What's your experience with snooty HiFi salesmen?

I don't really patronize any dealers where I am now but in the luxe goods market (which is what "high-end" is), I would always call well in advance to set up an appointment. That process itself was often instructive. 

I dealt with many dealers when I lived in NY metro- some good, some bad, some indifferent. 

Ironically, one of the best dealers I encountered in my last decade plus in NY was someone who I did business with entirely through house calls-- he brought equipment to audition, did visits to address repairs, brought manufacturers over, etc. It was only when I was in the process of leaving NY that I finally paid him a visit at his facility, which was impressive, but it was more of a social call than anything. 

A good dealer is something to be treasured--it isn't just about selling something--long term- the support, the knowledge, the willingness to explore other possibilities beyond what the dealer himself might regularly carry make for longer term relationships. 

I've found this to be true in all sorts of endeavors beyond audio. A good dealer will know that the relationship, the referrals, the repeat business, all count, probably more than ever. 

Having not set foot in a retail hi-fi store in years, I don't know how much truth this still holds. Most sales people learn how to "qualify" customers pretty quickly.  The best "dealers" of any type of good or service will not be rude because you never know....  

@richopp 

Interesting, I moved to Boca in '82. At that time I had my "dream system" from when I graduated from college.  Worked a second job teaching at a community college and that went towards my first big system:

Infinity Monitor IIa speakers

Phase Linear 700B

Soundcraftsman Preamp/Equalizer

Rabco Tonearm mounted on a Technics Direct Drive Platter

Still in Boca now.

Several have already mentioned Natural Sounds in Framingham; +1 to them.

I was in town to visit family and had some time to kill.  So I walked into the store and told them: I was from out of town and thus, it was highly unlikely that I would buy anything from them so I didn't want to waste their time.  But if they didn't mind I'd walk around and see what they had on display.

They were super nice: said there were no customers in store so there was no problem if I even listened to a system.  They took me to a room (Ayre amplification; don't remember speakers) and played for me and also chatted for a while.  Super nice people, nice equipment, and great attitude.  If I was living in that area, I'd definitely buy from them.

I follow the example my late Father set for me. The retired head of the Chemical Division of Eastman Kodak who was raised dirt poor in SW Virginia -- a member of the famed Carter Family, the founders of Bluegrass and Country Music. When Dad took early retirement in 1981, he focused on his true loves -- working on the 100 acre Family farm, building expert quality furniture out of the woodworking shop on the farm loaded with the highest quality gear available, and building a 3,000 square foot log cabin out of 3 log cabins originally built between 1820 and 1850.

When he was in the market for new cars, trucks, televisions, or nice furniture, he went to the stores in a beat up farm truck, his sweatshirt and jeans covered in sawdust from the woodworking shops, and asked to speak to a salesman. 99% of them ignored him thinking he was a lowly farmer with little to no money to spend, but the 1% who treated him like a valuable customer with dignity ended their interaction with a product sold with cold, hard, cash. Whether it was a $100 chair or a $30,000 brand new pickup truck. The other salesmen would crap their pants and try to quickly make up ground. Dad never gave them the time of day just as they had him. Usually it was a brand new kid who recently starting working that got Dad’s sale -- and that’s the person he dealt with for the following years as long as they still worked at the store. When I’m in the market for a high-end product I do the same thing -- dress like crap and look like I just rolled out of bed. Whoever treats me like a human being gets my cash.

@kingbr @oddiofyl 

We have 1 1/2 shops here and when I decided to buy Some KEF speakers, I knew they’d have to be shipped whether I ordered them from a local HT shop who had never seen or heard one or from another dealer, so I bought from AV Therapy and had them shipped 850 mile to my front door. John took very good care of me.