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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
robeffy's avatar
robeffy
84 posts
 

I have had mixed results when stereo shopping.  
Some shops seem uninterested, others do their job, which as a salesman is to sell.

My wife, upon entering a shop in Toronto, once said in a slightly raised voice "Your limit is $10,000 and no more".  She made sure a store employee heard that. Within a few minutes we were seated, with a bottle of water each, and I was asked "What would I like to listen to?" from their album collection.

The Harbeths were nice, I didn't buy them, I went for the B+W 802 D2's, slightly more than $10k as they were demonstrator models.

It was a walk in, but, her comment on my budget got the ball rolling.

 

heliguy420's avatar
heliguy420
9 posts
 

That stinks that a Hi Fi store would come off like that. I would name that store so others will not be turned off from our hobby. I had the total opposite happen to me when I walked into Scott Walker Audio in Anaheim California on the West coast. The sales man which I will name was Colby, and his Dad Scott is the owner, and they were very friendly and professional. I had been out of the hobby for about 15 years and I told them that I might be interested in getting back into the hobby. I did not pull up in a BMW and I was dressed real casual, so they had no idea if I was a real buyer or a window shopper. However they wanted me to listen to a system to show me how much better they are now compared to 15 years ago. About 2 months later I ended up buying my Hi Fi rig I have to this day, and I go to them for advice and to upgrade when I get the itch. If I was you I would never go back to that store that treated you like that because their are plenty of stores on the West coast that are not only after your money, but are genuinely into the hobby and care about the customer.

parkergetdean
1,083 posts
 

my wife would say: "you are not buying zilch!"

larsman's avatar
larsman
3,160 posts
 

There's a store here in Northern California that would gladly let you audition up to 3 pairs of speakers for a $250 fee, which would be credited back if a purchase was made; otherwise you got an expensive audition. I paid the $250 fee, auditioned 3 pairs of speakers, and bought one pair. Discourages time-wasters and tire-kickers indeed, but also discourages many who legitimately wanted to buy something. It's not like the place is always packed with customers.... 

sounds_real_audio
1,099 posts
 

Perhaps if you had lead with that. Tell them you are there to purchase speakers an ask about shipping to your residence, "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.

Lots of people do like to stop in and browse  and they should be encouraged...

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