Sweetwater

Their customer service is second to none. Every order I've made has gone smoothly. My sales engineer Joe has taken excellent care of me.

Wife bought me a Gibson acoustic guitar. I've never seen anything so beautiful. Sounds like angels singing.
Thank you so much

My mistake was falling for Sweetwater Marketing and Sales pitch - Mike Brandt btw. The Creation Station will be obsolete in a few years. Sweetwater created and built mine such that I can't upgrade the preinstalled DAW -Ableton LIve 9 suite, sound card - RME Babyface and other music production software that Sweetwater sold and preinstalled at a premium. I, now, have to toss their tower in the can because it came installed with Windows 8.1 and is unable to be upgraded to Windows 10 or any other version of Windows. Oh, BTW the friendly folks at Sweetwater are happy to sell me another Creation Station but can't help me with the one I already bought from them. Buyer Beware... Buy from your local music technology dealer. At least they have to deal with you honestly because they know they may actually have to see you and address it. Mike Brandt doesn't bother to even call or make any effort to make this right. Bought it at the end of 2015, nearly 2016. Tried to initially upgrade Windows in 2019 and have been stuck ever since.

In a consumer world that thrives on customer service, Sweetwater still manages to stand head and shoulders above the rest. My latest experience is proof positive.
On March 2nd, I placed an order for a custom product from Mojo Tone that was expected to be fully subject to the manufacturer's 16 week delivery delay. What I didn't expect was that Matt, with Sweetwater, would check in regularly during the 4 month process with the intention of keeping me apprised of the production and delivery status as well as informed as to my options in case my needs or satifaction was in jeopardy. While one might assume this to be standard proceedure for a rare and/or expensive product, this was a ~$100 guitar pick-up; nothing that would deem a substantial stake by anyone other than myself and my personal appreciation for the product. Nonetheless, Matt checked in with me via text and voice message with a pleasant and extensive explanation regularly during the 4 month wait keeping me comfortable with the status of my order as well as confident that I had options if the need should arrise.
Interestingly enough, this is the kind of treatment I've grown to expect from Sweetwater regardless of the nature of my order. But this particular experience is proof to me that I am in good hands with Matt Subers and company. It is my sincere belief that the world of customer service can consider Sweetwater Sound to be the gold standard.

The order was fulfilled extremely fast and the reps made contact multiple times assuring I had a positive experience.

On June 6,2020, Saturday, I placed an order for over $3000. The "sales engineer" was filling in for another who would get credit for the job. He took all the information, told me that on Monday I would get an email from Fedex advising me of the delivery for June 10th. Monday AM came and went. I tried calling my "engineer" and got his voicemail which he did not return. Several hours later I tried again, still no response, not even an email. Around 5pm I received a boiler plate email advising me that there was "an issue with my card". I called, but no " engineer". Left another voicemail asking him to call me for a different card, but he didn't. Instead I received an email just this AM indicating that the item was shipped. The card WAS accepted. Delivery will not be on the 10th!
His lack of responsiveness was dissappointing.
If I were the president of the company, I'd question this "engineer's" service.
As a matter of fact, you can't find the president's or anyone else's email except for your "engineer".

I ordered a sampler which happened to be an open-box unit... save money should be great right? Wrong! I received the unit with a damaged midi port. I had to struggle through DAYS of technical support that had the audacity to suggest at one point ignoring the non-functioning port and using a completely different setup.

I would've GLADLY paid for an unopened item if I had any indication the item wouldn't have been thoroughly inspected before being shipped out let alone listed for sale. INCREDIBLE.

They refused to return the package via FedEx stating the reasoning was that the package was delivered when it was available for pick-up at a FedEx location. They instead insisted I receive and purchase materials to repackage the replacement unit. So much for hassle-free returns!

There are so many companies selling music equipment these days, why spend your money where you're treated so poorly! I didn't even mention the account security issues IMMEDIATELY upon making my initial purchase.

There doesn't seem to be any real sense of integrity or stewardship at Sweetwater. I can't say they went above and beyond in helping me to get any issue resolved. I rightfully expect to return ANYTHING that I purchased damaged from anywhere. Silly me, I expected a smooth and empathetic resolution from start to finish.

I've never had an issue REMOTELY similar to this at Guitar Center and it's Guitar center and their years of experience I'll be buying with moving forward.

I recieved the customer service that you will not find anywhere on the planet. Seriouslly a real person from there company called me and had a talk with me about the mic and other stuff and assured me even more that this was a company i made the right choice ordering from. I paid for 2day shipping on the 17th and got what i orderd exactly on the 19th beforr 430pm. They gave me w bag of candy with my order which im enjoying right now i cant say enough good things about these people i pray to God for there salvation because they are such amazing people above and behond they treated me like i was the only customer in the world. Im proud to say 1000's-10's of thousands of dollers will go to ordering from these people in the future nobody in the game is even close to them in terms of customer service. I wanna give a shoutout to the employee who called me his name is Nick graham this man needs a raise he needs whatever boost in the company there is hes amazing!

Sweetwater has a good selection of gear with decent to average prices, though sometimes you will see deals where you get a substantial amount of store credit (aka bonus bucks) which could be nice if you were planning on buying more gear anyway.

It was a little awkward doing my first purchases with them because they had put my order on hold as I was flagged for potentially being a fraudster since my billing/shipping addresses are different. Is this really that uncommon? Also if I was a fraudster would I be buying a marred up used cheap synth? Hah (for the record they were clear about the condition of the item before purchasing, so I knew it was used gear with blemishes).

I suppose I can't blame them for being suspicious, but it does make for a bit of an awkward conversation and first impression! That being said, my sales rep Tyler Lamb was nice enough about it and I didn't have to plead my case too much in order to have my order blessed for shipping, so that was good I suppose.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a bit of a recluse, so I'm more the hands off type of person in regards to customer service. Business is transactional, I just want to buy the thing and have it arrive in its stated condition, Sweetwater is much more hands on. For instance, after I made a purchase I received what appeared to be a personal text from my assigned sales rep (the fact that you get a personal sales rep shows you their hands on nature), as well as calls and email. Nothing pushy or weird, I guess the very hands on approach just isn't for everyone, so thankfully I am able to opt out. The very hands on nature is applauded by many, so I do recognize that I'm in the minority and nobody can please everyone.

Shipping is fast.

This would have been my 4th purchase from Sweetwater totaling nearly $4K. My wife ordered a Taylor mini-e KOA as an anniversary surprise. The guitar was $700.00. Long story short, Sweetwater made a mistake on the shipping address. When my wife checked status via the tracking number through FedEx the very day after initiating the order, the shipping address was California and we live in ARIZONA! She immediately called the Sales person and was told that it would be re-routed. When she called to follow up the following day (Day 3) she was told that it could not be re-routed after all. It was headed to the wrong address in a different state. The guitar would theoretically be returned to Sweetwater when the signer name was different than ours. So we would roll the dice by paying for the guitar and cross our fingers that the people at the wrong address wouldn't sign for it? We insisted on a full refund. Waiting for it to show up on our CC bill as a credit. Wouldn't surprise me if we had to follow up on that too.

Stay clear of Sweet Water!

Awesome instrument, great service at a great price! Shipped to my house in two days. Thank you Gavin!

Was told a few time my purchase would be to me at a certain date.But both times not even close.There shipping sucks.

The guy I dealt with at first was great. Pushed me through for flex pay. Told me I can Order it when I was ready. After a weeks of emailing and talking on the phone. Waiting for the guitar I wanted to get for husband to come in. He said they was out of stock in the finish I wanted. I waited 2 weeks for it come in. Then I call the guy and he tells me they don't carry that color that it's special order. Mean while I email him 3 times to sure I was waiting for the right finish. I was waiting for the godin Acs rosewood. I even sent him a video of it to be sure I was getting what my husband wanted. He said it would be 2 day shipping. And I was getting the right one. So when I finally called to order. He tells they don't carry it that color it's a special order. And it will b atleast a week or 2 before it comes in. Then he has the nerve to say he never told me in emails that, that I would be getting the rosewood finish in 2 day shipping. After I have it on record in print that he said, the shipment comes in on the 19th. Why would I wait weeks to order it then.? It was supposed to a Christmas gift. Now it'll be 3 weeks late... It's real cut and dry... He said what I wanted comes in on the 19th I waited when I called to order he said they don't have it... And delayed everything... Just frustrating... A guitar for a 1150 is not an everyday purchase for me... atleast.

Ok to start off with I bought my Martin Guitar 8 months ago had a very bad experience even then they were very fast to take my money but then the problem's started ok I placed my order and paid two weeks went buy no guitar so I called the salesman said oh you need to pick strings before we mail it out I was like WTF I already did that he said no you need to pick strings ok just put reg martin strings and ship my guitar plz two more weeks went by no guitar so I called salesman told me I need to pick strings again and we need to wait for a bench f@)k wow ok whatever after a month and a half I got it and it's nice well I made up my mind to never deal with them again until now my 8 month old Martin is coming apart the side is separated from the top so I called they are telling me that they need to inspect it before they fix it WHAT fix it I need a new one man like sweetwater can FIX it to Martin standards right so even right now while writing this they still haven't done anything to help me resolve this even though I'm within my one year warranty so what's that say about sweetwater I barely even play this guitar it's brand new except where it's coming apart not one blemish on this thing come on sweetwater do better I paid like $ 850 for a $ 600 dollar guitar just for peace of mind but that has failed someone plz help me I can't afford to just buy another guitar like this one

Excellent service and a very nice business experience! Quick response and attention. Would recommend it to everyone.