Long & McQuade

Long & McQuade Burlington has good and bad features.
The Good:
* Huge selection of Instruments
*Very competitive prices
*Has had a good selection of used gear in past
*Very generous return policy. I think it’s 30 days
The Bad:
*Over the last 30 or so years has employed *some* of the worst salesmen ever to work in the industry
*The parking lot is a horrible design, very small and often a nightmare. Expect to wait during peaks
*Limited guitar string choices, the brands they want not necessarily the ones you want
*Used guitars have looked pretty dismal since they started mixing them in with new guitars.
*When items are returned, even up to a month, they put them back on the floor as new at full price
Rather than give a long personalized review about my last bad experience there I’ll just say this. I’ve been a patron of this place for about 28 years in which time they’ve had 2 different names and 2 different locations. I’ve had a handful of good experiences here over the years but an inordinate number of bad experiences involving truly substandard staff with no customer service skills whatsoever. This has caused me to move on to stores that actually appreciate their customers. It’s not that they haven’t had some excellent staff over the years, it’s just that they seemed to have cornered the market on the Wayne’s World type salesman… LOL. And yes, I’ve brought my concerns up with store management and chain management and turned down apology perks over the years. I’ve also commented to same when they’ve done things exceptionally well. In the end, a vocal customer gets branded a complainer by them… c’est la vie. My reviews are fair, many more 4 & 5 star ones than anything else. Thanks for the memories Lakeshore Music… time for me to move on.

I’d just like to echo the positive comments of Carleen L. when it comes to L & M’s rental service.
I have no musical /​audio equipment background at all, but have rented audio equipment etc. for 5 different house parties 3 of my teens held over 5 years or so.
The staff in rental department were amazing both in their recommendations of which equipment would best suit our basement and in gathering up all the necessary cables etc. we’d need. They made what was — to me at least — something that would seem like a technical nightmare a ’ piece of cake ’ — no more difficult than renting a DVD ! And the price for renting the equipment was dirt cheap as well… you can’t go wrong IMO.
The first occasion was a birthday party where on of the kids’ garage band was going to play in the basement — so we rented speakers, amps, mixing boards, laser lights… and even a smoke machine !!! The sound from the band — and the evening — was a HUGE hit ! Simply picked up the gear on Friday night and returned it on Monday. It went so well, as I said above, we rented laser light, sound and smoke equipment for the next 4 parties as well.
The only thing keeping L & M from getting a 5 * rating is the parking — it’s brutal. Their lot is very small and gets filled up quickly and nearby street parking is virtually non-​existent. At least in the case of loading and and unloading rental equipment — this becomes a major pain.
That aside — at least when it comes to their rental department — great service, great equipment and great prices !

Love this store — so much better than the Toronto location (I don’t like as much snoot with my music, thanks).
The prices are a little high, but there’s often not many other places you can actually get what you want. What this store does though is provide fabulous customer service. Very friendly faces who go out of their ways to help.

The Best thing about this place is their staff, they ROCK (lol), they really know there stuff, they are not pushy and they allow you to truly take your time checking out an instrument, they also have great lessons too.
Be sure to ask for Tim Park he’s the man, honest smart and helpful all the way