"High end" store snobbery

Back in the day if a salesperson was a jerk I didn't buy from them, that simple. For me the internet replaced Salons years ago.  I have never had a product sound the same in my home as it did in a store.  I was a member here for years and quit.  I re-upped last year.  The people in this forum help is assemble all my system since 2001.  User reviews for me were the way to go, professional reviewers are in it for the money and freebees.

years ago, at a local shop by me, had same experience, rude, arrogant people, like pulling up in a pickup at a Caddy dealer, they just don't care.

 Brought my ol trusty Sunfire 300 *at the time"

hooked up to snell, B and W, klipsch, etc, brought a few cds ( i had already been to the shop, and felt the ice on my baBrought a Exit 13 CD with me "ethos music"

played a few songs, asked for some volume , next song was "An Electronic Fugue For The Imminent Demise of Planet Earth" which is a full pure max volume of just noise (do not play loud) search it, and imagine the open jaw when this tune started with a high volume on their speakers.

Based on 40 years of experience, Hi Fi dealers often tend to be kind of rude, but once you make friends with them, things often change.

I live in Milan, Italy, and I must say that the old Hi Fi dealers in my city (this was in the Eighties and Nineties - they have all closed since), where terribly rude, with very few exceptions.

I remember parking a brand new Porsche in front of a well-known dealer downtown Milan and, when I asked them if I could audtion a specific product, which I knew they had on display, they told mw to come back another day (the store was empty).

They lost a good sale.

rude is never good...but how many hours have members here spent auditioning gear in stores, knowing they would buy it used on Audiogon...very different then when stores only had to compete with other stores...

You can't confuse a hobby with a sales experience. Clubs and audio societies are all about learning. A retailer especially in audio these days can't be all things to all people. If you had walked in and said I want a new X (amp, speakers, system, etc ) and I have X $ to spend they might have been able to help you (and more willing to spend some time). Trade-ins have NEVER been a big part of an audio shop's business, although some might allow (grudgingly) an upgrade in something they sell a lot of.  An even lightly used big brand AV box loses value about 10  faster than a new car. A good stereo is complicated. A good AV system even more so and many audio guys don't even bother. It's a specialty.