I'm sick of NYC shops attitude towards customers

Name the store

 

How come you could not interface with the guy you spoke to on the phone? Why wasn't he there for you?

 

I have no problem naming the store - it's just that I doubt it would matter, since most forum members don't live around here. It was SCS Home Entertainment.

I have no idea. I didn't get the guy on the phone's name, but he was really friendly when I spoke to him. The two guys there when I walked in acted as if they had no idea about anything I was discussing.

 

"Home Entertainment" (or car audio!) is all there is here in Pittsburgh- mind you, a city with metro population in the top 30 US (relatively highly educated too) and home to several Fortune 500 HQs (and home to Jerry's Records!). I haven't even given a thought to making a phone call to any of the theater stores, but if I did then I wouldn't expect to be lied to. With that said, the more you know about something then the more likely you are to be disappointed by those who think they forgot more than you will ever know.

I would likely get teary eyed if an old school hi-end shop opened up within an hour of my place.

 

Well, I was already apprehensive because when I talked to the guy on the phone and discussed what I was looking for, he goes, "Well, we have lots of those types of things, I'd just have to do research to see what would work well for that application."

That was a red flag right there, but I figured I'd give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

I was looking at a Music Hall $1200 turntable at Fred's Sound Of Music in Portland, Oregon. Asked the guy what the platter was made of, he explained it was some kind of dense paper/cardboard.
Then told me direct drive turntables were junk, only belt drive was any good. Well I have a direct drive Sansui 929 that seems to work pretty well for me. Asked if I could bring in a record to play on this Music Hall turntable to see if its all it is cracked up to be. Wanted to bring in a brand new Beatles from the mono box, seeing as they are so sweet and warm sounding. He asked if I was serious on buying the Music Hall, I said well no, not really, I just wanted to do an experiment to see if a new player was any better than mine from 1985. If it was really better, then I might be interested sometime down the road. He said no way, if I wasn't interested in buying he wouldn't let me listen to it. I said, well, if you won't let me listen to it, how would I know if it was worth buying in the first place? His response was he doesn't waste his time with someone who isn't a serious buyer.

I was a bit pissed off by then.

yes, i'm not a serious buyer, until I am.

 

What a lousy attitude of a salesperson. But here's a tip: tell them you're very serious. It's unfortunate that you might have to bs a little with some of these people. But don't feel guilty about it. Trust me, a tiny it more aggressive confidence will get you a long way with some of these amateurs. They need you more than you need them.

Btw, I had a similar experience with a store in Westport, CT. I wanted to hear their Rega turntable. They repeatedly said "no" and that they'd sell it only without a listen.

I called Rega, complained. The store no longer sells Rega. Kudos to Rega.

You're on the other side of the country, but for those on the East Coast, Accent On Music in Mount Kisco will be happy to let you bring your records in to listen to their Rega and Linn turntables. Even provide wine if you like. But give them a call in advance. David is great.

 

You said no not really interested in buying ? Really ?

 

Don't know for sure but some of those NYC sales
people are probably not originally from NYC.
Wouldn't surprise me.

 

Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen.

 

Geez, was Rod Serling sitting in the corner?

 

I'm not sure if they carry Music Hall, but the folks at Eugene Hi-Fi in Portland are good guys.