New buy, no return policy

Good to hear.  Enjoy

@soix ​​​​@thecarpathian -- Thank you !

@iopscrl-- Thank you!.  Very true, show room and order. In their defense, I called ahead and told them I was coming in, only one person working and no other customers  showed up. He devoted the entire time to us, no pressure, friendly and empathetic. He was a fantastic person to demo their wares. I accept and am grateful for the circumstance that resulted in my buying from TMR, however I dont have any negative feelings about this dealership and I would use them again, they had their boundaries and I had mine. I just want to clarify that part 

I’ve spent a decent amount of time with Valerio Cora, the CEO of Acora…I have no doubt that his vision for Acora will keep evolving.

show room and order

If it wasn't for the dealer performing the showroom function, how would you have known if you liked the Acoras?  As I stated earlier, I think you made the right decision, as did the dealer.  But at some level this is another example of someone using a brick and mortar to audition and then buying elsewhere on the internet.

@mintakax you started a thread about two weeks ago about your search for a new loudspeaker.  I don't think Acora was even mentioned.   What made you consider them?

My few dealings with TMR have been more than honorable. They took back a REL sub that hummed and crackled and gave me a good discount on the next model up. Other purchases just worked fine.

Best Buy doesn't need to let you return speakers or loan them out for trials. But a high end audio store isn't that.  It's simply a part of the game if done right.  If there is a lot of work in setting up the demo in the home, then I think it would be OK to charge for that (credit against the purchase price), but having no ability to try $48K speakers in the home isn't the way this business is done right! 

But at some level this is another example of someone using a brick and mortar to audition and then buying elsewhere on the internet.

@onhwy61  I’m also put off by someone using a brick and mortar store to hear speakers and then buy online without even giving the store a chance, but that’s not at all what happened here.  The OP gave the store every opportunity to make the sale and would have purchased from them despite the much higher price, but they were just unwilling to match what TMR was willing to do for a far lower payday.  So they had the opportunity to get the business but in this case just chose not to compete.  TMR went the extra mile and earned the sale while the dealer did not, and they deserved exactly what they got in this case.  That they came back afterwards and offered to do more was an admission they screwed up but was too little too late.  IMO they learned an important $20k lesson that if you can’t even match much less surpass the service an online retailer provides you’re gonna lose, and rightly so. 

The dealer was right and the buyer was wrong. Now he ended up with very expensive second hand stuff.

OP,

Congratulations on your purchase. I am sure they will remain your end game speakers because of their great performance... and if that fades... well, there is their weight. 

You have so many other options.  
With room effects & boundaries, diverse equipment and cables, there is very little chance what you purchase will sound the same in your home.  

For me, if the item is expensive, I need to have a return policy in place or I will not buy the item no matter how well reviewed it is.  

The dealer was right and the buyer was wrong. Now he ended up with very expensive second hand stuff.

@inna  Ha!  The OP ended up with perfectly functioning speakers at a huge discount and the dealer lost around $20k in a potential sale.  Not sure in what universe the dealer was right and the OP was wrong, but that the dealer came back to offer more to try to get the sale pretty much confirms they knew they made a bad business decision here and the OP is really happy — pretty much the exact opposite of what you’re saying. 

@soix -- Thank you so much for "getting it". Some responders are just not following the chain of circumstances. Actually, I went to the store to audition Magico A5s but the wait time to purchase a pair was too long. That is when the dealer demoed the Acoras.

To quote The Stranger in the Big Lebowski, "sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes the bar eats you". 

@jji666, @ghdprentice, @Patrickcarey --  Thank you.

@soix 

+1 Absolutely

I don't understand why that wasn't the first thing out of his mouth when the OP showed a serious interest in buying them. Is he new to the business? I have known a lot of dealers... and the good ones are really enthusiastic from the customers point of view. They really want to have them experience a product and know they are going to going to be happy. Maybe he is new. He better learn fast or he is going to provide the showroom for internet sales. 

Ditch that dealer, if he really is one. Done.

Ditch the customer, there are others.

Ditch the customer, there are others.

@inna  Yeah, there are so many customers out there that brick and mortar dealers are flourishing and popping up all over. 🙄  Again, you’re living in opposite world and those relatively few remaining dealers (and still shrinking) now more than ever need to bend over backwards in service to set themselves apart and justify their existence or they will die at the hands of online upstarts like TMR as so many others have.  It’s not like the 70s or 80s anymore when B&M dealers were the only option, so every customer they can get is critical and need to be treated accordingly or they will learn that lesson the hard way just as this dealer did. 

I find it interesting that no dealers participated in this thread.  It would be interested in hearing from a dealer as to the actual logistics of transporting and setting up 200+ lbs loudspeakers for an at home demonstration.  Do they crate the loudspeaker?  How many people are involved in the delivery/setup?  What's the time limit on the demo?  Are any fees involved?  Does an at home delivery effect any discounts you might offer?  How do you qualify, if at all, the customer?  How do handle if there is some damage to the loudspeaker?

Just curious.  My initial reaction to this thread was that the OP was asking for a lot to get his home demo, but based upon others' comments, may be that's the norm or at least the expectation of buyers of $30k plus loudspeakers.  The customer's always right?

soix, exactly, we should go back to the 20th. century and start doing things the right way again. Internet commerce is good for cables and used equipment. Stop buying new equipment on-line, no matter the price, just stop it.

I believe in the equality of dealer/customer relations regardless of how expensive or not the item is.

By the way, TMR appears to want to monopolize the Audiogon market. I don’t need them and won’t buy anything from them. Kind of Amazon for audiophiles.

we should go back to the 20th. century and start doing things the right way again. Internet commerce is good for cables and used equipment. Stop buying new equipment on-line, no matter the price, just stop it.  I believe in the equality of dealer/customer relations regardless of how expensive or not the item is.  By the way, TMR appears to want to monopolize the Audiogon market. I don’t need them and won’t buy anything from them. Kind of Amazon for audiophiles.

@inna  Yeah that toothpaste ain’t going back in the tube on Earth One.  Online retailers have to figure out how to compete with brick & mortar stores and vice versa, and then there are some who do both.  There are costs and benefits to both businesses, but both have to continue to evolve in a 21st century business environment or they’ll suffer just like the dealer here did.  Equality of dealer/customer relations???  I don’t even know what that means. 🤪  And TMR has built a solid and reputable business by working hard and providing a quality service many people here think very highly of (including the OP), and they’re not monopolizing anything — that’s just ridiculous hyperbole.  They’ll do just fine without you buying anything from them because by all accounts they do a solid job and provide a valuable service (just as they did here BTW).  Do you not buy anything from Amazon either? 🙄

let's compare Amazon, audiogon and TMR. 

Oh, maybe not here...

I don't buy anything from amazon if I can avoid it, in almost all cases I can and do.

Go ahead, do what you do, but don't complain later.

Oh, some of you guys never show your faces in Paris, France. They will throw you out of any decent establishment, literally.

@inna what about Stockholm?

I am surprised by the reactions to the dealer in this thread.  I would not have expected the dealer to demo 250 lbs each speakers in my home unless I lived next door, even at $48k.  Maybe something that I could take home myself but in reality I have never been to a dealer that was willing to demo speakers at my house. Electronics, yes but never speakers.

I just recently purchased speakers and had no expectation of demoing them in my home.  I did take my equipment to the dealer and demo them there.  The dealer is 3 hours away and it seemed unreasonable to expect them to deliver and set up the 165 lbs each speakers (which took a full day when they were delivered) on the chance that I would purchase.

Both the dealer and TMR being local to the OP, maybe the dealer knew TMR had a used pair that they were competing with.

TMR delivered the speakers right to their permanent positions. It took 2 average sized young men, one hand cart and a total of 15 minutes. Each speaker was in its individual box.

 I set the speakers up myself (spikes, level, tweaking) and that didn't take too long either. The speakers come with temporary teflon cups that the spike wells sit in, so it's easy to tweak the positions. I am still amazed at their sound and beauty.

No idea about Stockholm. French don't like to service even each other, to put it mildly, let alone foreigners. But they would still be happy to do you a favour and take your money. As one French man put it - We like money as much as Americans  do but pretend to despise it -.

@mintakax congrats on the wonderful speakers and the smooth delivery and setup. I am just saying I don’t think there are any bad guys here, not you, not TMR and not the dealer.  Most importantly you are the winner because you love the speakers. 

French don’t like to service even each other, to put it mildly, let alone foreigners.

This attitude coupled with poor reliability goes a long way toward explaining why France utterly failed at selling cars in the US. 

they still sold more than US sold American made cars in France.

Ah thank you @tosnc , I share your sentiments.

they still sold more than US sold American made cars in France.

@gano  No.  There are no French cars sold in the US except for a few Bugattis.  That’s it.  Renault, Citroen, and Peugeot are non existent in the US.  Then there’s that the EU slaps a 10% tariff on imported cars versus 2.5% on cars imported to the US although that’s changing as we speak.  Despite the tariffs I’m pretty sure Ford, GM, and Jeep sold more cars in France than Bugatti sold in the US. 

Bugatti was owned by VW until recently when it was sold to a Croatian company. 

Renault saved Nissan, they practically run it with majority shares. So every Nissan on US roads is just as French as most French cars in Europe, design and profit-wise very much tied to France. I am absolutely not interested in discussing the French attitude. I just know that French cars are way superior to GM or Ford or Chrysler, quality-wise. Never owned either but rented and drove 100s of them. 

@gano Yeah, nothing says French cars like Nissan. 🙄  Relatively few Nissans are even made in France, and none of those are sold in the US so your argument is bogus.  Bugatti is registered, headquartered, and built in France regardless of who owns them and are the only cars built in France that sell in the US.  If French cars are so good why don’t they sell in the US, one of the largest car markets in the world???  What a great business decision BTW.  When French cars were here last they sucked and were a joke, which is why they had to leave — nobody would buy them they were so bad.  Regardless, you are wrong and there are more US made cars sold in France than French made cars sold in the US despite your import tariffs being 4x higher.

Yeah, well I guess my argument wasn’t as dumb and simple as trump’s tariffs. But it was 100% factual. Renault is a French company, it has majority ownership in Nissan, Nissan has a zillion things in it designed by Renault.

It might be news to you but every single big brand car has parts designed and made in 10s of countries.

Renault does not need to sell Renaults in the US to make money from US buyers. They can just sell Nissans and make money at it and not care about what Americans think of France or French cars. You can go to Tijuana and see Renaults that look identical to Nissans with a Renault logo. It’s a branding issue.

Just calling me wrong didn’t make a single fact I said wrong. And all the best to you, I am done with this tangent.

Speaking of French, anyone has JM Labs Grand Utopia speakers ?

inna I think you're missing something here this wasn't an online transaction they OP lives near TMR this was local and delivered and setup. Can't ask for better service than that. I visited TMR when I was in Boulder visiting a friend they were as nice as could be and gave my friend a discount for coming in and not buying online. Congrats on your new speakers @mintakax !

TMR is also an authorized dealer & retailer of many high-end brands. So the lines are kinda blurred anyways. They do a really good job with packing, shipping for reasonable rates, and having extremely detailed pics of used gear. They're not perfect 100% of the time (we're all human and err occasionally), but I've come to really appreciate the service they provide.

They've also become the #2 place I check for newly listed used gear. For large expensive speakers, they really help de-risk the transaction. 

@gano  Well, if you wanna count Nissans as “French” vehicles then we’ll just agree to disagree.  Peace out. 

I am good @soix  :) my car days are in the rearview mirror

@mintakax 

I apologize for contacting you on this thread. I am unable to reply to your pm as I don’t have a payment method on file. Really dumb of them to do that. Here is my number in code so the bots do block it. Shoot me a text if this gets through. Tee  oh  tee - slevin oh mine- mine mine mine too. 
 

Ron 

If you guys want to answer a DM without a payment method, you just have to initiate a new DM to whomever you want to respond to.

@thecarpathian --thanks!