Low pay, understaffing, and too much competition. - Sales Associate Guitar Center Employee Review

2.0
Sep 5, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Easily the employee discount (musical gear at COST) is the most apparent reason to work there. Second to that would be the scheduling flexibility (they let you off for touring, etc.), and the free education from the training modules. Though there are never enough working at one time to help everyone with an issue, the store managers are generally very down-to-earth and ready to aid. The managers are pretty good at verbally acknowledging a job well done.

Cons

The scheduling is extremely haphazard - schedules will change violently from week to week and sometimes at extremely short notice. Management will sometimes forget to inform people of changes altogether. Most departments are regularly understaffed. The pay is horrible and it is EXTREMELY difficult to make a decent salary. Most employees working fairly don't make much more than $50 or so over minimum wage per paycheck. Because of this, most of the employees result to sharky and unfair tactics to undercut each other, i.e., the competition. Employees also rely heavily on selling items with a large profit margin, which usually are proprietary, cheaply made, and NOT the best item for the customer. Management live in fear of higher management, and therefore sweeping changes can be made at the drop of a hat regardless of practicality and without realistic planning. Pay is docked if employees do not meet certain sales performance ratios, like 30% GC warranty sales, etc. The work environment is also FULL of vulgarity and behavior that could easily be considered harassment, which is why I believe the company has very few female employees.

Explore other reviews about Guitar Center

5.0
Feb 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

*friendly environment *great discount deal *lots of opportunities to connect *Good opportunity to get comission *Tour Leave

Cons

*hours / shifts get cut *Sometimes understaffed, sometimes overstaffed *Competitive salaries because of selling Protection Plans, Credit Card Applications and Lessons

1.0
Apr 21, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Plenty of capable individual contributors doing real work. - The brand and the business itself are legitimate — the problems are organizational.

Cons

- Senior leadership is politically driven rather than outcome-driven. Strategic initiatives stall out, and leaders spend more energy assigning or shifting blame than actually diagnosing and fixing problems. - Some parts of the org operate on deference to the top. Honest assessments get softened into whatever narrative leadership wants to hear, which makes real cross-functional work difficult. - Senior leaders do not consistently advocate for their own teams. When things get political, self-preservation takes precedence over backing the people underneath, and capable managers end up exposed.

2
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