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Was I Expecting Too Much

Hi everyone.  I'm looking for a heading check with a situation I encountered yesterday.  

Background:

I'm planning to upgrade my turntable later this year - Q3 is my target.  After my research, I've narrowed down to AMG and Brinkmann.  I was able to audition an AMG Viella yesterday, and was looking to audition a Bardo or Taurus for comparison.  I know my thought of trying to fit in a Brinkmann demo was last-minute, and some dealers are particular when it comes to appointments and allowing them time to setup their demo.  

The Situation:

So I called the local Brinkmann dealer and inquired to see if a bardo or taurus happened to be setup.  The salesman I spoke with said they had both, and he was going to check if a demo was possible.  After a few minutes, I get a phone call back from the owner who seemed rather dismissive of my request.  I explained that I'm currently doing my research and looking to hear some demos to help down-select, and that my purchase would be a few months from now.  He asked for my budget which I found strange as I already stated what I was interested in demoing.  Then the conversation turned to what gear I already own, which I understand sort-of.  Then the owner basically said it doesn't make sense for me to demo anything now and to call back when I'm ready to purchase.  

How am I going to know what I want to purchase without demoing the options?

Was I expecting too much by asking to hear equipment that I'm interested in?  My opinion is a sale isn't guaranteed and an audio dealer, just like any other dealer, needs to invest some reasonable amount of time to capture a sale.  You don't capture all the sales, but I didn't think I was being unreasonable in my request and certainly was not trying to waste anyone's time.  I was pretty transparent with where I'm at and I guess he was reciprocating my transparency by telling me to go away.  I felt "less-than" by this experience.  As if I wasn't worth investing any time into.

Thoughts?

 

cbl117

Showing 2 responses by mitch2

mitch2
3,697 posts
 

$15,990 is the list price of the Brinkman Taurus. 

B&M audio sales is no picnic these days, but it is not your responsibility to support a dealer that doesn't understand how to make spending $16K a rewarding and fun experience for their customers.  Find another dealer.

mitch2
3,697 posts
 

@kennyc

I’d have to side with the seller as having more weight. To choose otherwise would seem to enslave the seller to the buyer’s expectations at the seller’s expense.

I would say, it depends. In the short term, then maybe yes. However, any seller playing the long game will likely lose more than just that one potential buyer over (perceived?) rude service since the individual with the bad experience is likely to share with their audiophile friends and even with random strangers on forums such as this.

I would vote the other way based on the golden rule; “treat others as”…no, not that Golden Rule, this one - “Whoever has the gold rules”.

One last thought, if you are going to be a Soup Nazi, the soup had better be damn good.

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