Hi-Fi Shops/Outlets with Unpleasant Service

Here Here!
Dont undervalue yourself, irregardless of age or financial situation. There are some hifi shops/staff/owners who may feel that they have enough regular buyers/kakis to get by, and hence dont treat potential clients with respect. For any would be hifier, this is a major put off. When times are lean, this show of disrespect often bites them in the bum. This is a phenomenon common to all bussiness.

A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so - Mahatma gandhi

Back in the early 90s, I was absolutely ignored and matter-of-fact told off that a certain amp would be too expensive for me when I plucked up the courage to enquire.

Was never treated that way even as a poor student in the UK when the sales guy demo-ed for 2 hours all kinds of set-up even though I only bought a 300 pounds system.

By the way, that shop that ignored me is Trikay. Not sure if they are still around.

RobA4 wrote:
By the way, that shop that ignored me is Trikay. Not sure if they are still around.

Trikay itself bungkus already. But the founder is still around and is doing the agency for Rega.

An ex-Trikay employee, Mr. Rama is now a regular stall-seller of LPs at Amcorp mall on weekends. He also refurbishes old TT and does some buy/sell/trade of such TTs as well.

My first new item i bought for 'home entertainment' is marantz AVR sr-7500 from at highway laser SS2 2-3 years ago(not really remember)... even the price quite expensive for peasant like me.. the sales guy name 'scotty' (don't know what is real name) treat me really well, explain and tell me the pro and con of the equipments.
since i a newbie on AVR (and my appearance doesn't look like a rich people too hehehe..... restlessly he explain to me..which one to invest money, which one is not...make me more interested in AV...

Until today, after spending quite a amount of money for htheater base on his opinion, i realized and notice what he said is true and really helpful... unfortunately, he was not at highway laser anymore when i bought a dvd player last year...
so guys (saleperson), if you good and honest to customer, you can gain too...
just my little bit of experience
kudos to him...scotty of highway laser....

Jus bought a turntable from Asia Sound at Amcorp Mall today. Michael was the sales personnel.Happy with sales service and product. 5 out of 5 star rating. Keep up the good work Asia Sound!!!......now listening to my new Rega turntable........realised what i have missed for the last 20 years.

Guys, it's not just the hifi stores. Ask young musicians, they have the same complaints about music stores.

Many years ago, I visited a music store in Sydney and wanted to try out an electric guitar. The salesman took down the guitar, took me to a big room with walls that were lined with amps, asked me which one I wanted to plug into, set it up and told me: "Ok, go ahead and play as long as you like. Just holler for me if you need anything, I'll be outside the room."

Never had this sort of service in Malaysia so far.

I recently went to the Bermas showroom to check out the Mazda 2. Asked the price and this fat frog of a salesman looked at me distastefully and said: "The price going up by RM3,000 soon ...."

I had the same story. Because I just wear a plain t-shirt with "selipar jepun" only, the shop owner (very veteren) just ignore me and my brother. Even though that day I manage to get hold my target gear, I end up buying pre/power amp combo and speaker worth ~5k. Who is losing.Dont judge the book by its cover la.

bassraptor wrote:
Never had this sort of service in Malaysia so far.

I recently went to the Bermas showroom to check out the Mazda 2. Asked the price and this fat frog of a salesman looked at me distastefully and said: "The price going up by RM3,000 soon ...."

Mebbe to that fat frog, RM3K is damn big amount of money ... probably more than his commission for selling a Mazda-2 !!

Agreed with Bassraptor 110%. I think generally, the local idealogy to doing business for some sales personnel is "LETS JUDGE THIS GUY BY HIS APPEARANCE FIRST, then give him a totally IRRELEVANT answer to his questions.

Eg " How much is this?" and the typical answer will be " Are you going to buy/ Oh price increased x thousands/ or the most cynical "can u afford ah"

True, local sales people always look at what you're wearing. Unless it's Poh Kong, I notice ... they're well trained and have excellent people skills, no matter how you're dressed and what your budget is ... maybe it's because they understand the value of gold.

I was shopping for sports shoes once, dressed in a faded T-shirt and pants. At one shop selling Nike, I was trying to get the young salesgirl's attention, and she looked me over as if saying, like you can afford these!

So I walked out, went to another nearby store, saw a pair of Nikes I wanted, bought it and later walked back to the first store carrying the shoes in large plastic bag and told my wife loudly, this shop doesn't have a good selection, lah ...

The salesgirl saw me and the new shoes I was carrying. You should have seen her face ....

One up for the faded clothes ...

i remembered buying my denon amp in pennylane, i never remembered the seller name but i know he's the son of the owner. he's ok, friendly just a bit dishonest in giving advice. i am not sure if its because to sell his not so in demand denon amp or he's indeed telling the truth. back in year 2000 i ask for NAD amp at his place, but he advised not to go for that brand as having unsure problems. according to him usually those who bought them will send back the amps after 2 or 3 months of usage due to power supply problems. so i agreed on Denon that his selling. its a bit underpower, just 36w/ch, a minimalist but sweet mids & highs, (until i learn to match with kef coda the sound is superb!!). a few months later on when i pass the shop, & i always do on friday & guess what, all his amps on the rack has changed to NAD amps!!

& a few months later some of the NAD amps that he sold came back for the same reason he told me before, which was not to buy NAD amps!!




until today my denon still works fine & im glad that i listened to his advice.. tqs mate..

Azri....

The NAD's i own has no such issues, thankfully. Maybe the older designs, they have a robust build.

Heard from a little sparrow ( owners ) that the CA's are having similar issues as well. Not sure how far this is true.

I know that there is a safety feature built into the AMP's where the heat level reaches a certain threshold the AMP shuts down.

As for me, I place a ventilation fan on top of my AMP.

Got a bit of flack from a few friends that placing the fan directly on top of the AMP may minimize the performance of the AMP. Possibility...

But ...the AMP is singing away sonically.....

cheers

bassraptor wrote:True, local sales people always look at what you're wearing. Unless it's Poh Kong, I notice ... they're well trained and have excellent people skills, no matter how you're dressed and what your budget is ... maybe it's because they understand the value of gold.

I was shopping for sports shoes once, dressed in a faded T-shirt and pants. At one shop selling Nike, I was trying to get the young salesgirl's attention, and she looked me over as if saying, like you can afford these!

So I walked out, went to another nearby store, saw a pair of Nikes I wanted, bought it and later walked back to the first store carrying the shoes in large plastic bag and told my wife loudly, this shop doesn't have a good selection, lah ...

The salesgirl saw me and the new shoes I was carrying. You should have seen her face ....

One up for the faded clothes ...

Bass...

This may be out of topic as well.....

Was in the market for a new car.

Drop by the Toyota showroom at Sec 19, PJ with my wife and both of us were dressed simple ( shorts and t-shirt ) with "selipar Jepun". Not even a single salesperson came by to assist and not even a frog looking one as well.

Finally, a first day on the job sales woman took us for a walk around the show room. We acquired the Altis and the day of collection of the car, the other so called senior sales persons were looking astonished and one even had the cheek to ask " is this your car".

My reply.... Why cannot ...ahhhhh..... "your lost another persons gain".... and i was smiling cheekly at him... ....

cheers

Majority of sales persons esp in audio visual hypermarket type of stores are not very knowledgable. I love to go to these outlets e.g. SenQ etc and ask the sales person technical issues regarding Plasma vs Lcd etc and just listen to their bull shit response..

so many arrogant shops examples, can we get some arrogant customers story here?

yehlai wrote:so many arrogant shops examples, can we get some arrogant customers story here?

Arrogant hifi shops owners or staff should also be the arrogant customers, due to their arrogance nature.

A new topic " Arrogant Customers" is for arrogant customers stories.

Ha! Ha! Ha!......... I hope you are not a retailer who felt itchy behind your ears.......just joking.

agree to most of it, that why it make me reluntant to step in those shop too...

mofaz wrote:Majority of sales persons esp in audio visual hypermarket type of stores are not very knowledgable. I love to go to these outlets e.g. SenQ etc and ask the sales person technical issues regarding Plasma vs Lcd etc and just listen to their bull shit response..

I went to Harvey Norman and Best Denki and found that their sales persons were quite knowledgable with their won products like LCD / LED TVsand Plasma Air Cleaner. Not to bad.

As i quoted mahatma gandhi - i think its a very noticeable thing that salespeople do not always view potential clients as being anything more than $$ signs. They feel like they are owed something by us just because they have to make a sales pitch. which in itself is absolute rubbish.

If the salesperson doesnt meet your expectation, then bugger them off. Why chase after a bus.....when another one will come along shortly.

Last saturday i passed by CMY Penang and saw two guys looked like middle east origin, one elderly and a young guy ( may be his son ) in the shop looking at the Naim / Primare / CJ stuff on display.. all of the sudden the elderly guy picked up the CJ amp and started to wave it around and knocking it on the casing as if to check weather it's solid or not..The horror impression on the Mr Law Senior was priceless..

Mofaz....

Middle east = lots $$$$$, so its OK..lahhhhh... damage they are able to pay..... so different operating procedure applied....

cheers

When I first came to KL to look for a job, my cousin and I used to look and admire those hifi products in this particular electrical chainstore that has branches in Bukit Bintang Plaza and Sg Wang. There was once when they put on a vhs tape that had The Police and Blondie performing. We were enjoying ourselves when the one of the owners or managers (he is still there, only has added 30 years to his age now) abruptly switched off the set! He obviously didn't want two young punks and a few others enjoying themselves in front of his shop. We never set foot on his shop nor the branches up till today. Sad to say, he lost a lot of potential business from us.

bassraptor wrote:
Never had this sort of service in Malaysia so far.

I recently went to the Bermas showroom to check out the Mazda 2. Asked the price and this fat frog of a salesman looked at me distastefully and said: "The price going up by RM3,000 soon ...."

Reminds me of a buddy of mine.

He drove his 407 to a M B showroom to inquire abt the latest C Class which would be launched soon at that time. The salesman snubbed him,"the A class would be ideal since it is your 1st Benz and quite a lot cheaper"

He did not even bother to tell him the price. Frustrated, he left for home. Changed to his RX8 and got his expensive gold Rollie on his watch and wore a nicer clothing. He went back. The manager saw him. Went and open the door for him. Excellent service. He got all his questions answered with a nice cup of coffee. The salesman saw him and quickly came over. Whispered to his manager, "He came just now. I was there to serve him". Upon hearing this, my friend said "I don't remember that I was being served by you. I could not even recall your face." He bought the C from the manager.

Coming back to topic, when I was a student, I used to walk pass Absolute Sound Stage (wonder you guys can recall). Saw these gigantic loudspeakers. One day,they owner came out and invited me to go in. IIRC, Mr Goh. I told him that I have no money to buy it. He insisted that I have a listen to it.

It was the first time that I was exposed to real hi-fi since I only knew Sony, JVC, Pioneer and Panasonic at that time. The Wilson Audio Grand Slam with a heart stopping RM180K price tag. It was more than 18 yrs ago.

The next visit, he let me listen to Thiel. Unfortunately, it went out of biz. Then, I went to Hin Electrical that carried Klipsch, Tannoy, Onkyo, HK, Denon, Exposure, etc. My HT hobby started from there literally

I had a rather different experience with CMY Sunway Pyramid branch.The sales person was very friendly,even though I was with my shorts and T-shirt.He answered all my queries about those stuff on display.Telling him that those were out of my budget,he offered some nice CDs for me to listen.I bought a few from him in the end.Mind you,it was near closing time!And I must say,he gave very attentive service.

Good service will impart a long lasting impression,so is a bad experince.I remembered I bought a CD player from a HiFi dealer at Pasar Rd years ago.It had some problem and when I contacted the owner to explain the fault,I received a very rude reply.Reluctantly,he agreed to exchange a new one for me.I begged a friend to do the exchange for me as I did not want to see his face again.That was the last that I stepped into his shop.

CMY penang and Sunway are 2 examples of the worst of hi-fi shops in Malaysia;hands down....If in Penang I would recommend you to visit Happy Audio.

A&l are quite good,with fair pricing,and there is where I ask most of my friends to buy their stuff......

As for me ,I bought most of my stuff abroad

Wow, with so many complaints of this shop and that shop, this has really turned into a bitching thread.....

htkaki wrote:

bassraptor wrote:
Never had this sort of service in Malaysia so far.

I recently went to the Bermas showroom to check out the Mazda 2. Asked the price and this fat frog of a salesman looked at me distastefully and said: "The price going up by RM3,000 soon ...."

Reminds me of a buddy of mine.

He drove his 407 to a M B showroom to inquire abt the latest C Class which would be launched soon at that time. The salesman snubbed him,"the A class would be ideal since it is your 1st Benz and quite a lot cheaper"

He did not even bother to tell him the price. Frustrated, he left for home. Changed to his RX8 and got his expensive gold Rollie on his watch and wore a nicer clothing. He went back. The manager saw him. Went and open the door for him. Excellent service. He got all his questions answered with a nice cup of coffee. The salesman saw him and quickly came over. Whispered to his manager, "He came just now. I was there to serve him". Upon hearing this, my friend said "I don't remember that I was being served by you. I could not even recall your face." He bought the C from the manager.

Coming back to topic, when I was a student, I used to walk pass Absolute Sound Stage (wonder you guys can recall). Saw these gigantic loudspeakers. One day,they owner came out and invited me to go in. IIRC, Mr Goh. I told him that I have no money to buy it. He insisted that I have a listen to it.

It was the first time that I was exposed to real hi-fi since I only knew Sony, JVC, Pioneer and Panasonic at that time. The Wilson Audio Grand Slam with a heart stopping RM180K price tag. It was more than 18 yrs ago.

The next visit, he let me listen to Thiel. Unfortunately, it went out of biz. Then, I went to Hin Electrical that carried Klipsch, Tannoy, Onkyo, HK, Denon, Exposure, etc. My HT hobby started from there literally

I thought the owner of Absolute Sound Stage was Mr. Ng. Yes, he was very friendly indeed. Showed me a lot of high end stuff knowing very well all I could do was to listen but not to buy I still buy CDs from his wife.

chenht, are you from Seremban? No way I could afford those system until now.

I used to buy from his wife too at Swee Suat in T1.

htkaki wrote:chenht, are you from Seremban? No way I could afford those system until now.

I used to buy from his wife too at Swee Suat in T1.

Yes, I am

The thing that turn me off from Soundtech SP happened when i went there to purchase a Cyrus CDP. I wanted the CDP finished in black to match my Cyrus amp ( which i bought from them ). The wife told me black color special order got only silver.. add additional RM 500..and wait for 1 month! Luckily i didnt go for it, i went to AVE and got the CDP in the color i wanted and at no additional cost plus lower price some more! Since then i never go back to Soundtech..

So far I have not encounter any bad hifi shop but sometimes just those looks that telling me "ewww you can afford onot???"

Anyway I am enjoying every bits of this thread, can someone pls continue pouring in?

is same like visiting a Mercedes Benz showroom wearing a short pants + sandals. the salesperson see u with their nose, haha.
Fortunately Ipoh Dong Fong doesnt did that to me, even thru I just went in see see look look, listen some nice music, the owner even
teach me for FREE tips to improve sounding, treat me nice chinese
tea and ask me visit again when I walk out empty handed paiseh

I too feel that hifi dealer should be friendly and not be rude . I got my gears from center circle and they are quite friendly guys . Been with them for quite a while already .

That point and shoot guy in cmy who say that if we were toask we have to buy , must feel that he is farsighted and can read our mind , not to mention our pocket . I think he should start using his other brain that he use to sit on , and put it to better use .

Not all salespeople are crappy. But there are always going to be a few rotten apples. So **** em. Bigots are morons, so have a laugh at their expense

With so many accusations hurled at CMY, isnt it good public relation for a representative of CMY to make a statement? If this is my company, I will jump out at the soonest to defend it.

i was in sg wang the other day, looking for a 3.5mm female to 1/4" male stereo adapter...i know, it's cheap stuff, so i walked into CMY sg wang, and was just looking around at the other stuff they had on display there (amps, speakers, cables etc). the salesguy followed me from behind, to see what he can assist me with...i told him i was looking for that adapter, which he showed be 1pc in the cabinet...RM12. naturally, i asked for discount, which he didn't give. ok, fair...i'm quite ok with the price since the adapter felt quite solid. so i wanted to pay for it, then he said "oh, cannot cos this one last piece, i must leave it on display in the cabinet...maybe you come back next week when i have new stock coming in"

c'mon.......is it really that important to have 1pc on display there? i guess my business (rm12 worth) is so small, it doesn't matter if it went through or not...if i said i wanted to buy some amp (last unit displayed in their showroom) worth rm30k, will they tell me to come back next week cos they need to display in their showroom?

i know what all you guys feel...i wasn't wearing too shabby myself when i entered, just that i look young (some ppl think i'm still studying, although i've been working for 7 years)...but somehow i sensed that the salesguy was observing me, and judging that i dun have budget for any of those high end stuff on sale in the shop...but a customer is still a customer, and i really wanted to get the stereo adapter...

anyway, i'm happy dealing with audio synthesis in amcorp...simon charged me rm5 for the adapter...with a big smile and tonnes of patience...

Thats the problem with CMY .. they got too many branches, and some are staffed by incompetent morons with discriminatory attitudes for the worse.

The regular CMY branches that I go to and have bought stuff from (Just some simple cables and accessories) are thankfully OK so far. And so far they've been quite happy to always demo some new model speakers or fire up that Naim system on display just for chit-chat fun and ear entertainment.

Yup, that Sg.Wang CMY guy, the one with the chronic halitosis. The one who adopted one 1980s pop icon's surname (The one who sang "never gonna give you up") as his name.

Yup, He likes to play games. He is not rude and apart from his breath, won't offend you outright with sarcasm or unpleasantries but he will reserve his signature "touche" move for the end game. You will then leave the shop feeling somewhat like an idiot.

Here's the signature move: If you enquire on an item and he gives you a price and you don't buy immediately and leave, he'll politely bid you farewell. But when you return to buy it later, he'll tack on a premium. Sorry, you should have bought it earlier, the price just went up!

In your case he was just not interested to sell you the item for RM12 (especially after you asked for a discount) because the RM10 profit he would have made from you would make no difference in his commission.

You'll be surprised to know that you can probably get the same item for RM10 at another CMY branch and probably get it for RM8 if you ask for a discount.

But when it comes to acessories Simon Synthesis is the best!

This guy tried to sell me DAC Magic for Rm1700. I found my local shop selling it for RM1400.

Touche!

Hi, Freylee. Can i know who is the serve you went you visit CMY Sg wang?

1400 and still negotiable!!

He told me 1700 nett...

He ask me wat speaker and amp i use, i mention Audience 122 and Marantz, then he shake his head, say i need those shiny shiny amp (Conrad Johnson?) and my amp not good enuf , then pull out a copy of dynaudio catalogue for me to take home. Overall service is ok but his knife is sharp.

Then i went over to A&L, the salesman all look at me and just ask me anything i looking for? I said i just browsing, then they left me alone... 1 went and go dig at the dali tweeter with his fingernails... seems like something whitish transparentish, perhaps a special coating on the tweeter.

Hmm i wish sometimes they auto offer to demo instead of me asking. Overal both not rude but not tat good salesmanship.

bimmerman wrote:
But when it comes to acessories Simon Synthesis is the best!

I will second that as well.......very forthcoming and engaging personality.

cheers

Dicky Ng wrote:Hi, Freylee. Can i know who is the serve you went you visit CMY Sg wang?

dicky, if you are some senior staff or owner etc, his name, if i recall correctly, was astley.

Cheers CMY!!!! as least now you show some initiative to defend your reputation.

Freylss's story reminds me of a company trip to Chiang Mai some years ago. We went to their pasar malam and started bargaining on some stuff. One of my anal retentive colleagues went a little too far and asked for 20 bahts for a 100 baht item. The seller gave him a cold stare and suddenly smiled and said OK! 20 baht no plablam. Come back tomollo!! Ip tomollow I not here, come back next week!!

That must be the sawadikap way of saying F***K OFF!!!! Sadly our local retailers have not aquire this level of communication skills yet.

Ongaku,

Oh yes our local reseller have obtained the level of communication skills you mentioned. In a more advanced form even. If I read correctly, Freylee was short of asked to "F" Off when he was showed the item and given a quote of RM12 and then when he asked for a discount, asked to come back next week. Same same no?

Yes it happened to me too. My case is even worst. He don't even let me in into the shop and close the sliding door, giving excuse that audition is going on. Maybe I was pushing a pram with my wife.
He stand outside and asked me what do I want and budget. I just walk off and not wasting my time.