The worst you've been ripped off by your local shop?

[tylork92 10+ year member]

only thing ive bought at a local store was 7 ft of 4 awg wire....they didnt even cut it right...thd ude came over wit a pair of office scissors and was like how much you want...i said 4 ft blue, 4 ft clear. aight..i wasnt paying attention when he was cutting (looking at distros) and he hands me the wire get to the cash register and i go to wrap it up an notice one is about a ft shorter than the other. Im thinking how is it that hard when it has the ft marks out on it...he only charged my for the 7ft tho...got a distro that day too..was like $53 for the distro (stinger 2 1/0 in 4 4awg out) and the wire

 

[cichlid_baby 10+ year member]

In our free economy... online retailers are free to compete for our dollars... same goes with the brick and mortar stores.. If you want to win our dollars you have to offer a better product at a better price or better service to justify your pricing. If you can't do that.. then you have no business in business.

I'm not going pay your exorbitant prices so you can feed your family comfortably so mine can dine on Cup-O-Noodles.

There are NO SUCH BAIL OUT PLANS for car audio shops. Compete, Change or DIE unfortunately.

Those who don't evolve their business practices with the changing times and economy simply will not exist for long.

 

[basscort2009 5,000+ posts]

Who's to say what they "should" charge?
There are companies that offer $14,000 RCA cables, as long as people buy them, who's to say they're wrong? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

im just saying if it goes online for 100 dont charge 250, charge somthing like 150 that way ur still making profit and get more customers that are happy and have more RETURN customers which is what they would want

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

In our free economy... online retailers are free to compete for our dollars... same goes with the brick and mortar stores.. If you want to win our dollars you have to offer a better product at a better price or better service to justify your pricing. If you can't do that.. then you have no business in business.
I'm not going pay your exorbitant prices so you can feed your family comfortably so mine can dine on Cup-O-Noodles.

There are NO SUCH BAIL OUT PLANS for car audio shops. Compete, Change or DIE unfortunately.

Those who don't evolve their business practices with the changing times and economy simply will not exist for long.

If you'd feed your child substandard food to pay for your car audio habit, something is wrong. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

im just saying if it goes online for 100 dont charge 250, charge somthing like 150 that way ur still making profit and get more customers that are happy and have more RETURN customers which is what they would want

So if cost is $100, you say the local shop should charge $150 so they still make a profit, but not too much profit? Do you have any idea what overhead is? You do not dictate their overhead, the bill collectors, landlord, employees and IRS do.

 

[old_greg 10+ year member]

wasnt really a local shop it was best buy which was a huge mistake i should have listened to my gut. But like everyone else when you got your amps subs and speakers all in the car but need the wire you are really eager to get the wire to get it all running. Bought a dual amp kit from them had speaker wire 2 dist blocks 100 amp fuse 4/0 gauge wire ground etc etc 135$ i was like owell i can afford it bought it went home wired it up blah blah blah week later found out about a website cant think of it. My friend told me about and it is about 30 miles from me and i could get all the wire fuses everything for about 80 bucks shipped to MY HOUSE. I hate bestbuy all the car audio people are retarted high school kids

 

[dbeez 5,000+ posts]

lets say an amp kit cost a shop 100 then they pay to get it shipped to them say $10 for that oh hey joe blow make $8 an hour and oh yeah rent is $1500 a month and on and on and on...you see where i am going local shops have a pretty good overhead and start the month out in the red pretty good so they need to charge more to get out of the red and stay in business..is rough trust me...

 

[350zspl 10+ year member]

I went into the local shop today (TAS ELECTRONICS), figured I'd pick up some 1/0 gauge wire to upgrade my wiring system.
Well, the guy who is usually knowledgeable and friendly said, OH, we actually have one on sale, it's a Amplifier kit, so I said, ok, I'll check it out.

He brought it out, was a db Link 4000 watt 1/0 Gauge kit, not too bad, came with the distribution blocks, etc, everything I needed to get my amp running at full power, then he tells me it's $134 out the door. Now, since I'm a slightly eager person, I thought around about it for a second, was about to Google the price really quick on my cell phone, but every time I'd stand around he'd look at me, looking very glum.

I decided to just get it, I figured, hey it's got to be worth at least $100, I don't mind spending an extra $30 to help out a local shop...

Well, turns out when I got home I see these things go for $61 shipped free. (http://www.google.com/products?q=CK0DZ)

Yes, he ripped me off, $73 dollars, on a $134 item. Which he literally said, 'This is on sale'. Should I go back to talk to him, even though, technically this could be considered my fault? I don't believe it is solely my fault, and the shady salesman is partly to blame... oh yeah, and of course, they have a NO-Refund Policy.

So, how badly have your local dealers screwed you? Did you go back to talk to them? Do you continue to do business with them?

i truthfully believe that you were charged to much

i also think that all shopping for best price should be done before you buy

and this deals with buying anything

 

[350zspl 10+ year member]

You willingly bought the item.
Whether or not you get a whole bunch of buyer's remorse because you didn't do your homework is your problem, not theirs.

my point x 2

 

[Mike465 10+ year member]

nothing to really do except **** it up and just not go to shops unless absolutely needed.
x2 on the dealer cost. shit when it comes down to it, they paid less than what its found online for

No, they do not unless they become a direct dealer with the company (Some audio companies make you buy a min of $5k-9k for your first buy in) dealer cost is not as cheap as you think it is. Only major retailers and large distribution centers get a fairly low cost due to the volume they are selling it at. I used to work for Circuit City and I saw what the stores costs on Kicker products. (Very cheap) Went to a friend's shop that was thinking about picking them up and saw the dealers cost sheet and it was almost twice what the large retailer was paying for the same thing. (This was the pricing if you went direct with Kicker) Most shops starting out do not have this kind of money so they go through local distributors to get product. When they go through a distributor they pay anywhere from 10-20% more than what the distributor paid for it.

 

[Brian_smith06 10+ year member]

16 bucks for 2 1/0 ring terminals and 4 4ga ring terminals //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[cichlid_baby 10+ year member]

If you'd feed your child substandard food to pay for your car audio habit, something is wrong.

My child eats, sleeps, and drinks well... thank you.

But I'm not paying over-flated prices so someone else's kid can drive a beemer.

 

[toledokid 10+ year member]

read this thread.
http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=428356

You willingly bought the item.
Whether or not you get a whole bunch of buyer's remorse because you didn't do your homework is your problem, not theirs.

(I typed this out yesterday right before the forums went down at 2:30 or so, but it just now went through.) See, the thing is, I'm not going in to ask for even an apology, I just think there is a principal to it, overcharging, most likely 4-5 times over what they got it for?
C'mon man, there is no buyers remorse at all, hell, I even hooked the shit up after I found out it was $61, I said, Oh well, can't do nothing about that, but a bunch of my friends are trying to convince me to walk up in there and ask why the **** he would consider it a sale, and rightfully so.

And, who does homework when dealing with trivial things like amplifier kits? Am I supposed to research the thousands of manufacturers, call, price, and estimate? No. Usually you can trust your dealer to get you a decent deal, because after all, if I stood there and said, hold on, let me check the price of that online, they would ask you to leave and take your business elsewhere.

 

[cichlid_baby 10+ year member]

(I typed this out yesterday right before the forums went down at 2:30 or so, but it just now went through.) See, the thing is, I'm not going in to ask for even an apology, I just think there is a principal to it, overcharging, most likely 4-5 times over what they got it for?
C'mon man, there is no buyers remorse at all, hell, I even hooked the shit up after I found out it was $61, I said, Oh well, can't do nothing about that, but a bunch of my friends are trying to convince me to walk up in there and ask why the **** he would consider it a sale, and rightfully so.

And, who does homework when dealing with trivial things like amplifier kits? Am I supposed to research the thousands of manufacturers, call, price, and estimate? No. Usually you can trust your dealer to get you a decent deal, because after all, if I stood there and said, hold on, let me check the price of that online, they would ask you to leave and take your business elsewhere.

There is definately some work involved with being a smart and informed shopper. But more often than not.. it is worth it.

Also.. I make a habit of NEVER shopping at places where they don't have a good return policy. This is part of the "customer service" (as argued "that's what we pay for") that is supposed to be expected from the local brick and mortar stores as opposed to mail order.

Most reputable places that want to earn and keep your business already have policies in place such as lowest price guarantee, satisfaction guarantee, etc.. if the places you are shopping don't participate in these very normal business practices.. then you need to start voting NO with your dollars and shop elsewhere. Quit supporting these lacking shops and support the business that knows how to earn and keep your business.

...... if I stood there and said, hold on, let me check the price of that online, they would ask you to leave and take your business elsewhere.

Actually.. most places encourage you to price shop.. I've even had places that would help me compare prices online and see if they could do anything to move their prices to be more competitive.

At this point.. take it as a lesson learned.. we all have taken our lumps before.

 

[atsaubrey 10+ year member]

Why dont you just open up your own internet car audio store and take it to the bank. Here is the difference between a online retailer and a brick and mortor store when it comes down to money. Mike@Woofers.ect for example will direct wire $300,000 to any manufactuer same day for up to 2 truck loads of product. So they can get product at any where between 10-30% over manufacturing cost. It just depends how bad that certain manufactuer wants to move his gear. Dealers that dont have that type of cash flow have to settle for 50-100% over manufacturing costs AND are on strict contracts at which they can sell and advertise the product. Good example. Kicker buys 1000 amps from China for $100 but then has trouble moving 500 of them and offer up dealers sales to blow them out. Now they go back to China and say we only need 500 this round. China says...whoa now, our deal is 1000 @ $100 each. They turn around and tell Kicker if it is only 500 the cost is now $150 an amp. Kicker has to think about this, they dont care to loose the discount either. They contact Mike @ Woofers and say hey I will sell you 500 amps for $135 each if you snatch all them up today. So Woofers wires $67,500 to Kicker and now sell them online for say $200. Dealers now have to help pay for Kickers advertising, sponsorships, and all the overhead and dealers pay $200 per amp and then inturn sell it for MSRP of $400 and/or have a sale on the amps for $300. they still cant compete with Woofers and then have guys on the internet *****ing about a dealer ripping them off. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

I best edit this quick cause I already no what responses I will be receiving.

India

Korea

Indonesia

Taiwan

China

Phillipines

Mexico

Think before you speak beacuse these countries all do it cheaper and YOUR American jobs are over there cause it's cheaper on the "internet" (as in local guy)

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

My child eats, sleeps, and drinks well... thank you.


But I'm not paying over-flated prices so someone else's kid can drive a beemer.

You made the comment on what your child must eat revolves around your car audio purchases, not me. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif But before you get your panties in a wad again, know that I was making a simple tongue-in-cheek joke. Dont take it so personal.

Today's local B&M's are hardly getting rich to the point of paying for their kid's to drive expensive luxury cars. In case you haven't noticed, we are in a severe recession, and luxury industries like car audio are one of the first to take a dive. Like you so eloquently put it, people wont eat substandard in order to maintain a luxury hobby. Secondly, internet sales have really really really hurt the local B&M's, even ignoring the economy. Today's B&M's, most of them anyway, are simply struggling to survive, not struggling to put BMW's in their kids' hands.

With that said, I rarely purchase locally either. I have the knowledge and experience to be able to make sound purchases from the internet, and install the equipment myself. This does not however mean I think all local B&M's are charging outrageous prices to get rich. Many are charging too much, and many whom aren't simply are doing so these days only because the internet has put them in check. This does make me a bit bitter to their plight as well. But not so bitter as to think they are all just money grubbing rich pricks driving luxury imports while my kids eat kraft mac 'n cheese every night.