Guitar Center reviews

2.8

41% would recommend to a friend

(2,733 total reviews)
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Gabe Dalporto

28% approve of CEO

24% positive business outlook

Guitar Center has an employee rating of 2.8 out of 5 stars, based on 2,733 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Guitar Center employee rating is 21% below average for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

3K reviews
2.0
Sep 7, 2024

Terrible Management

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

My direct supervisor was great but powerless to change the idiotic structures above him.

Cons

A constant refusal from upper management to fix the practices that were driving the company into the ground (terrible logistics, bad commission structures, selling damaged products)

2.0
Dec 1, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Discounts on gear and the occasional desperate person coming in with gear who will give away whatever. I’ve scored a lot of pro gear for well over 30-60% off. They also give insurance benefits but I’m working 3 jobs lol I don’t have time to go to the damned dentist. Understanding of gig opportunities for the most part and will give time off.

Cons

Get ready to pick up slack for areas that are either completely understaffed or with coworkers who are not knowledgeable or productive. Consumerism is pretty bad nowadays thanks to 2-day shipping so you’ll get a lot of angry folks aged 50+ wondering where their package is (we don’t know 90% of the time but that’s just retail life). Digital systems that barely seem to be capable of working and can fall apart at any time or will just waste your (and your customers) time. Corporate seems to be doing very skeevy things to keep commissions down. Every store in New England is running on a skeleton crew and managers of all levels have been leaving at an alarming rate. Being required to complete tasks that are less and less morally sound (I had to call local mom and pop music stores and ask their prices so we can price ourselves “competitively”…something about this put a very bad taste in my mouth). Cold calling which was not in my job description was required 6 months into my employment. It’s not like management checks anyways. Zero actual consequences to incompetent and lazy workers, they just won’t fire people unless it’s a security/legal issue. I could go on. Very grateful for my team and most of my customers but the company makes me want to go on a boycotting campaign. GC strategy is to take advantage of those who want to be in the music industry but can’t hack it. A lot of hard working people not getting the compensation they deserve all over New England. Not allowed to discuss pay rates with other employees. Questionable sexism and treating female workers poorly/giving less pay. This isn’t documented but i have strong suspicions of such having a female store manager.

2.0
Sep 12, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Gear Discount Networking with Musicians Hard to get Fired (Mostly) Relaxed Working with music equipment Yearly performance raises on top of cost of living raises Easy to move up

Cons

ZERO accountability if you perform well on metrics Work environment can be overwhelming with loud noises Wildly inefficient work practices Favoritism Corruption Unfair work responsibilities Double standards Dirty Coworkers don't know what they are doing and also won't do anything unless asked Cold calling customers without their consent Commission structures for salespeople are built for big city numbers.

Viewing 190 - 192 of 2,733 Reviews

Glassdoor has 2,797 Guitar Center reviews submitted anonymously by Guitar Center employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Guitar Center is right for you.