What's your experience with snooty HiFi salesmen?
I began my Hifi journey in 1976 at a shop in Birmingham MI called Audio Dimensions. He was a Magnapan and ARC dealer who was kind to a 15 year old kid who bought a set of MG 1s with paper route money. The ARC amps he carried were about $4K back then- a LOT of money in 1976. In the beginning I drove my MG 1s with an old Fisher Studio Standard integrated amp. Since those lovely innocent days I have encountered some real buttholes. They act like they are doing me a favor as they quiz me about what gear I have and if I'm listening to "approved" recordings. Needless to say I don't buy from those guys. Several wives and businesses later I'm back into the hobby with a much vengeance as a 61 year old can muster given only so many free hours in a day and only so much cash to apply due to my other vices: Classic cars and salt water fishing.
Have you ever encountered a really good or really bad dealer (or employee) that changed your buying actions?
Darko posted a video on this topic which I found really enjoyable. Many of you have already seen it but for those (like me) who discovered it much later here's the link:
https://darko.audio/2022/09/audiophiles-are-snobs-with-money-to-burn/
When I was a teen in the 70s, my brother took me to Soundex to buy my first stereo with my first income tax refund. The store was small and my brother knew the sales guy from previous purchases. Over time Soundex grew and ended up with a 2 floor 22 room Hifi Heaven with all the latest and greatest. My experience then was that if you were not dressed a certain way, had a certain haircut, or have money hanging out of your pockets, you were pretty much ignored. I used that to my advantage on Saturdays when I would take my own disks and step into Room #1 which actually had whatever the latest top high end gear was that month. I would close the door and play my disks. The sales guys always assumed another was doing a demo for a buyer and rarely bothered me. That was how I got to hear some of the best gear available at the time. 2 times when I was ignored, I watched someone buy a $20K Oracle TT and then the next week trade it in for the $30K model so I had to wait forever to buy a set of $50 cables . Soundex is long gone but was a premier spot for High End in it's day as long as you looked like you had money. |
@ghdprentice I understand the reaction of "moving on" if there is an attitude problem in a store. But given (a) the scarcity of audio stores and (b) the importance of hearing a system in person, many people don’t have the luxury of moving on, right? This does not justify the salesperson being snooty or rude, but they have leverage in the situation. I live in Denver. I have found the folks here pretty friendly, open. That’s partly a Western state thing; friendly is expected a lot of the time. Still, if they weren’t, and I wanted to hear Devore or Wilson or Dynaudio or Acora or whatever, I would have to try to get a slightly tougher skin. Otherwise, I'd have to travel a long way to hear them. Beyond that, what do I do -- buy these speakers on the internet and pay $$$ for shipping to return them? That's not going to give me a lot of experience before buying. Hence, the leverage. |
Yes, and you don’t need to go to a store anymore because now they’re on-line in forums like this and on the phone! When that happens I won’t buy anything from them, and in some instances even the product they are selling from anyone. That’s why I will never buy a particular streamer, that I won’t mention here because I don’t want to offend the good audiophiles that enjoy that product. I also make it a point to continue to tell everyone I am in contact with and discuss audio about my experience and why I don’t recommend buying from this person. This is the only way you can make a difference in the attitude of some of these individuals. Your wallet! On the flip side, if they treat me right I treat them right in every way I can. I’m their their best advocate, product and person 😀 |
