So I placed an order with Sweetwater this morning. Since then, I’ve had a voice mail from “Tim” letting me know they were working on getting it out to me. Did you know Tim has actually been to the city where I work? Yep, this is where his favorite guitarist is from (my guess: Lindsey Buckingham). Hey, and you should also know that Sweetwater has a new distribution center located in Arizona. Yep, my order will be getting to me twice as fast as usual.
Following up on the voice mail I got an email. Did you know that Tim’s been playing on the road and in the studio for 20+ years? So he really knows his gear.
Hey, another email! My order’s shipped! Thanks, Tim.
Oh wow, another email. Instructions on how to install my $16.99 Dunlop Strap Locks.
I appreciate good customer service but Sweetwater … quit stalking me.
I’m telling the family I want Sweetwater Gift cards for Christmas so I can upgrade my studio monitors. I’m going to try that phone call-discount trick when I’m ready to order.
Another 'pro-tip" - Guitar Center is dying to offer discounts right now too.
I was calling them yesterday to check on when something I ordered a while ago woudl be in stock, and the guy was begging me to buy something for ‘big discounts’. I felt like he was on the verge of tears.
Pit them against each other I say!
You are lucky, my Sweetwater rep is firm on price, just takes my money, and quietly waits for my next order. About the same service I get from Amazon but with 6 day shipping instead of 2.
It varies. There’s a place I shop at here where I get fantastic service from the bass guys, but the guitar dudes I bought from at another of their locations were kind of dicks. Mostly I stick with them because I had a really good experience with warranty work there, and it’s also where my points are at (though I did just spend them all).
I had the same experience when I bought LaBella Deep Talkin bass strings for my Yamaha BB734 bass. Nick sent an email, then a phone call, then a text a week later. Ordered a second set for my Yamaha TRBX304 and they wouldn’t fit, G string tuner is to close. Nick let me keep the LaBella’s and sent (at no charge) a set of Rotowounds that I could use. Their customer service will spoil you for sure.
I am a Sweetwater junky. I love their customer service. Of course I have bought so much from them in the past year, I probably funded my rep’s summer vacation.
My Sweetwater rep actively tried to make me feel guilty for asking for a deal on my second order from them since I “already received the new customer discount on my first order”. On the other hand, a few months back when I was hoping to land a deal on a short scale bass I used Guitar Center’s text to ask a question and was connected with a rep that instantly offered me a price that amounted to over 15% off. He has since helped me find a good set of nickel free bass strings and also offered me an emailed discount on a MIDI controller I had been looking up on the site. My local GC shop still leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth but I am all about GC stepping up their online/over-the-phone rep game - especially since I’ve had an uncomfortable experience with my assigned Sweetwater rep.
You can always call and ask for a new rep to be assigned.
Initially they had given me some keyboardist guy who was a tool. I called and asked for a bassist who turned out to be cool.