Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/15/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased a Epiphone Guitar from Sweetwater which had their 2 year warranty on it. Almost immediately I flagged an issue with my sales engineer **** where the factory forgot to put a felt washer between the diamond posi lock and the body of the guitar. It has chipping of the body paint on both diamond posi locks.Sweetwater credited me for this which was kind, but looking back I should have never accepted it. They said I could take it to my local service center which happens to be guitar center, i took it there and they said we dont do that here, we wouldve just swapped it out with you. I call back and talk through this again with **** and he tries to help and I just didnt know what I should do. Fast forward, since the diamond posi locks cut into your guitar strap, i put in strap locks and i went to pick up my guitar the other day and the strap button s**** is coming out of the bottom. I called **** back, he sends me to support and they dont repair paint there or fix s**** holes there either so they can give me another credit to fix the s**** and guess by who? *************. NO thanks. My only other option was to get a replacement (no thanks dont want another cheap made guitar), in house credit BUT i would have to pay a restocking fee for a guitar they know they wont actually restock. I have been using Sweetwater through my former entertainment employers for over 30 years and now a customer and I am thinking that this 2 year warranty is literally not worth the paper its written on.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/17/2025

  ***,

  I'm very sorry for the poor experience, and that you had to go outside of Sweetwater to get action taken on the guitar that you bought. Ideally, we would have done more to take care of you, and again, I'm very sorry for the poor experience. Rest assured, we take seriously, and will be addressing it with those involved.

  Your sales engineer has reached out to you and has set up the return, including sending you a return shipping label. We will not charge you any return shipping, nor will we charge you a restocking fee. Ultimately, we want to do right by you, and hopefully these steps show that.

  Sorry again for the trouble, and if we can help further, please don't hestiate to reach out!

  Thank you for reaching out to us and for sharing your concerns related to the recent changes with our privacy policy. First and foremost, at Sweetwater, we are deeply committed to building long term relationships with our customers, based on trust and credibility.  One of our core philosophies in achieving that goal is to protect your personal information at all costs. 
  
  We are humbled and grateful that you have trusted us with your information and as your source for gear. We strive to provide each and every person with an incredible experience, and we can assure you that we would never take that trust for granted. We recognize that changes to our privacy policy can cause some concerns, which is completely understandable.
  
  We understand and respect your request to change your personal preferences and we've taken the necessary steps to remove all non-pertinent information from our records. 
  
  We appreciate you reaching out and if we can help further, please don't hesitate to write.
  
  Thanks,
  
  ****** ******
  Director of Customer Service
  ********************** Inc.
  Phone:  *********************
  ***********************
  ***************, IN  46818
  ******************************************************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/17/2025

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

   

  Thank you ******, I have not got the return label yet and I am out of town, but I let **** know that I hadnt gotten anything yet. Appreciate you taking care of this. 

  
  

  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/15/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  An order (order # L2138386535) with Sweetwater was placed on at Apr 4, 4:42PM. On April 5th, less than 24 hours post placing the order, I called Sweetwater representative handling the order **** ****** *************************; *************************************** and asked if the order can be cancelled. I was told that the order could likely not be cancelled, but would transfer me to another Sweetwater representative to try and cancel the order. The order was being shipped to ******, so duties would have to be paid both for accepting, and the return, so seemed to make the most sense to avoid all of those hassles. I was then transferred to said Sweetwater Engineer, and was informed that "...the order has already hit the conveyor belt and cannot be stopped". When I inquired as to *** tracking information suggesting that only the label has been printed, I was informed the only option was to submit a "Return to Sender" request with ***. In reviewing the tracking information, *** did not receive the package until 04/07/2025, 17:42, which is two days following when the original return to cancel the order was submitted. Following multiple delays in shipment because the Return to Sender request was received by *** only once I had already paid duties, and the package crossed the border. Once the package was received, it arrived completely damaged, with the boxes inside damaged. Despite this, when I e-mailed **** requesting a return authorization number and label for this order, I was informed the boxes received were "flawless", but that they would provide a return AIRBILL shipment label to return the item. As it turns out, Sweetwater is shipping these labels to me via *** standard instead of forwarding them via e-mail. I am still awaiting my return shipment label, and eventual refund, despite providing ample communication. I have yet to also be assigned a Return Authorization Number, and feel this cancellation and return process is highly suspicious.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/17/2025

  *******,

  Thanks for submitting your BBB review. I'm very sorry for the poor experience and for all of the hassle in getting the products back to Sweetwater. I do understand why you'd be upset, but rest assured, we're going to make everything right for you. 

  To give a little context, we do ship incredibly fast, so it's not uncommon that an order could be placed and picked/packed and given to ***** very quickly. This can often make it tough to try and "pull the order back" to cancel. That appears to be the case here. We did ask *** to return the package, but that service is not always guaranteed, so when that happens, we need to step in and do everything we can to make things right. In this case, because of the international component, we don't have a way to email shipping labels from *****, so we have to manually send an "international return airbill," which is what was ultimately sent to you via ***. Hopefully, once that arrives, you'll be able to get that back to *** so we can get it returned here.

  In addition, we're going to make sure that we fully refund your original purchase of $611.64, and we can refund any duties/taxes you had to pay as a result. Simply let me know how much those were and we can take care of that as well. If you incur and return shipping costs, we'll reimburse those too. One way or the other, we're going to make you whole!

  Sorry again for the trouble, and if we can help further, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly!

  Thanks,

  ****** ******
  Director of Customer Experience
  Office: ************ 1046
  ******************************************************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/17/2025

  Hi Mr. *******
  
  Very much appreciate the explanations and extra care on behalf of Sweetwater.  I accept this resolution pending the refund of these amounts (as you have mentioned in your suggested resolution) once Sweetwater receives the items via the AIRBILL that has been mailed to me:
  
  Original order cost: $611.64 USD
  Duties incurred: $140.98 CAD
  
  I have included the payment receipt for the duties incurred from *** for this order.  Once again, very grateful for this resolution.
  
  Kind Regards,
  *******
  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/18/2025

  Thanks *******! To clarify for the BBB, he has accepted our offer, but the case is showing as "rejected."

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/21/2025

  Hi *****, 
  
  Currently rejected the response as awaiting feedback on the following items: 
  
  1. In e-mail correspondence, you mentioned that accounting needs to get back to you regarding use of ****** as a means of reimbursement for the duties incurred.  Any updates on whether that is possible or when that reimbursement is scheduled for? 
  
  2. Received the ***** Air Waybill from Sweewater (which is great) and had two questions:  
  
  2.a. Currently, there are no slips of any kind inside the return package (i.e., just the items ordered and bubble wrap), as Sweetwater provided only an Air Waybill.  Is there anything that needs to be included inside the package in terms of slips to ensure Sweetwater knows the return order number this package is associated with? If so, if you can please provide those slips to include inside the package, that would be greatly appreciated.  
  
  2.b.  Do I just fill out the remaining items required on the Air Waybill (e.g., From information, Shipment information, etc), and then just bring the sealed package to ***** with this Air Waybill?  Or is something more required? 
  
  Kind Regards,
  *******
  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/29/2025

  I responded to the complaint on 4/18 stating that the customer and I were in direct conversation and that we had resolved the issue, we simply needed to wait for his items to be returned to Sweetwater. They were returned as of yesterday and the customer has been fully refunded.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/29/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution met all my requirements.  Certainly want to thank Mr. ****** from Sweetwater for all his assistance and efforts during this return process. 

  
  

  Thank you BBB Folks for all of your efforts during this return process.  Means a great deal. 
  
  Kind Regards,
  *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/09/2025

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On March 28, 2025, I placed an order for "D'Addario National Stainless Steel Finger Picks (6-pack)" from Sweetwater. Since then, I have not received my order, nor have I received any kind of tracking update, meaning my order still has not been shipped. Sweetwater claims that their shipping time is 2-5 business days. I have contacted customer support 4 times to try and figure out what is going on with my order, but they refuse to respond to any of my communications. Filing a complaint with the BBB is my last resort.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/17/2025

  Hi ******,

  Thanks for reaching out and for your BBB message. I'm sorry for the poor experience and for the lack of response to your messages. That is certainly not acceptable and I can understand why you'd be upset. Rest assured, this is something we take very seriously, and will learn from this and get better.

  To give some context, when the order came through, it was marked as a fraudulent order, for some unknown reason. As a result, the order was canceled, and you were never charged, nor was anything ever shipped. We should have communicated this to you, and again, I'm sorry we did not.

  If you're still in the need of the strings, I'd be happy to send them out free of charge. Simply confirm your address, and I'll take care of the rest.

  Sorry again for the trouble, and I look forward to hearing back from you soon!

  
  
  ****** ******
  Director of Customer Experience
  Office: ************ 1046
  ******************************************************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/17/2025

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

  
  

  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/08/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Purchased an ******* guitar in early December. Put it on payments to protect my purchase as usual. Have bought more than 6 lower end guitars in the past 10 years from them. I wont spend thousands of dollars on an unseen guitar. **************** is fine unless you have an issue. MY issue this time was the guitar had a saddle that was improperly installed and is broken. Instead of sending it back I tried to be a nice guy and handle it myself by just asking them to get me a new factory saddle so I could give to my Luthier to fix locally. I made a mistake. 3 times in 4 months I have requested their help in fixing my broken NEW guitar. 3 times service at Sweetwater claims it was having one sent to me. But no shipping info, no follow up, and NO ***lacement saddle in all that time. The last time I spoke to service I asked how a guitar this jacked up could pass inspection and the service *** said " we sell over ****** guitars a year, what do you expect.." In talking to my sales ***, He was quick to tell me it was NOT his problem.....On top of that, the payments for the guitar has been interrupted as my card wont process their payment request. I had to call my sales *** twice to do it manually. Each time I asked him to fix it...no resolution. So now, because my card(even though it goes through manually when I call) wont process my. monthly payment, they have committed fraud and have tried to charge my wife's card instead. She paid for the hard case of the guitar in a purchase also made in December and are trying to continually charge her bank. She just got an other fraud call from her credit card company informing her of the fraudulent attempt again just ******** luthier wants $120 to fix my new guitar, my wife wants her charge card to be stop being charged illegally.I sent 3 emails to payment processing telling them to address my product and payment issues and their response was to levy a late fine on my account without addressing either issue....

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/18/2025

  *****,

  Thanks so much for submitting your BBB review, and I'm very sorry that we didn't do a better job of resolving the outstanding issues with your guitar. Rest assured, this is something we take very seriously and will be addressing it with everyone involved so that we can learn from this and get better!

  We understand that, after talking with our support people, you were able to get the guitar issues addressed yourself. Again, I'm very sorry that we weren't there to provide those solutions. If you do run in to any issues with the guitar, please let us know and we'll be happy to help in anyway that we can.

  In addition, in an effort to make things right, we're going to "waive off" all of the remaining balance for the guitar. You no longer owe us any additional money, and we'll consider your account back to "neutral," from a payment standpoint. Hopefully that helps to take some of the sting out of this. 

  In the meantime, if there is something else we can do, please don't hesitate to reach out! Sorry again for the trouble.

  Regards,

  
  
  ****** ******
  Director of Customer Experience
  Office: ************ 1046
  ******************************************************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/12/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I experienced fraud on my account and immediately reported it. I have been attempting to simply update my phone number on my account since last November unsuccessfully. They keep stating I need a pin letter mailed but never receive it. I have no access to online account since I have no replacement credit card from them. I also have never received any further information about the fraud I reported. Which was for the exact amount of my available credit done at a Sweetwater store in another state. I am not receiving any monthly statements. Yet last month I received a letter stating they mailed a statement and would not be sending me another. I have called every month since November with no resolution.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/18/2025

  *******,
  
  Thanks for reaching out and Im very sorry to hear about this issue. To clarify, you mentioned that youre looking for a replacement card from us, or you mention a Sweetwater store in another state. We dont issue credit cards, and we only have one location in *************** *******. I was unable to find any record of your information. Is this issue with Sweetwater Sound?
  
  Please let me know and well be happy to help!
  
   
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/18/2025

   I am rejecting this response because:

  The Sweetwater Sound physical location is who committed fraud on my account. This complaint is regarding my Sweetwater card with Synchrony that been on hold and Ive been attempting to resolve since Nov 2024. To date, I still have no way to pay my bill other than sitting on hold for hours, receive no statements, cannot get a card due to no pin, etc. Im also filing complaints elsewhere against *************** 
  
  

  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/21/2025

  *******,

  Thanks for your follow up and I'm very sorry for everything that has happened. After doing some additional digging, we were able to locate where a Synchrony card was used in your name. Sadly, it is part of a fraudulent transaction, under someone else's name, which is why we were unable to find your account initially. It appears that a fraudster came to our website, and placed an order online using a Synchrony card in your name. This was ordered back in November of 2024. To be clear, we had no knowledge of this purchase, nor were we the ones who submitted this order. The order was fulfilled based on the information provided though.

  Additionally, we do show an open "chargeback" on this order, meaning Synchrony has reversed the funds from us, and they are now fully managing the dispute. We're going to reach out to our Synchrony escalation points to see if we can help assist in getting this resolved. They should simply "write off" the fraudulent charge, and you would not have any responsibility at all to it. 

  Once we hear back from Synchrony, we'll be happy to reach out to you directly with an update. In the meantime, if you have any questions for me, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly as well!

  Sorry again for the trouble, and we'll be back in touch soon!

  
  
  ****** ******
  Director of Customer Experience
  Office: ************ 1046
  ******************************************************************
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/04/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased a Helix Floor from sweetwater in December of last year and had to return it because it had a problem with the volume ****, so they sent me a replacement and this one has a terrible noise with the expression pedal, so I was going to send it for a warranty evaluation and repair until they told me I had to pay for the shipping and if anything happens in transit I'm responsible, so I'm not going to bargain losing over a thousand dollars because their evaluation teams don't check the product before sending. So I told them I want a shipping label for a refunded return. A guy from sweetwater called me Friday and said they would send me the refunded label, but it's been several days and still no label or reply even after emailing them twice to check on the status of it. I'm sick of it, they are scamming me and I have come to you guys to make it right.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/05/2025

  *****,

  Thanks for reaching out and I'm very sorry for the issues with the Helix, and for the amount of time it's taken to get things resolved. We completely understand your frustration and will be addressing this with the key teams involved, so that we can learn from this and get better. We truly appreciate your patience in getting things solved.

  I understand that you've been in touch with our team and that we've gotten the return label, so that we can get you refunded. If you have any other concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out!

  Kind regards,

  
  ****** ******
  Director of Customer Experience
  Office: ************ 1046
  ******************************************************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/06/2025

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

  
  

  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/27/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased a limited run of a 60s ****** *** **** and was told I was the purchaser of guitar number 24 of 25. The purchase was made January 2 and I was told it should towards the end of January when I would receive the guitar. When I checked in again on February 5 I was told to check back in a week. Later the same day I received a text stating that I would not be getting the guitar. I was initially told that the reason was now ****** had decided to only make 25 which was always the case and screen shots of the site show this. Once I explained that I was then told, ****** had decided to only make 24 of them and they only received 22 of them at Sweetwater. So the others went to customers that had not purchased before they were sold to the first 25 purchasers. I find it hard to believe ****** would tell a big customer like ********************** they would produce 25 guitars that are a Sweetwater exclusive, only to produce 24, and only send 22 to the store who sold 25. Someone is not being honest. After waiting over a month for a guitar I was very excited about that was a limited run, mine was sold to someone else.I sent an email to all of upper management with the details of my experience and didnt receive one response. From CEO down. This place does not care about customers or customer service.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/17/2025

  Hello,

  We've been in touch with this customer to try and resolve things!

  To give a little bit of background, ****** made a handful of guitars to the wrong spec (the *** **** you wanted with the blue back). Ultimately, they were never specd out, which is different than a limited run, that would be planned and specd. 
  
  Once they realized the error, they reached out to us asking if we wanted to try and sell them as an exclusive, which we agreed to do. We were told that ****** would be sending us 25 guitars, however we only received 22 (19 A stock and 3 that didnt pass our evaluation that had to be adjusted and sold as demo). Because they were the wrong spec, ****** did short us 3 more, which is why we didnt have one for you. Again, all of this happened as a result of a manufacturers error, where they were trying to turn lemons into lemonade. I can assure you, we did not sell around you or do anything intentionally wrong, but do understand how all of this makes us look, and again, Im very sorry. 
  
  We have reached out to ****** to see if there is any chance they can try and make another one, and were waiting to hear back. That said, we do have the correct spec in stock, but it does have a natural back. Would you have any interest in that one? (*****************************************************************************************************)
  
  Regardless, wed love to make things right, and well see what ****** can do, but if they wont make any more, is there any thing we can do at this point?
  
  Please let me know and well help in any way that we can.
  
  Sorry again for the trouble, and I look forward to hearing back from you soon!
  
  Regards,

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/20/2025

  While I appreciate the response and Sweetwater working to rectify the situation, nothing has been done as of yet to do so.  Sounds like they may be working on it but I cannot say the response is acceptable until they have given final outcome. 
  
  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/27/2025

  Hello,

  We've been in touch with ***** about everything that has happened. We contacted the manufacturer to try and work out a special exception, but they were unable to do so. We have offered to help the customer out in anyway that we can with a future purchase/concession to try and make up for this, and we'll hope that we'll have a chance to earn his business!

  Thanks,

  
  
  ****** ******
  Director of Customer Experience
  Office: ************ 1046
  ******************************************************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/27/2025

   I am rejecting this response because:
  While I appreciate the attempt to make it right, it proved unsuccessful and I am still without the item I purchased.  There seems to be no acceptable resolution on their part. 
  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/03/2025

  Again, we're very sorry that we're not able to source the exact guitar for the customer. Sadly, there is truly nothing more we can do to get that exact guitar, but we're open to any and all alternatives.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/03/2025

   I am rejecting this response because: per their response, there is nothing they can do to make it right and provide what I purchased.  
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/19/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On June 26th, 2024 I was the victim of a credit card fraud where an unknown person(s) bought $1,705.62 worth of digital music software. I reported the fraud immediately to both my ********** and Sweet Water. I was told in an email by Sweet Water to delete the download links. I did so and never even opened them because I didn't want there to be any suspicion that I downloaded the programs or used them. I was told later, over the phone, that due to Sweetwater's policy of not giving refunds or returns of digital purchases, and because the links were sent to a verified email address (WHICH DUH! HOW ELSE DID I KNOW THEY WERE THERE!? PEOPLE STEAL THAT STUFF ALL THE TIME! IT'S WHY I KEEP CHANGING MY PASSWORDS SO MUCH) they cannot prove that I have not benefited from this. Therefore, I must pay the ********** the total amount someone stole from me! This means that Sweetwater has been paid $1,705.62 from me that I never authorized and because of their policy cannot get back! So now I get to be doubly victimized. I have enjoyed my association with Sweetwater for many years professionally (I'm a music educator in a public school) and personally. I never thought I would be screwed over like this because of a policy. I get that I cannot return a digital product, but I did as I was asked and acted honestly. I would think that a business like Sweetwater, who I have had so many positive interactions with, would be able to see past their policy and not s**** me over for the money. Taking the loss in payment is better than losing customers and reputation because I will tell everyone, starting here. However, this could be a golden opportunity for them to show some integrity and remit the payment to my CC so I don't have to pay for something I never wanted, don't use, and never authorized payment for.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/28/2025

  ******,

  I'm so sorry for the issues and for all of the trouble. I know you've. been in touch with our staff and we've arranged a refund back to your Synchrony, which they will then likely cut you a check. Sorry for all of the back and forth, but glad we could get things resolved!

  Thanks,

  
  
  ****** ******
  Director of Customer Experience
  Office: ************ 1046
  ******************************************************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/20/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  A transaction was made nov,24,2024 that I did not make. I have tried going through my credit and contacting the Sweetwater representative multiple times but he acts like hes never been notified. I have called and emailed on multiple occasions. The invoice shows me as a recipient of electronic items, and even shipped physical items to ensure that a fraud claim would be denied. On nov,25,2024 I received an email for activation codes for the electronic products, there was also another email that it had been sent to, ******************** I do not know or have any affiliation with that email. Sweetwater representative says he cannot remove it from my account. I have tried escalating through the company but they refuse to give a refund.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/21/2025

  Hi *****,

  Thanks for reaching out and for your review. I'm so sorry that you've had to escalate to the point of getting the BBB involved. I certainly wish that our team would have done more to get you resolved! Additionally, I'm also sorry for the hassle and frustration around the fraudulent order that was placed with your personal information. I can understand how unsettling that must be and I'm sure you've taken all the steps necessary to ensure your protected.

  As far as your purchase, I do show that we issued you a full refund yesterday for the order from 11/24. There was a time where the bank indicated that a chargeback was in place and active. It wasn't until just recently that we learned it was closed in our favor. Once that was done, we issued the refund. Those funds should post to the bank by tomorrow, hopefully resolving this once and for all.

  If you do have any other questions, please don't hesitate to write and I'm very sorry for the issues!

  Thanks,

  
  
  ****** ******
  Director of Customer Experience
  Office: ************ 1046
  ******************************************************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/05/2025

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I ordered a Korg G1 Air Piano from ************************** for the total amount of $2189.99. The store shipped the package out through the ***** carrier, in which the following tracking code was provided: ************. According to the details of the tracking information, the package was marked as delivered at around 11:42 AM. However, when I got home shortly I could not locate the package. I frantically searched the perimeter of the property to see if I could better locate the package. Despite my efforts, I still could not locate the package, in which I decided to inquire about my neighbors to see if they had in fact received it instead. Unfortunately, none of my neighbors seemed to have received it. This could have all been prevented if the store had opted to use signature delivery for a package of this value. After I told the store about this issue, they told me that they will investigate this issue and after the investigation which took many weeks, they asked me to file a police report marking the item as theft. After I gave them the police report, I asked them if a refund was possible instead of a replacement because I bought the same piano in person at guitar center, but after waiting multiple weeks, I still have not received a response. I sent them another email weeks later and I still have not received a response.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/09/2025

  *****,

  First, I'm very sorry for all of the issues and poor response. I can certainly understand your frustration, and I hate that you had to go to the BBB to get movement on this case. I'm also sorry for the initial delivery issue in the first place. 

  As a quick update, in reviewing the police report you submitted (thank you for that!), it appears there is a discrepancy in the report information. According to your local law enforcement, report IDs have a 15 number sequence, while yours has 9. Is this something that you're able to check with the department where you submitted the report? 

  Additionally, there is also an open chargeback/credit card dispute on this transaction. As a result, your bank should have returned the funds to you. Because of that, we're not able to issue a refund at this time, unless the bank were to close out the dispute in our favor. You'll have to contact your bank to get an updated status of the dispute.

  Either way, if you can get some updates, we can re-evaluate this case. Simply reach out to me directly with my contact information below, so that we can do our best to assist!

  Sorry again for the trouble, and look forward to hearing back!

  
  
  ****** ******
  Director of Customer Experience
  Office: ************ 1046
  ******************************************************************