Rock Island Sound

Location :

6 Main St, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
Added by Jopie, at 15 August 2013

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• Michelle Stangarone

  27 March 2022

  We bought my son a $300 guitar from Sweetwater's online for him to start learning electric guitar. There was a slight buzz. Sweetwater's said we could send it back to them and they would fix and send back. Or we could bring it somewhere and they would cover it up to $100. I liked the idea of using a local business so rather than call Guitar Center I started with Rock Island. I called to see if they could get rid of the buzz for the $100. The woman who answered was very friendly and assured me they could. So the following week we brought it in. There was a gentleman there and he said they would fix along with a set up and it would be $125. I was a little hesitant because the woman had assured me it could be done for the $100 that Sweetwater would reimburse. But this man explained that they would do a set up and fix the buzz and they had the best guitar guy ever who would do the best work ever. He also said he would send me an email telling me about the work they did. I never got the mail. Another week later we got a call that it was ready. My husband and son went to pick it up. The owner was there and told them the cost was $167 plus guitar strings. So they got me on the phone with the owner. I explained we were told $100 on the phone then $125 when we dropped it. Now he was charging $140 plus the tax which was $167 plus $14 for guitar strings. I told him that he should honor the price the employee gave me and not charge for strings because they never disclosed that would be part of the deal. He made excuses like those 2 employees are gone. That is not my problem. His other excuse was that he was so busy having now to work both stores alone. Again not my problem. Then he said he would take 10% off of the $140 and still charge me for strings. I thought he should have charged the original $125 that I was told plus tax and thrown in strings for free. But he wouldn't budge. We brought the guitar home and it plays really well. No complaints there. The biggest problem was the owner not taking responsibility for what his employees told us and making lots of excuses. It was very unprofessional and terrible customer service. We will never go back. It is a shame because I would prefer to use a small business, but next time we will head over to Guitar Center or Sam Ash.

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• Andrew Lotti

  28 January 2022

  Have come here a couple times for set ups and work on my guitars. Great people, good service and straight forward with time and prices. Will be returning!

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• Michelle Mancuso

  01 April 2019

  After three years of giving this place my time and business, I fully regret ever coming to Rock Island Sound. I've known the majority of people who worked at the store (all of whom have now quit or were fired for obscene reasons). For the past three years, Paul, the owner, has stopped paying any of the teachers for fully putting together the 3-hour long, end-of-year student recitals themselves. He has had trouble making payroll, and teachers were often left hanging on payday. The rates for lessons are extremely high in comparison to the percentage of it that the teachers end up with. Many told me they had not seen such a low hourly pay rate anywhere else.
  Please do not give this place your business. Go anywhere else for your repairs and lessons.

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• Dave Rosenberg

  31 October 2014

  Great small guitar store with high-end acoustic guitars. The owner was very helpful and let me play a plethora of guitars before finally landing on a Taylor. Taylor dealers must keep their stores at a specific humidity level and temperature, so rest assured these guitars are well taken care of. Would certainly buy from again.

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• David Gersfeld

  22 August 2013

  The sample lesson was excellent. Paul gave us a great deal on the equipment. In addition, the repair department restrung a waterlogged guitar for my girlfriend. She's owned her Kawai since 6th grade. Now we can jam with it. Great work folks!

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