[marcoarment]

I went to Stereo Exchange yesterday to try their new Headphone Lounge.
 
I was there for two reasons:
 

• I buy a lot of headphones, and I was interested to hear some of the newer, more rare models that are usually impossible to try anywhere in person, such as the HE-560, Phonon SMB-02, and Audezes, and a couple of rare amps like the Auralic Taurus.
• I sometimes review headphones for my blog, and there were a handful of high-end portable models like the Aedle, Master & Dynamic, and Martin Logan that I wanted to try so I could know whether to recommend them.

 
When I picked up the first interesting pair I saw (Phonon — surprisingly lightweight), the salesman started asking me the usual questions to see what I was looking for, and I, stupidly and naively, told him both reasons. (Although I also intended to write my impressions in a notebook, which probably would have tipped them off even if I hadn't said anything.)
 
The nearby manager overheard me and was immediately confrontational. "You have a website?"
 
"Yeah, I sometimes review headphones on my blog."
 
"Do you sell them?"
 
"No, I just review and recommend them. I'm also looking for myself, since—"
 
"I don't understand. You sell them?"
 
The salesman helpfully chimed in. "No, he just writes about them — and you link to places to buy them?"
 
"Yes."
 
That was it. Game over.
 
"So you're taking business away from us? I can't have you in here using our equipment just to tell people to buy it somewhere else! I don't think I can allow this."
 
I tried damage control. "Sorry, I hadn't considered that. I see where you're coming from — can I make this benefit you somehow? You don't sell online, right?"
 
"What? Right, but I can't have you—"
 
"Well, I'm sure people read my site who live here. What if I link to you in anything I write about these, thanking you for letting me demo them and telling people to check out your store?"
 
"But you're just taking business away from us."
 
"What if I just don't link to other stores in the reviews of these models?"
 
"I don't know… I'd have to get something in writing."
 
"Sure, I'd be happy to sign something."
 
"Let me ask my husband [the co-owner], I don't know about this, hold on."
 
She called him and presented the case. "There's someone here who wants to try our equipment and then tell people to buy it online. We don't want him in here, right?… OK, that's what I thought." [hangs up] "No, we won't allow that. You need to go."
 
Clearly, this was not going to be the considered discussion I was hoping for.
 
But I made one last attempt. I pointed out that they sell lots of products that you can't buy online, Amazon has no price advantage on most of them, I can leave out the links, hardly anyone offers a showroom for high-end headphones anywhere so it's a huge draw for customers, and surely there must be something I can do to encourage my audience to bring value to their business.
 
She wouldn't have any of it, and instead berated me. "You people buy everything online, and then when you have a problem, who do you call? Where do you go?"
 
"Me?… Uh, I just go to wherever I bought it."
 
"No, you call us and ask, 'How do I plug this in? How does this work?'"
 
As relatively rude as she was, and as little as she was actually considering (or even hearing) my ideas to make it worthwhile for them, I couldn't really argue with her core point. Most people who read my site don't live in Manhattan and are likely to buy inexpensive headphones online. There's not much I can do about that, of course — people will buy online regardless of whether I link to Amazon — and I can completely understand why a huge store's owner, exasperated by years of online competition, would be so offended by someone who represents that world. I mostly just felt dumbfounded, foolish, and guilty that I had inadvertently committed an ethical offense and gotten myself kicked out of a store that I spent 3 hours round-trip to see.
 
I apologized and left. I sent them an apology email as well, but it was met with a similar response.
 
I think there are a few takeaways that might be useful to people other than me:
 
First, if you buy something online, don't try to get tech support in unrelated stores. That's not cool.
 
Second, if a store helps you choose something, buy it there. That's why I bought my TH900 and HD 800 from HeadRoom, my HE-6 from The Cable Company, and my pile of Schiit from Schiit. Most high-end headphones have fixed prices and cost the same regardless of where you buy them, so there's very little reason not to support the places that help you.
 
And finally, if you ever find yourself at Stereo Exchange... don't mention the internet. At all. They have an amazing collection of headphones — I just wish I had a chance to try any.

 

[gbremer]

Although I agree that they might have had a point, I'm not sure they made the correct choice. I'm a big fan of buying local, and really appreciate excellent customer service over the convenience of online shopping. Even though part of your intention was to write some reviews, so what? People who are going to shop online will shop online and they wont care, and people who aren't local to Manhattan aren't going to shop there anyway. But for those of us who prefer to shop from local businesses, word of mouth makes a big difference in choosing who to buy from. What would it have hurt them, really, to support you in what you were doing. A good review of their business on your site would encourage someone like me to seek out their store. A confrontational experience makes me wonder what else would they be confrontational about.

And I absolutely agree about your takeaways from the experience.

 

[GearMe]

From their About Us page 
  "Stereo Exchange believes in friendly service. Our job is to make every customer a happy one."    ;-0

 

Not sure how someone with poor listening skills, making inaccurate assumptions, and being rude is living up to their motto.  From the looks of their website, they've been around for over thirty years...go figure!  The market has a way of sorting this stuff out.
 
Kinda sad really, we used to have some nice audio stores in Columbus/Cleveland that carried elite brands but they're gone.  Bought my high-end stereo equipment from them over the years; even some headphones.  Funny thing is I still get some of my headphones from the local Magnolia / BestBuy store...bought 2 Senns, a Denon, and a Beyer there within the last year.
 
The business model for these boutique stores is fairly simple; carry premium brands that control their pricing or don't sell online -- ideally both.  By doing this, they have a marketing advantage with me (and I suspect some others) as I prefer to buy in person for the extra service, local economy, etc. even though I'm paying sales tax.  In fact, I had this exact discussion with a store manager in Ann Arbor as I was demoing some HiFiMANs that he was evaluating as a potential addition to their product mix.  He totally understood this concept and stated that this criteria was essential for carrying a brand in their store.  Not rocket science.
 
BTW...Stereo Exchange is fine with selling online.  They use eBay.  Seems they just don't want to compete in a free marketplace.

 

[GearMe]

...But for those of us who prefer to shop from local businesses, word of mouth makes a big difference in choosing who to buy from. What would it have hurt them, really, to support you in what you were doing. A good review of their business on your site would encourage someone like me to seek out their store. A confrontational experience makes me wonder what else would they be confrontational about.

 
+1 to the above point.  
 
I'm in the market for some Planar headphones and was actually thinking of visiting their store when I'm in NYC in October on business.  My desire to visit was based totally off of an article on Innerfidelity about them by Steve Guttenburg.  
 
Will pass on my visit...it's easy to put your happy face on for free publicity; apparently much tougher to treat people kindly when no one's looking.

 

[Music Alchemist]

@marcoarment
 
I didn't even read your entire post, and I can already say this is one of the most ridiculous stories I've ever heard. Seems like that shop knows very little about how the audio industry - and business in general - works.

 

[Ra97oR]

Someone seems to have earned their black mark on Head-Fi then. Totally unreasonable, HiFi stores I have been to from KJ WestOne in London to EVERYWHERE in Hong Kong have been very friendly.
 
KJ WestOne even told my friend from US to not buy from them even when they are certainly interested, the sales just simply state the fact that US is going to be cheaper than UK for that certain product and didn't push a sale. That is what I call friendly service.

 

[EmpJ]

That's horrid customer service. Businesses should be willing to let people try their products, and share great music. Especially when they set up a dedicated headphone lounge! 
 
We can already see that in this small thread, they've potentially lost a handful of customers. The internet is ongoing, it's huge and this type of stuff will resurface. 
 
A business should be confident enough to sell and not be afraid of competitors. They seem to not have that passion for what they are doing - and seem to be in this only for the money, which is wrong. It takes away from the beauty of sharing things with the world, especially when it comes to something like music. 
 
They could have made a great relationship with you and gotten a great review...sigh...sorry to hear of your experience. 
 
If that happened to me, I would have felt like a criminal. And I MAY have lost it on them, but that's just me. I have lots to say LOL. 

 

[marcoarment]

  If that happened to me, I would have felt like a criminal. And I MAY have lost it on them, but that's just me. I have lots to say LOL. 

 
I did feel like a criminal, but I just internalized it instead and could barely eat for the rest of the day or sleep last night.
 
Not a positive experience for sure, but I'm still not convinced how much of it was their fault.

 

[EmpJ]

Don't think about it anymore. It is their fault. You did nothing wrong. 

 

[Spareribs]

Normally, I never really tell the full truth when I'm in stores. Typically I say, I'm just browsing and try to be casual with employees. Somestimes, employees may be bored and just want to hang out a little with a customer and engage in small talk. I try to give off a cool vibe to employees when it's needed.

That being said, there is also a breed of pushy employees who are hungry for commission and they can be somewhat jerks. So yeah, I think in the future you may have to be a little manipulative in subtle ways.

 

[Spareribs]

I would wait maybe 6 months and return to store. They'll probably forget you. If not, just deny that you were that guy or dress different and talk with an accent so they'll think you're a new customer.

 

[EmpJ]

I would wait maybe 6 months and return to store. They'll probably forget you. If not, just deny that you were that guy or dress different and talk with an accent so they'll think you're a new customer.

But why would he want to return to a store that treated him that way? There are way too many options these days to subject yourself to that type of abuse. 

 

[HiFiGuy528]

showrooming....

 

[AnakChan]

[Rhetorical...no response required]
I wonder if the thought ever occured to her your impressions that go online weren't limited to just headphones...but could be expanded to customer service too.
[/Rhetorical...no response required]

 

[jjcha]

   
I did feel like a criminal, but I just internalized it instead and could barely eat for the rest of the day or sleep last night.
 
Not a positive experience for sure, but I'm still not convinced how much of it was their fault.

 
Dude, and you call yourself a New Yorker?  I'm actually not joking.  Come on man, stores like that with dicks like that are all over NYC.  Try visiting Grado in Brooklyn to get a Joe Grado headphone repaired sometime.
 
Ok, joking about that last part.  After the initial dirty look, John was pretty cool, but they made it clear in no uncertain terms they wouldn't touch the HP1000.
 
Will say I'm a little surprised - I've bought a number of things from Stereo Exchange and used to go there often when I got my MBA at NYU.  They always treated me okay (except for this one moron).  But then again, whenever I went in, it was usually to buy something, or with something in mind.
 
Either way, you did nothing wrong.  Just got some morons there that day.  Forget about it.
 
Best,
 
-Jason