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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
jond's avatar
jond
5,845 posts
 

Demo's by appointment are industry standard you did everything by the book. The dealer responded poorly and now not only will he get the sale when you buy a turntable he won't ever get a sale from you. That's being dumb with a healthy splash of arrogance mixed in, smart dealers invest the time to make the sale now and in the future.

onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,227 posts
 

How do you demo a turntable for sound quality?  Too many variables.  Were you planning on getting a side by side demonstration into a reference system?

A few years ago a successful dealer told me that audiophile customers were a PITA.  They wanted to demo and compare everything while doing relatively very little buying.  For that dealer the real money was in selling whole systems to customers who really didn't care about the equipment as long as it was not the Cadillac, but the Lexus of audio systems.  (That's a "The Wire" reference).

joey_v
663 posts
 

It’s difficult to compare two different tables with two totally different components on two totally different systems.  I think he figured none would be gained by these demos. 

larry5729's avatar
larry5729
1,008 posts
 

Now I know why you don’t see stereo equipment in home listings.  He sounds like a dealer.  You know they are doing you a favor if they even talk to you.  Is there another dealer you can talk to.  Perhaps contact the manufacturer and have recommend who to talk to.  There are certainly a lot of snobby dealers.  
 

 

mitch2
4,005 posts
 

$15,990 is the list price of the Brinkman Taurus. 

B&M audio sales is no picnic these days, but it is not your responsibility to support a dealer that doesn't understand how to make spending $16K a rewarding and fun experience for their customers.  Find another dealer.

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