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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.
Iv been playing guitar for well over 20 years now and I wouldn't Dare or dream of using anyone else!... PERIOD!...
Date of experience: February 28, 2017
Customer service
Easy to use website
Full selection of gear
Customer service
All the things Sweetwater exceeds at - no duplicates just emphasis.
Date of experience: October 30, 2017
FAIR PRICE GREAT SERVICE FRIENDLY KNOWLEDGEABLE STAFF
EASY TO ORDER FAST RELIABLE SHIPPING. GREAT VARIETY OF PRODUCTS FROM
MANY GREAT COMPANIES
Date of experience: March 7, 2017
This my go-online music store, and that's because of the selection, the prices, and my ROCK STAR sales guy, Chris Sanders! I'm Sweetwater for life!
Date of experience: July 26, 2017
Last week today being 9-24-2023, I bought a Martin Shawn Mendez guitar $800.00. That expensive but I bought it to sit in my recliner an play not having to fight with a bigger guitar for comfort. I received the guitar in good time, opened it sat down kinda looked it over then hit an E chord. Then it happened! My hand was cut! Not just a little but enough for a bandaid after waiting for it to stop bleeding. Looking to see what happened I noticed the nut stuck way out over the fret board a the ends of the nut were sharp as a tack! You know how Sweetwater says they do this 55 point inspection on every guitar on & on? Don't you believe it! I waited around couple days an thought I'm going to get in touch with Sweetwater tell them what happened & maybe they'll fix it for me without me having to pay someone else. You know that two year extra warranty they say comes with products free of charge? Don't you believe that either! No wonder it's free, they don't honor it! Again all lies! I emailed someone there at Sweetwater relating my case an some guy got back with me pretty much right away saying how he agreed with me saying someone is not doing their job etc. He also said he was going to make this right. How? I didn't know an he didn't say. Well folks, that's as far as it went! Never heard nothing more. So, I contacted second in charge of Sweetwater. He too agreed with me on the situation but, what did he do? Instead of looking into it himself he passed the buck to some other guy I never heard of saying this guy would absolutely take care of the situation etc! People, don't you all believe it for one second! Another lie! And still to this day I've heard nothing! I've done business with Sweetwater for years spending thousands of dollars an then they treat me like this. Guys, your only as good to Sweetwater as the last dollar you spent with them period! They care nothing for or about you your music on & on! I know how they advertise an have people how good they are how knowledge they are etc., but understand these are selected people for that purpose and the other reviews that say good things about etc., and there are many, here's the question, did they ever have a situation like mine? Did they ever return anything? You all know what mean! Well, the bottom line is you can not trust or believe in Sweetwater! In my opinion the heart of their business, their no good they lie & lie and it's not just one person, it appears many of'em lie! The heart of their business is black and it goes all the to the top! So, said all that to say this. You have a 50/50 chance of coming out ok when doing business with Sweetwater. Not the best of odds. I submit to you all, inter at your own risk!? Thank you!
Tip for consumers:
It’s a 50/50 risk doing business with Sweetwater and know they will lie exceedingly great!!!
Products used:
Bought a guitar. It is in such bad shape it can’t be played.
Date of experience: September 24, 2023
My experience with Sweetwater and Ashton was great will deal with Sweetwater again Thank you for your help Ray B.
Date of experience: December 10, 2020
Very professional folks!, GREAT follow up, and customer care skills! Highly recommend these folks!
Products used:
Hat
Date of experience: September 15, 2022
Sweetwater is by far the BEST company I have worked with in purchasing and follow up. Just OVER-THE-TOP! :a)
Date of experience: October 1, 2019
AFTER REVIEWING MANY OF THE REVIEWS, I HAVE TO SAY I AM COMPLETELY CONFUSED. I DO BELIEVE THERE IS A LACK OF COMPETENT TRAINING OF THE HIRED HELP.
Date of experience: September 14, 2015
They are, without a doubt, the best music supply store on the net. They are pros and it shows!
Date of experience: September 22, 2011
You Can Always Depend On Sweetwater To Give You The Right Product For The Right Price. Sweetwater Is My First Stop To Shop For Needed Equipment.
Tip for consumers:
Check With Sweetwater First
Products used:
Musical Instruments
Date of experience: March 19, 2021
Great Customer Service, Great Shipping, Great Packaging and Great Prices. If you want anything guitar. GO TO SWEETWATER
Date of experience: August 11, 2017
The tech was great the product was just what I was looking for thanks.
Date of experience: December 20, 2016
Great customer service, no dalay, good product, good job, 100% satisfy. Best ecommerce store ever.
Date of experience: November 19, 2020
Tyler Moore there has been helping me for over 10 Years with my Gibson Guitars Marshall and Fender Amp He is outstanding!
Tip for consumers:
Ask for Tyler Moore
Products used:
Gibson L-5 CES Fender Twin Reverb Marshall Super Lead and many more
Date of experience: October 29, 2022
Thanks for your feedback, Mike! I've worked with Tyler several times, and I know how much he cares about his customers! I will make sure Tyler gets this. I am sure he will be excited and motivated even more to continue giving exceptional customer service.
Sweetwater has been really helpful with everything.
Date of experience: December 21, 2016
Fast friendly service with excellent follow up! I highly recommend Sweetwater.
Date of experience: December 27, 2016
Master Recording Class with Paul Gilbert, Mark Hornsby and the house session guys was truly amazing.
Date of experience: March 21, 2019
Los productos son a precio de fábrica, y la atención es súper increíble.
Espero que más personas pueden realizar su compra con éxito, la tienda es 100% recomendable.
Tip for consumers:
100% recomendable
Products used:
Micrófono de Violín, adaptador.
Date of experience: October 30, 2022
Muchas gracias por sus comentarios. Apreciamos sus amables palabras y le agradecemos por ser un cliente leal de Sweetwater Sound. Dannelle
Tiene la mejor atención que uno podría esperar, son amable y entregados ayudar para obtener el mejor equipo que uno necesita.
Products used:
Guitarra
Date of experience: June 20, 2023
La orden llego puntual y en perfecto estado/calibracion/afinacion/etc. Precios adecuados y buen servicio.
Date of experience: January 3, 2019
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.
We appreciate that, and you Sylvester! You know we have a wide variety of products to choose from, so we have something for everyone! Thanks for shopping with us!
- Zach Bloom, Customer Experience