No doubt many of you have been getting the same Guitar Center coupons in the mail that I’ve been getting for the last few months. Usually attached to a booklet showcasing the items that Guitar Center is desperate to unload this month, mixed with articles about shitty modern rock guitar players and their gear, is a coupon that says in big bold letters:
Bring This Coupon into Guitar Center and Take an Extra
10% OFF*
That’s instant savings on any single item. Choose from the nation’s widest selection of guitars, basses, amps, effects, drum kits, keyboards, turntables, recording gear, PA systems and more!
I love that they say “any single item.” Of course, we all know that the asterisk means “any except ….“ . But they do say that’s it’s good for “guitars, basses, amps, effects, drum kits, keyboards, turntables, recording gear, PA systems and more!”, so it sounds like a pretty good deal, right? 10% off a new Stratocaster maybe? Or 10% of a new Marshall amplifier?
Not quite…
Of course, we’re all used to seeing the asterisk after discount deals, with a long list of exclusions for which the coupon is not applicable. No one really gives you 10% off just any old item. Guitar Center should win an award, though, because I have never in my short, mad life seen such all-encompassing fine print as I have seen here:
*10% applies to single-item purchase at our tagged Guaranteed Lowest Price. Not be [sic] used with any other promotions or offers. not valid on prior purchases. No cash value. Excludes used, clearance, price-matched, and vintage equipment, Adam monitors, AKG, Ampeg, Apogee Duets, Apple, Audix, Bose, Crate, Crown, dbx, Digitech, DigiDesign HD, Edirol, ESP, Euphonix, EVH, Fender, some Gibson & Epiphone, Gretsch guitars, Jackson, JBL, Korg, KRK, Lexicon, Mackie, Marshall, Martin, Mesa Boogie, Mogami, Monster Cable, Morgan, some Roland/BOSS products, Royer Labs, Shure, Soundcraft, Squier, SSL, SRW, & Vox. Offer valid 6/1/2009 - 6/30/2009.
Funny how it says it’s to be used on any single-item purchase at their Guaranteed Lowest Price, but if you need them to price-match an item to actually pay the lowest price, the 10% doesn’t apply.
I guess you can buy your guitar for full price, and save 10% off the $1.99 package of guitar picks you buy to play it… just make sure you don’t get Fender picks, or anything besides Guitar Center brand, for that matter.
If anyone has succesfully used this coupon on anything, I’d love to know what… else I’ll have to wait until my next GC trip and ask someone working there, “so what does this cover?”
(Photo Credit)
This post is tagged Guitar Center
Thanks for pointing this out, Mad Stratter. I had the same reaction wen I read the fine print & it reinforced the fact that they will see no business from me.
Me neither… I don’t like the idea of paying full price for what’s essentially used gear. While your guitar/amp has been sitting on the floor for months, hundreds of people (expert guitarists who shred for an hour, clumsy kids who smash it against the wall) have been playing your guitar, breaking it in, letting hundreds of different kinds of nasty, corrosive sweat eat away at your soon-to-be baby.
No way!
The nice thing about guitarists is that we tend to baby all of our gear… so picking up something used is both cheaper, and usually of better quality, than something similar at GC.
This month the 10% off coupon can’t be used on Fender because Fender is already marked down. Its not always excluding Fender. Also ,you are not obligated to buy the floor model, they can always order a brand new one for you. I agree, I definitely don’t like the idea of a bunch of people playing the guitar before me, but also keep in mind that if you find a guitar you really like, a “Brand New” one may not play exactly the same. Theres my 2 cents.
Sounds like Nicole works at Guitar Center. Her 2 cents is worth more than the coupon.
I asked the dude in the front what i could buy with it and he said, “ah if its not apple or bose we’ll give you the discount.” I bought a $899 guitar and saved 10%…
I was pleased.
very cool… guess it all depends on catching the right person working at the right time.
of course you can’t use it on apple no matter how cool s/he is though, otherwise they’d be taking a loss.
what kind of guitar did you pick up?
hi i have just read alternate tuning’s vary interesting, i live in a strange and alien universe all of the time i never use standard tuning i tune down all of the time steve
Hi all!,
Well I’ve gotta be blessed with the exception to the rule. I have gotten that 10% or 15% off no matter what the fine print says. That included my Strat, Gretsch , and Vox amp. Sad that other GC’s aren’t the same. I know this is an exception because I belong to a lot of forums and I read the garbage that goes on in other GC’s. I also shop at the independent music stores here in Portland ,OR of which there are quite a few. I have even heard their regional manager say that he wished other stores(GC) were like this one. Just because something is written doesn’t mean that it can’t be negotiated.
What I do find to be interesting is that GC is being sued in a class action suit on price fixing, yet if one shops on line everyone else has the same bloody pricing. What is important to me is that I get not only value but service. Unfortunately buying stuff has become like buying a car, where the manager needs to be brought in to get what you want. Well that’s my .02. And remember most time that NO is not an acceptable answer.