room for improvement

Yeah, I know that title could lead you to think I'm on again about putting time in with your axe, but not this time.  I was at +Guitar Center a few days ago and I got a little more info about their in-store String Club.  The dude I talked to is an old friend, and he was at that location (a music store) prior to Guitar Center taking it over several years ago, so he's not stranger to the business. I was there to pick up another set of strings that were ordered at GuitarCenter.Com to be delivered to the store.  More about that later.  The way he explained the string club is that it costs $20 to join and monthly, a $5 credit will be "activated" or something. The credit is only good for strings THAT MONTH. If you don't buy strings in a given month, you don't get to roll the $5 over or use it - you just lose it.  In essence, the idea of a card that costs  $20 which potentially gets you $60 is good.  BUT, if you generally buy strings in volume once a year, you're out of luck, or if you're an instructor who always keeps/buys a half dozen sets at a time, you're out of luck. Add every other scenario other than going to the store for a set of strings every month, and it's not so feasible. I get it. They want traffic into the store.  Most people who come in for strings may very well leave with more than just strings, like I usually do. As my friend who works there says, the essence of the idea is good, but it really needs to be more refined.  So, that's an update on the Guitar Center In-Store String Club.  

I was there to pick up the 2nd of 2 sets of strings I ordered to be delivered to the store. I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN.  I give them props for calling to see how I liked my experience of ordering online and picking up at the store.  I began by telling the caller that none of my criticism was directed at her but that it was a fiasco, that I'll never do it again and I will discourage everyone I know from doing it.  I   rarely buy strings there.  I wanted my DR Acoustic Pink NEONs, and they only stock the electric and bass varieties.  So, I thought I'd order them from GuitarCenter.Com, and in the interest of my budget, order them to be shipped to the store for pick up.  I can usually arrange my weekly travel to pass nearby.

I ordered 2 sets.  1 was in stock and 1 was on backorder.  They notified me to pick up 1 set at the store. To me, it seemed reasonable that they should just ship the other set because it was on back order, and I already made 1 trip to the store to pick up the set that wasn't on backorder.  No, that's not the way they've set up the "process" (read, sorely lacking process).  So, 2 weeks later, I had the pleasure of having to go to the store again.  Not only that, but to exit the store with this prepaid set of strings that was the  2nd half of the order I previously picked up, I had to show  my drivers' license.  The only thing that would have been more annoying (and the Guitar Centers where I reside are always unpleasant) would have been having to pass through those miserable turnstiles they used to have at the exit of all their stores.