That said, my recent bought of speaker auditioning brought up an ethical question:
How committed should I feel to a dealer who gives a crappy audition experience???
I
had a couple that left a bad taste in my mouth. In one case I was
auditioning Audio Note speakers at the only AN dealer around. The
speakers were in a small room and the salesman was one of those
"too
much chat" and "stand behind you while you listen" types. I can't
stand that, couldn't relax to see if I could get into the sound, and I
very politely said "I'm actually fine on my own here, if I could just
listen a while." That seemed to slightly chuff the salesman who left,
closing the door fairly strongly. Within a minute the store owner came
in - clearly having been told by the salesmen that I'd asked to listen
on my own - and defiantly pulled up a chair and sat down near me, arms
crossed. As in "sorry buddy, this is our store and no one tells us what
to do." And he began to chat.
Even if I liked the speaker, they lost a sale for that ridiculous attitude.
Now IF I'd liked the speaker....how committed should I feel to buying from salesmen who acted like that?
I
had a similar, though not quite as bad experience when I auditioned
another brand of speakers I was interested in. It was a fairly large store, staffed by younger guys who seemed limited in their knowledge and experience. Basically I was contemplating buying a $10,000 pair of speakers in a certain finish (ebony). I deliberately took time off work to show up mid-week, afternoon, at a time I knew the store would be quiet.
I was the only one there, with 3 bored salesmen. And a lot of "let me operate the CD player and tracks for you" stuff, like I couldn't be trusted to even do that without a salesman watching me. After only about 25 minutes the salesman started the "ok, times up, what did you think?" patter. It wasn't nearly enough time to make a decision about that much money. It's not like people were lining up to take up their time. I was the only customer there and they clearly had nothing else to do.
Once
again, left with a very bad taste in my mouth, not wanting to go back
there. Though if I'd loved the speakers, I would have bought them from
the store.
But I decided the speakers probably weren't for me anyway.
But...months
later I encountered that brand again at some length at an audio show and
it re-ignited my interest in the speakers. And when I was doing one of
my casual looks through the audio marts, not looking for anything specific, I spotted a pair at a ridiculous steal of a price. But in the
wrong finish.
So what was I to do? I didn't care for the way
the speaker store rushed the audition process, yet maybe I would like the speakers after a longer listen.
My compromise was this: I knew if I bought the second hand pair I could very easily re-sell them. So I grabbed them as a form of my own in-home
audition. If I liked them and they sounded good in my room, I would sell them and buy a brand new
pair in the finish I really want from the store. That was frankly the
only way the store had a chance for a sale anyway, since my store
audition hadn't sold me on the speaker.
Turns out I didn't care for the speaker and quickly re-sold it. And holy cow I'm glad I didn't buy it after that rushed audition at the store!
That's the closest I've ever come to breaking my code of listening at a store and buying used. But all things considered, it struck me as a fair way to give the store a shot at my buying a speaker from that store, despite not liking the store experience.