Sweetwater

i never wrote a review for anything until now . usually sweetwater is pretty good about most things and have been fairly courteous in the past .

Over the years i have spent a lot of money with them and for the most part satisfied ,until i ordered a fender strat player series guitar ( butter cream ) and that is exactly what i got . The problem is i also paid for what they call a set up i have set up several guitars in the past and i know what is included in these setups a setup should include a neck adjustment if needed lowering the strings and set the intonation . I was asked how do you like your action , i replied low . they asked what strings do you prefer and i replied D'addario NYXL 9 gauge .

When i recieved the guitar the strings were set to medium high the intonation on 3 of the strings were out and they put on D'addario XL 9 gauge strings. I'm not sure what i paid 80 .00 dollars for All i got was a beautiful strat that played like crap After having it a week the thing did not want to stay in tune so i had to do the setup myself , As for my sales rep Brad Jahn i'm not even sure he works there any more , they say he does but i can never seem to reach him .

To preface this, I only have experience with 3 engineers at sweetwater.

The guy I've been working with is amazing. I always test places like this (another being Guitar Center) with small purchases.

One guy didn't really care and seemed to just want to get me off the phone so that was a bad start. The second guy was better, but it was a $250 Strymon Zuma 9v so maybe it was price related. I needed to really make some upgrades so I went to a competitor and was greeted by smug dude that was just rude overall (worked in pro audio and didn't know a lot of the major HiFi brands). I gave Sweetwater one more chance and I'm really glad I did.

I met this guy who didn't mind that I didn't order on the first two calls. I then ordered a synth and some pedals which was a decent amount. In the end, I've spent over 5 figures at Sweetwater for upgrades to my studio.

I seemed to have gotten lucky, not because the other people/engineers were bad (except first dude) but because you usually don't find people like this at these places. I have more to come and I'll update you along the way.

I just picked up 3 cases of Sweetwater IPA in 12 oz bottles. I had ordered 6 6 packs, but my retailer increased my order when she saw that bottles were going to be discontinued!

I thanked her. At the few retailers that do have the IPA in bottles there is never more than 3 6 packs and usually only 1 or 2.

Cans are for oil not beer. Surely a craft brewer would realize th thiPressurPs

Three consecutive failures on the same online order.

This used to be a reliable company I have used before, now staffed to utmost incompetence. I ordered stage components online and received an immediate invoice for order.

Sweetwater failed to process and ship order because insisted I speak to a salesperson before processing based on internal policy even though no notice given at time of online order. Then they cancel the order.

I call and place the order with assigned salesperson Jerrod who sends the wrong quantity to the wrong address even though correct address in initial order and new order.

Shipment gets refused and returned at wrong address.

Request order shipped again, now over 6 weeks later, still they ship order to the wrong address AGAIN and have to contact UPS to intercept order and correct address. Also, their tracking system is broken and at no point in the process was provided a working tracking number or shipping invoice.

I was shopping for an item and a "pop up" told me I could get it for six payments with no interest. After entering some info, I was "approved", but item was on backorder.

I then learned that I had been approved for a 29.99%apr credit card that I did not want.

When I asked to cancel the order and the card, I was told the order was cancelled, but I'm still getting solicitations to buy things at Sweetwater based upon my open " credit line.". I will NEVER buy anything from Sweetwater!

Spent a grand on a guitar, with the promise of a 55 point inspection prior to shipping. I got a guitar that was not playable.

The input jack was found in the bottom of the shipping box.

It had apparently fallen out during shipping. The intonation was so far out, it was unplayable.

Without authorization or permission, Sweetwater turned my name and personal information over to a predatory lender ; Synchrony Bank. I've dealt with Sweetwater for 7 years, always paid cash, and now I'm being solicited to apply for a credit card (30 per cent interest !) which I don't want or need from a bank I wouldn't deal with for any reason.

Synchrony is well known for issuing retail credit cards and then dropping your credit limit (and thus your overall credit score - for NOT using the card and having a ZERO balance).

This is just a plot by Sweetwater to squeeze money that you wouldn't have spent and Synchrony to enslave you forever. I am not happy.

They advertise a 36 month payment plan if you apply for their card. But when you are done applying, a ridiculously long process, the 36 month payment plan is no longer an option.

I'm switching my purchases to ZZounds. The customer engineer I was assigned too doesn't seem interested in my small purchases and info that I need back ASAP. When I ask important questions (at least to me there important) Maybe during covid his business is through the roof?

They call you before approving or disapproving your application that is not appropriate. They are trying to identify your race by voice tone that is against the law, they can not ask you your race by law so, they call instead, if approved they call to identify your race then give a yes or no, if you sound black they offer you an alternative like full payment only even if your credit is approved! I mean why call to tell someone them they have been denied, just send an email like all other companies this is deceptive and unfair, they should be investigated.

I've bought a lot of gear from Sweetwater, over the years. But as of today, I got rid of my Sweetwater card.

Because, of your rude sells engineer, that cost you over a thousand dollars in sells today. Whose name is Jozy Franco. That, I planned on buying today with my Sweetwater card. That I have up to 5,000 bucks of credit on.

That is paid off. I was going to buy some more goodies that I needed.

But after a terrible experience, with Jozy Franco. I'll never do any more business with Sweetwater again.

Got overcharged by Amazon. Got some of the money refunded.

Havent yet received the rest and dont think I ever will. Unhappy with Amazons service totally.

I bought a set of recording monitors and when I got them I opened the packing box and the speaker box was cut open at the front of the box with a blade, right over the front of the speakers - they replaced the order - then I bought my first every new guitar, martin dsr2, I was so excited but when it arrived it had a warped neck, they said that's the way martin makes them and like a dummy I bought it, then when I changed the strings I noticed the strings were set at different distances because the bridge was cut wrong, I was told, "we don't make the guitars", they blamed Martin, Really? But when I was being sold the guitar I was told there was this famous 55 point inspection.

The neck and the bridge are obviously not part of the inspection. So I wanted another guitar, they said they didn't have that model anymore, so I was offered one for several hundred dollars cheaper then what I paid for this one, What? then I chose one and that one wasn't going to be ready until Aug., several months away. They new I needed the guitar for recording in June.

The only guitar left like the one I bought was more money and I had to pay more, that one it was availlable. Gee, I wonder why, I agreed until I found out it was small enough for a tot to play and it had plastic binding. Come on man so I complained and the owner blocked me. Yeah, this guy blocked me because I called him on the defects he's selling.

What a joke.

At least I finally got my money back. What an ordeal.

Sweetwater is generally a very good company. Their quick shipping and personal communication are excellent ; any issues I've had were corrected promptly and politely.

So overall, my complaints are less significant than my praise but do seem to recur. Many (guitars) advertised are not in stock with no firm delivery date listed. Less than stellar product reviews are deleted or not even posted. They'll try to work out your complaint, but will yank an unhappy or neutral product review.

This practice provides a lopsided view for a prospective customer relying in part on honesty on the part of the published information. It is refreshing to avoid the payment of sales tax since they have no nexus anywhere but Indiana.