Store auditioning and then buying on-line from others. How do you feel about it ?

So, after purchasing $5,800 in amps from this unnamed Good High End dealer in Waltham, Mass, I ask to hear a couple of speakers.  Set up the demo a week ahead of time.  Listened to the speakers, which happened to be Magico 3 MK2, which I thought were completely lacking in bass. When I ask the guy about the lack of bass, he's dumbfounded and starts with "so where do you want to go?"  After leaving the store and looking around some and discovering another brand will come closer to my needs, I shop a couple of stores and then go back to the Good High End store in Waltham.  The imbecile store manager tells me  "Wow, that's a great deal; you should buy them there..."  So, where do you think I am going to buy them... and with a very clean conscience?  You got it; Virginia or Nebraska.

I consider it wrong to use a local dealer to audition audio equipment with no intention of buying it from that store. It is selfish and exudes the bad neighbor syndrome of believing others in life are present for your personal entertainment/education. But negotiating price with a local dealer based on what other dealers will sell the equipment for is acting responsibly with a budget. If the local dealer wants the sale they will do their best to get close on the price offered by their competitors; if they don't want to cut their margins, then they will refuse to sell to a willing buyer seeking a fair deal. That is the local dealer saying no to an interested buyer, not the customer wrongly using the local dealer. And it should be noted that "local" has a much different meaning today with dealers that will ship product to you and allow you to try it risk free for a given time period. I have bought new from a local dealer-- and new from a less than local dealer. I have refused to do business with dealers who want to misrepresent where the transaction occurred or offer to sell me "new" stuff that requires me to lie and say I live outside another dealer's territory. Also, I have received good advice and service from non-local dealers who respond quickly to email, answer their phones, follow up with manufacturers to address concerns and have adjusted to the shrinking world the internet has created. 

I personally never quibble about price if I'm buying from a local audio dealer.  If I'm buying new, so long as I know I'm just not getting shafted on the price, I'm not going to haggle.  It's my feeling that running a high end audio store is difficult enough - it's not like tons of people get rich off of it.  And every sale counts.  So I don't want to skimp and take money out of the very profit the dealer needs to run his shop.

Prof- with respect to your hypothetical about whether you are ethically bound to purchase a product from the B&M store when you liked the product but not the audition experience, I'd say no.  When you buy B&M, a portion of the "value" you get in exchange for the higher price you pay includes customer service.  If the service (e.g., the way you were treated) is poor before the sale, imagine how it will be AFTER they have already have your $!  Your decision process w respect to the A/N's was way more than that store deserved, IMO.  In that case, they did not earn your business.  If I ever got treated that way, you can bet I'd never be back.