Sam Ash Music Stores

So I go into the rt22 store with the intention of purchasing a new guitar. I knew what I wanted and was willing to spend the money to get it. guitar center across the street didn’t carry the evh line they do. I went in willing to spend two grand on a wolfgang .I notice a few standards on the floor so I pick one up and start playing now these are the cheaper models .I notice the evh specials and arch tops hanging up above the counter. so I wait for the sales person. he was a middle-​aged white trash male with grey hair and a ponytail. I asked if I could see and play one of the models above him. he replied are you here just to kick the tires or you going to buy something. i said actually now I Will take my business somewhere else. I proceeded to show him the 25 hundred bucks I was willing to spend. he just looked at me with this dumb look. I’m a business mgr and I know how to converse with people .this guy clearly is a loser and hates his life. anyway I ordered my new guitar through Sweetwater .com. And I can say if your reading this check them out. I own 21 guitars from ernie balls to fenders all purchased at guitar center and Sam ash. and without hesitation can say they will never get a Penny from me …

Here’s the backstory:
Wanted to purchase Akai MPK Mini MK2 on Dec. 26, 2015.
David Santana or whatever his name is in audio is my salesperson. He tells me they are out of stock. Ok, no big deal, popular item was on sale, who would blame them. He offers me the Novation Launchkey 25 mini, which is also a great item, but not what i want (i particularly want the tap arp feature that the akai mini has to offer). Of course he doesnt care and just wants the sale, says that theres so many problems with the akai, like usb and what not. I dont care, I want the item that I want. Push comes to shove, he orders the item for me through the store. I ask when itll be in, he says maybe a week.
I call a week later, its not in. I ask for a tracking number, they say they dont have any. I call multiple times to talk to multiple people about it, and all of them give me nasty attitudes saying things like warehouse blah blah. I remember a particular name Travis. I ask for ETAs for its arrival at the store and they are all wishy washy about it. About a month later, david calls my phone. I return the call and he tells me that they are back ordered till march. WELL JEE WHIZ. couldnt you tell me that the week i called (week of jan 1^st). I played at like 4 shows since then that it would have been a useful tool. I go back, of course he tries to sell me the novation again, esp after i tell him i dont want it. I tell him I want my money back. of course he panics because he’ll lose the sale and commission, so he goes about calling other stores if they have it in stock. Of course they dont (because they are all back ordered till march: P). He gets the manager (old guy, black hair, glasses, was wearing a beanie and hoodie. likes to smoke, works on monday night shift of 1÷28÷16). He opens the register to get the $ 99.99 i was owed. I said I had 5 cents, so I could get 100 in bills and 4 pennies. He says «Nope. Maybe you shouldnt return things anymore. So now you have a pocket full of change».
Terrible terrible person.
Either ways, long story short. Guitar Center across rt 22 will have in tomorrow on wednesday 1÷27÷16. Thanks, guitar center. Ill shop with you again.

I will never again patronize your store based on the treatment i received as of today. I have been a customer of Sam Ash for over 20yrs. Starting out with the store in Edison Nj and now in Union Nj. Your return policy and customer service from your store manager is an embarrassment. You do not stand behind the products you sell and again no longer will I, my friends and family patronize your establishment. I will start shopping again with your competition Guitar Center.

If you’re thinking of getting the band back together, Sam Ash should be your first stop.
With great deals on nearly every aspect of the music-​making process, it’s the go-​to destination for suburban dads who strive to be the next Radiohead or Strokes. Today, there was a five-​piece drum set on sale for $ 99, used. I almost thought of buying one and putting it in storage for when the kids grow up and begin to have rock-​star dreams. But then I remembered that I already have a drum set. (They also buy used gear.)
My dream guitar, the Gibson SG, lives here in many iterations, from the version with vintage humbuckers and a pearl-​inlay fretboard, to the entry-​level Epiphone model, so it gives me plenty to think about when I imagine myself finally buying that axe and playing it like Jimi Hendrix. (Yes, I know he mainly used a Strat.)
The staff is pretty helpful, though I was visiting early one Thursday afternoon and not on Black Friday, when the service level might be different. And how they manage to listen to shopper after shopper play Led Zeppelin on the guitars ad infinitum without going insane is beyond me. Kudos!

This is not boutique shopping but, who expects service like that when walking into a Sam Ash? And, actually I don’t always want it. I go to Sam Ash to play an instrument until it screams «take me home.» I am not there to buy a 5k guitar or a 10k DW drum set. I am there to get good enough equipment for a fair price. That requires sifting through equipment without a salesman bothering me. I know what I am looking for. When I have a question I will come to you. If you are busy I will wait. Most of the time someone will ask me questions while I am there before asking the salesmen. The Sam Ash environment allows you to talk amongst the players and gain some insight from working musicians rather than have some sales guy forcing an Ibanez Bass on you. It’s a hangout spot so breathe it in.
When I want the service that others are suggesting I will go somewhere else. That type of service happens when the salesman can have confidence that every instrument they present to you is some kind of gem. $$$

I give Sam Ash full marks for consistency – every single time I go there, I ask myself why the hell I would ever go there again. It took 17 minutes today before the first person even acknowledged my presence, although he did manage to assist three guys who came in after I did. But that’s not surprising, because there was no one in the recording department so they must have snatched him when he came out from «the back», wherever that is. I walked toward the cashier shaking my head and staring at the ceiling and at that point a manager (I think) came over and asked if he could help me. I said that I wanted to buy a pair of headphones. So he walked over to the counter but then got waylaid by another chatty person – employee or customer, I couldn’t tell – so he pawned me off on the guy that looked my way ten or fifteen times but was too busy moving hi-​hat cymbals from one stand to another. He pulled the box out from under the counter – after the «manager» had to unlock it for him (so I ended up waiting until chatty customer/​employee finished anyway) and I just told him to ring it up because, at 26 minutes in the store at this point, I didn’t have any time to compare them with other models.
So just like the last 25 times, if I don’t like these headphones I’ll return them for full cash refund. If I do like them, I’ll return them for a full cash refund and get them from Amazon.
Sam Ash in Springfield, NJ is a deplorably run, badly managed, customer unfriendly, understaffed, hilariously unprofessional place in which to purchase audio equipment. As I’ve said 25 times before, I’ll never go back, except to make this last return. This time I hope I listen to myself.

I really can’t stand this place anymore. It’s great they have a lot more variety and plenty of gear compared to the Guitar Center across the street, but the staff is terrible and the constant jam sessions are a huge inconvenience.
For one, trying to buy something from these guys is like pulling teeth. They go out of their way to let you know they don’t want to help you. It’s like you’re wasting their time trying to make a purchase. They’re very dismissive and just hard to deal with. They’d rather go outside and smoke every 10 minutes than work.
The jam sessions are really the worst, though. I see it’s a company wide thing to have this going on (particularly on Sundays), but it’s just annoying. Good luck trying to talk to anyone over the noise. Have fun demoing any gear too. If you’re playing on an amp above a whisper you’re going to get nasty looks and shushed as though you’re bothering the «musicians.» Honestly, it’s just disorganized noise most of the time and these people act like you’re disturbing them.
I give this place 2 stars because they really do have a lot of gear and a bunch of accessories, but that’s about it. They’re not very well stocked on strings a lot, though.

This place is awful, but what was I expecting? They had a full band tuning up the entire time I was there. I couldn’t even hear myself think, let alone hear some of the instruments I was trying out. Two guys were having a full blown drum battle right next to the keyboards. They had very little staff, which was a problem since many of their price tags were missing. Some of their demo synths were broken. But again, was I honestly expecting anything different?