2. analog
  3. 184037-76794

Was I Expecting Too Much

Hi everyone.  I'm looking for a heading check with a situation I encountered yesterday.  

Background:

I'm planning to upgrade my turntable later this year - Q3 is my target.  After my research, I've narrowed down to AMG and Brinkmann.  I was able to audition an AMG Viella yesterday, and was looking to audition a Bardo or Taurus for comparison.  I know my thought of trying to fit in a Brinkmann demo was last-minute, and some dealers are particular when it comes to appointments and allowing them time to setup their demo.  

The Situation:

So I called the local Brinkmann dealer and inquired to see if a bardo or taurus happened to be setup.  The salesman I spoke with said they had both, and he was going to check if a demo was possible.  After a few minutes, I get a phone call back from the owner who seemed rather dismissive of my request.  I explained that I'm currently doing my research and looking to hear some demos to help down-select, and that my purchase would be a few months from now.  He asked for my budget which I found strange as I already stated what I was interested in demoing.  Then the conversation turned to what gear I already own, which I understand sort-of.  Then the owner basically said it doesn't make sense for me to demo anything now and to call back when I'm ready to purchase.  

How am I going to know what I want to purchase without demoing the options?

Was I expecting too much by asking to hear equipment that I'm interested in?  My opinion is a sale isn't guaranteed and an audio dealer, just like any other dealer, needs to invest some reasonable amount of time to capture a sale.  You don't capture all the sales, but I didn't think I was being unreasonable in my request and certainly was not trying to waste anyone's time.  I was pretty transparent with where I'm at and I guess he was reciprocating my transparency by telling me to go away.  I felt "less-than" by this experience.  As if I wasn't worth investing any time into.

Thoughts?

 

cbl117
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,821 posts
 

I went for test drives in four different Mercedes SUVs on the same appointment. I drove up in an older car. No issues, they scanned my license and threw me the keys saying have fun. Why being a silly turntable dealer makes these guys think they're better than potential customers is beyond me.

In another vein, the head salesman at Western Electric at AXPONA 2019 dismissed me when I told him I preferred analog by saying, "what would you know about anything?" I was suitably irked by him that I told him the WE91E looks ridiculous. He was not pleased because, let's face it, it does.

bigtwin's avatar
bigtwin
1,205 posts
 

Many years ago, while on vacation in Hawaii, I walked into a high end art gallery wearing beach shorts and a T-Shirt. The salesman treated me like I was a multi millionaire.  Why, because in Hawaii they can't tell who's rich and who's not by appearance, so they have learned to treat everyone like a qualified buyer.  It's a lesson that all sales people sadly have not learned.  

pindac's avatar
pindac
2,864 posts
 

Plenty of ideas put forward why the sales team have acted as they did.

The Outlet might have policies that govern how they interact with a inquiry, and there is a monitoring of the Sales Staff.

In many situations today calls are recorded, maybe they have to show an assertiveness when dealing with phone inquiries. The idea of turning up in person and seeing what is able to be arranged might be the better approach, as turning away a encounter that seems to be a genuine sales inquiry, will be more difficult than thwarting ones inquiry that suggests ones intentions are from an educational aspect and not necessarily committed to a purchase.  

russ69's avatar
russ69
3,518 posts
 

 It's opinions like @russ69's that degrade the value of customer service. 

Customer service is dead, and I didn't kill it. The tire kickers killed it. The shop has to make money to survive, they have bills to pay. "Investing" in a future customer doesn't pay the bills. I'm sorry the OP had a bad experience, I think we all have a bad experience at one time or another. The OP learned that one particular dealer may not be a place he wants to shop. He has 2 other choices for that particular product in his area. 

noromance's avatar
noromance
9,821 posts
 

Reminds me of Elaine in Seinfeld buying her desired dress in the other store and waving it in the window of the initial store to pee off the cranky owner. Until the owner shouts back that she owns the other store too.

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