Sweetwater

When you make a purchase from them, you are automatically assigned a Sales Engineer to help you with your order by answering any questions you may have about the products you intend to purchase. I don't get it. I've thoroughly researched the $5000 eurorack system I committed to when I hit that "place order" button. What questions could I possibly need answering that I couldn't answer myself with a quick google search? Oh, how about, "why did you mysteriously cancel my order after 2 weeks of ghosting me?" These people won't pick up the phone or answer emails. Orders aren't fulfilled until the Sales Engineer gives the "go" signal. But what happens when your Sales Engineer goes AWOL? You sit there waiting for 2 weeks, stressing about whether or not you're going to receive your stuff, and with that amount of money on line, it's impossible to initiate plan B, and go with another vendor. I've sent half a dozen emails trying to get an update on the status of my order, and then one day, the order just disappears completely from my account, with no proof it even existed. And now the system I attempted to purchase is out of stock, so I guess my Sales Engineer didn't even bother to reserve a unit for me. No explanation, no confirmation of cancellation, no responses whatsoever. Well, their loss. I was about to drop 10k easy on new equipment, and I did end up doing just that with a better company that actually values their customers. Don't let their "one on one customer service" act fool you. They are an empty corporate shell of a company. They seriously need to drop this nonsensical sales engineer middle-man BS. Y'all know they're just in it for their employee gear discount.

I'm a voiceover talent and recently decided to upgrade to a Neumann TLM102 based on necessity (my Rode NT1A was broken and causing static in the recording). I've heard wonderful things about Sweetwater on several voiceover forums, but never previously ordered anything. When I searched online, I found the best price with free shipping at Sweetwater.com and ordered it. I soon received a call from Brad to talk about my recent order and talk about other items in my sound chain. I know Brad's job is to sell gear, but when I was talking to him, I never felt like he was trying to push products on me or upsell for the sake of his own bottom line. I really appreciated his knowledge and expertise, and he kindly took time to explain the difference between preamps vs. interfaces, some features of the new microphone I had purchased, and what other items might pair well with my new upgraded microphone. He showed concern about my purchase being delivered safely, and sent an email immediately after it had been delivered. I found the product packed safely, and the little bag of candy inside was a cute touch that my kids enjoyed too! I got yet another call a few days later from Brad to make sure I was happy with everything and I told him that I wouldn't mind him calling me in another month or so to see if I was ready to purchase a new preamp we had talked about. He's the kind of guy I don't mind spending money with because he actually seemed to care about giving me the best studio equipment that fit inside my budget. I don't have all the money in the world to spend on gear, but when it's time to buy something else for my home studio, I'll be buying from Brad Thomsen. If you want to call him for gear needs, his number is *******700 ext 1964.

After starting a MIDI class at SLCC, I was told by the teacher that I should invest in a MIDI controller if I wanted to do the homework easier at home. He suggested Sweetwater as a place to buy my controller and Cubase software. I was kind of leery about going to the first website someone suggested, so, after looking on Sweetwater, I browesed a couple other online stores. I ended up going back to Sweetwater because they had better deals and prices. Plus I was able to get a student discount on Cubase itself. Trying to find a cheap, but good product was very easy to do with the way they set the website up. I found what was supposed to be a great product for my budget. After placing my order, in order to receive the Cubase license code, I just sent them a picture of my student ID. Within a few hours I received the code and they responded to any emails I sent quickly. The MIDI keyboard I ordered arrived faster than I expected (within 1 week with the holiday weekend) and the M-Audio Oxygen 25 was far better than I was expecting. It feels durable, not like I'm going to accidentally move the pitch or mod wheels too fast or hard and break them like some models I've seen before. Once plugged into my computer it started working with Cubase without having to edit anything or install software for it. For a beginner MIDI guy on a tight budget, this is probably one of the best controllers to have in mine and my MIDI teacher's opinion (who has been in the business for over 30 years). It does come with only 1 slider, so some might not like that, but for me, it's all I need. The 8 pads are great to have and sense velocity, the keys are velocity sensitive and feel sturdy enough to pound away at them. Overall, I absolutely love the two products I bought and when the need rises to get anymore equipment, Sweetwater will be the first and only place I go to. One of the best companies to do business with!

I have never had such a horrible experience with a business like Sweetwater. Months ago I tried to make some purchases with their installment plans, but my credit score was not good enough, and the orders were cancelled. So I asked a family member recently if they would help me out and they obliged. I made a new order with a shared credit card with my family member (installment plans since their credit is great), and a second order on a Sweetwater credit card that was offered to us during browsing the Sweetwater site via Synchrony Bank (my family member has Synchrony bank cards elsewhere too).

WELL, apparently Sweetwater does NOT want our business or money, because ALL orders were cancelled and the account was blacklisted as "fraud"... SIMPLY BECAUSE OF DIFFERENT ADDRESSES ON FILE / NAMES OF PEOPLE (again, FAMILY members).

E-mails with the original sales representative went ignored or just told "try again" (to order), and even after my family member sent in multiple forms of identification like drivers license and the full credit card info, they still hem and haw about selling. Just absolutely ridiculous. ARE YOU GUYS IN BUSINESS TO MAKE MONEY, OR TO BE CREDIT GATEKEEPERS? The second sales rep we spoke to even was almost ready to deny us business, and their manager wanted a WIRE TRANSFER to pay for everything. EXCUSE ME? Credit cards and YOUR OWN COMPANY'S CREDIT CARD WAS OFFERED TO US to buy from you.

On the other hand, my family member has helped me purchase from Zzounds issue free, AND super fast shipping from them too. It sucks because Sweetwater is the only place we have a credit card with AND the products I am after (modular).

Now they want SYNCHRONY BANK to verify my family member's identity over the phone? Or something, in order to even complete any orders with them. Just absolutely ridiculous. DO NOT try to buy from Sweetwater on credit or with their credit card offers, if your credit score is less than perfect they will cancel your order and never speak to you again if you try to have anyone else help you and gift you purchases from them. Apparently they don't understand that PEOPLE (family) LIVE TOGETHER.

My experience with Sweetwater starts with a very small order, a pair of kid's guitar straps. Very popular straps which aren't carried by most music stores, they immediately are on backorder. After a week or two they arrive, no problem. Here's where the Sweetwater difference begins... as soon as I made the order, I recieved an email from James Lorann, informing me that he's been assigned as my Sales Tech, if I should have any question. He also asks how I heard of Sweetwater. I tell him it was via search engine and he replies. A week or two after my order arrives, he writes to inform me of a sale taking place. I reply with a short list and he returns a quote, with all items on the list generously discounted. I placed the order by phone. James is super freindly and polite, double-checking on availability on the spot, for all items prior to confirming the order. Some of the items are gifts, and he splits the order into separate shipments. Everything ships withing a day, and arrive in great shape. Wonderful! SO happy with Sweetwater and particularly James' previous service, a few weeks passed and I placed a guitar order, again contacting James to make the purchase. The particular guitar I was interested in features a distinctive wood top, which varies on each individual guitar. Sweetwater allows you to chose from their stock, providing Hi-res pictures of each guitar! My guitar arrived in a state of readiness that only required a tweak of the tuners. Beautiful! On top of that - sales staff ability to make a deal, great customer service, an awesome hands-on 55-point check (that's remarkably close to a setup), the 2-year Sweetwater Warranty and free double-boxed shipping, Sweetwater has become my go-to for music stuff. Comparing that to a chain music store where they just point at the rack, or tell you it can be ordered when you inquire about an item, and I'll be checking Sweetwater every time. They seem to have found a way to really satisfy their customers without resorting to a chain of stores and all the inconsistency that produces. Way to go!

Very professional folks!, GREAT follow up, and customer care skills! Highly recommend these folks!

Last week today being 9-24-2023, I bought a Martin Shawn Mendez guitar $800.00. That expensive but I bought it to sit in my recliner an play not having to fight with a bigger guitar for comfort. I received the guitar in good time, opened it sat down kinda looked it over then hit an E chord. Then it happened! My hand was cut! Not just a little but enough for a bandaid after waiting for it to stop bleeding. Looking to see what happened I noticed the nut stuck way out over the fret board a the ends of the nut were sharp as a tack! You know how Sweetwater says they do this 55 point inspection on every guitar on & on? Don't you believe it! I waited around couple days an thought I'm going to get in touch with Sweetwater tell them what happened & maybe they'll fix it for me without me having to pay someone else. You know that two year extra warranty they say comes with products free of charge? Don't you believe that either! No wonder it's free, they don't honor it! Again all lies! I emailed someone there at Sweetwater relating my case an some guy got back with me pretty much right away saying how he agreed with me saying someone is not doing their job etc. He also said he was going to make this right. How? I didn't know an he didn't say. Well folks, that's as far as it went! Never heard nothing more. So, I contacted second in charge of Sweetwater. He too agreed with me on the situation but, what did he do? Instead of looking into it himself he passed the buck to some other guy I never heard of saying this guy would absolutely take care of the situation etc! People, don't you all believe it for one second! Another lie! And still to this day I've heard nothing! I've done business with Sweetwater for years spending thousands of dollars an then they treat me like this. Guys, your only as good to Sweetwater as the last dollar you spent with them period! They care nothing for or about you your music on & on! I know how they advertise an have people how good they are how knowledge they are etc., but understand these are selected people for that purpose and the other reviews that say good things about etc., and there are many, here's the question, did they ever have a situation like mine? Did they ever return anything? You all know what mean! Well, the bottom line is you can not trust or believe in Sweetwater! In my opinion the heart of their business, their no good they lie & lie and it's not just one person, it appears many of'em lie! The heart of their business is black and it goes all the to the top! So, said all that to say this. You have a 50/50 chance of coming out ok when doing business with Sweetwater. Not the best of odds. I submit to you all, inter at your own risk!? Thank you!