Guitar Center reviews

2.8

41% would recommend to a friend

(2,728 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 2,728 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
1.0
Feb 20, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Its an amazing experience to be surrounded by musicians and gear all day long, discounts are awesome, gain is even better. Health benefits are fantastic as well

Cons

Management from CSM and higher has always been trash, they're promote anyone to fill a slot and the store and employees suffer. Corporate is even worse, full of scum bags that will fire staff and start drama across the chain. Also once you're full time they will schedule you so you spend all your daylight at GC 5 days a week and will not work with you to accommodate.

1.0
Feb 15, 2019

Where creativity goes to die

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nice coworkers, cafeteria, gear discounts

Cons

Working here is a struggle if you actually know what you’re doing. The majority of employees have been working here for so many years, and for most, it’s their first career job. This results in processes that are inefficient and beyond archaic. Too many people did the bare minimum required of them, making it miserable for those who are new and want to do great work or make improvements. No one is receptive to new ideas. I’ve never worked with more lazy and under-qualified people in my life.

3.0
Nov 28, 2018

Great Place to Start

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Fun place to work when you're young and in a band. You're not going to make a ton of money, but you have access to the newest gear as well as some great connections in the local music scene. Plus you kinda feel like a rock star when you walk into a place you've never been before and are recognized as "the GC guy!"

Cons

Very different place than it used to be. Commission caps at 3% of your GS and in order to get that you need to have over $500 sales per hour, so unless you're in a high volume store or it's the holidays, good luck making any real money. You're expected to repack and resell returned items and you're encouraged to sell the store branded goods because of the huge margin. Forced to sell warranties that come stock through other companies and employees are encouraged to lie to customers about how they are used and what they cover. Management doesn't care about anything but hitting their own numbers and everything on the floor is very micromanaged. I was forced out after more than a decade because they could replace me with 3 part timers for the same amount of hours/less commission paid out than I cost.

Viewing 64 - 66 of 2,728 Reviews

Glassdoor has 2,792 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.