In praise of Richer Sounds
Discussion
I've been a fan, and occasional customer of Richer Sounds since the 90s.
But I left their store today feeling quite miffed at them.
After pondering how much cash I thought improving my tv experience was worth (£300-£400 ish) I went in to ask about a few options.
My ageing sony avr has got dodgy soldering, so will need replacing in the near future. My cobbled together budget speakers (eltax centre, acoustic solutions floor standers, wharfdale 9.0 rears, no sub) are "ok" but bulky and I need to free up space for the xmas tree tomorrow.
I wanted to know if a soundbase or bar were reasonable propositions as an alternative, and how I could replace bits gradually.
With this info, the sales guy immediately tried to upsell me to an £800 amp on sale for £450, this weekend only (not sure I believe that but hey ho). It was complete overkill given I wouldn't have cash for speakers.
With soundbars /bases, discussion was straight onto the sonos play bar (£650) with 2 x sonos rears later (£150 each). No discussion about lower end 5.1 bundles, or lesser priced receivers.
I'm sure their options are better sounding, but I just feel they're moving to uber high end, and treating all their low price stock as dross that wasn't even worth contemplating.
Their website says they won't stock stuff they don't think is good, but the upsell is getting sadly predictable now.
It's a shame really as they're still well ahead of other high street sellers, but not all their customers want to drop £5k on hi fi.
But I left their store today feeling quite miffed at them.
After pondering how much cash I thought improving my tv experience was worth (£300-£400 ish) I went in to ask about a few options.
My ageing sony avr has got dodgy soldering, so will need replacing in the near future. My cobbled together budget speakers (eltax centre, acoustic solutions floor standers, wharfdale 9.0 rears, no sub) are "ok" but bulky and I need to free up space for the xmas tree tomorrow.
I wanted to know if a soundbase or bar were reasonable propositions as an alternative, and how I could replace bits gradually.
With this info, the sales guy immediately tried to upsell me to an £800 amp on sale for £450, this weekend only (not sure I believe that but hey ho). It was complete overkill given I wouldn't have cash for speakers.
With soundbars /bases, discussion was straight onto the sonos play bar (£650) with 2 x sonos rears later (£150 each). No discussion about lower end 5.1 bundles, or lesser priced receivers.
I'm sure their options are better sounding, but I just feel they're moving to uber high end, and treating all their low price stock as dross that wasn't even worth contemplating.
Their website says they won't stock stuff they don't think is good, but the upsell is getting sadly predictable now.
It's a shame really as they're still well ahead of other high street sellers, but not all their customers want to drop £5k on hi fi.
I was in the Maidstone branch recently and didn't get the hard sell. My kids wanted headphones and they let them try all types, then recommended the AKG's which were well in our budget.
My kids are very happy with them, and Richer Sounds have probably secured their next generation of customers in our family.
My kids are very happy with them, and Richer Sounds have probably secured their next generation of customers in our family.
miniman said:
Interestingly I tried a Cambridge sound base, sent it back. Tried a Yamaha soundbar + sub, sent it back. Did what I should have done from the beginning, and bought a Sonos soundbar.
Could be they were just giving you good advice.
It could well be to be honest, and maybe I was upset because I didn't want to hear it.Could be they were just giving you good advice.
I was tempted to create my own thread on here but thought i'd inevitability be told I wasn't spending enough cash to get what I wanted.
To be fair to RS, it wasn't a "hard" sell as such, just a presumption that the lower quartile of their range wasn't to be discussed.
The best hi fi purchase i've made was a pair of b&w 601s at uni...they nearly bankrupted me (along with an amp and cd player), but have given decades of quality service.
So I guess I shouldn't be blind to the fact that some things are just worth investing in.
Ian
I’ve had great service from them since the late 80s when I bought my first hifi separates. Back then their catalog had comments about how they would never sell TVs.... how times change.
More recently I got £600 credit when a 4.5 year old £800 Sony tv failed, and a good deal and friendly service on a new Sony receiver.
More recently I got £600 credit when a 4.5 year old £800 Sony tv failed, and a good deal and friendly service on a new Sony receiver.
Ian Geary said:
It could well be to be honest, and maybe I was upset because I didn't want to hear it.
I was tempted to create my own thread on here but thought i'd inevitability be told I wasn't spending enough cash to get what I wanted.
To be fair to RS, it wasn't a "hard" sell as such, just a presumption that the lower quartile of their range wasn't to be discussed.
The best hi fi purchase i've made was a pair of b&w 601s at uni...they nearly bankrupted me (along with an amp and cd player), but have given decades of quality service.
So I guess I shouldn't be blind to the fact that some things are just worth investing in.
Ian
Not quite in the same league, but I bought my TDL Near Field Monitors at Uni and certainly £120 out of my meagre stipend was probably not the smartest move, but they are still going strong 25 years later. I also dragged a 1983 Sony Betamax VCR out of the cupboard recently and it still works, but would have been grievously expensive compared to a Ferguson VHS or similar, which I doubt do. I was tempted to create my own thread on here but thought i'd inevitability be told I wasn't spending enough cash to get what I wanted.
To be fair to RS, it wasn't a "hard" sell as such, just a presumption that the lower quartile of their range wasn't to be discussed.
The best hi fi purchase i've made was a pair of b&w 601s at uni...they nearly bankrupted me (along with an amp and cd player), but have given decades of quality service.
So I guess I shouldn't be blind to the fact that some things are just worth investing in.
Ian
Ian Geary said:
I've been a fan, and occasional customer of Richer Sounds since the 90s.
But I left their store today feeling quite miffed at them.
After pondering how much cash I thought improving my tv experience was worth (£300-£400 ish) I went in to ask about a few options.
My ageing sony avr has got dodgy soldering, so will need replacing in the near future. My cobbled together budget speakers (eltax centre, acoustic solutions floor standers, wharfdale 9.0 rears, no sub) are "ok" but bulky and I need to free up space for the xmas tree tomorrow.
I wanted to know if a soundbase or bar were reasonable propositions as an alternative, and how I could replace bits gradually.
With this info, the sales guy immediately tried to upsell me to an £800 amp on sale for £450, this weekend only (not sure I believe that but hey ho). It was complete overkill given I wouldn't have cash for speakers.
With soundbars /bases, discussion was straight onto the sonos play bar (£650) with 2 x sonos rears later (£150 each). No discussion about lower end 5.1 bundles, or lesser priced receivers.
I'm sure their options are better sounding, but I just feel they're moving to uber high end, and treating all their low price stock as dross that wasn't even worth contemplating.
Their website says they won't stock stuff they don't think is good, but the upsell is getting sadly predictable now.
It's a shame really as they're still well ahead of other high street sellers, but not all their customers want to drop £5k on hi fi.
Sadly, I think you were setting yourself up for that unsatisfactory encounter!But I left their store today feeling quite miffed at them.
After pondering how much cash I thought improving my tv experience was worth (£300-£400 ish) I went in to ask about a few options.
My ageing sony avr has got dodgy soldering, so will need replacing in the near future. My cobbled together budget speakers (eltax centre, acoustic solutions floor standers, wharfdale 9.0 rears, no sub) are "ok" but bulky and I need to free up space for the xmas tree tomorrow.
I wanted to know if a soundbase or bar were reasonable propositions as an alternative, and how I could replace bits gradually.
With this info, the sales guy immediately tried to upsell me to an £800 amp on sale for £450, this weekend only (not sure I believe that but hey ho). It was complete overkill given I wouldn't have cash for speakers.
With soundbars /bases, discussion was straight onto the sonos play bar (£650) with 2 x sonos rears later (£150 each). No discussion about lower end 5.1 bundles, or lesser priced receivers.
I'm sure their options are better sounding, but I just feel they're moving to uber high end, and treating all their low price stock as dross that wasn't even worth contemplating.
Their website says they won't stock stuff they don't think is good, but the upsell is getting sadly predictable now.
It's a shame really as they're still well ahead of other high street sellers, but not all their customers want to drop £5k on hi fi.
It was one of the busiest retail days of the year and you visited a ruthlessly commissioned sales environment, with a random and fragmented brief. Combined with a unrealistic expectation and a misunderstanding of the RS game.
It’s not your fault though, as how would you know?
You want to consolidate your speakers, get a sub and replace your AVR in stages, starting with spending £300-400 on two or more items, but also ask if a sound bar would be a suitable replacement for a full separates AV system?!?
That sounds like a lot of time is needed to help and assist. More of an educational visit and planning for the future.
Buying a new AVR would actually be the first best step. So this was the best advise.
No point in buying poverty spec stuff that’s ultimately unsatisfying to use and own is there?
So anything worth having was going to use up your budget. There was never going to be any of the £300-400 to buy newer better speakers with too!
What brand was the suspect fake reduction on?
You were directed towards the most likely products to relieve you of your money, avoiding all
Z-Band commission items.
If you were not likely to be buying anything other than Z-Band, your conversation would have been guided towards the door gradually, leading to you being shown out.
They needed to get rid of you pronto, moving on to somebody else with a brief more easily met, with products in stock and in a high margin band.
You gave negative responses to the suggested items and were not a worthwhile person to speak to for them. This was 100% the expected result sadly!
Ian Geary said:
miniman said:
Interestingly I tried a Cambridge sound base, sent it back. Tried a Yamaha soundbar + sub, sent it back. Did what I should have done from the beginning, and bought a Sonos soundbar.
Could be they were just giving you good advice.
It could well be to be honest, and maybe I was upset because I didn't want to hear it.Could be they were just giving you good advice.
I was tempted to create my own thread on here but thought i'd inevitability be told I wasn't spending enough cash to get what I wanted.
To be fair to RS, it wasn't a "hard" sell as such, just a presumption that the lower quartile of their range wasn't to be discussed.
The best hi fi purchase i've made was a pair of b&w 601s at uni...they nearly bankrupted me (along with an amp and cd player), but have given decades of quality service.
So I guess I shouldn't be blind to the fact that some things are just worth investing in.
Ian
B&W are some of the best, but also lowest margin speakers. Any commissioned salesman would always earn less money selling those.
Any retailer that recommended and ‘let you’ buy them, most likely listened to you and had your interests in mind.
The product was brilliant and lasted decades.
Try to repeat this process and spend your hard earned money, on something that will give similar satisfaction and last a long time?
BTW, DM601 to this day, still fetch good money on eBay, if undamaged.
Red 5 said:
That Hi-FI and speakers didn’t come from RS.
B&W are some of the best, but also lowest margin speakers. Any commissioned salesman would always earn less money selling those.
Any retailer that recommended and ‘let you’ buy them, most likely listened to you and had your interests in mind.
The product was brilliant and lasted decades.
Try to repeat this process and spend your hard earned money, on something that will give similar satisfaction and last a long time?
BTW, DM601 to this day, still fetch good money on eBay, if undamaged.
Still love my DM601’s must be pushing 20 years now B&W are some of the best, but also lowest margin speakers. Any commissioned salesman would always earn less money selling those.
Any retailer that recommended and ‘let you’ buy them, most likely listened to you and had your interests in mind.
The product was brilliant and lasted decades.
Try to repeat this process and spend your hard earned money, on something that will give similar satisfaction and last a long time?
BTW, DM601 to this day, still fetch good money on eBay, if undamaged.
hyphen said:
Disagree with the above.
Sounds like a poor sales guy to me. It's the job of the salesman to find out the needs and expectations of the customer and find a solution to meet them.
....QUICKLY and only from commission rich items in stock NOW!Sounds like a poor sales guy to me. It's the job of the salesman to find out the needs and expectations of the customer and find a solution to meet them.
He was just trying to being the most efficient employee and earn money.
No quick route to open wallet? Politely show them the door ASAP.
From a customer and professional perspective, I will always agree with you 100%
This should always be the case, but is NOT what the RS rule book and commission structure teaches!
hyphen said:
Disagree with the above.
Sounds like a poor sales guy to me. It's the job of the salesman to find out the needs and expectations of the customer and find a solution to meet them.
well the customer left with his $ unspent so the salesman didn't do his job did he! I spend a lot of my time installing stuff I don't like or think is the best solution but its what the client wanted. I'm happy to advise at length if they want to hear it but I get paid either way, which is ultimately what matters the mostest.Sounds like a poor sales guy to me. It's the job of the salesman to find out the needs and expectations of the customer and find a solution to meet them.
In my experience rs moved away from the old no nonsense approach years ago though.
Red 5 said:
....QUICKLY and only from commission rich items in stock NOW!
He was just trying to being the most efficient employee and earn money.
No quick route to open wallet? Politely show them the door ASAP.
From a customer and professional perspective, I will always agree with you 100%
This should always be the case, but is NOT what the RS rule book and commission structure teaches!
Not used richer sounds a lot, and when did J had researched before hand and knew what I wanted. So this comes as a suprise to me, I had assumed they were the type of company looking to build long term relationships rather than having a make a sale at any cost approach.He was just trying to being the most efficient employee and earn money.
No quick route to open wallet? Politely show them the door ASAP.
From a customer and professional perspective, I will always agree with you 100%
This should always be the case, but is NOT what the RS rule book and commission structure teaches!
hyphen said:
Not used richer sounds a lot, and when did J had researched before hand and knew what I wanted. So this comes as a suprise to me, I had assumed they were the type of company looking to build long term relationships rather than having a make a sale at any cost approach.
I’m sure a lot of the staff have those intentions, but selling what the customer asks for, is financial suicide. It’s not their fault, but that’s how they’re paid. They have to sell on price, not relationship. Time spent with anyone is considered an operational loss and is discouraged.
Volume is king.
‘Always be closing’ is the the mantra.
It’s better for them individually, to sell you nothing and move on to the next customer, rather than sell you a Z-Band item, earn zero and waste time.
Their earnings over a day/week are better, if they drop those with complicated questions, confused people, or Z-Band hunters.
Staff will often hide these ‘Bait’ items out the back and deny having them in stock and switch you to a better commissioned item. They will also hobble a good product, so they can sell you the commission rich one.
‘Wow Sir, this is your lucky day, as we have the last one of these amazing Cambridge Audio models here now on a huge saving’
They are not ordered to bait and switch, but the commission structure is designed to ensure they must do it every day.
There is a time and place for RS, but you have to know what you’re doing!
The average Joe just thinks they’ve got a bargain / cheap item and that’s above all else, what they wanted.
miniman said:
...stipend...
A sadly underused word. Bravo.I've been to a couple of Richer Sounds branches recently and had slightly mixed experiences. My reasonably elderly Arcam Solo all in one amp, CD player and tuner from around 2006 has stopped playing CDs (they just make a clicking sound) so rather than just getting it repaired, which I will in good time, I thought we could move into the modern era and get into streaming, internet radio etc. I still wanted a form of tuner because our internet connection in the sticks can be a bit flaky and we listen to a lot of DAB radio. I thought a budget of around £1000 might get me something sensible without going crazy. I didn't need speakers so I was after a couple of separates and a lot of advice because, frankly, after looking into it a bit I realised I'm not a million miles away from the Not the Nine O'Clock News gramophone sketch ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvswW6M7bMo) these days.
The guy in RS in Oxford was nice, helpful and knew what he was talking about but latched onto my current Arcam ownership and nudged me towards the SA10/CDS50 combo (which would need a separate tuner) or maybe a Cambridge Audio CXN streamer, plus an amp, CD player and tuner. These were both starting to head far north of my £1k so I left there a bit disappointed.
After an afternoon of looking at the internet and the RS website I found the Yamaha RN803D network receiver, which was almost everything I wanted in one box. It's a tank of a thing which is an amp, a DAC, internet radio, streamer, FM/DAB tuner, has bluetooth and will run our turntable etc, etc. Perfect. RS in Milton Keynes had one in its open box sale area too so I rushed down there. The guy I saw was mega and I walked out with the Yamaha, a Cambridge CXC CD transport (the Yamaha's built-in DAC came in handy), good quality cable to connect the two, an extra £40 discount for some reason and a few metres of free speaker cable. Mega.
If the guy at the Oxford branch had mentioned the Yamaha I'd have bought one at full price on the spot because it's exactly what I wanted.
Incidentally we're hugely impressed with the Yamaha in general and the extra quality of internet radio over DAB in particular. We're on a random radio station odyssey at the moment - different country and station every night. This could go on for years...
Lemming Train said:
You can write with your complaint(s) via the email on their website and Julian will reply personally.
I think Julian sold the business to his staff not too long ago?I can, however, vouch for the fact that he got personally involved. I once dealt with him directly having had an issue at one store and he was great, sorted the situation out quickly and also threw a £20 voucher in with his letter. This was a few years ago when we wrote actual letters!
Ahonen said:
A sadly underused word. Bravo.I've been to a couple of Richer Sounds branches recently and had slightly mixed experiences. My reasonably elderly Arcam Solo all in one amp, CD player and tuner from around 2006 has stopped playing CDs (they just make a clicking sound) so rather than just getting it repaired, which I will in good time, I thought we could move into the modern era and get into streaming, internet radio etc. I still wanted a form of tuner because our internet connection in the sticks can be a bit flaky and we listen to a lot of DAB radio. I thought a budget of around £1000 might get me something sensible without going crazy. I didn't need speakers so I was after a couple of separates and a lot of advice because, frankly, after looking into it a bit I realised I'm not a million miles away from the Not the Nine O'Clock News gramophone sketch ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvswW6M7bMo) these days.
The guy in RS in Oxford was nice, helpful and knew what he was talking about but latched onto my current Arcam ownership and nudged me towards the SA10/CDS50 combo (which would need a separate tuner) or maybe a Cambridge Audio CXN streamer, plus an amp, CD player and tuner. These were both starting to head far north of my £1k so I left there a bit disappointed.
After an afternoon of looking at the internet and the RS website I found the Yamaha RN803D network receiver, which was almost everything I wanted in one box. It's a tank of a thing which is an amp, a DAC, internet radio, streamer, FM/DAB tuner, has bluetooth and will run our turntable etc, etc. Perfect. RS in Milton Keynes had one in its open box sale area too so I rushed down there. The guy I saw was mega and I walked out with the Yamaha, a Cambridge CXC CD transport (the Yamaha's built-in DAC came in handy), good quality cable to connect the two, an extra £40 discount for some reason and a few metres of free speaker cable. Mega.
If the guy at the Oxford branch had mentioned the Yamaha I'd have bought one at full price on the spot because it's exactly what I wanted.
Incidentally we're hugely impressed with the Yamaha in general and the extra quality of internet radio over DAB in particular. We're on a random radio station odyssey at the moment - different country and station every night. This could go on for years...
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