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For those of you who didn't already know... do not take your guitar to guitar center, ever. I just learned the hard way. I didn't wanna bother looking for a private tech or smaller shop so I took it in to get a new nut and a setup but they were supposed to call and QUOTE me a price before doing it. I get a call today- quot;your guitar is ready, it plays great. the total is 85 dollars.quot; 85 dollar setup on a 200 dollar guitar... wow makes sense. For that price I could have gotten a fret level! Good job gc, you just lost my bussiness permanently. Well, except for taking advantage of my friends employee discount but that goes without saying :P

*sigh*... at least they had the decency to put in a bone nut. Not that it matters on that guitar, it's made of agathis

Why didn't you tell them they were supposed to call you with an estimate and approval of repairs? Tell them you would not have approved that much and are not going to pay it. They will come down on price, they have to as it's illegal to do repairs without an estimate approval providing you did not sign a waver when you dropped it off telling them to just do the work without an estimate.

They had me sign to declare I had left it there to recieve repairs but it said nothing about waving the estimate and I was told I would recieve a call with an estimate. Thanks for the advice I'm definitely going to say something when I go to pick it up this weekend.


Originally Posted by TattooedCarrotWhy didn't you tell them they were supposed to call you with an estimate and approval of repairs? Tell them you would not have approved that much and are not going to pay it. They will come down on price, they have to as it's illegal to do repairs without an estimate approval providing you did not sign a waver when you dropped it off telling them to just do the work without an estimate.

The man speaks the truth. I've seen auto mechanics get sued over a lot less money and this is no different.

Nut recuts usually run me no more than $35, fyi.

BTW, since when does GC do repairs? All the ones I've ever known of or gone to have explicitly refrained from doing repairs (including customers asking for quick restringings) and have directed customers to local shops.

They have a small repair shop in the back at this one. Let's make certain I was indeed stupidly over charged before I make a fuss:

bone-nut
they cut the nut
standard setup

so if just cutting the nut is 35 bucks... I kind of considered it part of setting up the guitar but I would have done that on my own had I known how much this would come to so I still think it was unfair to do it without my ok on the price. I mean, a setup isn't rocket science- it was the damn low E(I had filed it some for heavier strings) that pushed me to just bring it in and have it fixed up.


Originally Posted by Death's AcreThey have a small repair shop in the back at this one. Let's make certain I was indeed stupidly over charged before I make a fuss:

bone-nut
they cut the nut
standard setup

so if just cutting the nut is 35 bucks... I kind of considered it part of setting up the guitar but I would have done that on my own had I known how much this would come to so I still think it was unfair to do it without my ok on the price. I mean, a setup isn't rocket science- it was the damn low E(I had filed it some for heavier strings) that pushed me to just bring it in and have it fixed up.

Well i should add that the shop I go to includes a standard setup in that price and in the price of ALL their jobs.


Originally Posted by Death's Acre. . . 85 dollar setup on a 200 dollar guitar...

Let me chime in on this one point . . . as someone who spent quite a few years as an audio repairman.

It was often that folks didn't understand why a head alignment on an $85 car stereo was more than on a $2500 Nakamichi Dragon. One was designed to be worked on . . . one wasn't.

The initial cost of a product has nothing to do with how much it costs to quot;adjustquot; it. Often, the cost is inversely proportional.

Point taken, but much like the head alignment it makes no sense to spend that much when you could buy a new one does it? Besides that, the guitar has the same characteristics of a much more expensive instrument on a fundamental level. standard tunomatic bridge, truss rod, and nut. There should be no difference in price to have those same components adjusted. to give you an idea here- I fully intended to pop out the pickups and sell the guitar after the frets got to the point where they needed replacing. It's a good little guitar but I'm not one to spend more than I paid originally to fix something. It just goes against my grain.

Absolutely! I agree completely. They may not be quot;ripping you offquot;, but they certainly had a moral and legal obligation to give you an estimate, so you could make an informed choice.

$85 for a new nut and a setup is not bad at all. i wont cut a nut for less than $50 and its usually $75. a setup is about $30 so $85 isnt a bad deal. not cool that you asked for an estimate and they didnt call, that sucks, but i dont think the price is that high

Thanks for the input- now I know not to make a stink about the price. Still, I'm gonna complain.

This is only one reason I never shop at Guitar Center....

The guy I went to recently charged a good amount for his services, but he did the job right, so to me, the money is worth it. A setup cost me $45, the installation fee for Sperzels were $35. After all the parts and labor, I ended up spending $180. Cutting nuts (especially putting on a new one) is time consuming and you will pay for it unfortunately. I know after the next few expenses, I'll be having mine done on my Gibby.

As others have said, the price isn't unreasonable, but they definitely should've given you an estimate before doing the work. I would at least mention it to them and see what they do. Maybe they'll give you some free strings or at least come down on the price a little.

Ryan

dude they ripped you a new one.

yeah, you should have specified plastic nut. at my local shop, it's $45 for installation on a bone nut and $20 on plastic, and a setup is $20. You could have been out the door for $40. all my prices are canadian too.


Originally Posted by jeremy$85 for a new nut and a setup is not bad at all. i wont cut a nut for less than $50 and its usually $75. a setup is about $30 so $85 isnt a bad deal. not cool that you asked for an estimate and they didnt call, that sucks, but i dont think the price is that high
One thing I'd like to add concerning estimates, although it may vary accordingly, state to state (or province to province depending on country), generally it's pretty set upon that the final cost cannot exceed the given estimate by more than 20% ... An excess of 20% is all that could be legally charged if the customer was quoted a different estimate (final estimate in terms of multiple tasks). There were more than a few times when one of the techs would *forget* to call the customer to inform them that they found other problems, or complications that the counter person missed in the initial *ballpark estimate*. The customer still didn't like paying the extra 20%, but when explained that the repair tech *goofed* and the company would have to eat the rest of the cost they were more than happy (realizing that they got a bunch of work for a very small fee). Again, depending on what needed to be done, the cost could have been a bit less, right on, or maybe even a bit more ... Problem is they didn't give you the estimate, and they didn't receive your approval for the work to be done (unless it was on the repair ticket ... read that fine print always).
Just be cool, and professional with it, explain your position (speak with a manager only), the circumstances ... and get across the fact that you are willing to work with them to reslove the issue.

Well... I managed to get it for 55. The action is really low now, I actually think I might want to raise it a bit actually.

Actually you were not over charged. A nut will run 35 to 50 and a setup will run 35 to 50. So regardless of the value of the guitar it sounds to me they charged fairly for what work was done. IF you had taken the guitar anywhere else it would have cost about the same!!

$85 is perfectly reasonable for the work performed.

When you bring your gear into Guitar Center for work, there's a sign right on the bench with the prices listed.