Crap shop assistants

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Heavymental

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I went into a HiFi shop in Bath the other day to ask a quick question about the PM7200 which i'm saving my pennies to get in a couple of months. While I was there I asked the guy about speakers in the 200 quid range. He ruled out getting speakers in that price range and told me i should either get a cheaper amp or up my budget as there is no point getting a pair of speakers below the price of the amp cus they won't go. Now i know full well that I can get the amp cheaper than that shop was selling it and I also know that plenty of reccomendations have been made here for £200 speakers to go with a PM7200. Does that mean if I could get speakers cheaper they wouldn't be any good cus they then wouldn't match the price of the amp!? After about 1 minute I realised this guy was just full of shit. I had gone in to ask him about record players, and whether mine would be alright with it....he leads me over to the Project catalogue and points out the £300 TT I 'need'. In the end he tots up that I should be spending about £800 quid on my new system. No question of how much I wanted to spend or what I was after. Quick press of a few buttons to switch between demo speakers and then said I should be getting some fancy B&W's miles over my budget not even played through the PM7200.
Anyone else keen on these friendly shop folk?!
 
I bought my amp and speakers new from a shop a couple of years ago - almost the first gear I ever bought new. I must say for the 1K original budget (not including interconnects) I continue to feel it was a good choice (maybe not the best) but good nonetheless.

However, this dealer included, I have visited quite a few and I cant say I have ever enjoyed the experience one bit. They all seem very anal and defensive. They seldom share anything like my taste in music; almost none seem to understand my objectives and its like if you dont plan to buy something they recommend after the third visit then you must be wasting their time.

I am longing for a dealer who resells a wide range of brands, is cool about me popping in, listening, discussing and hey... walking out without buying. Doesnt have a problem with me shopping elsewhere aswell and loves music (not which brand offers the best margins).

Isn't genuine hi-fi buying about relationships? A bit of give and take and the odd disagreement without losing sight of the point of it - music? I like to think so.

At the end of the day there seems to be so much choice out there - good and bad; overpriced and good value - that noone can have heard it all or could possibly resell it all. For the novice or basic enthusiast - like me - finding your way proves challenging.

But - shop dudes who dont even listen to the basic thread of you and your needs just dont deserve one minute of your time (or money).
 
I simply don't trust any sales men anymore. I am sure the high end HIFI dealers may be decent but if you go into a shop not knowing what you want you will probably be connned.

I went into Dixons last weeking looking at the freeview boxes and the salesman came up to me as usual. I asked him about the different boxes and he instantly pointed at this matsui and said "this is a new one, I must admit I have never seen it before but its very good it has got this and that etc....." it was £70 too!

I walked out and went to Argos where they had my Philips DTR15000 for £90. It is probably far better than the Matsui in every way.
 
Originally posted by greg


I am longing for a dealer who resells a wide range of brands, is cool about me popping in, listening, discussing and hey... walking out without buying. Doesnt have a problem with me shopping elsewhere aswell and loves music (not which brand offers the best margins).
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Hi greg, Ive found some truly excellent, friendly and helpful dealers in different parts of the country. Wiltshire is on the virge of my area of knowledge though, so Im sure friendly forum folk may be able to give you some great dealers within a reasonable distance?

Take a bow
emporium (diss)
definitive audio (nottingham)
lintone audio (gateshead metrocentre)
walrus (london)
retro reproduction (edinburgh)
connoisseur audio (fife)

there are more, but Im pissed !
From memory, I think HenryT is down your way, along with a few others? come on chaps! :)

'The right note' has a good reputation. I think thats Bristol or Bath? 'sound of music' is SW aswell...Bath? ....

hope your experiences get better.
cheers
chris
 
Chris,

Mate, you're pi$$ed!! :p ;)

Whiltshire maybe in the SW, but is still a few counties away from me here in Devon...

And "Sounds Of Music" is in the SE, namely Tunbridge Wells (Kent). :) SOM have 2 shops, a high-end shop and a second one selling more affordable stuff. The high-end shop is pretty good, lots of choice, good deals and no high pressure selling either.

I tend to come up to London for most of hi-fi browsing/shopping, so have absolutely no knowledge of dealers more local to me. The Right Note is near Bath, specialise in a handful of select hi-end brands, run by an affable chap, appointments only so can't really drop in and browse.
 
What speakers do you have already, Heavy ?
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Just got shit kit at the moment voodoo but looking forward to splashing cash in the near future.

Thanks for the other suggestions chaps. I'd also point out that during my wander around Bath I popped into the B&O shop to enquire about fixing my dads ancient Beogram2000 TT. Mr Nick Rearden, the manager, took interest in my enquiry and we had a lengthy chat about HiFi generally. It was pretty obvious that I wasn't going to be buying anything i.e I don't look like I'm a middle class homeowner with a large disposable income. Despite this we were talking for about half an hour and when I spotted on one of the TV's the front screen to the DVD The Man With The Movie Camera which the Cinematic Orchestra did the soundtrack to (V.Good...buy it) and asked if I could have a listen. He let me sit down on the sofa infront of the huge tv and £10,000 (no joke) speakers, cranked up the volume (in a shop full of people) and I stayed slack jawed until I had to leave 20 minutes later. That is the kind of service I'm looking for, genuine interest, great knowledge and a nice chap too. I'm aware most people aren't too keen on B&O and for the record the speakers didn't sound worth 10k, but great staff!
HM
 
It's actually quite hard for sales guys. I speak from experience having done a small amount of work for a shop. Look at it from their point of view Every day you lsiten to kit that starts at £2000 and you are demming kit that goes upto £80000. Then a punter walks in wanting to spend their hard earned savings on an expensive system costing no more than £500 all in. Where do you start. Your ears are tuned to more expensive kit, you don't want to sell bad kit, the cheapest kit in the shop is at the very upper range of the punters budget. Do you go against your principles and make a sale of something you think is crap just to make money and keep the customer happy or do you try and sell them something which sounds "good" to your ears and appear a money grabbing bastard. It's bloody hard to get the balance right and I'm glad I only did it for fun and not as a job. It's really easy to sell expensive hi-fi to people who want it. Selling cheap (poor) hi-fi to people who desreve better is a lot harder. In the end it's easier to expalin what we don't sell and send them to Dixons even if we never see them again.

Having read Heavy's last post I'm glad he was given the interest and time (was it Radford's?). That is what service is about and what good hi-fi shops should be about. Not just making money but engendering a love of music & film. After all the kit isn't the main thing. I really hope Heavy you get what you are looking for.
 
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Originally posted by HenryT
And "Sounds Of Music" is in the SE, namely Tunbridge Wells (Kent). :) .
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And the number of people I've known walk out of there 'cos of the really lousy service and arrogant money orientated staff is quite unbelievable. Been in a few times and wouldn't readily go back even if they had what I wanted.

As pure coincidence on another planet someone justed posted this
 
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Hi Tom,

Well, I've only really dealt with JJ in the high-end shop. Can't really comment about the other shop that SOM have, is it that shop in particular or both in general that the negative comments are made about? AFAIK, only JJ staffs the high-end shop.

But as with most of these things, I guess it can be down to a clash of personalities. Also, I tend to walk into a shop with a few clear ideas of what I want already, then sometimes ask them what they've also got in a similar vein. A friend of mine says he always finds/feels that there is a "snobby" attitude to Audio Excellence in Exeter, so much so that he avoids going in there, whereas I've never had that problem.

It's not as if I go around dressed in a suit or expensive designer label clothes. Tah, I never really dress up unless I really have to e.g. wedding, job interview, black tie dinner, or whatever - I'm a scruff bag normally! :)
 
I second Bottleneck on Walrus. Very helpful and seem to carry a good range of stock IMHO.
 
Originally posted by Tom Alves

Having read Heavy's last post I'm glad he was given the interest and time (was it Radford's?). That is what service is about and what good hi-fi shops should be about.
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The good shop was the B&O brand shop and the bad shop was Moss of Bath.
Having looked on the net there are a load of shops in the area that look better, mince pies and brandy butter must of clouded my vision!
On the point of clashing personalities and sales etiquette I wouldn't have thought the personality should get much of a look in. After all shouldn't it just be about acting as a guide to what they have for sale, making recommendations and trying to get the most out of an individuals budget? But in the end letting them decide on what they hear? Personality is good but you don't want too much of it.
 
Heavy,

I totally agree with what you say. Ideally, of course it shouldn't be about personalities, but inevitably there will be situation where two people "click" better than others.
 
The general rule is "Never judge anyone by the clothes they wear". Unfortunately many of the people I've met you walked out of SOM felt the size of their wallet was being judged first , usually by the cut of their cloth. To set the record straight that information is always proffered first by the customer, usually when we suggest they have a look at SOM or after a succesful sale has been made.

In my limited experience, it's the scruff bags who have the money and more importantly the interest. It's the welldressed who have a high opinion of their worth and are buying "lifestyle" items for decoration. (I sat and watched one woman last week wander down the shelves muttering that all the boxes looked ugly and therefore of no worth).

It's important that we all remember that this is about music and not just money. Yes there will inevitably be clashes of personalities but if the shop bod is worth their salt they should be prepared to put that to one side to help the punter further their interest. Even if we can't help this time, we might next or at least stimulate thought. It shouldn't be just about money
 
I fear Tom's problem at SOM is that they smell his Salisbury breath. Also Tom, << it's the scruff bags who have the money and more importantly the interest. >> there's no need to talk about Nick L like that.
 
Speaking as a current salesperson, I can agree with some of what has been said re: pressure sellers etc and I hate that aspect of the industry - hence why I don't do it. I don't work on commission, so have no personal monetary interest if I sell you a hifi or not. I would much rather you want away happy, but I can only try with that one. I find I can help customers much more easily if they come in with an open attitute too. People who come in with a very defensive attitude, bad mood or whatever tend to make it hard for the salesperson to find out what you're looking for and therefore offer advice. Of course, what with me being open minded and interested in HiFi, there are very few serious HiFi people who actually come our way, Blackburn not being the eppicentre of culture.
 
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I think largely, it depends on the people and the manager..the manager will foster the overall attitude, and the people implement it.

Bad sales people=bad experience, even if the shop ethos is good.

I tend to think shops ought to employ good people to start with, rather than 'train' them to have a good ' persona' in the shop.

I pissed a local dealer off by rapping speakers with my knuckles, as I had an anal thing about thin tinny speaker enclosures.

I can see they are in a difficult balance, but with home demos, you have to have one if you are spending a lot of cash...I thiink the good dealers realise that.

They are really no different than car dealers, you have your main brand dealers naiming no names, and 2nd hand types, with all sorts in between.

Hyperfi....the sales guy, the jerk with the nasal voice, always seems to answer the phone and put me on hold for a bit 'hello hyperfi can you hold the line please' I say no now, as its extremely rude.
Apart from NEVER having in what I am after.:mad:

The manager at richer sounds north manchester peed me a while back, I got an el cheapo dvd, and took it back...he wouldn't refund for some petty reason, shop takings or something like that.
He was quite unpleasant, usually they are very good, the richers lot. (I should have taken the lid off and blew the mains fuse:JPS: )

My local practical hifi in preston always try to let you hear the speakers in the shop, with switching boxes, full marks to them. I even took in my own amp once, it was an alesis studio, and blew away a marantz ki sig, even the assistants said so.

Audio T closed down, probably not enuff cash up north:( so thumbs down to them.
 
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