The Good Guys Worst Chain Store Ever (At least LA Woodland Hills Store)

[paul_pci]

Trust me, that Good Guys is far better than the one in Northridge. But anyways, that's where I got my receiver, primarily because it was such an incredible financial deal, not because I went in there to listen and ask questions. See, I figure that is already a lost cause. If I have real audio gear questions, I'll come here or go to a high end, independent store. I'll go to GG, BB, CC when I know what I want and don't have any substantial questions. I don't get frustrated because I don't expect much from these guys. For instance, take that Yamaha universal player I mentioned in the other thread. If I go there to buy it's because I've aleady made my decision. If I want to hear or see its performance, I might go elsewhere.

[sc03979]

I agree with paul.I don't expect much from big retail chain stores be it wal mart, best buy, good guys, etc. You just can't expect much from people making a poor wage. I worked for a hardware store, I knew the basics but I couldn't go in depth on alot of things.

I do my own research and if a salesman at a smaller store helps me out with some actual good info I don't mind spending a little extra money to keep them in business and for helping me out.

[hershon]

It's not just the idiots working at Good Guys, its the fact that their equipment the way it is set up is impossible even to get a ballpark idea of how their audio systems play. Having to hear their stuff played through crappy generic built inside their wall speakers on the middle of a sales isle which makes any sound no matter how good, obscured by their airplane runway accoustics is inexcusable and then to top it off, when I did these morons a favor and offered to hear their systems via headphones, they had none in their million dollar store to connect. What gets me about stores like this and Tower Records, etc., is that unless you definately know what you want to buy, no one with half a brain, will shop there because these stores won't pay for decent help and a decent showcase for their systems-
it doesn't dawn on the morons who own these places, that they'd do better business and get higher revenue by hiring decent staff at good wages, etc.

I agree with paul.I don't expect much from big retail chain stores be it wal mart, best buy, good guys, etc. You just can't expect much from people making a poor wage. I worked for a hardware store, I knew the basics but I couldn't go in depth on alot of things.

I do my own research and if a salesman at a smaller store helps me out with some actual good info I don't mind spending a little extra money to keep them in business and for helping me out.

[drseid]

I agree with the other two posters... If you want super discount prices (definitely no crime in that) then the chain stores are a great option for *just* buying the product. Just about anything more than just buying from these stores (a meaningful audition, questions, etc.) should not really be expected at their price points.

If you buy from a high-end boutique, then you most likely will pay a higher price (although not always), but they will be much more prepared to give you useful answers to your questions, and a more properly setup demo on better speakers. That is what some of the extra money you pay buys you...

As for the headphones comment... I admit that not having a single pair of headphones in a Good Guys is rather comical, but it would not have done you much good anyway. You need to test the power amp section in the receiver to get a handle on its sound quality (unless you are just using it as a pre/pro), and the headphone op amp is not going to give you any idea of what the receiver sounds like... So ultimately, you would not have received any meaningful result anyway.

---Dave

[shokhead]

GG is better then CC or BB by far. None is a first choice for A/V equipment.

[markw]

If you're really, really serious about wanting to "hear" what you are going to live with, it's a two way street.

1) They don't have the enviroment, equipment or time for you to satisfy your every listening need in the store. You wil need to listen to it in your home for a few days.

2) You can't really expect them to let you walk out of there with a nice, new unit without any sort of guarantee it will be returned in perfect shape.

That's where plastic comes into play. You put the unit on your charge card, they hold putting it through for a few days (or issure a credit, depending) and you will be essentially "borrowing" the unit. If it doesn't please, you bring it back in perfect working order with all materials

Of course, this assumes you would be open to owning a pre-opened unit that someone else brought back to the store under the same terms. Fair is fair, right?

[hershon]

I don't have any problem with using plastic and then returning a unit but the problem is, I need to at least hear the unit to know this is worth my while in the first place, and this can not be done at the Good Guys under the circumstances I described.

If you're really, really serious about wanting to "hear" what you are going to live with, it's a two way street.

1) They don't have the enviroment, equipment or time for you to satisfy your every listening need in the store. You wil need to listen to it in your home for a few days.

2) You can't really expect them to let you walk out of there with a nice, new unit without any sort of guarantee it will be returned in perfect shape.

That's where plastic comes into play. You put the unit on your charge card, they hold putting it through for a few days (or issure a credit, depending) and you will be essentially "borrowing" the unit. If it doesn't please, you bring it back in perfect working order with all materials

Of course, this assumes you would be open to owning a pre-opened unit that someone else brought back to the store under the same terms. Fair is fair, right?