Quality of hi-fi sales service in SA...

[Andrew]

Good?  Bad?    Indifferent? 

Again, please, no names mentioned!

But, when buying equipment, whether from a dedicated high-end hi-fi shop or a masstore - what have your impressions been of the sales service?
Has the salesman known his product or has it been a case of you actually being more knowledgeable?
Have you been offered demos? Did you get the impression they were trying to sell you what they wanted to sell you, and not what you had asked for?

Feedback?

[DRNB]

What I have found is that in most of the "specialized" hifi shops, salemen are more willing to do demo's, even though you're not interrested in purchasing. As for their knowledge, well thas debatable. I actually think its sometimes unfair to expect the salesperson to know everything. I have also found that in one of the big masstores here in Pta. the one salesman was quite knowledgable, but even though I made quite a large purchase from them, he would pretend not to know me or even try to greet me. On the other hand in most of the smaller "specialised" shops, salesmen will remember you even though the most money you have spend in their shops was only a few hundred rands. 

thsta my noble opinion at least. 

[Shonver]

I have seen the best that both sides have to offer. (1) The type that knows buggerall, but still proceed to give their "expert" opinion to the detriment of the trusting public, and (2) the guy who knows you're not going to buy from him just yet (maybe someday), yet treats you with the same respect and consideration that his genuine prospects receive. To the latter, I always return. I even recommend my friends there, knowing they won't get ripped off.

But the worst of all is the guy who knows all about the AV market and the different values the various products present, yet unscrupulously proceeds to dazzle with his jargon and push lesser value product onto his customer; this kind will similarly trash-talk competing product just to get the sale.

Hint: 1 mass mover of electronics and 2 former tenants at Canal Walk feature in this true account. But I can't mention names.

[Nadfan]

I bought all my A/V equipment in PE, from 2 of only 3 specialist hi-fi shops there. Everything new, except the iQ5s, that was a bargain demo pair. I received superb customer service prior to and after the sales transactions and especially at the one store, felt special if I walked in there, sometimes just to have a chat with the guys. They were very knowledgable and always helpful with advice, home demos, recommendations, etc. Also, they never disgraced other brands that they were not stocking, and were very straight froward when it came to advising me. Must say that it was the best customer service that I've experienced, so far. Customer service in SA, in general, STINKS BIG TIME!

[Viagara]

Hint: 1 mass mover of electronics and 2 former tenants at Canal Walk feature in this true account. But I can't mention names.

Is one of those former tenants now in Somerset West? If that is the one I am thinking off, I again only had good service from them and used to just pop in to talk nonsense, but that was with one specific salesman.

The other one has also moved further north and there I was confronted by this know-it-all person who did not hear a word I said.

The mass mover, well what can I say

[skinnyfat]

Here in DBN we are unfortunate enough not to have a huge range of specialists to choose from. However there is one store in particular that I can honestly say is owned and run by genuine enthusiasts and they are ALWAYS willing to give up their time to accomodate you and any query you may have regardless of whether they think you are going to buy or not. No BS. I have also been left to my own devices with their equipment LOOL, they say "sure bring your CD's and DVD's come and sit and relax and tinker away", this I must say is a first.

One other store had complete Plonkers working there, the know-it-all shallow gene pool variety. They have since gone belly-up, I wonder why

[Viagara]

There is a company that I know off in Dbn that offers outstanding service, but I don't think they/he has a shop. Many guys on here has already mentioned his name with praise on numerous occasions.

[DRNB]

There is a company that I know off in Dbn that offers outstanding service, but I don't think they/he has a shop. Many guys on here has already mentioned his name with praise on numerous occasions.

I might be thinking of the same guy. Spoke to him a few times, very knowledgeable and would rather lose a sale than let you purchase something from him that he feels might not work for you.

[Shonver]

Is one of those ...?

Abe: yes to all!

There is another guy out in Sun Valley/Kommetjie who does audio on the side, really for the love of it. He sometimes hosts music sessions. I bought my dad's Sonor Audio speakers from him. Sometimes he has music for sale, too. Very nice guy and honest. He once sold us audio cable that came nicely terminated and sleeved in braid. When I started asking probing questions about the origins of said cable, he did not become defensive, but rather gave me the facts, and for this I respect him.

[Viagara]

I have heard about this guy in Sun Valley or is it Fish Hoek? My brother-in-law has a garden services and he is located close to this guy.

Sometimes we also have to consider personality clashes with dealers. I remember a comment Anthony(Antman) made about a dealer in the Southern suburbs of Cape Town, whom I get along with very well, but they rubbed each other up the wrong way.

[Shonver]

.. but they rubbed each other up the wrong way.

That happens, unfortunately. I once recommended my friend's repair services to another audio acquaintance. Turned out a complete disaster! The audio guy thought he was being ripped off (how well do you know this guy, Shaun? will I get my gear back?), and my friend thought the other guy was the ultimate nightmare customer! LOL!

[Gliding Dutchman]

A-ha! This is the tread I've been waiting for...

Just this past Saturday (02/12/2007) me and my pal went to Pretoria - firstly he went to that BEEEEG dept store in Centurion to buy a television set and DStv decoder. After that we went to that TENT shopping mall in Menlyn Park to spend the day and browse the shoppes (us plattelanders are not used to the city you know...)

It is in that mall were I, like many times before, browsed the "hi-fi" stores (if you can call it that...). In the one particular store, very big floorspace, lots of demo rooms, I browsed and spotted some very nice looking speaker cable on a reel. Strolled over and investigated, carefully picking up the cable to read the brand printed on the side... the (presumed) shop owner quickly ran up to me with a terrable expression on his face (like WTF???). I greeted him in a friendly manner and asked him: "Tell me a bit more about this cable?"

He replied: "Uhm... that cable is used for 'BI-WIRING'. It has four cores for the 'FOUR' terminals at the back of the loudspeaker. You know, on some speakers you can feed the groups of drivers seperately..."
I tried to tell him that I know what Bi-Wiring is and what speakers I run but he continued to treat me as if I am a numbskull!! This p!ssed me off very quickly. I wanted to know a bit more about the cable and not about the connection scheme... sigh!!

I didnt even want to ask about turntables and such... would have blown my top!

There is however a very well established shoppe in Attebury - I have great respect for the owner who is very considerate and helpfull.

Ag no... I dont like to visit hi-fi shoppes per sè as I know for sure the personel knows... uhm let me shut up now...

GD

[DevillEars]

Yeah, I know, just like "comparisons", "generalisations" can be odious, but... 

a) The smaller the community served by a dealer, the better and more personal the service

There's a logic to this - the small communities are tight-knit and everybody knows everybody (almost, anyway) so, to survive, dealers need to recognise this "word-of-mouth grapevine" and behave accordingly. Darwinian natural selection soon takes care of those that ignore this!

b) The select few "highish-end" specialist dealers are subject to similar pressures as their market is also small and their buyers tend to communicate via forums such as this one.

c) The purist two-channel audio-only mid-range dealer is an endangered species these days - the market shift to AV, multi-room, and MP3 has forced a broadening of focus... 

d) The larger the city, the poorer and less personal the service

More logic? "Well if that asshole's not going to buy soon, he can get stuffed, there are more suckers queueing to get in the door" (Can also result in Darwinian selection)

e) Dealers carrying a limited ranges (small market, can't afford to carry the inventory?) makes heterogeneous system building a difficult task and also makes home auditions a rare treat.

f) Dealers becoming distributors to stay competitive? This further aggravates the issue in e) above

g) Large mass-market "hi fi" stores (no names, no packdrill) also tend to devalue the industry with sales assistants that are abysmally ignorant

h) The nature of the competition between the various dealers/importers is unhealthy - almost cut-throat - and makes Audio Expo organising a tricky proposition

This is a big pity as these expos are probably the only mechanism to enable system comparisons without timelags - they also offer great opportunities to converse with like-minded individuals...

i) Finally, looking back over the last 10 years, two trends have become very apparent:

- Highish-end dealers moving away from the "supermalls" and losing "walk-in trade" (good idea as it limits the time-wastage of assistants and customers alike)
- Delineation in the Importer:Dealer hierarchy has got progressively more blurred

One potential solution?  Is there space for "audio consultants/brokers"?  You tell me!

[Hi-Phibian]

One potential solution?  Is there space for "audio consultants/brokers"?  You tell me!

I have often pondered this, but who pays him or her?
There is perhaps a place for this person in todays custom automated home built to spec with a hometheatre. Same fellow would project manage the process, all for a fee without profit from the equipment.

However, it will not be long untill "incentives" would bias the broker as he would be a free lance salesman employed by all, bringing back the cut throat part except the client may be unaware?

[Cleansound]

I choose not to deal with salesmen and I choose to do my own research,I get super annoyed when I listen to all the sales pitches and how this and that will IMPROVE my system and how that will blow me out of the water,my entire system has been meticulously put together with lot's of patience and a fair amount of trial and error by myself,and I am very happy.
I bought an LCD on Friday and the salesman gave me all sorts of hogwash,I eventually told him to cut the b/s and narrow things down and I made my own decision.
However saying this I have also encountered some awesome and very knowledgable guys in Hi-Fi shops and some of these blokes can tell me anything they want and I will believe them.
I would like to single out one such person and if any of you Gauteng'o philes need good audio advice then speak to (Mod Edit: Saving Cleansound's bacon ).