chatting about some other bullshit and ignoring people on the sales floor. And if some middle aged golf playing graybeard in a nicely pressed polo shirt and khakis came in to ogle the newest $10k Eric Clapton Stratocaster, you bet your ass they were sucking up to him and ignoring me, who just needed a pack of strings and a winder.
Even a couple times I came in with a handful of cash visible in my hands, knowing what I wanted to buy and knowing they had it in stock, and explaining this to a sales person, they would take 45 minutes just to talk to me.
Guitar Center is only marginally better, but I got quite a bit of schadenfreude when they hilariously built one in the same shopping center some years later. I often overheard people in there complaining about customer service or out of stock items, but they would always tack on at the end "at least it's not as bad as Sam Ash."
And yeah, their website was always bad, even by late 90s standards. I could build a better Geocities page.
Ha, that's funny!
P.S. I had to look up "schadenfreude".
Their customer service was crap. I remember waiting 25 mins to buy a set of guitar strings. I seriously thought they should have had a vending machine for strings and small items like picks and whatnot.
That’s a GREAT idea.
I got one guitar from them over 15 years ago. Bought a small amp from them 3 years ago. I'm not much of a brand new musical equipment buyer. I did not have a bad experience at Sam Ash Columbus,Ohio. It's the times, online buying is King. Most people know what they want and do their homework on a musical product. Also thanks to RUclips channels like yours it's a complete examination, pros and cons.
I don't think I ever bought more than a couple of cables and strings there, but I think it sucks when any competition closes.
It doesn’t suck. If they can’t keep up they shouldn’t be up. Simple
good riddance to bad rubbish
surprised it lasted as long as it did.
Only difference between Sam Ash and Guitar Center is the name. Sam Ash isn’t failing, their just not letting you play their guitars before you buy them. They’re cutting the sales man’s paycheck out is what it is.
You can still return them if you don't like them - right?
I tried every guitar I bought from them, bought 4 guitars that day
@@Rstar63That’s the way to go!
Facebook is selling sam ash instruments but THEY'RE ALL SCAMMERS!!! BUYER BEWARE!!! THEY HAD A MICHAEL KELLY TELE LISTED FOR 129$ Then i remembered what max said about scammers and I went to google and put Sam ash in went to the actual site and it was 900 the same guitar.
The "$" listed after the number is always a red flag that it's a scam.
@Crispy_Music_2024 i knew it was too good to be true!!!! 🤣🤣🤣😊👍
Sweetwater has become my new favorite. Being a west coaster we had GC and Musicians Friend (same co) and it was like that guys manbun experience. Now they only stock "this is your first guitar" inventory in the stores, they'll fail too
Same for Guitar Center buying out Music and Arts. Walking into M&A is like going into a guitar center now.
It's funny that I ran across your video about Sam Ash. I literally just got back from their store here in Vegas. I was taking back a brand new pickguard I purchased last week. I did not realize that all sales were final. The pickguard was still in the plastic Fender bag it came in. The idiot at the counter said, " Didn't you read your bloody receipt? All sales are final. We are going out of business. " I mean, it's only a $40 pickguard, but the service there was always horrible.
Car dealership attitude
It always cracks me up when people buy a guitar from a guitar store...and after trying some,finding one that they like and committing to the purchase, ask the store if they have a 'new one in the box'. hehe. I understand that in some industries, they have display or demo products. But to me, guitars are different. You might have tried 10 guitars before finding the one that you like.....but that 'new one in the box in the back room', might feel and play totally different than the one you liked off of the rack. You could have a CNC machine cut out 100 guitars..and you could have the person set them up with the same type of strings, there will still be differences between those guitars.
..I have 2 almost identical Les Pauls. I can set them up, put the exact same strings on..and have everything perfect.... But one refuses to stay in tune...whereas the other is rock solid and I can play for hours for still be within a few cents of being perfectly tuned. I say this to stress the point that all guitars are different.
Agreed. Prior to internet sales , buying "new in box" was unheard of!
Very good point . I always told the salesperson I only wanted the one I tried.
Unfortunately, I can't jump on the "hate" bandwagon. The local Sam Ash stores offered decent deals and fairly good customer service. Every store (Guitar Center, local stores etc.) will have "pissed off" customers for various reasons. I have to say-i'm not one of them.
I'm 65. I grew up on Long Island, NY. There was a Sam Ash store in our town. Everybody frequented it back in the 70's. There was no other music store for many miles around. I played in many bands and purchased a lot of gear from them: bass amps, bass guitars, full triamped sound systems, mixing boards, speakers, you name it. I knew many of the sales people personally after numerous years of purchasing from the only music store for many, many miles around. They had TERRIBLE customer service at the time. Like so many other people have said, the sales people were all disheartened, failed 'rock stars' in their own minds and constantly made me, and everyone I knew who shopped there feel like total losers. Sam Ash didn't deserve to stay in business as long as they did. The only store Sam Ash should EVER have kept open was their NYC store. They NEVER should have opened satellite stores. I agree, Max, that it was a combination of really poor business practices, covid, and a loan that may have crushed them, but to me the real disaster for them was ALWAYS the shitty employees they hired. I never met one in all the years I frequented Sam Ash stores who didn't act the same way bicycle store employees act toward customers: totally condescending. In any business, customer retention is paramount. Sam Ash violated this standard consistently over the 50+ years I had interactions with the company. In the early 2000's I returned to 'pop' music after a long and rewarding career as a classical musician. I first turned to Sam Ash to buy some contemporary gear, but after one interaction quickly moved on to GC, and later to Sweetwater and Harley Benton. Sam Ash should never have lasted as long as they did. They were terrible. Their sales people ruined that business.
Never had a chance to visit a Sam Ash, but there's no way the company lasted 100 years with customer service like these comments describe. Methinks they're heavily weighted toward unsatisfied customers because they're the most likely to comment.
100% factual. Also my store has 1100+ reviews with a 4.7/5 on google. With a 45 day return and a 60 day price match I don't understand how many people in these comments did not take advantage of these very generous policies. At my store we always did our very best to keep our customers satisfied. This is definitely a store by store basis. Torrance #1!
This happens all the time in family owned businesses. As each succeeding generation gets handed the business they lose compassion and understanding for hard work, they can't relate, they were handed everything, they don't know what its like to work hard. Employees just become numbers and tend to get taken for granted. "Take care of your employees and your employees will take care of your customers".
Shop Sweetwater Music instead
You know, I had the same bad customer service experience here in Houston. EVERY time I went in. It always felt like I was bothering them, each time an employee helped me out it felt like it wasn’t THIS dude’s department.
Sam Ash sucked SOOOOO bad
I'm no experienced musician and my Sam Ash here was my main store for 24 years. Yeah, the sales people were uneducated but since they were right around the block, when I ran my basement studio for the public, I was happy they were there.
I believe it also depended on the area the store was in
I loved sam ash.......they had better guitar pedals, better guitars.....amd they had my dava picks for cheap.
Online those picks were normal priced but in store.......they were cheaper
Well I can't speak for there other stores But the Richmond Sam Ash was a great place to check out and buy gear and the staff was always cool anytime I was there thye would check on you see if they could help you but not hover over you if you were just browsing.
They would check back in with you after a bit to see if there was anything you found or needed again.
Always enjoyed there store better then guitar center.
as far as employee problems, they get what they pay for. It's funny to me that rude people seem to be the norm, because I shopped at the Sam's first store on Long Island and Sam himself was, how to say, a little abrupt himself! Hahaha
The one experience that I can remember was like being in a “boutique “ snobby retail store with mostly high end gear
My most recent Sam Ash experience was back in 2011 when I was shopping for a Marshall amp. After seeing a few prices being offered, I called the Sam Ash phone order number (perhaps it was NYC?) and asked the sales guy who answered what his best price was. He quoted a discount of about 15%, and I said I'd have to think about it and would call him back. When I decided to go for it, I called again and asked for that guy by name, but he was busy, so I asked this 2nd guy what his best price would be. He quoted a 30% discount, so I went with him. I got the amp brand new and in great shape in a timely way.
I guess my experience is somewhere between an in-person visit and an internet order. My impression was that their sales people were able to independently make deals to achieve their sales for commissions. I was pleasantly surprised with how this particular sales went.
I preferred Sam Ash over GC. I stopped buying anything from GC years ago. I will miss Sam Ash.
I loved going into Guitar Center, Sam Ash, or Sweetwater to see what they had. What I really disliked at ALL of them were the people who felt the need to "flex" their skills by grabbing the nearest BC Rich/Jackson guitar, and then cranking up an amp and playing what I could only describe as an assault on humanity's ear drums. During my last trip to Sweetwater, two guys must have been trying to out-flex each other because they BOTH cranked up the amps and were "shredding" (more like skidding) as fast and loud as they could (and I could only take "Smoke on the Water" for so long lol). I'm not against people playing in order to test out equipment but when you are just trying to "show off" and in most cases, sound really REALLY bad, it is obnoxious to other customers as they are trying to talk to sales staff, browse musical equipment, etc. Of my recent visits, Guitar Center had actually been the most peaceful with Sweetwater sounding like a war zone the last time I visited.
Bad experience with my last guitar from GC......never again. I've spent so much $$$ there too---they couldn't give a rip.
Everytime I've ever gone to Guitar Center. The service was great. The one in Rockville, MD specifically. It's true. Thier checkout system is slow as F. But they are working on upgrading. It's also true that if they need to go check something for you. They are gone for 20 or thirty minutes. But, maybe there was a lot to sift through in the wharehouse part of the store. I don't know. So, when I say it was great. I'm saying they greeted me, asked if I needed help, answered my questions with what seemed like knowledge, never shamed me for being a shitty player, and usually got me out the store quick. Hmm, mayne it's cuz I'm ugly as F. LOL! Regarding onlone stores, Sweetwater rocks! It's funny. With that name, I thought they were located in Florida for the longest time.
I remember the S.A. in white plains NY. back in the 80's. I THINK it was the original. Then, it was a great place, reasonable prices, and knowledgeable people. Over the years, S.A. went corporate. Sound the "Death Knell"!! Recently I went there because I heard they were giving discounts/ going out of business. Discounts??!! 5% Even pedal/effects were a measly 5%!!! Good bye, and good riddance!!
I’m not glad that Sam Ash is closing … but I’m not happy either on how employees would behave towards you as customers
They customer treatments became so deployable treatments .. over & over
I would have wished that managements would have improve .
I had some pleasant early experiences at Sam Ash … but some bad ones as well ….
But in latter days, in general experiences became just DEPLORABLE
I’m still not happy that Sam Ash is closing …. I would have fathered that they improved
Guitar center is next .. they have the same guitar I WANT on Sweetwater for half the price n free shipping. I bought an MM100 Mitchell mini. 100$ on Sweetwater. 200$ and my local guitar center. The employees think they know what I want to buy. Or i dont know shit n are snobby like LOOK AT ME IM AN EMPLOYEE AT GUITAR CENTER
I’m not glad that Sam Ash is closing … but I’m not happy either in how employees would behave towards you as customers
They customer treatments became so deployable treatments .. over & over
I would have wished that managements would have improve .
I had some pleasant early experiences at Sam Ash … but some bad ones as well ….
But in latter days, in general experiences became just DEPLORABLE
I don’t hate Sam Ash: I just barely tolerate them.
Sam Ash’s mediocrity in terms of staff attitudes, ridiculous & insane used prices, broken & p*** poor used gear quality & selection, & generally unusable website causes me to visit the stores much much less - but not so much to stop visiting altogether.
Cuz, bargains won’t find themselves & I have found a few decent bargains at Sam Ash - just a few.
I'm late to the party, as usual. (Usually when it's the most fun though). I used to shop in Jacksonville Florida Sam Ash. Great town for looking around at guitars BTW. The Jacksonville and Gainesville area of Florida has produced a ton of excellent guitarist and bands. Anyway Sam Ash in Jacksonville had the BEST selection of guitars, amps, parts like Orange Drop Caps and several brands of POTS and Switches. I mean low budget to mid price to the higher end on guitars and amps especially. The employees, I mean all of them not one or two,were azzholes to the max. Like they were in competition on who has the rudest demeanor. I'd still go browse because that's what my son and I love to do, we'd just not buy anything. We'd cross the road and go to the Guitar Center on that end of town...those guys are awesome! 4 Guitar Center Stores in that area, 2 in Jacksonville and the others are Ocala and Gainesville. I'm giving them props because they deserve it. Employees make the company.
While I was still in New York and before Guitar Center Camden New York Sam Ash was the favorite for all the local musicians, including myself.
I don't buy what that former employee was saying. Our local Sam Ash has been a ghost town for years, even prior to COVID. That said, I used to like Sam Ash back in the early 2000's, but for the past 15 year or so the one near me sucked in many ways. They had a stage built inside that they used to have talent shows, open stages, etc, but they quit doing that completely. Whenever I tried to sell things there, they would either pass or low-ball me worse than Guitar Center or Music-Go-Round. There was almost no one working there, along with scarce inventory and crappy prices. All these things, along with their online presence being the worst, caused me to all but forget about them long ago. Unfortunately, all of these things could have been fixed but they were either unable or unwilling.
I have to chip in here. I shopped for many years at Sam Ash on Lee Road in Florida and I have to say that the service/help I received was always a great experience. I always got a discount for any marks or dings on the guitar and every time I asked if they could throw me a freebie I either got a strap or a lead thrown in without any question.
I've worked in retail for over 47 years (clearly, I didn't make it as a pro musician Lol!) but many of those years I was a manager and I have to tell you folks, it all comes down to the people that you hire.
The nearest location to me in the Tampa Bay Area was so bad.
I worked at Sam Ash in Torrance, Ca. from 2004-2006. It was fun. I worked in the guitar department. I knew my stuff and had a great experience with my customers. Sorry to see them go. Sad
Yes … during COVID shut downs of course internet sales had to flourish .
But there is still nothing like being able to go to a store and actually play and try out an instrument .
My experiences with SWEETWATER has been sweet
But there is still nothing like being able to go somewhere and actually physically play an instrument