Sweetwater Customer Service

[kitekrazy1]

15 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

Yes I am lucky. Since people are no longer patronizing mom and pop stores, the local stores are getting few and far between -- plus they don't carry as much stock as they used to.

I go to Sweetwater if my local store cannot get it. Alan Finkbeiner is my rep, and he does a great job. He works hard, does his research, and goes out of his way to help us.

It's nice that Sweetwater keeps their help, the sales force is knowledgeable, and they get to know you. It's almost like a local store except it's very far away and unless you live nearby, you can't go and try things out first.

Insights and incites by Notes

  We had a local GC move down the street, the other place made their prices competitive, plus you knew the service after the sale would be there.  He was also a Washburn dealer which I liked. They also made income off repairs, lessons, and equipment rentals.  What brought that place down was not GC but road construction.    The local GC was a good store, small and cramped, but once you got to know a few managers, they would be honest about gear.

  I think music stores in general are hurting.  It also depends on the area.  Our local school districts turned away music stores that offered band rentals since they provide the instruments. That's like the worst thing ever especially when it comes to maintenance and repairs. 

  There's always some debate to whether youngsters are not willing to learn instruments and going into DAWs.   I don't think it's just the brick and mortar stores are hurting.

  My local Sam Ash and GC are lackluster when it comes to higher end gear.   You wont see a PRS in there.

  In my area if you are a wind player it's not the best place to live.  We do have a Music&Arts though.   

 

  My last purchases have been from Sweetwater because of their financing.  My JBL monitors are costing me $3 a month.  I'm not a fan of credit but this I liked.

 

[Johnbee58]

Ditto on Sweetwater.  Those guys are great.  I just wish I would've bought all of the Waves plugins I have through them instead of directly from Waves.  Main reason is that if you buy them from Sweetwater, any tech support (including any Team Viewer support and configuration) is totally free.  If you buy direct from Waves they charge you a yearly fee for support.

?John B.

Oh, and anytime I've ever bought anything from them, be it hardware or software, Mark Bruhn, their sales associate  always gives me a call to thank me.

Edited March 26, 2019 by Johnbee58

[Christian Jones]

I never pay full listed price for anything at SW. Your rep (if you got a good one.. I don't think there's many bad ones) will give you a discount, but only if you ask, and I'm down to negotiate so I always ask. It also helps to have been a customer for a minute and have bought a few things in the past, but really the only things I pay full price for are things like the one-off cable or some small accessory that I won't bother asking for some discount on. 

I used to get a kick out of reading comments online about people freaking out over the post sales calls SW reps make. Some people considered those calls to be harassment or on the same annoying level as a robocall and they'd write diatribes online about it lol. Well it's just that no other music company did/does that and for decades people have just been used to buying their stuff and not having the store give a damn about them afterward and some people feel it's a pressure call to buy something else after they just bought something. Make no mistake though, that is a sales job and those post calls are definitely sales-hopeful calls as well as solid customer service follow up. They'll stop calling you like that if you ask them, but personally I don't mind, my new sales rep Josh is pretty cool and I talk to him about other stuff too as he's a film composer and I am a hopeful one and also again because I never pay full price for anything there, I expect deals so I don't mind the occasional cold call. Plus I've worked a job like that and I respect it as long as they're respectful when they call/email which they are. 

[Christian Jones]

8 hours ago, Johnbee58 said:

Ditto on Sweetwater.  Those guys are great.  I just wish I would've bought all of the Waves plugins I have through them instead of directly from Waves.  Main reason is that if you buy them from Sweetwater, any tech support (including any Team Viewer support and configuration) is totally free.  If you buy direct from Waves they charge you a yearly fee for support.

That's a good thing to know and keep in mind man thanks 

8 hours ago, Johnbee58 said:

?

 

[Toddskins]

I've bought several things over the decades from Sweetwater and yes, their support is tops, but somewhere around the dot-com bust (approximately 2002 maybe) they stopped giving good deals.  I've always bought expensive keyboards.

Over the past 20 years, I still sometimes call and offer a price on things I'm interested in, but they never meet my price anymore.  It's like dealing with car salesmen.

I found Pro Audio Star out of NYC that will do whatever it takes to get my money, and I go there first, now.   

You can also go to Ebay, find the equipment you're interested in, and only do business with the sellers who utilize the "Make Offer" option, and stick to your guns.  Again, Sweetwater always counter offers with a number that is insulting.

But it must work for them, since most people are afraid to negotiate and do not know how. 

About 7 years ago on a new Kurzweil PC3K8 with a case, ribbon controller and a couple other items, the MSRP was $3495 just for the keyboard.  The bonus package ran an additional several hundred dollars.  I offered  Sweetwater $2875 and they counter offered with $3300.  Only $200 less than MSRP.  Pro Audio Star gave me the package for $2895.  What makes the whole thing even worse is the Sweetwater sales guy attempt to tell me that my offer makes them lose money, blah, blah, blah.

Edited March 27, 2019 by Toddskins

[Gswitz]

Lose the money you might have paid! Ha ha

[TimV]

My experience with Sweetwater has also been positive.

One of the advantages for me of Guitar Center is how easy they are on returns. When I recently needed an amp , I tried and returned two before I found the one I liked. No problem at all. I know that SW is also generous about returns, but shipping back two amps would have been a big hassle.

[PittsburghSteelMan]

I, too have been buying from Sweetwater for many years. My personal sales rep's name is Ty and he's been a great help not only in giving product advice but also is very friendly and personable. Once I had to add to an existing order and he took care of it with no issues.

Their Sweetwater card can be a good way to get gear when you can't afford the up-front cost as long as you can afford and make the payments on time.  It's 0% interest but like any other deal if you fail to make the payments the interest will kill you!

[Michael Vogel]

I’m in Australia and have used Sweetwater on occasion for both software and hardware. Can certainly recommend them. My current rep is Casey and only have good things to say about him/her. 

[Bobby Thistle]

I bought some more software from them yesterday.  I got an email this morning from tech support - Paul Ohegyi.  He was looking in my file and saw that I had a bit of trouble installing the first software and so took it upon himself to send me directions on how to install the new stuff.  He said that if I was still having problems I could just phone their 800 number and he would do it for me.

I think I've already said that I'm in Canada and so there's a bit of a bite when I buy US because of the exchange rate on the dollar.  But for something like software, it would cost me just as much or more after tax is thrown in there.  And I can assure you that I wouldn't be getting the same after sale support that Sweetwater gives me.

Of course, it wouldn't pay me to by anything that requires shipping from Sweetwater.  The cost of shipping and duty I'd have to pay would put the price way out of the ballpark.

/OM