Ever feel like a "low dollar" customer that your dealer doesn't think worth their time?

It's not an audio gear story, but this happened to me a couple of cars ago when I was car shopping.

I had been driving a BMW 328i convertible for almost 4 years and had been saving up for my next new car. The 328i was ordered and my plan was to order another car. 

Put it for sale on the posting board at work thinking it would take me a month or two to sell... oops... sold it in one day!

Had to have the new owner drop me off at Hertz after work and I ended up renting a Mazda 3. That weekend, I drove it up to the Mercedes dealer and asked to test drive a C63 AMG. They wouldn't even show me one - maybe I shouldn't have parked the Mazda by their front door, ha ha. Told them that I have cash ON HAND and was ready to buy, but I didn't get anywhere with them. Instead, they kept on showing me overpriced used cars that appeared to have been waxed using sand paper - swirl marks on black metallic paint galore.

Ended up going to BMW and got an order for an E92 M3 hammered out in an hour. Got to drive my rented "M3" until the real one arrived.

That was 2 cars ago... still miss the redline on that V8!

I only drive my clients Mercedes, I have an old Honda Accord.Plus i always go right to the clearance center in all the stores and shops.lol

Give it up folks! Retail Hifi is dead as a doornail and now the virus has sealed the coffin.
IMCE nothing affects a retail sales floor like lack of traffic/business. Once depression really catches hold, it can spread rapidly. When a salesperson realizes--no matter how diligent s/he is in doing the job--that s/he has little chance of making the rent this month, things change. Customers who don’t buy become thieves swiping your expertise and your demonstrations in order to buy elsewhere--especially online.
We are stuck in a frustrating liminal era in which the unknown far outweighs the future knowns. We are the ones who will preserve our hobby/business by spearheading a new structure for the preservation of great sound.
1. Make evaluations based upon multiple inputs: youTube, Stereophile, Absolute Sound, Audiogon, etc., etc.
2. Gather in groups to share gear when possible.
3. Acquire the 2 or 3 likeliest choices for audition of 2 to 4 weeks.
4. Buy with much more assurance than if you had heard the equipment in some retail store with who knows what kind of help.
Believe me, the guidance you will get in well-managed stores has as much to do with what’s in stock and its gross margin as it does with satisfying your needs or desires.
Oh, one other thing: audio salespeople are not there to entertain you. They’re there to do business and you can hardly blame them if they ask you for an order before you split.

Give it up folks! Retail Hifi is dead as a doornail and now the virus has sealed the coffin.

Pretty all small retails will die....

Neural link for audio and for those who will afford it, the rest will buy Amazon speakers freely delivered  to your door off course....

:)

@denverfred 

Believe me, the guidance you will get in well-managed stores has as much to do with what’s in stock and its gross margin as it does with satisfying your needs or desires.
Oh, one other thing: audio salespeople are not there to entertain you. They’re there to do business and you can hardly blame them if they ask you for an order before you split.

So true. It is a tough business to be in and probably only for those with a real passion for the hobby.