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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
ericrhodes1's avatar
ericrhodes1
257 posts
 

@larsman I know that place. I went through that when shopping for floorstanders. They set up Dali, Dynaudio and a third pair I can't remember. I bought the Dynaudio's. Great gear, I would have bought more, lesser priced stuff there, but meeting those conditions for smaller change is definitely discouraging. They're never busy, so... Whatever. I'm sure they get a lot of phone-ins from people with more money than God. But still.

Also, I haven't read any mention of walk-ins who audition, only to leave and purchase their choice online. It's common, and understandabley very discouraging for salesmen. 

barts's avatar
barts
801 posts
 

I walked into Sound by Singer in NYC about 40 yrs ago and was promptly and ungraciously told to leave.  I did protest mildly to no avail.

Don't know if it was him but  hifi podcaster Steve worked there at the time.

Never went back even when I could buy whatever I wanted.

Regards,

barts

kacomess
222 posts
 

I recall (before the advent of online sellers) when the people who sold stereo equipment were really into the hobby and auditioning items for potential customers was a pleasure for all involved. Same comment on record stores.  A little rapport sometimes goes a long way towards a sale.

russwill
56 posts
 

On Hwy61 nailed it. If I had time I would talk,demo ,and discuss whatever with the customer. I got that people wanted to listen and find out about product. It was a great way to spend time if nothing else was going on. It did end up with sales a lot of the time. The down side of that was the person who after talking and listening wanted to keep it up after I had someone who was there to buy that day. Salesmen are there to make money for the store and themselves. If you have a hard time extricating yourself from them it sucks. Now at the store I worked at we would never deny a demo unless, someone was giving one already. 

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
4,577 posts
 

I will generally visit dealers for accessories I could probably get a lot cheaper on line,  used records,  and ONLY when I am about make a serious decision and ready to make a deal.   Otherwise I do not waste their time.  

If I walked in and was told there was an audition fee on something costing several grand and I was ready to spend, I would politely say " thanks for your time" and leave.   That is BS...

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