Sweetwater - going downhill fast

  • Thread starter Thread starter billsbigego
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billsbigego said:
"No Hassle" Return Policy:

If you are not satisfied with any new product, for any reason, you may return it for a refund of the purchase price or an in-house credit, or you may exchange for another product within a fair amount of time from the shipping date (usually 30 days).
https://www.sweetwater.com/help/returns-exchanges.php
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That doesn't mean Abuse it. This is why companies change their poilicies after a while cause guys like you fuck it up for the rest of us. You have the indecisive Decsion Making of my Ex.
 
billsbigego said:
I swear it's because I return 75% of stuff I buy on there. They send me demos now, when I purchased new. Happened the last 3 orders. They have a "no hassle" return policy and I'm not afraid to use it. I've spent over 20k there in the past 2 years.

Same story every time now. "Must have been a mixup at the warehouse." They said that to me the past 3 orders.

But I guess they are still better than MF and the rest of them. Last time I called MF and asked a technical question, the guy had no idea what I was talking about. My SW sales guy doesn't know everything, but when I ask a specific question (and it's usually a deep dive sort of question) they get me an answer.
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WTF? Who are you, EVH??
 
My one pal got a bunk Fender amp from SW. He returned it for a replacement. The replacement had the same problem. He found out it was a design flaw. His rep went on vacation so he couldn’t return it before the time ran out on the return policy. However, they returned his loot and treated him well. I have no issue with them other than they call me about stuff I’ve left in my cart a lot.
 
Once it's returned, IMO it is USED.
When I lived on Long Island I ordered the PRS Hendrix head from Music Zoo. The place wasn't far from my house, but since Covid, these Man-Bun
pricks never opened their doors again. It was all mail order or by appointment.
The PRS box that amp came in looked like it had criss-crossed the US half a dozen times. I don't know how the amp didn't fall through the worn cardboard.
The Sweetwater guy emails me "how was your pedal"? Are you kidding me? AND, the guy calls up periodically.

You gotta learn to hit the items you want as soon as it arrives at their warehouse. Look at something out of stock. Fill in the notify me when item arrives, then when the email you it came in, buy it.
 
are Sweetwater "demos" items that were returned or actual demos in their facility? Even if they are selling returned items as demos, they aren't moving on the price too much.
 
CarlF said:
Once it's returned, IMO it is USED.
When I lived on Long Island I ordered the PRS Hendrix head from Music Zoo. The place wasn't far from my house, but since Covid, these Man-Bun
pricks never opened their doors again. It was all mail order or by appointment.
The PRS box that amp came in looked like it had criss-crossed the US half a dozen times. I don't know how the amp didn't fall through the worn cardboard.
The Sweetwater guy emails me "how was your pedal"? Are you kidding me? AND, the guy calls up periodically.

You gotta learn to hit the items you want as soon as it arrives at their warehouse. Look at something out of stock. Fill in the notify me when item arrives, then when the email you it came in, buy it.
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But did you ever go to East Coast Music Mall
 
Aynirar27 said:
it's pretty rare that I buy anything from somewhere besides American Musical Supply. They are always nice and they never call me. Ever. Their selection is slightly less than Sweetwater though, so I do see SW as a necessary evil sometimes.
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Yeah, I prefer AMS and ZZounds. Lately, I've been buying from them on Reverb more. You add one of their items to your watch list, you get offers like clock work.
 
Back in the 90's I worked at Guitar Center for a minute.. A co worker brings up this account to show me and it was a shit ton of gear bought and mostly returned.. Yeah, it was EVH..
 
Gitfiddler said:
are Sweetwater "demos" items that were returned or actual demos in their facility? Even if they are selling returned items as demos, they aren't moving on the price too much.
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Customer returns
 
My first guitar buying experience. 15 years old in Germany at a guitar store. My playing experience (after removing my belt buckle so it didn't scratch the finish) was 2 minutes of strumming while an impatient employee stood over me.
 
You return 3 out of 4 items purchased, wow, they will go to great lengths they’re customers.

You’ve spent $20,000, so you’ve returned $60,000 worth of gear!?!?! I’m sure they send demo item’s because your track record indicates you will demo it. They now have $60,000 worth of used/returned items. I have to get in on this action! This is amazing!!
 
romanianreaper said:
My first guitar buying experience. 15 years old in Germany at a guitar store. My playing experience (after removing my belt buckle so it didn't scratch the finish) was 2 minutes of strumming while an impatient employee stood over me.
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You should have beat him with the guitar and told him to back off as he is making you nervous.
 
Gitfiddler said:
are Sweetwater "demos" items that were returned or actual demos in their facility? Even if they are selling returned items as demos, they aren't moving on the price too much.
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It's both, they even say this. 99% its used

What demo means to us is that we've had it out of the box, or maybe it was in a customer's hands for a few days and isn't "factory fresh" as a result. Every demo item we sell has Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ warranty and has been tested and verified up to "new" specs by our factory-authorized technicians to make sure it's in perfect working order before we ship it to you.

Someone here was complaining about a noisy Uberschall Ultra KT88 amp he had here from Sweetwater and that he was sending it back. About a week later a Uberschall Ultra KT88 amp showed up for sale as a demo. Hmmm.
 
I've seen them list items as Out Of Stock.......and suddenly ONE shows up. That's a return and they sell it as new.
 
Companies like Sweetwater, MF and AMS very well keep track of who the serial returners are. In some cases they have actually stopped doing business with those customers.
 
CarlF said:
I've seen them list items as Out Of Stock.......and suddenly ONE shows up. That's a return and they sell it as new.
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How would you know is a return. Many amp companies will send one or two items, and if there are pre orders they might get in say 15 amps, but 14 are pre ordered so only one left to go into stock.
 
baron55 said:
It's both, they even say this. 99% its used

What demo means to us is that we've had it out of the box, or maybe it was in a customer's hands for a few days and isn't "factory fresh" as a result. Every demo item we sell has Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ warranty and has been tested and verified up to "new" specs by our factory-authorized technicians to make sure it's in perfect working order before we ship it to you.

Someone here was complaining about a noisy Uberschall Ultra KT88 amp he had here from Sweetwater and that he was sending it back. About a week later a Uberschall Ultra KT88 amp showed up for sale as a demo. Hmmm.
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I won't shed many tears for Sweetwater. They have the volume and stats to know how sales pricing and demo pricing affect customer buying behavior. They likely still have a nice margin on a discounted demo item. They ate the shipping and discounted the item, but perhaps the discount compels someone to purchase the item that is on the fence or is waiting for a sale somewhere.

Regarding the East Coast Music Mall, they used to run ads in guitar magazines back in the day with a photo of tons of shredder guitars, #drool
 
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