Walking Into A Brick & Mortar High End Audio Store

Ignorance, prejudicial thoughts, anti-Semitic statements, and now, threats of physical violence.....

The IQ deficiency or defects is usually ID'd when one takes humor or allegory as literal meaning and than continues to prove it again and again(that's a fact).

No wonder that sincere and positive statement about B&H store turned out to be offensive and vulgar(speaking with supportive evidence indeed).

My entire life I see that, yet, I didn't want to believe that I live among huge portion of mentally undeveloped crowd(indeed not because of birth defect, but I'd rather define as established mindset), but finding at least 3 such dummies in this particular post leaves me with no choice as leave with that proven fact.

Very sad indeed

Oy, ost der gezain? Get this thread back on track. And I stand corrected, used gear at B&H is negotiable. New gear, in my experience isn't.

And Jewish or not, I think most folk enjoy getting a good deal.

Irony here- I've recently dealt with three manufacturers-

One for a repair; one for an upgrade and one for a direct purchase.

Each were exemplary even though to a manufacturer, the retailer really is the customer.

Halevai retailers would all be that way.

This thread has certainly gone to some strange and unpleasant places. I just wanted to make one more post, several days late, to clarify my position.
To begin with, I actually do enjoy my job, which is to serve customers in a friendly and professional manner. It is also my job to educate them and make them feel comfortable. I am well aware that besides that being my primary responsibility, it is even more important considering internet competition, and the desire that many customers have for human contact.
In my original response to Lowrider57, I went off the deep end a little about a very small percentage of customers who
for reasons of loneliness, and sometimes even emotional disorders, make repeated visits to stores of all types without ever intending to make a purchase. When Lowrider57 elaborated on his original post, we made peace with one another and it was put to rest.
One poster said something to the effect that I was a whiner, and should not be in sales. I would ask him, and everyone else in any occupation or profession that they earn their living from to ask themselves if they too do not complain to co-workers, friends and loved ones as a form of pressure release from the frustrations that we all encounter in our jobs. If I don't belong in sales for that reason, then I submit to you that I have a lot of company, because everyone that I have worked with in my last 5 retail sales positions vents to myself and others on a regular basis about these small annoyances.
I do indeed believe in building relationships with clients. Luxury goods are not groceries, and a salesperson must be prepared for several visits from a potential client before a sale is consummated, and be happy if it happens even then!
The satisfaction of connecting a client with something that they really love is wonderful, but mixed in with that are some really difficult experiences. Fortunately, they are in the very small minority, and it is certainly true that if you cannot shake them off quickly and move on, you would likely do better in another field.
I strongly believe in the merits of brick and mortar as well as the internet, but if I had more money, I would patronize brick and mortar more for audio purchases, because of the experience you can have with a good dealer (like John Rutan at Audio Connection) as well as being more likely to know what you are buying before you buy it. Unfortunately, I am not financially able to do that most of the time.
I am sure that the reason that I received strong negative reactions from some posters is that they, like myself, have had some horrible retail experiences that involved rudeness, incompetence or even just indifference. That is not how I operate, and I am sorry if I gave that impression.
Mitch4t, Thanks for a provocative post. It hasn't always been pleasant, but it has at least been interesting.

Isn't it kinda simple? The barebones no frills cheap price can be had impersonally and at potential risk online or you can go to your friendly local hifi emporium to be catered to and demonstrated and educated. Either way you get the product. If you prefer the security and human interaction afforded by the latter, then you should expect to pay a premium.

As for those who abuse these outlines, well they have to live with their transgressions. The store who fails to honor the unwritten understanding I outlined above will learn soon enough the he has to earn his premium or he will soon be earning nothing. The hybrid walks a tightrope but there are many examples like the few mentioned in previous posts who appear to do so rather deftly. And then we have the schmuck who milks the goodwill out of the retail store for the rest of us by abusing the unspoken but widely understood dynamic of putting his money where his mouth is.

I think that our society has reached a dangerous point in its evolution. We have come to place more value on money than we allow for other things in life that are inestimably more important. Certain elements among the reporting fraternity have worked tirelessly to pit us against one another and to generate as much animosity and suspicion as the can engender. We need to understand that we are more different in our individual fears and desires than we are in any genetic or generic front. We need each other. Petty crap like the offense taken over the offhand use of a common catchphrase created a dispute here that never needed to happen. We all know what the reference means because it is a common catchphrase and it targeted no one in particular and no group at all. It was just a phrasing that could easily have been overlooked but some of us had to make a big deal out of it. For god's sake, isn't it likely that all of the stereotypical crap that lingers in our minds as cliche is actually based in some truth somewhere? I always liked Tom Waits line from one of his songs -"colder than a well digger's ass". Do you think he he heard from an attorney representing the well diggers local? Should he have been chastised, sanctioned, prosecuted? Of course not. Let's just relax and blow off the sensitivity remarks.
We have stores to save. Not that I'm any help. I have way too much gear as it is, and the next thing I'm apt to buy will have to be purchased online. There are no vendors within 200 miles. I'm going to be buying a pair of fairly expensive professional active studio monitors. Suggest you all consider whether that can work for you. Flat out destroys much audiophile folklore. Just imagine no more concerns whatsoever about choosing speaker cables. No more matching amps and speakers. Plus even the very affordable, home studio versions have room accommodation adjustments.
And don't forget about Kinky Friedman. I've heard him say several times he intended to christian the guy down on his price.