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:12/22/2024

  Type:Customer Service 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 called this business to inquire about purchasing a guitar (an expensive one) and my usual sales person was not available so I got routed to another one named ****** who was rude and condescending in the way he spoke to me. First of all Im not his client so he should mind his business. Im **** hackers client. I simply asked him if since I was spending close too 2 grand on a guitar maybe they could set it up for me? ****** refused saying we usually dont give them for free like that. It would be an extra 100 dollars. Again. Im not Dustins client Im **** hackers. So why is ****** speaking on ****s behalf. ?? I dont get it. The guitar is almost 2 grand. The set up is 100 dollars. Any guitar store would do that for a customer thats spending that kind of money on a guitar. I didnt ask for anything out of this world. In any event this *** ****** should mind his own business. Any discussion of discounts or extras should come from ****. I dont appreciate being treated like that. Ive spent thousands of dollars on guitars there. This guy was out of line. Hes talking like hes the company president. Not good

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/23/2024

  I've connected with **** and we'll be addressing with the particular individual involved. We're very sorry for the poor experience.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/23/2024

   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:12/03/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising 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.

  ******** products at advertise *************** refusing to **** me products.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/10/2024

  Hello,

  We've been in touch with the customer and worked to resolve the outstanding issue. Ultimately, a mistake was made on our site regarding the price, which we were quickly made aware of, and the error was fixed. We do our best to honor mistakes like that when they are made, but the discrepancy was more than we could work with. That said, we did work with the customer and landed on a satisfactory price. We feel awful when things like this happen, and we're very sorry. 

  Thanks,

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/03/2024

  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.

  On July ***** i purchased a Larrivee SD-40R from Sweetwater. I drove from ********* **** to *************** to buy this guitar. The total purchase was ******** with set up and tax. cash was paid. The guitar had to be left there for the set up. it was shipped to my residence about 3 weeks later. the guitar was fine at first but developed a buzzing noise on the * string,3rd and 4th fret. I called the ******** factory about this problem and they stated that the guitar had an incorrected set up. I then took this guitar to a trusted Luthier that I had used for about 25 years. He stated that the set up was wrong. I ordered a saddle nut from Larrivee of **********. The set up was complete and it did not cure the buzzing noise. I played it for awhile and could not get over this noise. I then took the guitar to Chillicothe ****. It was diagnosed with over intonation, or a wolf note. The Luthier there stated that it was un repairable. A friend of mine referred me to a Luthier shop in *************, The Guitar House Workshop. Their diagnosis of this guitar was the same. they could hear problems with the * string. They advised that they could try to get this problem fixed but was upfront and stated that they may not be able to fix it. *y this time it was June 4,24. I got it back and the over intonation was still present. They stated that Sweetwater was pretty good about this type of situation and to contact them. I contacted ***** **** at Sweetwater, He had me send a Video of the guitar to him He stated that he heard nothing wrong with it. I stated that I could not sell this guitar with a clear conscience knowing that something was wrong with it. So we ordered a Seagull Artist Mosaic to either replace it or trade it in. I traded this ******** in on 09-26-24. The trade in paper stated that the retail on the Seagull was *******. I ended up with two defective Seagulls from Sweetwater that were traded back in. I asked for a Godin instead and they wanted ****** difference the same retail

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/03/2024

  These documents, gear exchange, show the retail price of the Seagull guitar as *******- the retail price of the Godin is *******- dated 9-26-24. Because the Larrivee was defective they replaced it was a ********** a great loss. I got 2 defective replacement Seagulls in a row that had to be sent back. I wanted a Godin,same retail. Maybe better quality. They wanted ****** more.. according to gear exchange document Godin and Seagull are the same retail.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/10/2024

  Hello,

  We've been in touch with this customer and have come to a resolution. We sincerely apologize for the issues that ***** experienced with guitars that he purchased from Sweetwater. In an effort to solve the customer, we ultimately refunded the customer in full for his purchase. We're hopeful that we'll have a chance to work with him again in the future!

  Regards,

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

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/12/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  This is not really rejecting this response it's to state that I'm completely unsatisfied with all of this. I contacted Sweetwater just this morning because they hadn't contacted me and still haven't mailed a check. I have lost $1200 on this deal but 500 was my fault for not returning the guitar immediately. This has been ongoing for months and I want it to be over.3 defective guitars in a row and a minimum of $700 lost 
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/23/2024

  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 ordered some instruments through this company and every time I call to purchase something else or I have to ask a question they tell me they dont know. The site describes them as sales engineers and gear experts yet when I ask basic sales questions they cant answer me. Like warranty. Where is it made. Does the guitar come with a case? *** etc. my particular sales person **** is pretty good but I gotta say the rest Ive spoken too have no clue what there selling and its frustrating as a consumer whose spent thousands already on guitars etc etc and other equipment. I just cant understand how a sales expert or sales engineer as they are called doesnt know basic questions. Something is wrong. They need better training in my opinion

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/29/2024

  ****,

  Thanks for reaching out and for sharing your feedback. I'm so sorry to hear that your experiences with our sales team have been less than satisfactory. I'm glad to hear that **** has been taking pretty good care of you, but concerned that others have not. We'll be sure to dive in and see all who has been involved so that we can follow up and work to coach/train the team to be better. In the meantime, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly and I'll help where I can!

  Thanks again,

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

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/02/2024

   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:11/07/2024

  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.

  I requested a quote to purchase an item with a military discount. I never received a quote via the online form or email. I purchased the item online. Three days later I received a quote that was higher than the original listed price. If you do not offer a military discount no problem but to increase the price to military is unacceptable.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/13/2024

  Hi ******,

  Thanks for reaching out and for your review. I tried to call you yesterday, but could only leave a voicemail, so wanted to try and connect with you here. I want to thank you for sharing your experience and for your service. In addition, I want to say how sorry I am for the poor experience and can understand why you'd be concerned. Please know, we take feedback like this very seriously. We've addressed this with the sales engineer, so that we can learn from this and get better. Clearly there was a mistake around promotions and discounts and hopefully I can try and shed some light on what I believe happened here.

  Ultimately, while we don't have a specific discount policy for veterans, or any groups, we empower the sales engineer to make deals that make sense. In some cases we may be able to offer a bigger discount, depending on the product, and then there are some products that can't be discounted at all. The Sales Engineer should be taking all of that in to consideration when creating a price for a customer. 

  In this case, the guitar you wanted a quote for had a 10% ****** special discount, which was applied when you placed the order. This is something that Fender "drives," and ultimately helps pay for, as part of a larger sale. Then, the sales engineer created a quote after the fact that didn't include the Fender discount, which he should have.

  At this point, we could apply an additional discount to your guitar that you purchased, and move your account over to a different sales engineer. If that would be acceptable, please let me know and I'd be happy to get the ball rolling. Please feel free to use the contact information below to contact me directly as well!

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

  Regards,

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

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/13/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:  I contacted Sweetwater twice once thru the online form and by email directly to *****, I never heard back.  I then purchased the guitar online without assistance.  After the purchase I received a quote from ***** your sales engineer that was higher than the original listing price after asking for a military discount.  It did not include any discounts or promotions which is fine.  The raised price was shameful.  I slap in the face for even asking for a military discount.
  
  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/18/2024

  Hi ******,

  Thanks for your note and I certainly understand. Again, I'm very sorry that we've let you down and for the pricing mistakes that were made on our end. At this point, we'd love to find a path forward. Is there any thing we can do at this point to make things right? We'd be happy to provide an additional discount, plus try and pair you up with a different sales engineer. Again, all options are on the table, so if there is something we can do, please let me know.

  Sorry again for the issues and we truly appreciate your service. I look forward to hearing back!

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

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/18/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:  This response does not address the discrimination of a price increase I received while asking for a military discount.  The purchase was made prior to the incident a new sales person is not necessary or desired.  An additional discount as mentioned would be appreciated.
  
  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/22/2024

  We've now been directly in contact with ***, and have resolved the issue by offering an additional discount, and provided some additional clarity to the mistake.

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

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/22/2024

   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:11/02/2024

  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.

  Sweetwater shared personal data of me, ***** *******, and my wife, **** ******** (who is not even a customer of ***********************, with ******************** without our consent. I requested them to stop sharing our personal data, and also communicate to ******************* to remove our data from that company as well (which is supposed to be covered by the California Consumer Privacy Act) . I submitted an official request from their website (************************************************************************************) and emailed their privacy team directly ************************************* There hasn't been any response for 2 weeks already.I wonder if you could help communicate my request to them, and help me connect to proper people at Sweetwater to resolve this?

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/06/2024

  Hi *****,

  Thanks for submitting your review and I'm so sorry for all of the issues regarding your wife's information. We've had a chance to dig in and identified that a promotion was created with Synchrony prior to the revision of your record in Sweetwaters system. While names were included, there was no sharing of additional personal information, such as SSN or other detailed credit card information, shared from our systems. 
  
  We believe the Synchrony *** you spoke with was unaware of these type of promotional email campaigns.  In addition to Sweetwaters systems, we have also requested Synchrony remove both you and your wifes information from future promotional campaigns.  Apologies for the delay as we researched this situation please reach out if I can be of additional assistance. 
  
  ****** ******
  Director of Customer Experience
  Office: ************ 1046
  ******************************************************************
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/12/2024

  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Thanks, but I would still like to double check part of my request was to not share my (and my wife's) data going forward with anyone in accordance with the California Consumer Privacy Act. It wasn't mentioned in the response if Sweetwater was going to comply. Can please someone confirm that?

  Also, I submitted an official request for that privacy issue using the form provided by Sweetwater on its website  ******************************************************************************** twice on October 21 and November 2, and no one responded to any of those requests to me directly.  I also emailed ********************************** multiple times, and didn't get any response from Sweetwater's privacy team either. Can Sweetwater please reply directly to me there as well ********************* to not use the Better Business Bureau as a broken telephone, and have a direct communication channel established instead?

  Thanks, *****.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/18/2024

  Hi *****,

  Thanks for your note, and I'm sorry for the troubles. I'll send you an email directly to you and will confirm that we have completed your "do not sell/share" request. Please keep an eye out for an email directly from me!

  Thanks,

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

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/25/2024

   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:10/30/2024

  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 ordered a bass guitar as a gift, and the experience was disappointing. It arrived late with no updates unless I called. When it finally came, the guitar had a broken pickup, a broken string, and issues with the bottom of the neck. The first ***** blamed me and said I was supposed to let the guitar rest for several daysthough there were no instructions about this. The final ****** I spoke with dismissively said, Its 5:30, what do you want us to do? and seemed eager to get off the phone. Overall, poor service and product quality.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/05/2024

  ******,

  Thanks for reaching out and I'm very sorry for the poor experience. I can certainly understand why you'd be upset and this is something we take very seriously. We'll be sure to address this with everyone involved so that something like this doesn't happen again.

  In the meantime, one of our managers has attempted to call you, but could only leave a message. Ultimately, we want to make things right to you, so feel free to reach out and we'll do everything we can to turn things around.

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

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/14/2024

  Type:Billing 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.

  Denial of credit purchased multiple items from retailer over ten year period always paid for everything owed This month hard times late payment they shut down my account unfairly and took more than scheduled as well

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/01/2024

  Hello,

  We've been in touch with this customer and have resolved the issues regarding payment plans and have approved a recent order as a result.

  Thanks,

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/07/2024

  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 bought the back in May. I got to use it for the 1st time 9-28-24 It worked great for about an hour and and 1/2, then failed! I lost control and was never able to restore control! I could not turn up/down, mute/unmute mics or music! I had to awkwardly change to a backup mixer in front of 120+ wedding guests! It is well within the 2 year Total Confidence Coverage Warranty they advertise, but they refuse to honor!

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/10/2024

  *******,

  Thanks for reaching out and I'm very sorry for your poor experience. I can understand why you'd be upset. At Sweetwater, we work hard to do the right thing, and I'm sorry that we let you down. Any time a product is defective, we want to jump all over it and makes things right. In this case, we should have simply sent you a return shipping label and/or offered an exchange at no cost to you. At this point, we've gone ahead and sent you a return label and will ensure a full refund. Or, we can pursue a replacement, if you'd like, simply let us know.

  Typically, we do have guidelines where anything outside of 30 days of purchase would be subject to a warranty repair, we will never leave our customers hanging, and again, will always work to do the right thing. We will do that for you here.

  Again, I'm very sorry for the poor experience, and we look forward to getting this resolved for you. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly with questions or concerns!

  Thanks,

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

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/10/2024

   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. I just wish it would have been done without a formal complaint to the BBB! I am disappointed in Sweetwater! They have always been my go to for my church and personal audio equipment! 

  
  

  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/06/2024

  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.

  Sent a faulty product. Immediately initialized return and was told I either needed to exercise warranty or pay for return. I believe the representative for Sweetwater **** ******** was lying to retain commission

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/10/2024

  Hello ********,

  Thanks for reaching out and I'm very sorry for the poor experience. Any time a product arrives faulty or defective, we're going to do the right thing and either exchange it or return it. You would NOT be responsible for return shipping, so we'll be following up with the sales person involved so that we can learn from this and get better. In the meantime, if you'd like, we're happy to exchange it or return it at no cost to you. In fact, a new sales person has attempted to reach out to you by phone to help with those arrangements. If that would be acceptable, let us know and we'll get the ball rolling! 

  Sorry again for the trouble, and please don't hesitate to reach out with any additional questions or concerns!

  Regards,

  Justin ******
  Director of Customer Experience
  Office: 800-222-4700 ×1046
  ****************************