Email thread: Documented Racism in your stores. Again.

Email: RE: Documented Racism in your stores. Again.

1. Tyler Johnston-Kent Wed, Jul 1, 2026 at 8:26 AM

   Steve, When you take personal offence to me talking about the racism your staff exhibits that kind of presents another sort of, assumption here. Nobody is calling you racist and if that's what you're taking from this I'm really.. I don't really understand what to say here Steve. I try my best to be nice but foremost honest. Unfortunately, there is a reading comprehension issue here. So not once, have you or your staff recognized my technical ability. There has been ample decision with wording from all staff to not give me any benefit here which is your prerogative, sure. The entire situation has been, probably the highest level of rude one can really muster here. The only professionals here, were Jeff honestly and he's an older guy, he doesn't deserve to handle that sort of stress. He's only ever done his best the last 20 years I've known the guy. I'm even reading into a whole lot of hostility coming from you Steve which is really absurd. I have done an audit on your staff you should be paying me a lot of money for. I'm only really seeing a lot of disrespect and doubt. Your sales staff are hired for their ability to sell. Not their ability to technically diagnose systems. At least that is what I am assuming here. I am more qualified than your techs on paper even Steve. I believe I would just need the one certificate for soldering professionally that only takes a few weeks to get to actually, do the work your techs do to guitars on site. That has to be formally acknowledged here Steve. You can't keep deflecting my skills over your staff and giving them the benefit of the doubt over a man who was able to document negligence and egregiously wrong diagnostics on something they apparently hardly understand. Do I have to do a video presentation on soldering guitars for you and buy a build a guitar kit online to prove to you guys I know what I'm talking about? My work and university experience isn't enough? That's really what's going on here Steve. You got some, highly unqualified weirdos on your floors who will take any opportunity to make fun of a customer but when it comes to a customer fighting back and proving the negligence as bad as I have on paper. Now you want to forget it happened and continue to imply I am the bad person here? You're a millionaire Steve. I am, a native man who literally can't even get proper medical care due to the social stigma our country has perpetuated over the past 159 years. I can't even get a basic customer service job in most places because people assume I will either steal the stock, or scare away customers. That's something I have to live with every day. When I come in and experience it in your store, and tell the people who should care, and those people just sneer? Mock me for bringing up a horrible scenario that should never happen? Those actions prove to me this issue is systemic and there is a core belief unfortunately that either you're too good to be called racist, or you'll do anything to get away from the term by including to make the victim feel bad and isolate them. That's unfortunately what that shows me. I really hope, you consider taking emails and letters like this with less personal inflections and actually read and understand what people are saying. You acted emotionally. That is highly unprofessional. I did not come in here yelling or screaming. I told you, in a professional email, an experience I had at one of your stores. You immediately tried to reverse the victim over email. That's just not really okay Steve. So anyways. I am over the situation. I will continue to record and audit the staff you hire, especially the ones who are prone to this sort of behaviour. I have already been told, previous staff I have reported from Pembina, were fired for my complaints. If not me exactly, similar complaints of racism and prejudice from older staff members towards indigenous customers. That shouldn't be a common thing. it is. It's obviously such a problem, Jason does something about it, and you all try to keep it under wraps. The next time I see this racism, I won't be telling you. I will be doing a full report and investigation and showing the world how your staff treat only native customers. That shouldn't be something I can easily do. It will be unfortunately because that's the stigma here in our country. I don't need a phone call. Recognition of what I experienced, explicit recognition for the issues I've experienced would be great. An apology for the issues I've experienced in the past at Calgary South. A promise that any native man or woman who enters one of your stores across the country will not experience this sort of racism while trying to spend money at Steve Long the Millionaire's guitar shop. It's not something I should be able to call out and audit this easily. It is though. Tyler.

2. slong@yorkville.com Wed, Jul 1, 2026 at 8:44 AM

   Thanks for your thoughtful letter. You are correct we need to work to assure that everyone is welcome in our store. People with preconceived notions about groups have no place at Long and McQuade. I will consider your comments and how we can do better. Steve Sent from my Galaxy

3. Tyler Johnston-Kent Wed, Jul 1, 2026 at 9:00 AM

   Still zero recognition of my ability. It is noted you will take any opportunity to diminish my abilities here. Noted Steve. The next time I catch your staff being racist there is going to be a lot to go over. Can't even recognize a persons abilities. Not everyone gets born into riches Steve. It's just sad. Tyler.

4. slong@yorkville.com Wed, Jul 1, 2026 at 9:50 AM

   I am just not sure the relevance. I am not denying your knowledge, obviously as a knowledgeable customer you need something different from our staff than a beginner, but I thought your issue was that you felt we were not being respectful to indigenous customers which I would not be happy with. I am really not sure what you want and it feels like whatever I say just seems to make you more angry. My goal for Long and McQuade is that anyone can come into the store and feel respected and thay we would help any musician to the best of our ability. The fact that some customers including yourself will know more than many of our staff on certain topics is just the reality that we live with. We do as much training as we can and are always trying to improve our staff knowledge but everyone has different areas of interest and aptitude. Let me return the tables ans ask what you would consider my response ahould be to your complaints about Long and McQuade. Sent from my Galaxy

5. Tyler Johnston-Kent Wed, Jul 1, 2026 at 1:18 PM

   Steve. You're currently exhibiting the exact behaviour those staff were in real time. Dismissing a coloured man's expertise and failing to understand this entire situation started due to this exact same experience is troubling. You can't see what you're doing here? Directly denying a persons experience to give your sales staff the benefit of the doubt while you disregard anything and everything the customer says based on principle? This is why we're writing these out Steve. The hostility in your writing over exposing what your staff does and has been fired over here is truly troubling. This is obviously something that seems to be engrained in the workplace culture of Long and McQuade and doesn't seem to be something you consider troubling. This entire situation started because one of your staff refused to acknowledge the competence of a customer and decided to do what he did, based on how I look. You're now doing the exact same thing. That seems to be a trained response then. I had to be sure which is why we're having these emails. What am I supposed to be doing here, paying people who don't even have the decency to give respect when it's due? It's truly sad to witness and experience here. I thought I would be hearing something reasonable. It doesn't seem that way. I will be having some discussion with Jeff and such about these emails and how the account shall be handled here in the future. I may not be rich but I spend a lot of money at your business. It seems the respect isn't a mutual experience from you to me. This is all, documented and soon to be public information Steve. Video series in the future about Canadian businesses and how you've monopolized mom and pop music stores just to hold this racist monopoly where indigenous people apparently can't even buy a guitar without being mocked and ridiculed. I just wish it was anything else. Tyler.

6. Tyler Johnston-Kent Wed, Jul 1, 2026 at 1:31 PM

   Steve, I also have to mention here since you want to make the jabs and commentary. Not one ounce of my writing and initiatives here have been in anger. There has been a lot of mental projections on your end imposing anger and frustration onto me. Not once have I really expressed much anger. If you find direct confrontational experiences about your staff being racist and you consider that threatening or angry in any way, you really need to take a look in the mirror Steve. I put a lot of faith in you being reasonable. You've been hostile, angry and are even projecting mental states onto me. That is something someone who's going through an emotional situation here would be doing. I am explaining things calmly and in writing. I am not making comments that are false and untrue I am just saying stuff how it is, as direct as I can to a person who probably never hears this at all as most people probably suck up to you hard. I do not really care that you're Steve Long especially after what I've just experienced here today. I was hoping for, undertaking and respect. I apparently got a got trying to continue to paint an Indigenous man as threatening in any way you can. That is the problem Steve. So I will be showing these emails to your staff next week as I said and going over what to do here as I start writing the work up for the videos and presentations. We've been dealing with this scenario since before covid Steve. Obviously nothing has changed. Tyler.

7. slong@yorkville.com Wed, Jul 1, 2026 at 1:43 PM

   Something is not translating well. In my last email I was asking what you thought I should do. I am genuinely not sure exactly what you think I should be doing. My point about your knowledge being irrelevant is based on the fact you said you felt disrespected. Whether or not you have specific knowledge should have no bearing on that. As I have repeated many times everyone should be respected amd talked to properly. I am certainly not trying to insult you and if it comes off that way it is a communication breakdown. I would like nothing more than fo3 you to find Long and McQuade an enjoyable place to shop, I dont want you to have to feel stressed out coming to buy something. I very often say that we should try to make shopping at our stores a fun experience. You did not experience that, and it is our fault. I have never said anything different. There are plenty of other options in Canada for music products we are far from a monopoly and we always need to earn the business of each and every customer. I feel that we would have a better conversation in person, what I am thinking and what you are hearing are not the same. Sent from my Galaxy

Sources (5)

• email: May 23: complaint sent to Steve (2026-05-23)
• email: May 23: documentation notice to Steve (2026-05-23)
• email: June 8-9: complaint escalation and Steve's response (2026-06-09)
• email: July 1: anger characterization and acknowledgement (2026-07-01)
• email: June 19: Steve's response to the racism complaint (2026-06-19)