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Visited a Store and was shunned

I live in an area where brick & mortar stores are not easily assessable to demo equipment. While traveling for business, I decided to stop by an establishment on the U.S. West coast. My interest was in the Dynaudio Confidence 20 since I’m looking to upgrade from the Contour 20i. I’m not here to name names or throw anyone under the bus, just purely to voice my frustration and disbelief on how I was treated.

I was greeted with skepticism and a general lack of interest in discussing the product. There were two gentlemen working that day and neither had any interest in answering questions or providing a listening demo. As a matter of fact, when I asked to listen to the Confidence 20 speakers one of them immediately said “no way”. Both speakers were on stands sitting next to several amplifiers so it wouldn’t have taken much time to setup.

I was intent on making a purchase that day and having the speakers shipped to my residence, but decided to leave the store based on my experience.

It’s a shame that most of us have to relay on equipment reviews when establishments such as this lack interest in the customers that support the hobby.

vette5451
mlsstl
1,590 posts
 

Sounds like, for whatever reason, the sales guys sized you up as a time waster, only there to window shop.  I've bumped into that from time to time, though for me more often for car shopping than stereo gear.  The problem with a lot of sales people is they think they've got it all figured out and are never wrong. 

gkelly's avatar
gkelly
1,039 posts
 

And there’s the story of how a guy drives up in a beat up car and goes into the store with a backpack on. The sales guy suspicious of the bag and made him leave it at the front door. Only to have him audition a high end set of headphones. Of course after the listen he pulls out a wad of Benjamin’s to pay for them. It’s too bad we have to live in a world where both of these stories happen in our world. 🌎 

daveyf's avatar
daveyf
3,115 posts
 

Reminds me of a story I heard years ago about a local music store. One day a man walks in and asks to demo one of their expensive Gibson guitars. The sales guy hands the customer the guitar and asks if the customer is there to buy this particular guitar. The customer asks to play another even more expensive Gibson…and is told no way,as the customer clearly doesn’t know how to really play! Wherein the customer got up and immediately walked out.

The sales guy got it wrong that day, as the customers name was Eric Clapton….

 

parkergetdean
1,069 posts
 

the least you can do is to name the store. The way they treated you is disrespectful to say the least.

 

milpai's avatar
milpai
2,668 posts
 

@vette5451 

This is so bad.

And completely opposite to a west coast dealer - The Analog Shop- where the owner made me listen to a $40k speaker pair paired with Nagra gear, despite knowing that I was shopping for $1500 pair loudspeakers. He was helping me identify what I needed to compare in the lower tier speakers.

From my great experience to your pathetic experience on the west coast. Look out for another dealer. There are so many that side compared to where I am now.

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