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
2.0
Aug 12, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- working with talented instructors - sharing your passion for music with new players - employees can purchase inventory at cost + 10%, which is the one true generosity of the company - my direct supervisor was a kind and understanding person.

Cons

- You essentially are the lessons program. Do not expect any support in this role. - Receiving a $0.13 raise after two years is insulting. Worse than no raise at all. - Due to understaffing you will have to perform duties outside your role to assist the sales team. - You will be harassed by customers. Expect to encounter racism, sexism and homophobia. - Do NOT work here if you are attractive and a woman. It's a repulsive dirty old boys club. - Safety concerns during COVID-19 were never properly addressed, putting students, parents and instructors at risk. - You are micromanaged into micromanaging, which can strain relationships with your already-overworked retail staff. - Anticipate dealing with righteously angry students and parents often due to glitchy billing and scheduling systems often overcharging students or double-booking lessons. - Protocol is changing constantly, causing unnecessary frustration for students. - Schedule is Noon-close Mon-Thurs and 8AM-6PM Saturdays with no flexibility. - Very, very, loud work environment causing sound fatigue. - Middle management sets hilariously high goals with no real incentive to strive for them, which is probably why no one ever meets them. - Middle management uses fear as a motivation tool. Expect to be included in chain emails with vaguely worded threats on a daily basis. - Executive team is laughably incompetent.

3.0
Jul 7, 2022

It was okay

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Being around gear, great discounts

Cons

Micromanagement, ever decreasing labor budget means fewer people doing much more work.

1.0
Jul 1, 2022

Save us!

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people in the stores, customers and the subject matter.

Cons

Terrible leadership! Terrible people in all the positions outside of the store level! Rampant mismanagement! The people in charge have no clue what they are doing! Stop trying to gaslight us! The goals are too high meaning your entire store leadership team took a pay cut of 20% to 40% when you made bonuses unattainable. You cut labor making everyone’s job harder. You keep trying to tell us to have good attitudes while you are screwing us over us just unethical and ridiculous. All the while Regional Managers are buying vacation homes in Mexico. We aren’t lacking in resources we are just managing them improperly. You could Eliminate one RVP and likely solve the company’s labor problems for the year.

Viewing 100 - 102 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.