Dealer Snobbery....

[JPW]

After 10 years with the same speakers, I'm considering upgrading. Anyway, I visited a local dealer who use to carry many brands. Now they only carry Dynaudio. Long story short, they start off by telling me my electronics aren't good enough! My receiver is an Integra 7.4 that they happen to sell, just isn't up to the task of making the Dynaudio's reproduce at their full potential. I brush off this snobbish comment and continue looking at the speakers.

The salesman goes on to show me a discontinued pair of bookselves on clearance for $2,500 a pair. I explain that I have kids and really desire a floor standing speaker. So he shows me the floor standing models. I find a pair in my price range ($1.5 to $2K) and sit down to listen. They sounded nice for the five minutes I was able to audition them. As we are discussing them, I asked about the matching center channel. He says, you'd buy this one for... get this $1.5K. I said is that that the least expensive one they offer in the lineup? He says no, the one that matches the pair your listening to is JUNK. I tell him he must be kidding, why would I spend as much on a center channel as I would on a pair? He says, because it's the most important speaker in the system. Therefore you'd want it to be the best one. I ask him about timber matching to the left and right, and why I shouldn't buy the center that matches the mains I'm looking at? He says timber matching doesn't matter.

I'm still blown away by the BS I heard today. Needless to say, I'll let the dealer keep his speakers and his attutude while I shop elsewhere.

 

[corysmith01]

I've encountered similar instances. And, fortunately, I've experienced the exact opposite.

In a similar experience, I was auditioning a pair of PSB's as well as JMLab's since the dealer sold both. As I was about to walk out (since I had only just begun looking), the dealer stopped me and chatted me up. Wanted to know what I listened to. I explained. He told me I'd probably be better of with the PSB's. Seemed like a fair and honest suggestion. Then he asked what I was currently using. I told him B&W's. What followed was a verbal barrage about how B&W is way overrated and how he can't understand how anyone can listen to them, etc etc. Now, I don't know how good a sales technique this is...belittling a customer and making them feel like the item they purchased with their hard earned money was a mistake. I'm gonna hope that approach doesn't work very often. Also, after tearing me and my speakers a new one, he then asked what else I was considering. At the time, I was also considering internet direct. I tossed out the name Axiom. Oh boy. That got him going. I haven't been back to that store since.

On the flip side to that, I have a local dealer, whom I purchased my speakers from, basically talk me OUT of a sale. I was looking at subs and, paraphrasing of course, he essentially told me, "yeah, if I were you and had your budget, I'd consider something else...i think you can get a lot more bang for your buck if you shop around." Now that's what I call an honest salesman. It worked though. I keep going back to them, even if it's just to browse. And, odds are, if I do intend to buy something anytime soon, my money will probably be going to them.

 

[beta5alphamu]

The fact here is that the 'salesperson' is just that a 'sales' person. He's banking on the fact that you don't know much (which in this case I think is safe to say he's wrong) and that he can take you for a ride. At least you went into a place where they had a well respected brand. Try going to a chain store (best buy or circuit city) and there they are even worse.

One of my experiences was at bestBuy. I like to go to there audio section and just listen to there stuff for fun and laughs. I get under one of there Bose speakers sets and a guy comes up to me and says. 'this is the top of the line" then he takes me over to an Athena satelite system and says 'here this' as he cranks it up. I play along "wow sounds nice' then i ask "have you ever heard of Energy or Paradigm he goes 'you interested in car amps? we got some stuff that will blow those away" I REST MY CASE

if you know timber matching is important (and it most certainly is) play along it will be interesting what you'll discover......LOL

 

[shokhead]

Even though i still know so little about this stuff,i think i'm ahead of most the salesman. I've decided after i retire i'll get a part time job at one of these places and really try to help the buyers with some standard advice. Maybe 12-16 hours aweek,kinda like adding to my hobby.

 

[bpape]

Not everything he was feeding you is bull.

For HT, the center IS the most important speaker. However, getting one that's timbre matched is important too - I'd lean that way - even if the other one might be 'better'.

The Dynaudio's DO in fact show what is behind them. I own a pair of Dynaudio Countour 3.3's for my main system driven by a Theta Casanova and a Sunfire Cinema Grand amp. The Living Room system is a pair of Snells driven by an Integra receiver. I'll tell you that hands down the Integra doesn't get it with the Dyn's that I have at least. They don't even sound like the same speaker. The Integra does a wonderful job on the Snells however. The Dyns are just tough to drive and will show pretty much everything that's in front of them in the chain.

Was he a snob? Probably. Is he trying to sell you more? Sure - that's part of his job. Was he totally feeding you a line of bull? No. It could however have been presented in a better way. Had it been presented better, you might have had a more positive impression of him and the store and he might have had a sale...

That's why I never made tons of money selling equipment. I preferred to get people what worked best for them for the money and have them as a return customer instead of selling them something more expensive or with more margin.

 

[awesomebase]

Not smart

I've never understood why some salesman need to belittle your current systems. There is absolutely no compelling reason, economic or not, to do so. What would be beneficial is simply asserting the fact that he/she is glad that you (the customer) are considering a new system and that they should be asking more question of you instead of trying to sell you a particular type or brand. It doesn't make sense to aggrevate the consumer unless of course the main objective is to simply find out if you are really going to buy or just hunt for information.
When I am just going to "hunt for info", I lay that out as soon as I get approached so they know that I won't spend money that trip. That way, if they want to help others that may spend, they can feel free to do so. If it isn't busy, they can spend their time doing good PR and making a sale down the line. Most won't do that though and I can't blame them. Even after going back a couple of times only one month later, the sales person has typically left or moved on. But that is what their business card is for... you can call them up when you're ready!

 

[CaliHwyPatrol]

I always encourage my customers to shop around... The BB and Magnolia are directly across the street from me so I always tell them what to look for over there. I'd say 80-90% of the time they come back and buy from me.

My managers hate my sales tactics because I don't stress our high margin products and I encourage people to shop around. But they can't talk **** because I make them so much damn money.

~Chuck

 

[Sheep]

Gotta love salesmen.


Apparently they're supposed to act like that, as almost everyone does. I fortunatley have never run into one of those situations, or atleast that direct.


If I was in your boots, I don't know if I would have been able to put up with it for that long. So.....where do you shop now?



SheepStar

 

[bigbassdave]

You must sell lots of City Advantage (warrenty) then lol. I hate selling that stuff and that's why I can only do this seasonal. I love being around electronics and helping people find what is best for them but when it comes time to sell the warrenty, I never push. Not saying you do Chuck just saying I hate how hard they stress City Advantage. Escpecially when we get no commision off it. Oh well, they have to make money I guess.

 

[CaliHwyPatrol]

You must sell lots of City Advantage (warranty) then lol. I hate selling that stuff and that's why I can only do this seasonal. I love being around electronics and helping people find what is best for them but when it comes time to sell the warranty, I never push. Not saying you do Chuck just saying I hate how hard they stress City Advantage. Escpecially when we get no commision off it. Oh well, they have to make money I guess.

I don't really push the warranty, but I do offer it to keep the managers off my back.

But when you actually look at what the warranty does, sometimes it is actually worth it. The only reason we make so much money on it is because most of the time, the products don't fail.

I will offer it, tell the customer what it does and does not cover, and let them decide from there.

~Chuck

 

[mulester7]

Gotta love salesmen.


Apparently they're supposed to act like that
SheepStar

.....Sheep, salesmen are trying to put food on the table, so no foul, sorta', haha....it's up to the perspective purchaser to be informed, and make wise purchases....if we keep reading here, we stand a good chance.....CaliHwyPatrol and BigBassDave, you seem like two professional salesmen I would enjoy dealing with....

 

[claudermilk]

I am in the same camp as awesomebase. When I'm doing research, I tell them upfront & then note how things go from there. The places where I have gotten good information are where most of my equipment has come from. I've had salesmen like Chuck who have given honest answers to my questions--those are the guys I will try and go to when it comes time to make an actual purchase.

 

[hifiman]

I've dealt with my fair share of snobbery in these stores. I hate it, but lets face facts, people in this hobby are generally snobs - myself included (Bose anyone?). I remember many, many years ago we had a great shop in the area. These guys had a great selection of stuff, which included Def Tech, Polk, Adcom , Velodyne, Carver, etc. The sales staff spoke well of what they offered and were good at trying helping customers out. Well take a close look at that list. All these manufacturers were faced with fiscal realities and had to expand their offerings to the bigger retail stores to try to stay afloat. Good Guys came into town and started offering Adcom products. Well this place couldn't compete with Good Guy's prices and stopped carrying Adcom. Funny thing though, they then told me Adcom wasn't very good now that they weren't carrying them. Carver started selling at CC. Same problem, these guys couldn't compete with CC's prices and stopped selling Carver. They had the same attitude - Carver was no longer any good. Velodyne? Same thing. Def Tech? Same thing.

The point is these shops will basically tell you everything they don't carry sucks and only their stuff is any good. There are two specialty shops left in my area. These guys have some good stuff, but their sales staff are really terrible. I've tried several times over the years to become one of their customers, but each time I'm put off by some stupid move by the sales staff and leave. I gave up and no longer go to either place. Since then I found a great shop a little further away, but these guys were great on the phone and in person. I will go back when the need arises.