Since my last review of Sweetwater, I wanted to update my personal views on the Sweetwater Customer Service. I have in the past year bought more items, to include guitar, amp and some other necessities for the stage. Each time, I receive my products very well packed for shipment, and the delivery time is usually within a 5 day period with no delivery charges. On rare occasion, I have ordered and the items was not shipped promptly for whatever reason.
One of the best features that Sweetwater offers on a frequent basis is the 48, 36, 12 month free interest promotions (if paid off within the allotted period). This is huge for me as I don't always want to plunk down a large purchase price. I have the ease of paying off without hurting my wallet. We have some wonderful private music stores nearby, but they can only offer 6 months at best, with a 3rd or 1/2 down.
Yes the bad part would be in having to return an item such as an amp, BUT the 3 times I did, Sweetwater provided pre-postage paid return labels and even offered to ship me a shipping box if I needed it. THAT IS CUSTOMER SERVICE. No hassles either. Plus you can talk with a technician if you need over the phone.
I admittedly have had a couple of experiences that I previously wrote about that were annoying, but since then I have had nothing but excellent experiences. That's it for now.
I stubbled on this website and thought I would inject my thoughts on Sweetwater. I was first turned on to the music store by a friend who travels / plays support keyboards for several big names. Since spending over $7000 in two years, I have had very good service for the most part. I did have to change my Sales Rep once as I felt he wasn't listening to my needs unless I was going to buy something right then. The current Sales Rep is better but still not a "warm and fuzzy" personality that I look forward to chatting with. It's all business with the Sales Rep's. My most recent purchase of two Celestion Gold speakers took 3 days to get the shipment going. When I inquired, another Sales Asst Mgr told me that he didn't know why, but Celestion was slow to send them speakers and that my Sales Rep should have notified me before I had to inquire. Bright side was that this was a price match which save me $60 for the pair.
Now for the better news. I had bought an amp and had reverb problems. Four months later even though I was out of the return for refund window, my current Sales Rep sent me a return label and said to ship back and they would fix the problem. Well when the amp returns, same problem. This time I was sent a brand new replacement and told when it arrived to send the old one back postage paid.
UPDATE: I purchased a Fender DRRI Limited Edition amp in Feb 2016. In June had to finally contact Sweetwater regarding an ongoing issue with the amp. The issue was that I could turn on the amp, wait for the tubes caps to get charged up, and then turn the standby to on BUT no sound, no hiss, NADA! I would turn off then restart the process. Still the same result. Then suddenly the amp would sound came on (Hissing) and it would work. This happened a half dozen times. Notifying the amp 4 months after the purchase, I asked for some help from Sweetwater. Initially I was told they normally don't take the amp back outside of six months from purchase. I had to remind the Customer Service (not my normal sales rep) Rep it was only 4 mos. I got more stall before the CSR agreed to send me a postage paid return label and RDM # so I could send back. I sent the amp back with a letter explaining the problem and a request to call me BEFORE the amp was returned. Glad I did because the amp repair tech called telling me the amp worked fine and did not experience the issues I said. He was going to send back until I explained further the issues and that I would return the amp a second time if not fixed. Long story short, he said he would pull the circuit board and take a look. The problem was found to be a bad fuse. In the newer Fender amps I was told that unlike the older previous models, the fuse is not located on the circuit board and soldered in. Thus is can only be fixed by an Authorized Fender Repair Shop or dealer like Sweetwater. Problem was resolved; at least to this point as I haven't experienced any more issues since it's return. Summary: be persistent. Sweetwater provides the extended 2 year warranty which I found also doesn't cover everything and apparently only if you are within a specified window of time from the original purchase date. I can tell you this, Sweetwater rep's are all very polite, and I will stay with them as they have been helping me resolve my issues SO FAR!. Any changes, I will post. Lastly I do plan to continue being their customer so long as the Customer Service is strong.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I was unfamiliar with Sweetwater but I knew it's competitors. My musician friend of 45 years told me to mention his name. My first purchase was a guitar pedal. I couldn't believe the personalized nature of the service (phone call & email). When the competition was out of stock, Sweetwater had already stockpiled supplies for the home recording studio I was building. Then, I asked my sales rep, Caleb, about some different guitars that were Out of Stock. We identified a couple, placed a hold on one, and he called me as soon as it came in: a G&L Bluesboy Tele. The 55-point inspection also helped sell me on Sweetwater. While shopping on line, I read reviews about guitars and found people spent money on set-up when ordering guitars from competitors and regretted NOT having ordered from Sweetwater. I love my new G&L, adding a new look and sound to my collection. Next, with Caleb's help, I ordered an Ibanez Mikro Mini as a surprise for my daughter who has been playing now for about 2 years. My daughter was taken completely by surprise, kept saying "It's Beautiful" and literally ran into her room and brought her amp out into the living room to play. (She is usually too shy to play in front of people.) Caleb himself has one and he was correct: The Ibanez provides a quality look, sound, and feel for an amazingly small price.
I look on line at the competition. I visit guitar shops in person. But when I am ready to buy, I go to Sweetwater. You would be well served to consider this approach.
Unprofessional Sales Engineer named Levi laughed at me several times.
I ordered my drum kit 5 days ago. I called today and was told my kit is 3 months + out to be delivered. I asked why this kit was for sale online if it was not in stock. I was told by Levi that many products sold by sweet water are not in stock, this forces customers to be forced to an up sell.
I asked to cancel my order if sweet water was not able to offer any sort of discount, anything. Sweet water is a bait & switch company, and Levi terrible!
Levi needs sales & customer service training.
***Update on the review- The item I purchased still shows for sale on the website. They said 3 months out, then told me No ETA.2
This item is still for sale 5 days after I purchased it. Roland V-Drums TD-07KVX
After they said it is out of stock and the manufacturer has no eta. This is an
Unethical tactic, and they need to be exposed.
Company that does this cannot be trusted, they are ripping off consumers by telling them their item are months out, this is forcing them to buy a more expensive instrument. They are trying to convince consumers to purchase a more expense product.
This needs to be investigated. How many orders are received, compared to how many of those
Orders are completely out of stock? How many of those orders end up spending more than the items they originally purchased?
Never have had any problems. Dilan Is very helpful. Their website show all you need to buy anything, and you can talk to engineers if you need more details.
UNBELIEVABLE
Most beautiful instrument I EVER laid my eyes on and the sound and intonation on this instrument is PERFECT in every way.
THANY YOU SWEETWATER FOR HAVING GIBSON PRODUCE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL INSTRUMENT FOR YOU. SO GLAD I BOUGHT IT.
I bought a keely caverns after buying a bunch of keeley modded pedals over the years thinking it would be a great addition to my board. After 7 uses - the delay completely stopped working. Sweetwater are taking 48 hours before someone from tech gets back to me to organize a repair - they will not let you swap it out or return it after the initial 30 day period. Teryn's (my rep) position is that a pedal is not defective if it works when you get it. So be very careful. If you are buying a $200+ pedal from sweetwater and expect it to last you more than 30 days before dying on you - then it's not "defective" per sweetwater.
I've spent over 2k with Sweetwater in the last few months and had a long shopping list of additional purchases I will now have to make elsewhere. Don't buy Keeley Pedals - they are great sounding but very expensive and they die on you quickly (I also got a defective compressor I had to return) and absolutely do not buy from sweetwater if being able to return broken and defective gear after 30 days is important to you.
Great product, covers all great reverbs and can be set to buffer with internal dip switches, dead quiet and true bypass, great price, great service, superb taffy. Thanks
Jared and Sweetwater crew.
Purchased a guitar and some other gear from Sweetwater less than a year ago. The guitar had a problem from the start, after a setup guarantee. I called about it and received multiple run arounds. Over 2 month and then i got "well you should have said something the day you got it". My sales rep then says "you have to pay shipping here and back in order for us to fix the issue." To ship it somewhat safely in a hard case was going to be $150 one way, I paid over $1000 dollars for this "brand new" guitar that was supposed to be setup. I decided to have my guitar looked at by my guy. I ended up paying $120 to have a factory defect in the neck and frets fixed. Sweetwater refused to live up to the 2year warranty... Dont get me started on the incorrect pedal they sent me and still refuse to replace with the correct one. I ordered a flashback 2 delay pedal they sent me a flashback original and even though the receipt say I indeed purchased a flashback 2 the claim it was the original I purchased. Cutting up my Sweetwater card and will not be purchasing from this company again.
I discussed product with Jonathan and knew the product I bought (London 8)
I recieved in perfect condition and has made my listening room less reflective and I hear more detail/realism in my music, thank you
Also got candy!
This company and all the Sales Staff are totally knowlegable about their products and offer OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE with every purchase. They not only "talk the talk", They "walk the walk" My experience with every purchase has been second-to-none. An AWESOME company and and AWESOME Sales Staff. Thank You Guys for being my GO To vendor for Sound Equipment, Guitars, and Cameras. Thank You Patrick and all the Sales Staff for Professional Service all the time, everytime.
Gerald
So i just wanted some guitar picks but everywhere else you have to pay shipping. THESE GUYS SHIP FOR FREE. Bought a pack of freaking guitar picks AND THESE MOFOS HAVE THE AUDACITY TO NOT ONLY SHIP MY MEASILY GUITAR PICKS FOR FREE BUT ALSO SEND ME FREE CANDY WITH MY ORDER. I never thought i would ever feel so satisfied buying a small pack of freaking guitar picks
Im an experienced acoustic drummer needing a great sounding, very portable kit. The Roland SPD30 exceeded my expectations, connected to my Fender 200 watt Ra blet bass amp.
I ordered a Travel Case (Flight) for my Martin D28. I ordered it at 6:27 pm on Wednesday. It was on my door step Thursday at 8:05 am. Wow. That's service
Great sales engineers! Good prices and fast shipping! I've been a cuatomer for quite some time and appreciate a conpany loyal to its customers and their satisfaction!
Reliability, availability, communication, speed and options of delivery--those are some of the main reasons exclusively choose Sweetwater, but I will say that the personal touch that Ted has given me over the years is absolutely priceless. It wins over discount sales at other sites every time. Recently I had an awful experience with Guitar Center trying to purchase a Laney product that you did not carry. I reached out to Ted on facebook with questions about a similar product made by ISP. (This has happened plenty of times before) He took the time to really look into my questions and answer them in a way that resulted in a $599 purchase... which led to another ISP product purchase a short time after--the ISP stealth amp and absolutely loved it... but the power cable/AC adapter turned out to be defective. A short message to him at 7am on his birthday and he responded right away with what to do. I made a phone call, and the next day had a replacement and a UPS sticker to return the defect. I realize this is a long email, but this is EXACTLY why I choose Sweetwater every time. I have been a customer for some years and I have yet to have a bad experience with Sweetwater and don't expect that I ever will. I am loyal to Sweetwater as long as you carry the gear I am looking for. I sincerely hope they never change the way you do business because it is SO rare and starkly contrasts with everyone else on every level.
The software is the best for both beginners and experienced, and I loved the service and support, they are very attentative, I will become a regular customer. Thank you guys for the service.
Great service, products, and sales reps. Very friendly and responsive. I got strings at a great price and top quality, and to top it off I got a baggie of candy with my order.
The first product I purchased from Sweetwater was an expansion pack for my Kurzweil K1000 around 1988. I can't even list all the gear I've purchased from them since. I've always had great service!
Customer service sucks representative knowledge about product very poor wouldn't buy anything from here asked question and they hung up in my face. Sorry company
Sweetwater has world class customer service, competitive prices, knowledgeable sales staff that treat you like family and speedy delivery. I couldn't recommend a company more highly.
Overview
Sweetwater has a rating of 4.1 stars from 1,195 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally satisfied with their purchases. Reviewers satisfied with Sweetwater most frequently mention customer service, sales rep and free shipping. Sweetwater ranks 1st among Music Equipment sites.
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- Fort Wayne, IN, United States
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Business History
Chuck founded Sweetwater as a recording studio in Fort Wayne in 1979. The business was first located in his home on Getz Road, then moved to a subsequent home on Bass Road. Initially the fledgling company focused on providing recording services to local and national artists and businesses.
Two things prompted the leap from recording studio to music retailer. The first was Chuck's frustration with being unable to find a reliable, knowledgeable music technology retailer. Prices were outrageous, and after-sale technical service and support for the sophisticated electronics he used in his studio were non-existent.
Then, in the early 1980s, the revolutionary Kurzweil K250 appeared. This groundbreaking keyboard gave musicians and composers access to realistic orchestral and other sounds, opening new possibilities for music composition and performance. Chuck created his own sound library for the keyboard, and quickly gained a national reputation as an expert at programming the instrument. Renowned musicians such as Stevie Wonder, Kenny Rogers, and other top names began consulting with Chuck, purchasing K250 factory options and upgrades through him. Recognizing the industry's need for a new, dependable, customer-oriented approach to the musical instrument and professional audio sales channel, Sweetwater became a Kurzweil dealer to fulfill these requests.
As Chuck's expertise became known and the industry grew more sophisticated, those original K250 customers returned again and again for product advice. The company began representing more product lines, and rapidly developed and implemented its unique philosophy of relationship-based selling — treating customers as friends —and unmatched pre- and post-sale customer service.
Sweetwater's primary emphasis quickly shifted from recording studio to music retailer. A new building was constructed on Bass Road and was expanded four times to keep up with the skyrocketing growth of the company. But even that wasn't enough, as the company quickly grew to nearly 220 employees. In late 2005, Sweetwater began the process of moving to their new headquarters, located at the intersection of Kroemer Road and U.S. Highway 30. The location's 38,000-square-foot building will be expanded to a total of 150,000 square feet with the addition of a 40,0000-square-foot state-of-the-art distribution center, a rich-media auditorium and recording studios designed by world-renowned acoustician and studio designer Russ Berger, and a technical training center on a 44-acre property that will allow plenty of room for Sweetwater's massive projected growth: 175 additional full-time employees and $150 million in annual sales by 2009, and $180 million in annual sales and 450 total employees by 2010. Most recently, $1 billion is annual sales and over 2000 employees by 2020.
Today, Sweetwater is recognized as one of the most successful and fastest-growing music retailers in the nation. The company has been named to Inc. magazine's list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies three years in a row, and has received the Music Inc. magazine REX Award for excellence in retailing.
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- Sitejabber’s sole mission is to increase online transparency for buyers and businesses
- Sitejabber has helped over 200M buyers make better purchasing decisions online
- Suspicious reviews are flagged by our algorithms, moderators, and community members
Gerald,
I love that you have been enjoying working with Patrick so much, and we look forward to continued business for the years to come! We appreciate you using us as your "go to" vendor, and we hope to be that for many more people as well!
- Zach Bloom, Customer Experience