Sweetwater

Been using sweetwater for many years and have had a few problems with guitars. The return policy only benefits sweetwater and they won't post your review if it makes people think twice about ordering a guitar through the mail. They have grown rich while your local retailers are going out of business.

For the amount you spend you would think there would be a better way to expedite shipping but it seems the process is very slow. The website has some false timer telling you to order now and get it by whenever. So you feel spurred to buy only for the timer to be arbitrary. After purchase just ship the product. FedEx still hasn't received my package and it's the day the timer said I should be getting my guitar. Very disappointed

Sales Department like all Sales Personal are Phonies. These guys remind of Guitar Center and Sam Ash. If your not going to buy, stay away. This Company has no honor for Music or helping those who appreciate the Music World. A bunch of "wanna be's" looking to pick pocket the weak. Also, what's the point of offering a 3-6 month payment plan if you must pass a credit check and/or long time loyal customer as this option was created for poor? Don't you think I would have paid in full if I could afford it? Soon to go out of business is my prediction. Long time customer and so many bad experiences w/the sales team. I recently declined my last purchase as the sales team was extremely rude pushing me to buy as well as telling me my credit is no good there as I was denied 2 months ago. I reapplied online and was approved. How discouraging. Please hire New sales personnel. Only the Managers Appreciate, excluding the supervisors. I've had such a bad experience with this company. NOT RECOMMEND!

Large selection, although stuff not always in stock. However, As mentioned by others, customer service can be less than desirable, especially for returns.

The issue here is that the return policy poor and unnecessarily overburdened. Moreover, customer sales support goes south once the discussion turns toward return/ refund.

There are other options out there for more effective and pleasant online ordering, if that is the method you use.

Come on guys! This stuff matters when ordering expensive equipment!

I've been a Sweetwater customer for several decades. Recently, I purchased a wireless headphone system. Recorded some overdubs with it and then, 30 days after expiration of the return period, I needed to use it in a mix and discovered that it was a mono-only system. I did not request a refund, only a full credit. Sweetwater acknowledged there was nothing in the description or specs posted on their site about the limitation to mono, but refused, saying the product worked as intended. Evidently my expectation that a system designed to work with stereo headphones would output stereo sound was rash. I hate to leave Sweetwater. They've been very helpful over many years. I don't know what other customers experience, but loyalty was apparently not high on their list in our final transaction.

"Two day shipping" on a $300 package. The thing didn't ship until I called and said "HEY. Where is it"

Now it's been marked delivered. Lo and behold, I don't have it! After contacting Sweetwater they more or less told me I'm just screwed if FedEx doesn't locate it. So I essentially gave them $300 for nothing. Thanks Sweetwater! That's the LAST time I'm dealing with you. You're no better than Guitar Center.

UPDATE: Changing my rating because someone remedied the situation. It clearly depends on what rep you're dealing with. My "personal sales engineer" got back with me and said on the contrary to what I was told on the phone "of course we will replace the product or refund you if FedEx does not locate the package. No problem". I eventually did get the package. However after the initial headache, and the fact that I had to say "hey, where is it" before the package was even shipped, I'm not taking back what I said.

I bought an American Performer J bass. The action was so high (not factory spec) it was barely playable. Had to take it to a luthier to fix. He said the neck was VERY bowed (not due to temp/humidity), and the truss rod nut had tool marks because apparently the 55 point inspectors tried to adjust the truss rod to lower the action (bad idea) without removing the pick guard, to save time. I told sales engineer CJ Onyx about the problem, but she's gone silent and Sweetwater has done nothing to make this right. Glad I have a good luthier, definitely needed him to do what Sweetwater failed to do. Don't buy from Sweetwater just for the 55 point inspection. It's sort of a scam.

Sweetwater has a good reputation so I'm a little befuddled here. First, they charge my credit card $300 when they do not actually have product to send - not a pre-order authorization; which I did give, but an actual charge that I had to pay with real money. Then they erase my order history from my Sweetwater account but fail to credit my card and it is now 10 days past the time they said they would do so. In summary, a full month later I have no product and no money to buy it from vendors who have it in stock at the same price. Great job Sweetwater. You have now almost guaranteed that I will go out of my way not to use you. Retail is brutal and online retailers still need to understand that customers are priority one. Tell me again what distinguishes you from the other available online retailers.

If you don't need help with your products and you research them, then shop at musicansfriend, wwbw, zzsounds and even guitarcenter. They offer points which is money back... the only time I buy at sweetwater is if I need financing on high end equipment like shure axient or yamaha cl mixer... ever since 2018 when they started charging taxes, I started buying from other companies... I've been a customer since 2010 off and on and only have used my sales engineer once. Another thing, I've spent about ******* at sweetwater and still struggle to get a good deal,, its hard to negotiate with them, you think i would at least get 5 percent off after 10 years. Agiprodj gives 15 percent off most of the time.

Over the last 2 years, I've spent $7,842.24 at Sweetwater Sound, all of those purchases being the Three- or Six-Easy-Payment Plan. Suddenly today, they won't grant me three easy payments for a $175 order -- credit denied. Why? Because a few of my payments for a $1,300 Stratocaster and a $400 bass amp were late during the worldwide pandemic that hurt everyone's business, left millions unemployed, and millions more facing eviction -- including me. Apparently, these well-heeled luminaries don't read the news much. I communicated with them during the pandemic. They got all their money. They were never caught off guard. They acted kind. They even made more money by charging me for late payments -- all directly from my checking account. Yet, these soulless robots are now saying, "I don't want your money." Well, you won't have to worry about that anymore -- a Sweetwater Exclusive!

Sweetwater is about the easiest place to deal with I've found. They have competitive prices, ship very fast and answer any questions you may have. No doubt if there is a real reason for a delay it could happen or they might no know the answer to your question or may not have what you're set on getting. But 100% for sure they will try and try hard. This is now my go to Music Store. Been playing guitar since 1965, maybe that's an indication of my experience with Music Stores. Try them, I think you'll have a similar experience to mine!

I purchased $200 software from Sweet Water that was supposed to be able to instantly download. However, I received a message saying that I would not receive my download or any assistance until their normal business hours. It's currently Sunday morning... -_-
There is a no refund policy. They didn't have to wait on my money, so why am I waiting a full day for this to be resolved? I wish I could give them 0 stars.

From day one to present Sweetwater has always treated my interest in music with a high level of importance. In other words like royalty. Whether I was inquiring about an item or purchasing one I always received an accurate and a timely report on what, when, how, who, and cost of my orders. This also includes updates. I wish all business's ran and operated like Sweetwater. They do not try to push anything on you. There leaves no pressure at all. I can't say enough good things about Sweetwater at all ranks.

After my experience here, I will never buy music anything anywhere else. Sure, their prices are the same as the other best prices you see our there. But their service is exceptional. My first order there was a bag of guitar picks. I received a call from my dedicated rep to tell me when they shipped. Need a say more?

Sweetwater is by far the best company to deal with when buying gear. They have great prices, their customer service is light years beyond anything in the industry and there's no snake oil, used car garbage going on. They don't push they just help. Shipping is very affordable, as in free and fast. Customer for life.

I purchased my first bass, small amp, mic….second bass, and recently my third bass from Sweetwater.
Their products are great. They are as described.
The customer service is excellent. People are knowledgeable, never pushy, If you leave a message, they return it promptly. I've called several times with questions and I get honest answers.
The shipping is prompt and products arrive in excellent shape.
Highly recommend. One of the few big, well run, honest companies around.

There's a quite a few choices when it come to buying musical equipment and frankly the prices are typically comparable between the big 4 or 5. What makes the different then is customer service and support and I have always been impressed and never disappointed by Sweetwater's folks.