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Sweetwater has a rating of 3.4 stars from 1,193 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally satisfied with their purchases. Reviewers satisfied with Sweetwater most frequently mention customer service, sales rep, and free shipping. Sweetwater ranks 2nd among Music Equipment sites.
This company responds to reviews on average within 4 hours
Sweetwater's customer service is phenomenal! They have a good range of products and with good prices. The guitar we bought was affordable and great quality. It arrived quickly with no damage - it was packed well. I was surprised and impressed to get a call from Sweetwater just a few days after the guitar was delivered. They were just making sure everything was good. That's great customer service!
Ordered some products then the next day A representative reached out and said they were sold out & products would not be available till January and wanted to know if I still wanted them. I let them know I did. They reached back out two days later saying their was a glitch in the website and I could not have the products for the price I purchased them for. I was fished to their website to buy the products on a sponsored advertisement from Google. False Advertising is Illegal. My Wife has got me gear from these guys for years. I have advised her and she will no longer make purchases through them.
Brian Hughes, my Sales Engineer, was top-notch in his pre-sale information and post-sale follow-up... this level of customer service should be noticed by all other companies...
Date of experience: February 26, 2017
I cannot say enough about the customer service I have had here at Sweetwater courtesy of Andrew Plassman.
Andrew Plassman - My Sales Engineer is probably the most knowledged musician I have had the experience of working with in my entire 35 years as a musician. A HUGE THANKS to Andrew Plassman for his patience and true intentions of helping me " The Customer " make the correct choices do to his listening, and all around knowledge of gear in general.
The entire transaction was only about "what I need', not what he could " SELL ME " He listened, asked questions and gained my trust to ensure that i would make the right choices in my purchases and Im grateful to have found him as my sales engineer.
If you are in the market to purchase musical gear I highly recommend SW, and I sure hope you get the pleasure of allowing Andrew to assist you in your quest
Date of experience: June 27, 2018
Sweetwater is a joke. Candy and smiling faces of strangers on flyers and brochures doesn't stop you from consistently having inaccurate inventory online, an annoying post order process that consists of a phone call frankensteining your very simple, itemized order, multiple emails for ONE order after its been split into multiple pieces, and to top it off garbage quality, broken equipment, smashed cymbals, ripped heads, loose wires, wrong items, like I'm ordering random equipment from a garage sale, and an insane FULL of hassle worthless exchange policy. I call to file a complaint and get it sorted, and I don't get a voicemail or an email in return.
STAY AWAY FROM SWEETWATER AND ORDER FROM AMAZON. OR just go to Tama, Sabian, Ibanez, or whatever brand you like and buy directly from them. This company wont be mailing you free candy and brochures for long. I'm a drummer of 26 years, this is the worst I've ever seen multiple fulfillments later. It's always a hassle. Stay away.
Tip for consumers:
DONTT
Date of experience: February 10, 2023
Unprofessional Sales Engineer named Levi laughed at me several times.
I ordered my drum kit 5 days ago. I called today and was told my kit is 3 months + out to be delivered. I asked why this kit was for sale online if it was not in stock. I was told by Levi that many products sold by sweet water are not in stock, this forces customers to be forced to an up sell.
I asked to cancel my order if sweet water was not able to offer any sort of discount, anything. Sweet water is a bait & switch company, and Levi terrible!
Levi needs sales & customer service training.
***Update on the review- The item I purchased still shows for sale on the website. They said 3 months out, then told me No ETA.2
This item is still for sale 5 days after I purchased it. Roland V-Drums TD-07KVX
After they said it is out of stock and the manufacturer has no eta. This is an
Unethical tactic, and they need to be exposed.
Company that does this cannot be trusted, they are ripping off consumers by telling them their item are months out, this is forcing them to buy a more expensive instrument. They are trying to convince consumers to purchase a more expense product.
This needs to be investigated. How many orders are received, compared to how many of those
Orders are completely out of stock? How many of those orders end up spending more than the items they originally purchased?
Products used:
Nothing,
Date of experience: September 1, 2023
Loved the service. Hate the amp. Sounds great until the whole band plays. Doesnt cut through. Ill be getting Pre amp tubes for my 6505 soon.
Thx Randy England
Date of experience: October 16, 2017
This company, despite years of my complaints, still continues to subject its customers to Syncrony bankss Credit card. It is HELL!
If you buy there DO NOT USE THEIR CREDIT CARD!
And they could care less what Syncrony does to you!
Date of experience: May 6, 2018
Excellent customer service! Pricing is the best I found, and I am very pleased with every thing ordered. Ikes, the service rep went above and beyond to help. I will definitely order again.
Date of experience: December 7, 2013
I was contacted by a sales reps from sweetwater.com. He wanted to know if there was anything he could do for me. I asked him about special pricing on a certain product. After all, that is the point of using a sales rep instead of ordering directly online. I told him the special pricing for the product I was looking for I got from another vendor. He said, "he was not willing to go below $xxx". He went on about how their tech support is the best in the business... yadda yadaa". I told him, "For software, I don't need tech support when there are tons of tutorials online. I need the best price". I told him that I am fully aware of the price they pay per software license and what their markup is. I told him, I understand and respect that every company needs to make a profit. I thanked him for his time and don't see myself ever doing business with them till they become more competitive with their pricing. I have a preferred vendor that I will always stick with, but I figured I would give this guy a chance to earn some $$$.
Date of experience: May 24, 2013
Since my last review of Sweetwater, I wanted to update my personal views on the Sweetwater Customer Service. I have in the past year bought more items, to include guitar, amp and some other necessities for the stage. Each time, I receive my products very well packed for shipment, and the delivery time is usually within a 5 day period with no delivery charges. On rare occasion, I have ordered and the items was not shipped promptly for whatever reason.
One of the best features that Sweetwater offers on a frequent basis is the 48, 36, 12 month free interest promotions (if paid off within the allotted period). This is huge for me as I don't always want to plunk down a large purchase price. I have the ease of paying off without hurting my wallet. We have some wonderful private music stores nearby, but they can only offer 6 months at best, with a 3rd or 1/2 down.
Yes the bad part would be in having to return an item such as an amp, BUT the 3 times I did, Sweetwater provided pre-postage paid return labels and even offered to ship me a shipping box if I needed it. THAT IS CUSTOMER SERVICE. No hassles either. Plus you can talk with a technician if you need over the phone.
I admittedly have had a couple of experiences that I previously wrote about that were annoying, but since then I have had nothing but excellent experiences. That's it for now.
Date of experience: September 7, 2017
I stubbled on this website and thought I would inject my thoughts on Sweetwater. I was first turned on to the music store by a friend who travels / plays support keyboards for several big names. Since spending over $7000 in two years, I have had very good service for the most part. I did have to change my Sales Rep once as I felt he wasn't listening to my needs unless I was going to buy something right then. The current Sales Rep is better but still not a "warm and fuzzy" personality that I look forward to chatting with. It's all business with the Sales Rep's. My most recent purchase of two Celestion Gold speakers took 3 days to get the shipment going. When I inquired, another Sales Asst Mgr told me that he didn't know why, but Celestion was slow to send them speakers and that my Sales Rep should have notified me before I had to inquire. Bright side was that this was a price match which save me $60 for the pair.
Now for the better news. I had bought an amp and had reverb problems. Four months later even though I was out of the return for refund window, my current Sales Rep sent me a return label and said to ship back and they would fix the problem. Well when the amp returns, same problem. This time I was sent a brand new replacement and told when it arrived to send the old one back postage paid.
UPDATE: I purchased a Fender DRRI Limited Edition amp in Feb 2016. In June had to finally contact Sweetwater regarding an ongoing issue with the amp. The issue was that I could turn on the amp, wait for the tubes caps to get charged up, and then turn the standby to on BUT no sound, no hiss, NADA! I would turn off then restart the process. Still the same result. Then suddenly the amp would sound came on (Hissing) and it would work. This happened a half dozen times. Notifying the amp 4 months after the purchase, I asked for some help from Sweetwater. Initially I was told they normally don't take the amp back outside of six months from purchase. I had to remind the Customer Service (not my normal sales rep) Rep it was only 4 mos. I got more stall before the CSR agreed to send me a postage paid return label and RDM # so I could send back. I sent the amp back with a letter explaining the problem and a request to call me BEFORE the amp was returned. Glad I did because the amp repair tech called telling me the amp worked fine and did not experience the issues I said. He was going to send back until I explained further the issues and that I would return the amp a second time if not fixed. Long story short, he said he would pull the circuit board and take a look. The problem was found to be a bad fuse. In the newer Fender amps I was told that unlike the older previous models, the fuse is not located on the circuit board and soldered in. Thus is can only be fixed by an Authorized Fender Repair Shop or dealer like Sweetwater. Problem was resolved; at least to this point as I haven't experienced any more issues since it's return. Summary: be persistent. Sweetwater provides the extended 2 year warranty which I found also doesn't cover everything and apparently only if you are within a specified window of time from the original purchase date. I can tell you this, Sweetwater rep's are all very polite, and I will stay with them as they have been helping me resolve my issues SO FAR!. Any changes, I will post. Lastly I do plan to continue being their customer so long as the Customer Service is strong.
Date of experience: April 19, 2016
At the beginning of the pandemic, I was unfamiliar with Sweetwater but I knew it's competitors. My musician friend of 45 years told me to mention his name. My first purchase was a guitar pedal. I couldn't believe the personalized nature of the service (phone call & email). When the competition was out of stock, Sweetwater had already stockpiled supplies for the home recording studio I was building. Then, I asked my sales rep, Caleb, about some different guitars that were Out of Stock. We identified a couple, placed a hold on one, and he called me as soon as it came in: a G&L Bluesboy Tele. The 55-point inspection also helped sell me on Sweetwater. While shopping on line, I read reviews about guitars and found people spent money on set-up when ordering guitars from competitors and regretted NOT having ordered from Sweetwater. I love my new G&L, adding a new look and sound to my collection. Next, with Caleb's help, I ordered an Ibanez Mikro Mini as a surprise for my daughter who has been playing now for about 2 years. My daughter was taken completely by surprise, kept saying "It's Beautiful" and literally ran into her room and brought her amp out into the living room to play. (She is usually too shy to play in front of people.) Caleb himself has one and he was correct: The Ibanez provides a quality look, sound, and feel for an amazingly small price.
I look on line at the competition. I visit guitar shops in person. But when I am ready to buy, I go to Sweetwater. You would be well served to consider this approach.
Date of experience: October 19, 2020
Never have had any problems. Dilan Is very helpful. Their website show all you need to buy anything, and you can talk to engineers if you need more details.
Date of experience: March 30, 2017
UNBELIEVABLE
Most beautiful instrument I EVER laid my eyes on and the sound and intonation on this instrument is PERFECT in every way.
THANY YOU SWEETWATER FOR HAVING GIBSON PRODUCE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL INSTRUMENT FOR YOU. SO GLAD I BOUGHT IT.
Products used:
Epiphone J200 Cherry Guitar
Date of experience: June 12, 2023
I bought a keely caverns after buying a bunch of keeley modded pedals over the years thinking it would be a great addition to my board. After 7 uses - the delay completely stopped working. Sweetwater are taking 48 hours before someone from tech gets back to me to organize a repair - they will not let you swap it out or return it after the initial 30 day period. Teryn's (my rep) position is that a pedal is not defective if it works when you get it. So be very careful. If you are buying a $200+ pedal from sweetwater and expect it to last you more than 30 days before dying on you - then it's not "defective" per sweetwater.
I've spent over 2k with Sweetwater in the last few months and had a long shopping list of additional purchases I will now have to make elsewhere. Don't buy Keeley Pedals - they are great sounding but very expensive and they die on you quickly (I also got a defective compressor I had to return) and absolutely do not buy from sweetwater if being able to return broken and defective gear after 30 days is important to you.
Tip for consumers:
Do not use sweetwater for any large purchases. Use it for guitar strings, picks, cables, stands etc. You cannot trust the product or the customer service
Products used:
I bought another pedal from Guitar Center instead
Date of experience: October 17, 2022
Great product, covers all great reverbs and can be set to buffer with internal dip switches, dead quiet and true bypass, great price, great service, superb taffy. Thanks
Jared and Sweetwater crew.
Date of experience: October 17, 2017
Purchased a guitar and some other gear from Sweetwater less than a year ago. The guitar had a problem from the start, after a setup guarantee. I called about it and received multiple run arounds. Over 2 month and then i got "well you should have said something the day you got it". My sales rep then says "you have to pay shipping here and back in order for us to fix the issue." To ship it somewhat safely in a hard case was going to be $150 one way, I paid over $1000 dollars for this "brand new" guitar that was supposed to be setup. I decided to have my guitar looked at by my guy. I ended up paying $120 to have a factory defect in the neck and frets fixed. Sweetwater refused to live up to the 2year warranty... Dont get me started on the incorrect pedal they sent me and still refuse to replace with the correct one. I ordered a flashback 2 delay pedal they sent me a flashback original and even though the receipt say I indeed purchased a flashback 2 the claim it was the original I purchased. Cutting up my Sweetwater card and will not be purchasing from this company again.
Date of experience: February 14, 2019
I discussed product with Jonathan and knew the product I bought (London 8)
I recieved in perfect condition and has made my listening room less reflective and I hear more detail/realism in my music, thank you
Also got candy!
Date of experience: July 20, 2017
This company and all the Sales Staff are totally knowlegable about their products and offer OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE with every purchase. They not only "talk the talk", They "walk the walk" My experience with every purchase has been second-to-none. An AWESOME company and and AWESOME Sales Staff. Thank You Guys for being my GO To vendor for Sound Equipment, Guitars, and Cameras. Thank You Patrick and all the Sales Staff for Professional Service all the time, everytime.
Gerald
Tip for consumers:
Shipping on most products is FREE. Returns require customer payment reduction from original purchase price. Sales and Returns are handled promptly within a short time of receiving the return.
Products used:
Guitars, Cameras, Mixer, Cables, Adapters, Guitar Strings
Date of experience: January 27, 2021
So i just wanted some guitar picks but everywhere else you have to pay shipping. THESE GUYS SHIP FOR FREE. Bought a pack of freaking guitar picks AND THESE MOFOS HAVE THE AUDACITY TO NOT ONLY SHIP MY MEASILY GUITAR PICKS FOR FREE BUT ALSO SEND ME FREE CANDY WITH MY ORDER. I never thought i would ever feel so satisfied buying a small pack of freaking guitar picks
Date of experience: August 30, 2018
Im an experienced acoustic drummer needing a great sounding, very portable kit. The Roland SPD30 exceeded my expectations, connected to my Fender 200 watt Ra blet bass amp.
Date of experience: January 21, 2019
Reliability, availability, communication, speed and options of delivery--those are some of the main reasons exclusively choose Sweetwater, but I will say that the personal touch that Ted has given me over the years is absolutely priceless. It wins over discount sales at other sites every time. Recently I had an awful experience with Guitar Center trying to purchase a Laney product that you did not carry. I reached out to Ted on facebook with questions about a similar product made by ISP. (This has happened plenty of times before) He took the time to really look into my questions and answer them in a way that resulted in a $599 purchase... which led to another ISP product purchase a short time after--the ISP stealth amp and absolutely loved it... but the power cable/AC adapter turned out to be defective. A short message to him at 7am on his birthday and he responded right away with what to do. I made a phone call, and the next day had a replacement and a UPS sticker to return the defect. I realize this is a long email, but this is EXACTLY why I choose Sweetwater every time. I have been a customer for some years and I have yet to have a bad experience with Sweetwater and don't expect that I ever will. I am loyal to Sweetwater as long as you carry the gear I am looking for. I sincerely hope they never change the way you do business because it is SO rare and starkly contrasts with everyone else on every level.
Date of experience: January 23, 2018
Great sales engineers! Good prices and fast shipping! I've been a cuatomer for quite some time and appreciate a conpany loyal to its customers and their satisfaction!
Date of experience: September 6, 2018
I've been dealing with Sweetwater for several years now and have been generally satisfied with their service, however two orders that I have placed within the last few days were originally" all items in stock", one actually "ready for shipment" but for some reason now both orders are" waiting for items". Either they lied by saying all items were in stock when I ordered the stuff or their shipping system does not work. They tell you it's going to ship in a few days but then they stall you out for an undetermined amount of time. My only real gripe is they won't answer the phone or return emails. Customer service is not all that good if they won't return your call. My experience with the 2-year free warranty was not good either. When some headphones I had broke I called about their 2-year warranty but they never responded. And their prices are somewhat higher than other places anyway. The price of one item I purchased went up 25% in less than a month. I doubt I'll ever order anything from them again. I think they're heading the way of Walmart possibly, downhill.
Update: January 7th
I feel that I was somewhat hasty in making my judgment of what caused the change in the status of my orders. Perhaps they had a logistical problem. It could have of course been a computer glitch or a bookkeeping error. Whatever the case, there is no real excuse for not informing a customer of a change in the status of their order once the customer has placed the order and seen that all items are in stock and that the order is ready to ship. After all it is an automated system so it should automatically inform the customer of the change and give the customer the option to drop the backordered items or to back order them but in any case have the items that they have on hand shipped immediately. I am a working musician, when I order something I need it now. I can understand mistakes or other problems but not talking to the customer is unforgivable. I was a general sales manager in the Chicago area a number of years ago and my job was to ENGINEER logistical solutions to provide my customers with the products they wanted when they wanted them. Guys, you have an automated system so let's make it work to keep the customer happy.
Tip for consumers:
Their sales engineers are actually just salesman
Products used:
Microphones and sound equipment drums and symbols
Date of experience: January 3, 2024
Larry- Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. I am sorry to hear that your most recent experiences with us have been less than satisfactory. I would love to be able to dig in to the issues and try to help resolve. Please email me directly at Alisha_hall@sweetwater.com
The software is the best for both beginners and experienced, and I loved the service and support, they are very attentative, I will become a regular customer. Thank you guys for the service.
Date of experience: July 20, 2017
Sprawling megastore featuring high-quality musical instruments & studio recording gear.
How do you go from a portable 4-track recording rig in a Volkswagon bus to being the nation's leading retailer of professional recording and music equipment?
Chuck founded Sweetwater as a recording studio in Fort Wayne in 1979. The business was first located in his home on Getz Road, then moved to a subsequent home on Bass Road. Initially the fledgling company focused on providing recording services to local and national artists and businesses.
Two things prompted the leap from recording studio to music retailer. The first was Chuck's frustration with being unable to find a reliable, knowledgeable music technology retailer. Prices were outrageous, and after-sale technical service and support for the sophisticated electronics he used in his studio were non-existent.
Then, in the early 1980s, the revolutionary Kurzweil K250 appeared. This groundbreaking keyboard gave musicians and composers access to realistic orchestral and other sounds, opening new possibilities for music composition and performance. Chuck created his own sound library for the keyboard, and quickly gained a national reputation as an expert at programming the instrument. Renowned musicians such as Stevie Wonder, Kenny Rogers, and other top names began consulting with Chuck, purchasing K250 factory options and upgrades through him. Recognizing the industry's need for a new, dependable, customer-oriented approach to the musical instrument and professional audio sales channel, Sweetwater became a Kurzweil dealer to fulfill these requests.
As Chuck's expertise became known and the industry grew more sophisticated, those original K250 customers returned again and again for product advice. The company began representing more product lines, and rapidly developed and implemented its unique philosophy of relationship-based selling — treating customers as friends —and unmatched pre- and post-sale customer service.
Sweetwater's primary emphasis quickly shifted from recording studio to music retailer. A new building was constructed on Bass Road and was expanded four times to keep up with the skyrocketing growth of the company. But even that wasn't enough, as the company quickly grew to nearly 220 employees. In late 2005, Sweetwater began the process of moving to their new headquarters, located at the intersection of Kroemer Road and U.S. Highway 30. The location's 38,000-square-foot building will be expanded to a total of 150,000 square feet with the addition of a 40,0000-square-foot state-of-the-art distribution center, a rich-media auditorium and recording studios designed by world-renowned acoustician and studio designer Russ Berger, and a technical training center on a 44-acre property that will allow plenty of room for Sweetwater's massive projected growth: 175 additional full-time employees and $150 million in annual sales by 2009, and $180 million in annual sales and 450 total employees by 2010. Most recently, $1 billion is annual sales and over 2000 employees by 2020.
Today, Sweetwater is recognized as one of the most successful and fastest-growing music retailers in the nation. The company has been named to Inc. magazine's list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies three years in a row, and has received the Music Inc. magazine REX Award for excellence in retailing.
Gerald,
I love that you have been enjoying working with Patrick so much, and we look forward to continued business for the years to come! We appreciate you using us as your "go to" vendor, and we hope to be that for many more people as well!
- Zach Bloom, Customer Experience