Guitar Center reviews

2.8

41% would recommend to a friend

(2,727 total reviews)
avatar

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 2,727 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 22, 2010

The Guitar Center Nap

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Gear Discounts, working with musicians

Cons

12 hour days, 6-days a week at Christmas, few days off

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.

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Glassdoor has 2,791 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.