Have you ever been turned off by an Arrogant Dealer? Thoughts

Thankfully over the past decades I've had a lot more positive experiences than negative, so have relegated the names of the jerks to the mental dustbin.  Dealers who were more than helpful (even when I was a high schooler and college kid with little to spend) were Jonas Miller, Havens & Hardesty, Middleton, White and Kemp, and of course Neil Sinclair and Evelyn at the original Absolute Audio in Santa Ana.  These days I consider Mike at Excel Audio (Newport Beach) to be my "go-to" dealer, and have made two (for me) major purchases from him in the past year.

My second week open at my high-end store (1974--South Florida) a young man walked in with no shoes, no shirt, cut-offs, and really long, stringy blonde hair.

Surfer, I thought, but hey, I was only open two weeks, so what the heck?

He bought the most expensive Audio Research and Magneplaners in the store, along with a Trinitron TV (remember them?) and a Thornes TT, SME arm, and Supex cartridge.  He ordered a Nakamichi, which was not out yet.

He then went to his car and came in with a suitcase of cash.

SO, I learned very early that, one, never discount a customer over appearance, and two, NEVER ask a customer what they do for a living.

In those days in South Florida, and thoughout the 1980's, we had MANY cash transactions from people one may not think on first look could make those purchases.

Now, the man I sold the business to had two rules:  treat customers like crap, and if they don't squeal at the price, double it.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess...

Back when we lived in the DC area, I visited a lot of "brick and mortar" shops in search of a new pair of speakers.

If my memory serves me, I stopped at one in Bethesda, MD on a dreadfully hot, humid day, with on-and-off rain all afternoon.  When I walked in the front door, the sales rep greeted me with "do you have an appointment?"  It pretty much went down hill from there.  They had the speakers I was interested in driven by a high-quality amp that was in a rack on the shelf above the amp I owned, but they were not willing to unplug the speaker cables to plug them into the same model I owned.  Being a hot day, the AC fan was so loud, I asked if I could have them turn the AC off for 5-10 minutes, but they weren't willing to, saying they would be happy to increase the volume.

I don't know how dealers like this survive...

 Nothing happens without a customer.  The old saying the customer is king.  Wrong, he's GOD 

I appreciate dealer arrogance. What right do I have to be there? Poseur! Scum! Throw me out! Spit on me! I deserve it!