Elliot G

Sandra, So according to your logic and what YOU want I should be able to write 5 random emails to car dealers all over the U.S. telling them that I WANT to try a car for 3o days and all I am willing to do is pay for the freight charges. What a wonderful world that would be. I can drive a Porsche, a Lambo, a Ferrari, a Maserati and a ZR-1 Corvette and see which one I LIKE and the return them all and go buy the one I like from the cheapest guy I can find afterwards. Seems fair to me!!! I should expect them to say yes since I am just a stranger contacting them via email. WOW. I triued to explain to you that AV dealers are small , really small businesses and that they have to pay for all the items you want to try without obligation. The should change the whole businss model just for you since you don't want to be inconvienced to go into the store and introduce yourself and explain to them what you are trying to accomplish. They have companies that do business like that for example Bose. They make you buy the item and give you the option to return it ( probably with some charges that you are responsible for). Do you wonder why all of the places you wrote to did not get back to you? Maybe becasue that is not how they do business. I think they should have at least replyied to you. I agree that was not good business. I get these types of emails daily. They want to buy from Singapore, China, Japan, Thailand, Mexico etc. They want to give me a credit card number and since I was born at night they think it was last night. PLease be realistic and I think your experience will be excellent. You need to spend YOUR time to make YOURSELF happy. Visit the sotes. listen to what you have in mind, limit the choices to something reasonable and then ask to take it home. I think you will find that this works. Good luck

Let us focus on the business at hand. We are not car dealers. Auto dealers have titled vehicles and are much larger better capitalized than small independant audio shops. Audio is a much more adversarial business with a whole collection of small independant distributors, manufacturers and dealers. ALl of these are small businesses. There are only a few mid size companies and really non of the High End companies are even close to the size of a single car dealer. The public does not understand that a typical audio store does between 1 and 5 million doillars in sales for a whole year!!!!! So to expect a dealer to give someone 30k on a whim is punitive for them and without the promise fo a sale and a profotable sale the contract is one sided. Be fair with your dealer and they should be fair with you

Mark, I think that is my point. I never have an issue with a client of mine that has a request that I have the ability to satisfy. Inherent in that request is that if he or she like s it they will purchase it from me. I do this all the time!!! It is important that both parties to a contract have benefit not only one. E

I have been a retail dealer for my entire adult life. I have worked for and owned stores. I have been seriously involved in the HE for almost 40 years. I wanted to get that out of the way so that you get where I am coming from. I get emails all the time from people wanting information and looking for discounted pricing almost every day. Most of these people have been to some dealer somewhere else who has done the work to show them the products they are writting to EVERY dealer to see if they can get a better price. I find this behavior disappointing. In your case if you really want to work with a dealer you need to establish a realtionship. AN email is very impersonal. YOu should call or even better visit. This may be difficult but once you have established a realtionship you will find that customer service will be natural. I have many clients that live all over the U.S. and outside the states as well. It is difficult to send gear everywhere with lots of exposure and very little opportunity to make a sale. I have found that the loaner thing has never worked for my stores. If a client wants to work with us we will always go out of our way to make sure they are happy but this has to work both ways. FOr example, the dealer really wants to know that after they have done the work that they are going to make the sale. No one wants to pay for their time. When you go to work you get paid. ( i hope lol) In our case we only make money when we sell something. Dealers pay for thier demos, all of them. If a dealer was to have all of the items you wanted to hear they have a large investment. I think a dealer will work with you if they feel comfortable that they are going to get business from you when this process is over and that you and your friends are going to come to them first for your audio needs. One last thing. I used to loan gear all the time and this is the truth, it almost never sold anything for our business. It made enemies not customers. I truly beleive that it is in your best interest to find someone you feel comfortable to work with and give them the opportunity to earn your business. I also think that if they do that you need to give them your loyalty and economic support. Good luck