What the hell is wrong with music stores in this country?

[dave_mc]

Whereas go to Denmark Street and the staff act like they're members of Dragonforce just "helping out" between tours - so really they're doing you a favour by stopping chatting to their mates long enough to take that guitar off the wall and letting you look at it....  :roll:

yeah, i noticed that in denmark street too. vintage and rare and wunjo were cool, but the others... o_O

i understand that shops have a lot to deal with- haha, once i was in a shop where someone (who was clearly drunk) asked to try a guitar, proceeded to play (in such a way as to show he couldn't really play) while singing really loudly. Who then proceeded to leg it from the shop, with the guitar. :lol: And I'm sure a lot of customers are annoying too, and timewasters. However, I blame a lot of the shopworkers for tarring everyone with the same brush- when i go in, I'm always polite, ask before I can try, thank them for getting the guitars down, etc. etc. etc. I don't go in with 5 friends for a jam session before my school bus arrives, and it should be pretty obvious when i'm trying stuff that i'm actually interested.

as i said, a couple of shops here are really nice. But I've been treated badly in other shops too. :)

[nfe]

Whereas go to Denmark Street and the staff act like they're members of Dragonforce just "helping out" between tours - so really they're doing you a favour by stopping chatting to their mates long enough to take that guitar off the wall and letting you look at it....  :roll:

This REALLY winds me up. But I think high ech guys in shops are far far worse. To the point I've made a fool of collegues many a time.

"I use XXX product and I'm a professional sound engineer"

"No you're not, you're a sales assistant who engineers a few local gigs for free"


I really, really hate the "I have one of these myself" sales approach.

[dave_mc]

^ yeah, me too. mainly because (a) i don't believe them and (b) even if i did, i don't care.

[Johnny Mac]

The basement of Rose Morris around 1996 had 3 superpricks working in there, surprise surprise they were never many customers though. You could hear them scoffing at everyone and their choices of products to try/buy.

Vintage and Rare are great, its just like going to a mates house.

My local shop Electrohill are really friendly too.

[Philly Q]

The basement of Rose Morris around 1996 had 3 superpricks working in there, surprise surprise they were never many customers though. You could hear them scoffing at everyone and their choices of products to try/buy.

Oh god, it was shite in there.  Apart from the staff, the selection was rubbish and overpriced.  And it was laid out in such a stupid way that you were constantly in danger of knocking over guitars on stands and getting a "domino effect"....

[hamfist]

Thank God for the demise of Soundcontrol, is all I can add.

Apart from a +1 for Andertons

and a +1000 for The Guitar Store (was M&M) in Southampton - ask for Wes.  Great service !   Although, again, not an incredible range of stuff.

[Dmoney]

hey yo!
i went in music ground denmark street today. they had 'shop soiled' gordon smith graduate in. single cut.
£749!!!!!!!!
there is one on the GS website for 730 that has a smudge in the paint above 1 tuning peg. the one in music ground had a HUGE dent smashed into the bottom of it with the finish all cracked up, and it was £749. you could by the same thing second hand for £400 i reckon. easy.!

[James C]

Thank God for the demise of Soundcontrol, is all I can add.

and a +1000 for The Guitar Store (was M&M) in Southampton - ask for Wes.  Great service !   Although, again, not an incredible range of stuff.

Soundcontrol were really awful when it came to buying my drumkit, they were trying to convince me that £4,000.00 for the flagship roland kit would be the best idea, especially if i bought the misc amps etc to go with it.  I still ended up spending £2600 on thr nxt kit down tho (because i am a tool!) and am now selling it, because its still too much kit for me.

another +1000 for the guitar store in Soton, i contacted Wes a couple of days before i had to go and lay down some leads for a mates CD, but wanted to test out some boutique OD's, he said he'd dig out as many as he could find in the store and idrove down from salisbury to test them out at full roar at 10am, played for 45mins with no sales pitches and left with an MI Audio Tube Zone

[AndyR]

The basement of Rose Morris around 1996 had 3 superpricks working in there, surprise surprise they were never many customers though. You could hear them scoffing at everyone and their choices of products to try/buy.

Oh god, it was shiteee in there.  Apart from the staff, the selection was rubbish and overpriced.  And it was laid out in such a stupid way that you were constantly in danger of knocking over guitars on stands and getting a "domino effect"....

I have to say that the basement in Rose Morris is where I got my Black Custom Tele last Saturday and I was very impressed with the young guy in there at the moment.

I went in a few weeks back and tried the Roadworn 50. He let me try no questions asked, didn't press me, seemed actually quite disinterested, wasn't up for any chat. But that was cool - I didn't want any full-on attention.

Then last saturday I went back to see if the MIJ Custom was still there. Completely different experience. Tried it, and then with me cradling it in my arms and playing occasional county/blues licks, we had quite a conversation about the Roadworn concept, grey-imports on the Fender Japan non-export stuff, he was even on the internet looking up the stuff I was telling him. We discussed Bare Knuckles, talked about his guitars, etc, etc... A couple of other customers came in, he dealt with them and then carried on chatting. Eventually, I decided, we did the deal and I was outta there...

Both visits he engaged with me in exactly the way I was looking for. My missus (who was there both times) pointed out that from the sidelines, first time I obviously wasn't buying, but he was polite, answered direct questions, but otherwise got on with his whatever. Second time, I looked and came across as someone who might well be spending that day if I got the service/gear I was after. We were well impressed with him.


BUT - one of things I do find on Denmark St (this guy might be different, don't know yet), NOT ONE OF THE B*GGERS REMEMBERS YOU A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER after you've bought something from them. For me this now applies to Regent Sounds, their friends across the road (can't remember the name :lol:), and Vintage and Rare. We've spent a fair bit in each of those over the last year or two, and not one of the people who served me recognises me as a "buyer" afterwards - I kinda miss that from the old days when I lived outside London and had a local music shop... but I do understand why they're like that, it's a completely different dynamic there than those shops were.

The exception to this was the guy in Wunjo on Saturday. I went in wondering if they had a particular type of slide in stock, and after a moment it was obvious he knew who I was - turned out he'd sold me an earlier one from the same company 6 years or so ago when he ran the London Resonator Centre in Islington (sadly gone now...). Now I realise why he always seems to say hi as if we know each other when we go in there :lol:

[Dmoney]

Wunjo is the first place i tried out BKP's
they use black dogs and emeralds in their BJ & Bryne guitars. (think that is the right spelling)
thats why i got emeralds as my first BKP's. Brian called Tim while i was in the store and ordered them for me. did me a deal on me. I also bought my les paul from them. as a result ive stuck with BKP's and i pop back in for bits and bobs from time to time, check the stock and see if they have any wacky pedals i fancy. Brian always says hello.

[dave_mc]

+1 on the dude in wunjo being cool, i went in there after being almost chased from all the other denmark street shops (bar V&R), and it was a breath of fresh air to be told, "try anything you want"- in fact even getting me to try stuff which I hadn't asked to try. :)

[Alex]

Probably shop owners are fed up with demanding customers that come 10 minutes prior to shop closing, know everything better, don't like the brands or models in their stock, and push their prices down because of no-service online retailer dumping prices.

Sorry dude, I was just taking the piss  :lol:

No problem, you can always see a problem from both sides.
However, just keep this in mind: it's still them who want to sell something and want the money from the customer. Putting up with customers, including annoying customers. It's just part of the trade.

[Philly Q]

BUT - one of things I do find on Denmark St (this guy might be different, don't know yet), NOT ONE OF THE B*GGERS REMEMBERS YOU A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER after you've bought something from them.

I know exactly what you mean.  Of course, in a busy London shop they see a lot of people every day, so there's no reason anyone should stand out (unless they think hey, it's that bloke who looks like James May...  ).  BUT... if you go in fairly frequently, occasionally they'll let some little comment slip which shows they do remember you, but they're too busy or maybe just not interested in being friendly/chatty. 

Which is OK, we all do it - I see the same people passing in the street or waiting for the bus a few times a week and never acknowledge them, and I assume they wouldn't know me from Adam.  Whereas in fact, if I recognise them there's a fair chance they recognise me too.

[FELINEGUITARS]

BUT - one of things I do find on Denmark St (this guy might be different, don't know yet), NOT ONE OF THE B*GGERS REMEMBERS YOU A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER after you've bought something from them.

I know exactly what you mean.  Of course, in a busy London shop they see a lot of people every day, so there's no reason anyone should stand out (unless they think hey, it's that bloke who looks like James May...  ).  BUT... if you go in fairly frequently, occasionally they'll let some little comment slip which shows they do remember you, but they're too busy or maybe just not interested in being friendly/chatty. 

Which is OK, we all do it - I see the same people passing in the street or waiting for the bus a few times a week and never acknowledge them, and I assume they wouldn't know me from Adam.  Whereas in fact, if I recognise them there's a fair chance they recognise me too.

Interesting point
I think one of the key factors in the success of my own business is remembering people and having an interest in them and their guitars.
It becomes like a friendship - the relationship you have with regular customers
You take an interest and help them out with stuff and loyalty is created as a result.

I find that that is extended even further with guys that I chat to on here and get to know
The friendliness goes to the next level - you're as likely to put the kettle on or go for a beer (work hours permitting)

It's maybe one of the few reasons I regret not doing the London Music Show this year (and last year) - not hanging out with people you know, although the show can be a bit frantic

[Afghan Dave]

I find that that is extended even further with guys that I chat to on here and get to know
The friendliness goes to the next level...

I've been waiting to take our friendliness to the next level for ages but you keep turning me down...  :( :lol: :lol: