Music Shop Bashing

[Pete Academy]

I've read a few threads about bad experiences with music shops, but hear me out on this.

If you go up to the counter and politely ask to try out any instrument, you should be able to. No question. If the salesperson makes a lame excuse for you not being able to, then I don't blame you for walking out.

However, I have to say this: In my many years of working in music retail, I've never known such disrespectfulness amongst younger people as I have in the last couple of years. You have to realise that to stock a music store is a big investment, costing many thousands. Gone are the days when we had sale-or-return. The shop has to pay for everything. In our store we have a well-stocked acoustic department, including Martins and Taylors worth a lot of money. We have had kids coming in droves, heading straight for these guitars, pulling them off the wall, and jamming, with absolutley no intention of buying. A few buckle marks later and we have to knock a substantial amount of money off the guitars. This has resulted in us having to put a 'Please ask before trying' sign on each guitar. But still these kids take no notice whatsoever.

One particular Saturday we had about 20 kids 'trying out' pianos, guitars, electronic drum kits etc all at once. Not one of them asked beforehand. I ended up having switch off the mains supply.

There is absolutley no excuse for bad service. Believe me, I hate it when I go into stores myself and have to put up with surly arrogant staff (PC World anyone?). But you need to spend a few weeks in retail to see what we are up against.

[Spartacus]

Theres a big difefrence between the attitude from AoS staff (whove all been great in my experience) and some well known 'specialist' shops who have a habit of checking out your shoes before offering you a deal. And before you ask im never surly and always respectful when trying out gear, can almost play the stuff and usually can figure out how it works without a 'helper' (I can usually help them lol) but am sick of some stores making me feel like their doing me a favour.

Edited July 16, 2009 by Spartacus

[bythesea]

Don't see anything to disagree with there Pete, and I have worked in retail as well (in photography). Yes there are bad stores and there are also good stores. And some are great.

And what you said about youth is one of the reasons I gave up teaching. And again it's by no means all, but it doesn't take many to paint a bad picture.

[Pete Academy]

The thing is, not everyone is like you. I will help any customer out and give them good advice, but when you have someone who just wants to kill half an hour trying out an all-black bass, slapping the hell out of and scratching it to f##k, you have to draw the line.

[Spartacus]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='542568' date='Jul 16 2009, 08:15 PM']The thing is, not everyone is like you. I will help any customer out and give them good advice, but when you have someone who just wants to kill half an hour trying out an all-black bass, slapping the hell out of and scratching it to f##k, you have to draw the line.[/quote]

Pete, if any stores get dissed online by someone whos been a tw*t instore then its more than likely that person will come across like an arse anyway. Seems theres only one store that gets regularly dissed and thats only when one member of staff isny there. Mentioning no names. Dont take it personally. i 'cut my teeth' at the Derby and Nottingham AoS and they were all top sales AND cutsomer service people. Respect.

[GreeneKing]

I was in Promenade Music in Morecambe again today and to be honest the guys in there couldn't be more helpful.

I do fully understand where you're coming from Pete and sympathise. Some young people have little respect for other people or their property, the minority but as has been said it colours everyone's perceptions.

Peter

Edited July 16, 2009 by GreeneKing

[Pete Academy]

I have to say, the younger kids treat our store like a youth club on Saturday afternoons. It's SO frustrating. Yes I know they're all the buyers of the future, but at this point they think it's a toy shop, not a music shop.

[lemmywinks]

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='542575' date='Jul 16 2009, 08:22 PM']I was in Promenade Music in Morecambe again today and to be honest the guys in there couldn't be more helpful.

I do fully understand where you're coming from Pete and sympathise. Some young people have little respect for other people or their property, the minority but as has been said it colours everyone's perceptions.

Peter[/quote]


+1

I ordered from them a while ago, went out of their way for me and were a pleasure to deal with. Restored a little bit of my faith in music shops after a few bad experiences

I used to always try to buy stuff from local shops but now order most of my bass stuff online. I usually don't mind paying a bit more for it either, however i recently went into a local shop to try a Stagg EUB. Got quoted £450, they're £299 online

[Doddy]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='542595' date='Jul 16 2009, 08:57 PM']I have to say, the younger kids treat our store like a youth club on Saturday afternoons. It's SO frustrating. Yes I know they're all the buyers of the future, but at this point they think it's a toy shop, not a music shop.[/quote]

That's one of the reasons why I rarely come in on a Saturday, to be honest. I don't get why a group of kids would go into a
music shop en masse and just hang about. Why don't they go back outside bargain booze,where they belong.

[Pete Academy]

[quote name='Doddy' post='542608' date='Jul 16 2009, 09:14 PM']That's one of the reasons why I rarely come in on a Saturday, to be honest. I don't get why a group of kids would go into a
music shop en masse and just hang about. Why don't they go back outside bargain booze,where they belong.[/quote]

Ha! Nice one!

[doctor_of_the_bass]

I used to work in music instrument retail and sometimes, get drafted into help out in my old chap's shop here in Peterborough. The problem you mention is solved swiftly - I muscle in on the miscreant (young slapper!) and say, `wow thats cool, can I have a go?' The mop-headed herbert grunts, gives me the bass, I then destroy him via sheer musical power and skill! They then slope off, having been made to look silly in front of their posse!!! Hahah!

Nick (old slapper!)

[fatgoogle]

I see were im not wanted.

[sdgrsr400]

Local newsagents typically have signs up saying "Only two schoolchildren at once" - I wonder why

[skankdelvar]

It's very simple.

If you go into a shop and ask to try something, it's on the understanding that you may have some remote intention of buying it. If it's clear to the meanest intelligence that you have neither the ability nor the inclination to purchase, expect to get shown the door. Frankly, you're an utterly worthless waste of space who could cost the store more than they make.

Music Shops are not (or should not be) in the business of providing entertainment to whiny, spoilt, moronic peri-pubertal youths. If you don't like it, go hang out somewhere else, like at a bus stop or outside a fast food store that will hopefully clog your arteries and bring you an entirely well-deserved early death.

If this is too much to assimilate, try imagining what would happen if you went into Karpet-rite and asked to walk up and down on their rugs for half an hour. Two large guys in brown uniforms would take you out the back and beat your arse like a gong.

IMO, music shops should take a far harder line; rather than bitch about these tiny, irrelevant goons after the event - just don't let them in till they can show you a roll of £50's and the competence to explain what a root note is. In the meantime, Community Support Officers should be deployed to kick the crap out of anyone who even looks squint-eyed at the shopfront.

F*** 'em.

OTOH, if you walk into a shop with the intention of buying something and they get in your way - snotty attitude / unwillingness to terminate their tedious mobile call to their ghastly partner / pathetic desire to demonstrate their own savagely limited skills / inability to deal for cash and a sidey - then hoosh them firmly in the nuts and go buy somewhere else.

Edited July 16, 2009 by skankdelvar

[Cat Burrito]

I agree with the comments made by Pete. I think there has been a lot of talk in the media recently about respect. This is a good example. I always ask before I try and I do buy. I wouldn't dream of picking up a instrument without asking. The newsagents signs are a sign of the modern times.

All of this is a shame as most young people are great. It's a few that spoil it for the others.

[The Funk]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='542568' date='Jul 16 2009, 08:15 PM']I will help any customer out and give them good advice, but when you have someone who just wants to kill half an hour trying out an all-black bass, slapping the hell out of and scratching it to f##k, you have to draw the line.[/quote]

I was doing a case in Scunthorpe a few weeks ago (purely to see what the place is actually like) and I found an old-fashioned music shop next to the court. I came clean at the beginning and said I had half an hour to kill before I was due in court, explained that I'd like to buy two or three smaller items, and basically asked if I could noodle on one of their guitars as well for a while - that I probably wouldn't realistically be buying.

They were totally cool with that, very nice, very friendly, very professional and very accommodating.

Even if you're just killing time, there's no reason why you shouldn't be upfront about it.

[GreeneKing]

Killing time in music shops sometimes ends up being an expensive business too

[waynepunkdude]

I tried out a MM S.U.B in Denmark street (I know) last week the salesman was very polite he let me set the EQ, it was a nice bass had a few dings and the scratchplate was lifting a bit so I thought "I could get a deal here" so I ask him the price, "that one is £850" and so I walked.

[skipper]

There are two music shops where I live and both are similar in the customer support, both have an older guy who owns the shop and are nice and knowledgeable people, I would buy an instrument of them any day . OTOH, they both have armies of guys in their early twenties who just want to show off in front of potential customers, flog you something way above the price range you gave them and think that actually selling the instruments just an inconvenience to their otherwise awesome extended gig

[Marcus]

[quote name='doctor_of_the_bass' post='542680' date='Jul 16 2009, 10:18 PM']I used to work in music instrument retail and sometimes, get drafted into help out in my old chap's shop here in Peterborough. The problem you mention is solved swiftly - I muscle in on the miscreant (young slapper!) and say, `wow thats cool, can I have a go?' The mop-headed herbert grunts, gives me the bass, I then destroy him via sheer musical power and skill! They then slope off, having been made to look silly in front of their posse!!! Hahah!

Nick (old slapper!)[/quote]

Bully !!

Musician make horrible customers - Shops get a raw deal these days with everyone throwing Internet prices in their faces......

I don't mind paying a bit more for good service...... I've built up good relationships with a good number of shops both locally and nationally, they value my custom and I respect their need to make a living !

[Pete Academy]

I think the main problem with music shops offering bad service is the inexperience of the staff. Most shops employ younger people who will work for a low wage but are seduced by the job being 'rock and roll', when really it can be quite boring. Believe it or not, after some time you can become desensitised and not want to see another instrument, let alone play it.

I may be wrong, but I would hazard a bet that anyone who has had problems, has encountered a younger member of staff. Saying that, it can go the opposite way, with the older boss having served his countless years in the business, which have rendered him a miserable cynic. I worked for one of these people. One day a young kid came in and asked to try a fairly expensive combo. The boss grudgingly let him, then after about 2 minutes went over and said, 'Right, that's enough.' The young lad fished his hand in his pocket, pulled out a wad of notes, and bought the amp there and then.

You never can tell.

[Rich]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='542894' date='Jul 17 2009, 09:02 AM']I may be wrong, but I would hazard a bet that anyone who has had problems, has encountered a younger member of staff. Saying that, it can go the opposite way, with the older boss having served his countless years in the business, which have rendered him a miserable cynic.[/quote]
I'm glad you added the proviso at the end because it seems pretty much everybody here who has suffered appalling service at 'a certain bass shop located near Tottenham Court Road' received it from a certain senior staff member. Conversely, the staff member generally held to be their best was much younger.
If there's a problem with young members of staff it usually seems to be lack of knowledge rather than surliness or arrogance, well that's in my experience anyway.

[peted]

I have to plead guilty when I first started out playing 12+ years ago I would go into music shops to try stuff out with absolutely no intention of buying, let alone having the available money to buy. I was far too shy to ask the 'adults' running the store to try something out. Of course my junior years meant that I failed to grasp the concept that the store were accountable for the instruments and any wear-and-tear they were subjected to on the shop floor (especially in my sweaty greasy pubescent hands).

It's all different now and I've got all the confidence and appreciation to ask someone if I can try out a bass and wouldn't contemplate doing so without permission. I've also usually got a few years over the sales assistants too!

Having worked in retail I think one of the ways you can perhaps break down that barrier between staff and public is to engage them before they've even stepped 5 paces into the store. If they're told explicitely when they enter the store that they need to ask to try something out then they've got no excuse.

I don't think you'll ever stop kids from trying stuff out when they've got no money to spend. You can only hope that they carry on being musicians when they finally get money to fund their hobby/profession.

[BottomEndian]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='542881' date='Jul 17 2009, 08:36 AM']I tried out a MM S.U.B in Denmark street ... "that one is £850"[/quote]


[b]EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS?[/b]

Was it entirely gold-plated? Encrusted with diamonds? Refinished by Banksy? Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity verifying that it had passed through a time warp and been taken on board the Apollo missions? I mean, I love my SUB, but that's silly, silly money.

[cheddatom]

[quote name='peted' post='542945' date='Jul 17 2009, 09:46 AM']I have to plead guilty when I first started out playing 12+ years ago I would go into music shops to try stuff out with absolutely no intention of buying, let alone having the available money to buy. I was far too shy to ask the 'adults' running the store to try something out. Of course my junior years meant that I failed to grasp the concept that the store were accountable for the instruments and any wear-and-tear they were subjected to on the shop floor (especially in my sweaty greasy pubescent hands).[/quote]

+1 We used to go to Academy of sound in Stoke on saturdays and kill an hour playing stuff. We had no idea it was annoying or costly to the business. Kids will never see the bigger picture. You have to spell it out for them.

IMO if you have signs on the guitars saying "please ask before playing" and they still play the guitars, the signs are not good enough. Get them around the strings or something. If a kid takes the sign off, then surely you could kick him out. If the sign's there, it's pretty clear you should not be playing without asking, even to a kid. I would never have done that.