You rolls the dice, you take your chances.

War_in_D

War_in_D

Well-known member
Just the thought of shipping this at the hands of Guitar Center went against every fiber of my being... but I've bought a used 4x12 from GC before, and it made it here in one piece so I'm hopeful.

I was doing a little early morning perusing of GC used this morning, and ran up on this Bogner 412SL for $649. Tax and shipping out the door, less than $800. I'm in NW Arkansas, and it's in Beaumont, TX (8 hours), so reasonably close. Hoping that less time in transit will equate to better survivability.

Now we wait.... 😬😬😬😬

Bogner 4x12.jpg
 
The last couple of amps I bought from GC came from across the country, were appropriately packed, and survived the journey. Pretty sure I just got lucky, but maybe they're attempting to do better. Hopefully the cab arrives safely.
 
I've bought a couple of Splawn 4x12's from them. The last 4x12 I bought from them came freight, on a pallet. Nothing around it but shrink wrap holding to said pallet, but it was on a pallet and managed to survive.

It's gonna suck when you open it up and find that the speakers have been replaced with something from Pyle.

Yeah, that thought crossed my mind too. Almost had it shipped to the store for that very reason, so I could check it, but the nearest GC is about 1 1/2 hours from me. I'm not worried about that though, and honestly, my biggest fear isn't whether it makes it to me or not in one piece, I can always return it and get my money back so it's a pretty safe bet on my end. My fear is the thought of potentially destroying an otherwise perfectly good Bogner 4x12 at the hands of some really poor packing from GC. I've passed on buying some really cool stuff from GC for fear of it getting destroyed in shipping. I didn't want to be the one responsible for that. :ROFLMAO: I had been looking for one of these for a while to go with my older hieroglyph/Mercury Magnetics XTC so I'm taking the chance.
 
I've bought a couple of Splawn 4x12's from them. The last 4x12 I bought from them came freight, on a pallet. Nothing around it but shrink wrap holding to said pallet, but it was on a pallet and managed to survive.



Yeah, that thought crossed my mind too. Almost had it shipped to the store for that very reason, so I could check it, but the nearest GC is about 1 1/2 hours from me. I'm not worried about that though, and honestly, my biggest fear isn't whether it makes it to me or not in one piece, I can always return it and get my money back so it's a pretty safe bet on my end. My fear is the thought of potentially destroying an otherwise perfectly good Bogner 4x12 at the hands of some really poor packing from GC. I've passed on buying some really cool stuff from GC for fear of it getting destroyed in shipping. I didn't want to be the one responsible for that. :ROFLMAO: I had been looking for one of these for a while to go with my older hieroglyph/Mercury Magnetics XTC so I'm taking the chance.
GC likes to play this game where they don't want to refund the shipping charges even if something isn't as they described it or it arrives damaged. I can usually get it back by talking to the manager. I always use PayPal so I'm if they don't refund shipping charges, I can always go back to PP with a complaint or worst case scenario the credit card company that I used on PP.
 
It's gonna suck when you open it up and find that the speakers have been replaced with something from Pyle.
I had this happen to me a number of years back. Bought an Egnater Tourmaster 412 from GC that was supposed to have V30's in it. When I got it something sounded off. Opened the back and it had random shit speakers shoved in it. Thank goodness I didn't blow up my amp as the ohms were all fucked up too. I returned it too the local GC and even showed them. They assured me they'd take care of everything to where it wouldn't be put back into the sales rotation. Next day it was back on the website for sale with no mention about the speakers. Took me a while after that to trust buying anything from GC again.
 
I had this happen to me a number of years back. Bought an Egnater Tourmaster 412 from GC that was supposed to have V30's in it. When I got it something sounded off. Opened the back and it had random shit speakers shoved in it. Thank goodness I didn't blow up my amp as the ohms were all fucked up too. I returned it too the local GC and even showed them. They assured me they'd take care of everything to where it wouldn't be put back into the sales rotation. Next day it was back on the website for sale with no mention about the speakers. Took me a while after that to trust buying anything from GC again.

Seen that happen too with an "excellent" condition (supposedly) Mesa Roadster 212 Combo that I bought. They shipped it in a 4x12 cab box, with just a little bit of that brown paper stuffing around it. 🤦‍♂️ When it got to me, it was completely destroyed. Cab cracked, wheel/casters bent, missing the footswitch (that probably escaped from the 1.5' hole in the side of the box, etc.. Returned it to the "local" GC, and it was back up for sale within days. Still showing in "excellent" condition. I think it sold a couple of more times, kept popping up in different places around the country before they finally put an accurate description/pics on there and had to sell it "as is". They can be shysters for sure, but I ain't playing that... and they've also tried to keep the shipping in the past. Nope, that's not happening either. Before I buy anything now, I screenshot the pictures and the description in their ad. If it doesn't match 100% to what I receive, I'm getting ALL my money back.
 
Lately GC ships these on a pallet. I've not had any issues. The last time, the carrier even agreed to take the pallet with them so I didn't have to find a way to get rid of it myself.
 
Lately GC ships these on a pallet. I've not had any issues. The last time, the carrier even agreed to take the pallet with them so I didn't have to find a way to get rid of it myself.

I think one of the Splawn cabs I bought came through UPS Ground, the other was delivered on a pallet. The big trucks can't get to my place, so I have to meet them up the road in a parking lot if they send it that way. No biggie though, it's just up the road about a mile.

At least if there are any issues GC will have to deal with it! Is it shipping to a store near you or to your house?

Did they stop doing that?

Coming to my house. The closest GC is about an hour and a half trip either way to Springfield, MO or Fayetteville, AR. I figured if all is good, saves me the trip. If not, we go up to Springfield about once a month and I can bring it back next time we go up there. I also thought that GC did free shipping to their stores, but the fine print says that it doesn't apply to used gear and/or certain oversized/overweight items. When I was in checkout, I tried it both ways and shipping to the store in Springfield was literally only about $2-3 cheaper than home.

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At least if there are any issues GC will have to deal with it! Is it shipping to a store near you or to your house?

Did they stop doing that?
They haven’t done it for me in quite a while.
Maybe it’s different in larger markets?
 
Just recently that changed with shipping cabs(used to be 25-35 bucks) and the free ship to stores. The only time I've had a damaged anything from them was when I've bought stuff out of Florida stores. Last one was a 1960 Classic cab that came on a pallet....without any additional packing. Just the cab on a pallet with some plastic wrapped around it lol. Tolex got nice in scuffed, torn. Back it went.
Last year I picked up a late 1968 SuperTrem and it arrived with a big hole in the box; not much packing. But surprisingly the amp was not damaged at all.
 
I've bought two used Avatar 4x12s from the GC used and they both arrived well packed. Hopefully yours does, too!
 
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