Captain Simian
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2012
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Stopped by GC today to just see what they have and get some strings. While I was there a woman was trying to sell them a Flea Tiki King uke. I looked over and told her it was a nice uke. She told me she bought it for her husband years ago because he wanted to learn and in the long run it just sat in their closet for 7 years. Finally one of the kids goes to look at it. She then tells her, "Ma'am, this is obviously a custom made mini guitar. It's going to be impossible to figure out a price for it or if we can even sell it so we're going to pass on it." At this point I piped up and told the kid who made it, how much they go for new, and where to look it up. The kid then says, "Sir, I work here because I probably know more about guitars than you that's why I was hired and not you." Wow. So I just laughed at the kid and said OK whatever you say. The woman was shocked that the kid was so rude.
The woman then asks me if I was interested in it. I said yes but that we should go over to Starbucks to discuss it. I felt it was uncool to negotiate in the store even if the employee was obnoxious. We went over, had coffee, made the deal, and hung out for 1/2 an hour.
As for the Flea, it's got a couple of dings and needs new strings but outside of that it's in good shape. Even came with the Fleabag. One more uke is now off my wish list.
A few years ago I took a business trip to Orange County, California. I stopped by a Guitar Center to see if there were any ukes. There weren't. I asked a sales person, who was probably about 40, why that was. He told me nobody cares about ukuleles.
The Guitar Center closest to me has many ukes for sale. They even have a sizable Lanikai showroom display. The employees there may not know much about ukes, but they at least know what they are. Very courteous people, and try to be helpful.
I would have fired him if he worked for me....there's no excuse for arrogance or ignorance like this....
There's a new GC in Southington Conn. and one of the dept. managers is primarily an uke player. He plays very well and knows his stuff. Nice to go in to the store and have a conversation with someone who knows and appreciates the uke. They don't have the greatest selection but they are not going to get rich selling ukes and I understand that.
+1 You would have done the store a favour if you'd reported the exchange to the manager