Little wonder some are turning to online buying! (1 Viewer)

[Scott-C]

Stefan,
I do agree with what you're saying. Gramophone seems to have a protocol you must be willing to follow to shop in their store. Respectfully, I do believe (or maybe I'm just very paranoid, but I don't think so) that the attitude I've sensed in there goes a little beyond their protocol or feelings of superiority. Quite literally speaking, I've noticed some of the sales staff actually irritated when I've asked them questions. I will be the first to admit that not all of the employees to whom I've spoken are like that. Some have been much better, and one in particular spent quite a bit of time with me and a friend and he was very pleasant. But by and large, more of my experiences have not been pleasant for me.
The air of superiority has blown over (pun intended!) into a condescending attitude that makes me a little uncomfortable, and I don't think as a consumer I should feel that way in their stores.
I have no way of knowing if this is true, but I often wonder if this chain is more interested in the $50K + custom install projects than in the couple of grand I might spend in one of their stores. Just pure speculation on my part.
And to complete the story, I should point out that I am one of those people who really get on their soapbox about customer service quality in the American economy. I'm big on it and its implications, and I tend to give my money to companies that have the products I want, at reasonable prices, and treat me at least reasonably well. I'll even compromise on price sometimes to obtain better service quality, as I did at Tweeter (unknowingly). The salesperson there went out of his way to answer every one of my questions, applied no sales pressure, and even remembered my name months after I purchased it.
Again, I'm pleased to hear that not everyone has these same feelings, and I will be the first to admit that it's possible that I am now overly-sensitive to it when I'm in their stores. Maybe I'll give them another chance and try to work on that.

 

[Pete Gia]

I know exactly how you feel. A few years ago,I was looking at the Onkyo 838. The unit listed for $1600,and Circuit city wanted $1500(+7%sales tax),so I figured I`d try my local high-end shop,which also had the unit. There was no price on it,so naturally I asked him how much it was. His reply was--"are you ready to by today,because the price can change Blah--Blah--" I said I was ready to buy,and instead of telling me how much it was,he asked me "how are you going to pay for this? My blood boiling I said Thank-you as politely as I could,went home,called Wholesale Connection,and got the unit for $1100. Have I ever gone back to that shop??---Guess!-----Pete

 

[JerryW]

My local HT/hifi dealer used to be the same way, I think everyone here who is from Knoxville knows the store I'm talking about.
Anyway, they used to ignore me... until one day I walked in and pulled out a wad of large bills and my Platinum Visa and stood in the middle of the store holding them up in the air. A salesperson immediately walked up to me and offered to help. Wasn't that nice of him?

 

[Steve-sas]

Jerry W. - Would that be SAV? They have always treated me pretty good when I go in...but I'm usually wearing a suit so at least they may think I've got money to spend.

 

[Kirk Gunn]

I'm wondering if the "age thing" goes like this:

Young customer: Hi I'm interested in checking out the sound of a Denon 5800 with NHT's and a DVD-Audio player.

Salesman's thinks to himself: Yeah, right. Like I'm going to waste my time setting all this stuff up so you can then surf the web and get a great deal online....

Salesman: Sorry - no can do.

 

[Han]

Young customer: Hi I'm interested in checking out the sound of a Denon 5800 with NHT's and a DVD-Audio player.

Salesman's thinks to himself: Yeah, right. Like I'm going to waste my time setting all this stuff up so you can then surf the web and get a great deal online....

Salesman: Sorry - no can do.

Yup, it's an endless "spiral of death." Online shopping feeds the saleman's paranoia. The salesman's paranoia and lack of service turns off the young customer who goes and shops online.

As mentioned in an earlier post, Audio Buys is probably the best place in my opinion to shop in the DC / Northern VA area... but sometimes, people need a product or brand that they don't carry. Sigh.

 

[Norman Short]

It almost makes me cry hearing these stories, but only because I know they're true. I spent a dozen years in audio/video retail and I've seen a lot of salespeople and store managers in that time. I've been a salesman on the floor, managed stores and was a regional manager for a chain. Getting good people can be hard. If you want to have a good store, you have to be willing to cut some of these guys loose early on, though many times stores don't because they need the warm body as much as they need a good salesman.

My first store had several salespeople who looked down on the customers and judged whether they were worthy of help as they walked in. I helped their lazy attitudes along by putting computer games on the computers in the back, and then waited on most of the customers myself. It was commission, and I ended up with 57% of the sales of that store with 9 salespeople in the first year. I also learned how to take care of customers. Not only did I write down your name even if you didn't buy anything, but when you did buy you were going to get a call from me in a couple days to make sure there were no problems. People always came back to buy from me and brought their friends as well; even tracking me down when I'd be transferred to another store and even a competing company later. I can't say how many repeat sales I generated just because I helped technically-unsavvy customers set the clock on their VCR.

I also learned looks and age don't mean much when trying to see whether someone is going to buy or not. Once a gay couple came in and the other salespeople were too busy snickering to wait on them. I walked up to them (they were pretty flaming I'll admit) and sold them $10K worth of stuff in 10 minutes. Another time I got transferred to a store in a bad neighborhood, one in which most of the clientele was black. An old black man wearing a T-shirt with holes and grimy jeans came in, and nobody but me wanted to wait on him. His credit application came back golden with a $10K instant approval. I've had yuppy looking types come in wearing suits and get their credit app shot down. I've even sold $300 worth of stuff to a 9 year old kid once who came in alone. Nobody wanted his money either.

Once I was a manager I trained our people, and those who felt like customer service was an imposition were quickly dismissed. Now I'm out of the business and live out in the sticks so I go to the one local dealer we have and occasionally buy something from them. Their salespeople are not knowledgeable and the manager is more huckster than real audiophile, but at least I can talk to him and usually get a deal, and the comfort of local service if something goes wrong. But if it isn't something they carry I buy online.

Norman Short

 

[Alex Prosak]

Norman,

LOL! Great idea putting the games on the computer in the back. That's just too funny. If I were still selling stereos I'd do the same thing.

 

[Ted Lee]

i'll take a guess and assume you went to audio fx? i haven't been in there yet, and now i'm not so sure i want to.
if it eases your pain at all, i've been to the paradyme in roseville and those guys are useless. i went in there intent on doing some serious demo on the paradigms. the guy basically showed me how to use the switcher (which i already knew anyway) then left. he didn't come back once.
i did get slightly better service at the paradyme by the arden mall.
anyway, i've already vowed not to buy anything from them. i'll go to the bay area first if i have to.
btw - next time you're in town let me know. i'd love to hang out with some other ht fans here

 

[StevieC]

In general, the folks here on this forum will be more knowledgable than regular consumers on equipment and unfortunately more knowlegable than the sale people sometimes. And then it is just unfortunate that customers aren't all treated the same.

I am sure there are some good experiences at Magnolia HiFi, but there are bad experiences as well. So for those that were willing to drive the extra mile, don't build up your expectations too much.

 

[DavidHos]

I have actually had a couple of good experiences with local hi-fi dealers. Well, one dealer actually, in the Phoenix area Showcase Home Entertainment has done me good. A year or so ago I was looking to upgrade my Bose speakers. Not knowing what I wanted, I went to the local dealer figuring I would look around and then order online. Salesman comes up to me and asks if he can help, I just tell him that I am just looking at speakers. His next question was "what kind of room will they be going in?" This actually surprised me. I expected "how much are you looking to spend?" Living in Phoenix, my usual attire consists of gym shorts and a ragged sleeve-less shirt. Anyways, I talked to him for a while and he was really INTO audio. I got stories of him building his own kits when he was younger, etc, etc. It was actually cool. I like buying from those that are really intoi what they do. The thing that really got me to think "I'm not sure what I am going to buy but it will be from him" was when he was auditioning speakers for me there was a pair next to those he was recommending that were a couple of hundred dollars more per speaker. I said "what about those?" His response was "they are excellent speakers, but I don't think they would do as well as these in your room." I ended up buying a full set of Monitor Audios from him.

I recently was in the market for a receiver. Went to the same store (different location, they opened up one right down the street from me) looking for a Denon 3802. The salesman that came over and started talking to me (again ragged clothes) seemed top be in no hurry what so ever. He went into another room and brought a set of the Monitor Audios I own for me to audition the receivers with. Way too long story short, I ended up buying a B&K 307 from him. After spending over an hour listening to the receivers, talking to him, etc, I asked him how far from MSRP he would come. I told him what the online prices were, but to be fair, I also told I had no intention of buying online. He asked "what would you be comfortable with?" I ended up getting $500 off of MSRP. I am getting a CD plyer and will be definitely going back to him.

Dave

 

[Jerry AZ]

Hey, DavidHos;

Which store was that? I think the closest Showcase to me is the one at the 101 and Frank Loyd.

 

[DavidHos]

Hey Jerry,

When I bought the Speakers it was from the Showcase off of Frank Lloyd Wright and the 101 (near The Great Indoors). Salesman's name was David Wolper. When I bought the receiver it was from the new store on 69th ave and Bell.

Dave

 

[matthew_rm]

Yeah, try being 16. They don't know I can buy klipsch Refrence speakers, and a nice 2ch reciever. So they don't seem to care.

Funny, I allways seem to know more...(in this town, audio isn't big, but still..)