Dear Sweetwater,

[Digital Larry]

I tagged their number so I can ignore it, or not. I did put my sales rep to the test to figure out whether a couple of pieces of gear would work together (synth, not guitar). Just wanted to see if he could do it. Can't remember what happened as I bought the thing used locally and as with many things, it went on the shelf for another day. I suffer from "too many ideas, not enough time or focus to line them up and complete at least one". Not entirely true, but sorta.

 

[WetBandit]

What the heck are you talking about?

The conversation morphed a bit.

 

[waparker4]

I'm among those annoyed by Sweetwater's overly hands-on customer service strategy.

The reason it's an online store is the entire process can be automated. If I need help, I'll contact you. Please have someone ready for that.

Don't call me!

 

[Bob M]

Wait-Isn't just about every online retailer annoying? Free shipping, no sales tax so what if they want to call me every now and then. I don't buy much guitar stuff from Amazon anymore since they started collecting sales taxes for the purchases.

 

[moosie]

I'm curious (no judgement - just honest curiosity). Why do you spend obscene amounts of money on gear each year?

I am just a living room player. I have four guitars, a multifx unit, couple of amps, three actual pedals. I've been playing for 10 years. In the last year I only bought a couple of instrument cables. The year before that I bought a used amp.

Maybe I'm weird.

Why do you eat oatmeal for breakfast? It's personal choice.

It's not about spending money - I phrased it that way for effect. (Remember, I was "talking" to Sweetwater, who like all merchants is thrilled by such statements)

My point was that their actions backfired here. They didn't just lose another pedal purchase.

At the time I tried Sweetwater, I was buying my guitars from their competitors.

 

[Generic Schmoe]

Why do you eat oatmeal for breakfast? It's personal choice.

It's not about spending money - I phrased it that way for effect. (Remember, I was "talking" to Sweetwater, who like all merchants is thrilled by such statements)

My point was that their actions backfired here. They didn't just lose another pedal purchase.

At the time I tried Sweetwater, I was buying my guitars from their competitors.

Fair enough! Thanks for the response!

 

[talkbox_64]

The laffy taffy is my wife's favorite and its a wonderful "head fake" to her when I am sneaking gear into the house.

 

[burntfrijoles]

Here's the bottom line for me.
Sweetwater is offering internet sales. So do hundreds of other retailers. They all have simple, customer friendly return policies. They compete on selection/availability, price, delivery times and shipping expenses. I don't get sales calls and I don't get phony, artificial interactions.
Selection, price and delivery.

 

[littlebadboy]

Dear Sweetwater,

Instead of candies, may I have something music related like guitar picks or something? Stickers would be cool too.

 

[Mike Eskimo]

Easy to opt out of the calls.

Just tell them you "spend an obscene amount of money on gear every year" and that they'll get some of it - if they never contact you.

They can put it right there in your info and you'll never have to talk to them
again.

You didn't know that ?

They'd be more than happy to do it it saves them time and money.

(right now I know at least one of you is probably saying "well why do I even have to do that ? why do they have to bother me at all ? WhY should I have to contact them to have my name put on the no contact list ? Why don't they just leave me alone ? "

I can't answer that - you'll have to talk to your therapist about it. )

We all know it's marketing.

And honestly if I didn't get next day arrival time on all my crap that I order from them I'd probably feel different about them but I get it and I don't.


Teeny tiny first world problems...

 

[rad1]

Tell me how that katana is after you get acquainted with it. I'd like to find a replacement for my mustang.

After just a few hours of playing, it is a keeper. I tried the GT 40 and it was ok, but I really wanted an amp that was less complicated, yet gives a great sound without jumping through a lot of hoops. I use it in a house with a lot of family, so headphones has been my normal amp style. A nice surprise with the Katana is just how nice the tone is at low volume. I can ditch the headphones. I'm talking clean here, that is what I like, with a bit of spring reverb and chorus.

It is still early in the evaluation process, time will tell more.

 

[JuneauMike]

Sweetwater is awesome, very Hoosier like. I also love Guitar Center. We don't have one in our area so when I travel and have an occasion to go into a GC they always have guitars and other music stuff just right there in the store. I appreciate that in a music retailer.

What I hate though is how small the portion sizes are on Costco samples. Damn lady, you know how much I love bacon. Give me a whole strip or don't even bother offering. Ugh.

And I'm pretty easygoing. So:

Dear Sweetwater, whatever candy you want to throw into the box is fine with me. And if you wanted to substitute bacon, I'm cool with that too. BTW, still happy with that bass I bought from you. Keep up the good work. Call anytime.

 

[OaklandA]

Weren't Squirrels (the candy) similar to B o H ? Or Mary Janes ?

I'm stunned that GC doesn't ship you stuff with the candy buttons on paper as packing material.

Why ?

Because they suck !

Not sure about Squirrels, but Mary Janes are basically BoH with molasses instead of honey.

I love Sweetwater, and don't mind the followup calls. A great online vendor that a lot of other companies could learn from.

 

[moosie]

Easy to opt out of the calls.

Just tell them you "spend an obscene amount of money on gear every year" and that they'll get some of it - if they never contact you.

They can put it right there in your info and you'll never have to talk to them
again.

You didn't know that ?

They'd be more than happy to do it it saves them time and money.

(right now I know at least one of you is probably saying "well why do I even have to do that ? why do they have to bother me at all ? WhY should I have to contact them to have my name put on the no contact list ? Why don't they just leave me alone ? "

I can't answer that - you'll have to talk to your therapist about it. )

We all know it's marketing.

And honestly if I didn't get next day arrival time on all my crap that I order from them I'd probably feel different about them but I get it and I don't.


Teeny tiny first world problems...

I'm sure you've seen thread after thread expand well beyond the care that people actually have for the things being discussed.

It's not something to stress over. Just "hey, I don't like that. I'll shop here instead." No need to have a discussion with them about it. It's a strategy, and one that I don't approve of. End of story.

 

[Buckocaster51]

six or seven or eight years ago, I asked them to not call me.

They don't.

It was REALLY easy.

I used to give the candy to kids at school.

Now that I have retired, I eat it myself...not a good thing to do

 

[Pointmonger]

Same. I just asked my rep to ease up on the frequency after a purchase. He did. I did win a guitar and amp from them last year, so I don't mind it as much, now.

 

[Nubs]

Just got my string trees. They came with this:

 

[william tele]

Just got my string trees. They came with this:

View attachment 444175

Hmmmm...seven.

Weren't there seven signs of the Apocalypse?