Visited a Store and was shunned

I’ve hung out in many high-end audio stores when I was w/o financial means and was (apparently) lucky to have been treated nicely.

In a similar vein, how many of us have been nervous to buy an LP because the “cool” sales clerk might sneer at our choice?

As others have stated, it's hard to know what really went down when the OP visited that shop. I'd love to say I'm surprised to hear about his negative experience with a high-end retailer, but I'd be lying if I did. That said, we're only hearing one side of the story.

I haven't personally set foot in a brick-and-mortar audio shop in a very long time. None of the gear I was interested in for my latest system was available locally, so - for the first time ever - I bought everything sight unseen and sound unheard. Risky, to be sure, but I relied on word-of-mouth recommendations, my own research, and remote dealers with whom I spoke at length and who earned my trust. Luckily, it all worked out very well, but it could just as easily have gone south.

While building my current system, I did run into one local retailer who really put me off. They were the only dealer in the area selling a storied British speaker line that interested me. I contacted them about auditioning a particular pair of the brand's speakers, and they told me they didn't have that model in the store. Since it's one of the brand's most popular and celebrated models, that was a bit surprising.

I asked how I could audition the speakers before purchasing them, and they told me it wouldn't be possible - all of their customers simply buy them without hearing them first. I ended up finding a similar used model for sale online and purchased those instead.

A few weeks later, I received an email from the dealer stating that there was going to be a price increase on the speakers I'd inquired about, but that he could get me a pair at the current price if I ordered quickly. I politely replied that I had purchased a similar pair elsewhere, but thanked him for reaching out.

He responded by asking if I would be willing to share why I hadn't purchased the speakers from him, as they wanted to use the feedback as a learning experience. I explained that I wasn't prepared to buy speakers at that price point without listening to them first, and that they had made no real effort to accommodate my request for an audition.

That clearly annoyed him. He sent me a very nasty reply criticizing my purchase and disparaging the speaker brand he sells, claiming he could have sold me a better pair of speakers for less money. So not only is he a terrible salesman (and, as it turns out, the owner of the shop), but he's also an awful representative for the brand. Needless to say, they'll never see a dime of my money.

@kob 

When he started up the Hill Plasmatronics for me, I was hooked.

I was not aware of this loudspeaker. So looked them up. Looks like very special ones. Do they still make them? Saw a site dedicated to them. 

I am in the San Francisco area. Like others, I am curious about what store shunned the OP.  There is a store in San Francisco that has the greatest selection of high end audio brands in the area.  On my first visit there, I spent about 20 minutes listening to a product.  When I came back several days later, the salesman greeted me with "are you going to buy something this time?"  Despite this, I did buy a DAC. When I unpacked it at home, something was rattling inside the case.  I immediately drove 40 minutes back to the store to exchange it. The owner wanted to exchange it for a demo unit on the floor that was marked down by several hundred dollars and I had to argue before getting another new DAC. They also did not loan equipment for home auditioning. Of course, I wonder if that's the store the OP is referring to.

I have run into similar but less offensive behavior from store associates. Given where I live in the central VA area, the only brick and mortar stores local to me are Best Buy and Sam's Club. Charlottesville offers a Crutchfield store. None of these 3 locations are willing to indulge my desire to hear expensive speakers I have never heard before prior to making the sale. I was interested in comparing a pair of the current model Khorns with the current model La Scalas in the hope that I would find one of those two choices so overwhelmingly desirable I would buy them on the spot. But nothing doing, they sell them but no audition allowed. Given the hard 'no' to a genuine request from someone who was prepared to throw down enough money to buy a nice car, I left the store with a firm resolve to never go back under any circumstances. They would not even hook up a Marantz HT receiver for an audition. Basically their whole operating deal is you can audition anything that is hooked up but dont ask for anything that isnt. This a horrible business model. That said, I might mail order something like an equipment rack or small electronics but as a serious resource their actual practice in accommodating a serious buyer's request with a hard no exempts them from the game. So now my only recourse is review analysis ahead of time and mail order what I think I want and live with the result. Its too bad the audio world is shrinking in the way that it is. I have fond memories of watching Dad build heathkit gear and then hearing good recorded music on what was for the day good equipment. Maybe not bleeding edge but in the sixties griefkit amplifiers and AR 3a speakers made for a great system, and you could go to any of a half dozen local stores to hear gear that ran the gamut from cheap to pretty esoteric. In those days, the guys that ran these shops always were happy to see someone come in and engage with them and discuss the latest equipment and it's relative strengths and weaknesses, and actually listen to some music on gear you did not have at home. I squandered much of my youth by doing just that. Thoroughly bitten by the bug. Followed in Dad's footsteps and built my own kits, first a Lafayette shortwave radio, followed by two Heathkit FM receivers, the first one was monophonic only, the second stereo. Then came the Dynaco gear, an SCA 80Q amplifier which was my college amp. Then after I married I got a DH-200 Hafler kit that ran for many years. It was still working at the time of the fire 2 years ago but of course is gone now. along with much of everything else. But modern day store behavior is completely different than it used to be. If I am at sams club I am totally ignored which is not unexpected there. At Best Buy its pretty much the same unless you are looking at TVs. That seems to attract associate attention, but audio gear? Not at all...and the associates in the local store on my last visit once I was able to get ones attention were not at all knowledgeable. It's a cruel joke when you expect the salesperson to know their product better than I do...and come away disappointed. Same thing happens when car shopping.