Two weeks ago, I was at SV Guitars trying out a guitar (which I finally bought) when two gentlemen- teenagers I believe- came into the store in haste. One of them got very excited upon seeing a bass, maybe it was his desired instrument; we very much understand such anxiety. He decided to handle the instrument himself while the SV staff were busy attending to other customers. I was appalled by the way he did so, knocking the instrument's headstock against the wall in the process. I stopped testing the aforementioned guitar at that moment & looked at him. I also intended the environment to be quiet enough so that the sound of a dropped & damaged instrument would be clearly heard. But he decided to to return the bass to the wall hangar when it slipped. Fortunately enough, he caught it at the final moment because if that wasn't the case, my blow to his face would be generous. Orange t-shirt & a cap, I still remember clearly how he looked like. On the way out, he gestured a sorry to me, so he finally knew his every move was under scrutiny.
Is it too difficult for us to understand the fact that musical instruments are fragile? Are we not educated enough to be mindful of property which are not ours because any damage done would render us liable? We keep reading time & again of how some music stores manifest an untoward surveillance when we are in the premises but we seldom read about brainless people walking into guitar stores thinking they are beyond sensible behaviour & it's perfectly acceptable to do so because the customer is always right. I still think the customer is right when he's right but when he's wrong, he's wrong; it's that simple.
If you need to handle any instruments in any stores, please get permission to do so.
6 comments:
yes, no matter how may guitars you own or how experienced you are, accidents still happen occasionally. it's always better to ask the store owner first. they might even give you advice on better gear!
in my opinion, the guitar stores today believe in value addition when they let customers try their wares. it may not be an immediate purchase but the created impression would do good for the business :-)
poor kelly :(
A local store has a great sign in their shop, and its loosely translated like this:
"Would you buy a used guitar for the price of a new one? No? Nobody else would either, so please be carefull with the guitars. Please be awear that beltbuckles and metal buttons might scratch the guitar, so remove belts and jackets before testing..."
And for the expensive models permission must be asked for :)
rather than "asking for permission", i'll rather say "get the salesmen to take the guitar down for you, and put it back for you".
that's right, belt buckles, rings & even pendants cause scratches...
the stores here would most likely assist you once you say you'd like to try the instrument so bringing it down & subsequently returning it to its resting place would be done by the sales person.
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