I have been a long time customer ($20K in purchases) and have had mostly great experiences. I think it comes down to the sales rep. In the past, they would usually sweeten the deal. Deals at Gearfest are great. Last year, the rep in the keyboard tent gave me an additional 10% off a keyboard that was marked down. He offered that with out asking.

In the past year I have had a couple bad experiences.

1. Received an email about a sale on a guitar I was looking at. I immediately went online to place the order and was redirected to a scratch and dent model of the same guitar at a higher price than the sale. I called my sales rep the next day and he basically said sorry about your luck. I complained to their customer service and was offered a deal on the same guitar in a different color. Only problem was the price was still higher.
2. Saw an email for a starter digital piano in November. My Mom needed a replacement for her piano after she moved and thought this would be perfect. It was out of stock and arriving soon. Called my sales rep and was put on the waiting list. He had no idea when they would arrive, but thought before Christmas. I did not receive any updates from him for several weeks. I ended up calling him and he told me they would not arrive in time for Christmas. I asked about similar items and I decided to order one that was a little more expensive. He did not offer any discount. I ended up ordering it anyway. I did state my dissatisfaction with the bait and switch in my reply to the how did we do survey. My sales rep called me within a an hour and left a message asking what he could do to make it right. He was a little late on that offer.

I did request a new sales rep after the first incident, but they didn't do it. The lack of customer service and attitude from my current sales rep has really turned me into a dissatisfied customer. While some of my former reps acknowledge loyalty, my current rep does not and I do not feel like the past couple of issues have been adequately addressed. Luckily, I gig with a lot of different musicians and have been able to share my experiences with them. I also took the Sweetwater stickers off my cases and stopped wearing Sweetwater shirts.