Thumbs up for Sweetwater!

walkin_man · #1 10-01-2008, 08:58 AM

Yesterday, I ordered a few guitar related items online from Sweetwater around 6 pm. At 7 pm, I received a message from my personal sales assistant, Mike Hammond, that my stuff had already been mailed with Fed Ex!!! (Oh, and did I mention that the shipping was free.)

Thanks Sweetwater for lightning fast service.

P.S. I receive no commissions for this post. I'm just a happy customer.

emmonsh · #2 10-01-2008, 10:04 AM

only place i order strings from

jackstrat · #3 10-01-2008, 11:02 AM

Sweetwater is my #1 retailer. Craig Wilson is my rep. Knowledgeable and makes each order simple. The free shipping via Fed Ex is great.

Jack

hansentj · #4 10-01-2008, 11:06 AM

I've never used Sweetwater but from everything I've heard my days with MF are over and my days with Sweetwater are about to begin.

Bryan T · #5 10-01-2008, 11:13 AM

The thing I don't like about Sweetwater is the cold calls. "Hey, this is your sales engineer. How are those headphones you bought two years ago working out for you? Do you need anything today?" If I need something, I'll call them.

Bryan

min7b5 · #6 10-01-2008, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan T

The thing I don't like about Sweetwater is the cold calls. "Hey, this is your sales engineer. How are those headphones you bought two years ago working out for you? Do you need anything today?" If I need something, I'll call them.

Bryan

I heard that!

If I ever bought anything from them again I'd use an alias. I bought a twelve dollar mic clip from them three years ago. Since then I’ve been called at home, on my cell, on my wife’s cell, in the morning, at night, on Sunday.... “hey, just checking to see how that mic clip is working out for you...”

Joe F · #7 10-01-2008, 11:20 AM

I like their approach with the follow-up call after a sale to make sure you're satisfied, but it can get annoying with the cold calls months later to see if you need anything. I agree, if I need something, I'll call you. I can't fault them though. It probably works well for them in that there are probably many people who likely think.."Well I could use a few packs of strings now that you mention it..." They get the majority of my online business for strings and other miscellaneous items primarily due to the free shipping they offer. I would prefer them to leave me alone between orders however.

HIPCHIP · #8 10-01-2008, 12:27 PM

I ordered a Yamaha AW1600 from them, a day later GC started selling them for $100 less, and the day after that so did Sweetwater, so before I received the AW it cost $100 less. I e-mailed my sales rep and asked if my price would be dropped $100 and was told he didn't know but would find out. I said I'd even be happy with $100 credit for the next purchase. Even though I asked over and over I got blown off. My sales guy has been rude half of the time and when I tried to get another sales rep I was given the same one.

They're prices are competitive with Guitar Center, etc, so the only thing I save is tax, and every box I've received from them has been crushed. No damage to the item, just the shipping box is crushed, and I live on the west coast, so it ships east first, then west, so it takes awhile to get my stuff.

Most of the time it's easier, and definitely quicker, to go to my local GC competitor!

bshpmark · #9 10-01-2008, 03:48 PM

I ordered from them the first time a couple of weeks ago. Excellent service and I got a call from my rep as well. When he found out I was in ministry he told me what they offer for churches by means of sound consulting and sent me a nice catalog.

Plus the candy treats in the box when my order arrived was a nice touch. (Especially the atomic fireballs!)

open-road-matt · #10 10-01-2008, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bshpmark

Plus the candy treats in the box when my order arrived was a nice touch. (Especially the atomic fireballs!)

I will trade you all of my atomic fireballs for all of your Bit-O-Honeys!

Matt

joe white · #11 10-01-2008, 04:54 PM

I've been dealing with Sweetwater since there was just Chuck (the owner) and two other guys working out of a little house in Fort Wayne. A lot has changed over the years. The new building is incredible. They have some great seminars (including the Taylor road show) and always send out invitations. They have a summer "gearfest" where there are tons of reps there with product specials and demos. The last purchase I made there was a K65CE and they matched the lowest (in stock) price I could find. it has been cool to see this little "garage business" grow into the huge store that it has.

Dave R · #12 10-01-2008, 06:13 PM

I found the phone calls so annoying that I won't order anything from them. And that's a shame because they have some nice gear at reasonable prices.

David Eastwood · #13 10-01-2008, 07:05 PM

They've never called me.

I'm far from a big spender there, but I'm fairly regular. I appreciate the fact that my sales guy always greets me properly when I call, and never tries to upsell me. The fact that I'm comfortable enough with them to call, rather than order online, means a lot to me in this impersonal world.

soundwatts · #14 10-01-2008, 07:18 PM

They were very nice but could could not meet their commitment date for delivery. This happened twice and I cancelled the order and got the guitar from zzounds who were great.

FLDavid · #15 10-01-2008, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HIPCHIP

I ordered a Yamaha AW1600 from them, a day later GC started selling them for $100 less, and the day after that so did Sweetwater, so before I received the AW it cost $100 less. I e-mailed my sales rep and asked if my price would be dropped $100 and was told he didn't know but would find out. . .

I experienced semi-the-same-situation
I found an effects pedal in Sweetwater's colorful catalog, but when I called to order, I was told that the price had gone up $10 since the catalog was printed--granted, it was only $10, but still. . .
I said I'd order one at the catalog price, but the guy woud not budge
Ohhh-kaaay. . .