I still remember one notable GC visit. 
 
Me - "Do you have any Line 6 Variaxes in?" 
Rocks For Brains - "Yeah, we just got a bunch in"
Me - "Can I try one?"
RFB - "No, we're going to have to return all of them"
Me - "Why's that?"
RFB - "None of them work!"
Me - "That doesn't sound right, can I see one?"
RFB - "Sure, they're all right here.  I tried them myself!"
Me - "Do you have a TRS guitar cable I can use?"
RFB - "What?"
Me - "A guitar cable that has two rings on the plug instead of one?  You can't use the normal cables with a Variax."
RFB - "Oh...  We're not allowed to use those on the floor, they get stolen."

One of my kids bought a bass at a local GC a couple of years ago.  They just plucked it off the wall and handed it over.  That's it.  It doesn't come with anything else. 
 
Later, he decided the bass really wasn't for him, so he returned it for a full refund.  They hung it up on the wall with the Used equipment, and marked the price up $200 more than the original price.  It sold within a few days...

Remember the good old days where you got a case no matter how cheap the guitar was? It's total BS that you have to purchase a case separately for a guitar you paid $400 or more for. I remember my first electric I got in 1982 was a Sears strat copy. It was $179 and came with a hard case. It should still be that way. Companies are so worried about their profits that they're fine with hosing the customer. Disgusting. Okay, I'm done. Thanks for listening. :)

MakeShift
Most of the time when I go into GC I end up...

...walking out without purchasing anything.
 
GC=0
Bapu=1
 

I take my kids there, leave them running rampant throughout the store, and return an hour or so later.
 
GC=-11
Bubba=3

I do like the fact that GC has a lot of stuff that you can demo and try out. I think that is one of their strengths. I go in and try out different guitars and amps all of the time. They usually have a lot of e drum kits to demo. My daughter loves to demo all of the key boards.

I avoid buying strings at the store in Arlington, because everything is behind the counter. I like being able to pick up packages at random and read the packaging. The store in Mesquite has all of the accessories accessible, so now I buy this stuff at that location. It seems like it would be in their best interest to survey their customers on occasion.

I have kind of learned the nuances of the locations of the GC's here in Dallas. The Central Expressway location seems to have better staff in the Studio and Recording Department than others. They also have a guy in Guitars that is pretty knowledgable. I guess I choose which location I stop at based on what I am looking for. I still use a small Music Store with an experience Technician for all my repairs.

I just go in, pick the most expensive guitar I can find off the wall when they're not looking, find a loud, solid-state, mass-produced piece of crap amp, plug in and wiggle the cable until I hear some crackle, turn the amp way up, pick a horrible preset, then do my mash-up rendition of Stairway To Heaven / Elenor Rigby / Crazy Train.
 
Then I pretend to get a phone call, leave everything on, lean the guitar against something and exit the store.
 
Should the absolutely rare event of a salesdweeb stopping by to ask if I wanted anything actually happen, I love to ask if they have any of the green-coated, square wound accordian strings in stock since they're store is the only place I was able to get some last time.  As soon as he goes in back to look it up, I get that phantom phone call...
 
It doesn't make up for the dozens of times I walked in ready to spend a LOT of money and couldn't get one of the salesdweebs to leave their broke, pimply faced, horribly pierced and tatooed friends long enough to get what I wanted, but there is some satisfaction in it.

I don't go into G.C.........(unless I really need something ASAP)

Mesh
I don't go into G.C.........(unless I really need something ASAP)

As Sucky As Possible?

The folks at that GC down in Town Square were actually doing ok I guess, very polite and willing to help. I've seen much worst, and I can't blame them for what's apparently a company policy.
 
The worst kind of sales guy to me is the one who doesn't have what I need and tries to talk me into buying this or that supposedly much better alternative, like that one guy who tried to convince me that Line 6 and the POD were just a fad and actually not very good - until their store became an authorized Line 6 dealer. Or that other genius who advised me to stay away from that "manufactured in China kind of junk" and suggested a supposedly much better alternative - that was actually made in China. 
 
By the time I walk into a music store, my homework is done and I'm usually not looking for guidance or suggestions. In fact, at this point, I probably know at least as much about the product I want as any sales guy ever will. I'll have all the pertinent names and models numbers memorized and I already know that it's either this or that.