Drove over an hour to check out their inventory of Suhr Modarn guitars. Come to find out that “they don’t let people play them”. He was nice enough to bring out one I was interested to look at, but that was it.
If your serious about buying some high end gear, LOOK ELSEWHERE. There is NO WAY I would ever spend $2,000+ on a guitar without playing it first and they will NOT earn my business when I order my Suhr Modern.
Sad that you could be more than ready to buy, and they are more interested in internet sales than business right in front of them. Not even sure why they have a “showroom” when you cant even play anything???
Edit:
Thank for your response Brian. I understand your desire to provide the most mint product you can for your customers, but like most relatively expensive products, consumers would like try things before they buy them You wouldn’t simply buy a $2-3K TV from a store simply because they show you what it looks like out of the box, but have no floor model to actually see the picture quality?
Jeremy was very polite, but missed all the points about my trip. He knew I drove quite a ways, was very curious, and knew I wanted a Modern since I explained I was researching them. I was torn between the JP6 and a Modern. At no point did he even attempt to try and say “maybe I should try one out, that may help you decide”. I mean EVERY music store I have been in will let you play something to make sure its what you want. I would understand if it were a 59 Burst that Gary Moore use to own, and was irreplaceable, but these are $2-4k instruments you can purchase from any of the 60ish dealers Suhr has listed on their site.
Again, your staff was very polite, and maybe this is a new business model that companies operate well with. I am just more traditional coming from a background in sales, and understand that the way to create desire is to give the customer a sense of ownership -> floor models, demo drives, fitting room, etc…
I looked around for for months before I decided on my Subaru STI. I drove $15K-$65K dollar cars before settling on my $35K one. All dealers let me go thorough and drive what I was looking at -> Pre-owned STI’s, new STI’s, new BOSS 302 Mustang, ZL1 and SS Camaro, etc… I didnt hurt, scratch, track mud in, or abuse them. I drove them to make sure I would be happy with my investment before buying.
We may never see eye to eye on this but, I dont feel like commuting from Cartersville GA to the TN line just to discover what I did. I am sure others have driver further to discover this. I just wish you site was very clear about your normal policy so that consumers know what to expect if they decide to make the trip to your store.
Again, I appreciate your response.
Sincerely, Paul
