yes, the shop owner has rights, but IMHO, if the damage is minor and not intentionalā¦ itās part of the cost/risk of doing business. I had a business years ago & that was my attitude. I found that if something happened by accident & I didnāt make a big deal out of it, that person often became a good customer in the years to come. The flip side is that if someone was a big jerk, I could tell them that they were no longer welcome in my store!
Phillip McKnight tells a funny story in one of his podcasts about what happened in his store once - the relevant part starts about 50 minutes in, just start watching at that point:
Phillip is a pretty good story teller & this is funny!
another option would be to offer to hold the customers jacket while they play that guitar. one doesnāt get a second chance to make a first impression
I am very / particularly careful when I handle any guitar in a shop. I respect how hard retail is with online competition and also know that often Iām just curious about a guitar, how it feels, sounds etc and not in the market for another guitar. So Iām basically tyre kicking. Yet, I do have spare cash to buy any guitar I do pick up so who knows, the guitar might speak to me and I might listen.
But when the shopkeeper is unfriendly towards me, I pick up on those vibes. One doesnāt get a second chance to make a first impression. And I really like businesses that are easy to do business with. Good customer service is rare and it fascinates me because itās not a difficult concept.
For me, another interesting interaction that either encourages me to deal with a business again or sends me running in the opposite direction is how things are handled when something related to a purchase goes bad. As much as weād like every purchase to go perfectly, reality is far different from that and there are times when a supplier has really strengthened my relationship with them when they have good skills in resolving the problem, whether it be something silly Iāve done (quite often) or a problem with the product.
For me, just because Iāve had a problem doesnāt send me running away. It all depends on how they handle it or not.
Agreed Tony, and unfortunately the service industry is not what it used to be. I find it quite rare nowadays to get a friendly helpful assistant, and so vote with my feet.
Luckily my main guitar store is very good, and they are very helpful when i want something otherwise they leave me along even if I am checking out some guitars, pick or no pick.
I always make sure that I have nothing on that has the potential to damage any guitar that I want to try, itās unusual for me to be trying anything inexpensive these days. As regards Playing booths, some have them, some donāt but donāt feel that you must have one, nobody will take much notice of you, weāve all been beginners at some point.
Important - do not play any of the āforbidden riffsā you might be shown the door
I often forget to avoid zips when I go to a guitar shop. I also often forget to take a pick. Both get resolved when I get to the shop.
The 2 places I shop at (Andertons in Guildford and Guitar Guitar in Epsom) have helpful staff who want you to try the stuff out. Sure they would like a sale on the day, but they know they are helping with GAS generation every time you go in the shop and pick up an instrument.
I guess thereās a first time of this for everyone. Luckily, I was asked in a nice manner to take my jacket off (it had snap buttons) before playing so there was no issue.
Another thing to remember at places with instruments and cases on the floor: do not step over them but try to walk around them. Better be on the safe side.
As for practice booths, I think they can be useful when there are several customers in the shop at the same time. They (and the assistants) just wonāt have to shout over someone elseās playing.
My experience in Music/Guitar shops over 50 years has been very varied when asking to try out a guitar. From the āNo but I will demo it for youā , āYes but no Smoke on the Water or Trash Metalā, to the āof course you can we have playing booths if you would like to play in one, is there anything you would like me to demonstrate, would you like to compare with any other similar guitars there is no rush so take your time tryingā.
My experience is that the larger guitar shops expect as part of the service people will obviously want to try out instruments and often view hanging stock as for that purpose, and build that onto their business model so if one gets scratched it is discounted. Having said that if a guitar is very expensive or valuable rarity I have seen some am a few questions politely first before handing it over. Smaller shops can be tricky, there is big investment in the stock for the owner and so damage to it can have a big impact, so I have found they can be less accommodating but not always.
I think there are several things to try and do if trying out a guitar:-
Where upper clothing with no zips or buttons or where a soft fleece or jumper over one that has them.
Jeans are tricky some have many rivets and not always obvious and can easily scratch a guitar so best to not where or check thrm out first.
Belts are a no no, either remove it or turn it round so the buckle is not at your front.
When you first ask to try out a guitar ask for a suitable seat a stool or drummer seat so that height can be adjusted is best, and if you use one ask for a foot rest so you will be comfortable. Also ask for a stand so you can safely put the guitar down.
Ask to use a tuner, why should you struggle to tune it by ear or rely on the assistants ear, only to have them snigger at you playing an out of tune guitar.
If they have a playing booth ask to use it, I usually say I feel more comfortable playing out of sight and hearing.
In my experience this will help you and gain the sellers confidence in trusting you with trying his gear out.
When I was last shopping for a guitar, I brought my own tuner with me. The tuner is also useful for checking the intonation of the instrument which can sometimes be off on guitars that retail under ā¬400 (my budget for buying my acoustic guitar last year).
This is probably more important if buying a second-hand guitar from a private seller as a guitar shop should be able to fix the intonation if you point it out at the time.
