my first question was deleted because of "violation of yahoo terms"

can corporations (guitar center) outsource guarantees and warranties legally without making a buyer aware or providing a written contract of the guarantee/warranty? I purchased a guitar online and the warranty offered on the site- the Guitar Center Performance Guarantee but am having problems having it honored. The local store manager says that the store and guitar center dot com are different companies (yet a mother cooperation owns the store locations as well as several online music supply stores guitar center dotcom, zzsounds, and musicansfriends). The same guarantee/ warranty is sold on the site as well as in the store location and is advertised as being Guitar Center's but is actually "a service/product" of another company according to the store manager and customer service call line. The store manager (and call center) provided a number to call to file a claim with the guarantee company. I'm getting the run around from the store manager, online customer service, as well as the guarantee company (insurance/ guarantee company told me to contact the manufacturer and have yet to resolve my claim file).
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No one wants to replace, refund or fix the defective guitar and all claim to have no obligation to do so. Although the defect appears to covered and should qualify for the application and usage under the Performance Guarantee I'm still getting the run around. I feel it's unlikely that I'll get an exchange from the store or online store and receiving a credit /refund for the guitar or the cost of the guarantee is even less likely.

what can I do about my situation? Can I bring the company(s) to court for the cost of the guitar as well as the performance guarantee?

I'm not sure if the company is really concerned with customer or legal disputes. From my experience customer satisfaction and service is not a high priority. Should I contact the state attorneys office and Better Business Bureau to file complaints? I noticed that none of the stores have BBB accreditation- is this common for large chain stores or is this suggestive of a company having problematic products and services?
I felt like the store & call center were trying to save $ not help me funny Guitar Center is suddenly interested

my guitar has electric problems it's more than sound preference. I think it's from faulty wiring which is why I said defective and didn't say broken bc it doesn't have external cracks, dents or bending in the body, neck or headstock. I called a private store if it's a simple wiring problem they can fix it cheap. If it's a simple fix I'll keep the guitar and not deal with guitar center

The store manager was adamant that the store location was not the same as the .com at first trying to make it seem like guitarcenter.com just had similar names but he then stated that a corp owned the .com warehouse and stores but each were separate companies not bound to the same policies or obligations. He said the same warehouse supplies guitarcenter.com, zzsounds,& musicansfriends; that the .com warehouse company was different. I guess he was mistaken about zzsounds and other things too
as of 8/31/09 there is nothing on www.bbb.org the Better Business Bureau site indicating Guitar Center or guitarcenter.com have accreditation in fact there is only information listing that they aren't

it is not listed with the other accredited businesses in BBB Accredited Business Directory

when searching as a "consumer" "check out a business" guitarcenter.com has no results displaying for the online .com business: There are no results for 'www.guitarcenter.com'.

when you search for Guitar Center the search returns the stores: Business name, Address, Type of business, BBB Accreditation (yes or no). even under the nation wide search option, returning 111 store locations, not one of the stores has a yes under BBB Accreditation- all say no and under the business profile "This company is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau…"

if Guitar Center store locations and guitarcenter.com are accredited the cooperation should contact the BBB all information online indicates otherwis
I rechecked several times including today 8/31/09 on BBB.org (as noted earlier) bc of the message left by GC Customer Support saying GC has accreditation….from what I find online none of the locations or affiliated .com sites have accreditation.