Aggressive sales people in the stores...
This isn't really off topic, rather miscellaneous, so it could be deleted, but has anyone had some bad experiences when looking at hi-fi? It seems, where I am at least, that even a casual browse of what's in store - any store - becomes a highly stressful event.
The problem - very aggressive and patronising sales people with a "buy something or get out" attitude. Apparently listening to something for 5 minutes, which took 2 minutes to set up, even when you made it clear you were just looking at that stage - obliges you to buy. On top of that they try and push *their* idea of what good sound is, commenting on your "awful recordings" etc., cringing at your taste in music, and generally making you feel embarrassed for being there at all. Cringe inducing . Ofcourse it doesn't help that I'm young (ish) at 28, while they seem to be used to dealing with older customers... but it's still a shame, they lose out ultimately. A bit negative I know, but there are some stores I would just never consider going to again....
I have had this happen to me and I was very happy to take my request for a pair of Q acoustics 1050s and 1030s elsewhere, which, in fact lost the salesman £500 of my money, he didnt even need to try to sell these to me as I was already set on buying them as soon as I got paid. I had told him I did not readily have access to the mony to buy a whole system in a one off swoop. He suggested I buy CHORD cables, for a budget system I consider this advice a complete joke. My last visit to his store ended with him TELLING me to buy an Arcam Diva receiver and DVD player. Thats when I quickly left with my wallet still full. Try being only 19, its hard for anybody to take me seriously about wanting to spend any amount of money on hifi or home cinema. I must thank the salesman at Rochester HI-Fi for the experience he has given me of a not so good sales pitch, it makes you appreciate the better salesmen and stores, Soundcraft Hi-Fi, for one, willing to demonstrate not just for 5 minutes but for the extent of a film, even though they know you are just browsing, and may walk from their store havng not spent a penny.
It is interesting that you say that because I also have visited Rochester Hi-Fi and found the sales staff very helpfull. Chord Speaker cable starts @ £2 per meter and is good quality, a fair suggestion imo. Saving for a little longer & buying kit such as Arcam which holds its residual value & can be serviced by any Arcam dealer in the UK is certainly worth considering. Sound advice!
Well I'll be testing out the B&W 601 s3's and 685's soon..... at a department store. Believe it or not no hifi shop in New Zealand currently stocks B&W speakers, they seem to carry only 2-3 brands and will not stock any others (its as if Dynaudio, or Kef f or eg. have said "right if you don't stock any of the 'competition' then we'll give you a bulk discount on our products). That's bad for the consumer, obviously, since we don't get to hear and compare different speakers in the same price bracket within the same store, or at all.
Many years ago I went to buy a pair of Kef 55 and was refused a demo!
but is what he says true I think not, no hard sell at Rochester hi fi
of interest why did he demo Lemma if as he said " did not readily have access to the mony to buy "
The term MUPPET springs to mind!
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It goes both ways I'm sure.
I went many years ago into the hifi shop at the Tottenham Course Road end of Oxford Street and they just indulged me. Played me Naim gear to die for, that they almost certainly new I couldn't afford in my wildest dreams. They did know I had an old Sondek though, so I think they must have though - well, he's started off in the right direction, maybe one day he'll come back and we're not busy.
I confess that if I'd had the money I'd have spent 5 grand there on the spot - it was the first time I'd ever heard something and got home and said "Oh." Id heard plenty of stuff that was better, but just never enough better to be worth bothering with. (So a sobering experience I assure you). I've actually always felt a bit bad about not going back but it's just out of my league. Still. Sigh.
As I've said, Unilet - when I bought the CD63Ki (and repeatedly ever since) - indulged me to the tune of 2 very loud hours. Means I'd never really dream of going elsewhere - they know that - I know that - we're all happy. (Although Ebay is still fair game).
But I've also been in a shop where the sales-man decided to have an aggressive argument with me because I dared to suggest something so trivial I can't even remember it now. They went out of business a long time ago however. I mean, your customer might be wrong (I don't think I was) but there are ways and means of telling him.
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It's not just you - we sadly still get too much feedback like this. It seems in some shops, things haven't moved on from this classic Not the Nine o'Clock News sketch...
Group PR Manager - Computers Unlimited;
Former Group Editor of What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision and Whathifi.com
Twitter: @ClareNewsome