Never thought I'd end up here
Pros
As a Guitar Center Repair Tech in a busy store you have the ability to make good money from a basic hourly wage plus 12% commission on your repair revenue. The store provides your advertising, a constant stream of customers, your tools-parts-supplies, uniform shirts, repair intake and check out by other store staff when you're not there, electric, AC, Heat. Lighting, signage, health insurance, dental, vision, liability insurance, managerial presence when customers are unhappy, fairly structured repair costs, paid vacation, sick time, and a few more perks. employee discount is 10% over cost. there are some super cool people working there, if you take care of your friends there they will send you more business. over all, the in-store experience can be pretty positive depending on the vibe coming down from the higher ups and your workmates. Generally speaking my customers love me and are loyal. that's the best part... the biggest pro.
Cons
Corporate is out of touch, miserly and woke. you can't fight it. only 2 paid holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas. weekends are a must for techs, Saturdays are unmanageable, you can't plan on getting any real work done unless you consider giving directions to the bathroom as work :) management will not give you enough space or bench area to perform high volume work. you'll need to improvise your space if you want to make money. you'll need to keep an eye on your tools and supplies as they will constantly disappear if you don't. new programs and procedures are not explained well, often without any communication whatsoever. the point of sale computer system is antiquated and difficult to navigate. it crashes and locks up several times a day, usually when there are 10 customers waiting for you. managers tend to only socialize with each other. there is a thick personal barrier between employees and managers. I'm not sure if this is taught at corporate or is just a store culture issue. this greatly reduces employee buy-in and ownership. it's a busy retail environment, loud and un-relenting. not always conducive to delicate tech work. you need to work very hard at concentrating on the task at hand without interruption. no overtime means no overtime... if you are conciencious and hate leaving things undone this will grind at you. spending an extra 10 minutes after your scheduled quitting time to take care of a customer on or off the clock will get you in trouble. it's extremely frustrating to build a large customer base and lose business due to poor corporate policies and poor customer service when you're not there. the gains I have made by exponentially growing the repair business are not supported well by management. no qualified help has been brought on in my department to continue to grow the business.
