Would you pay to audition speakers

A policy like that would be enough to push me out the door, on principle alone. Who'd want to do business with such a person.."wasting his time" - isn't his JOB to market and "show" speakers!?

And what is he so busy doing that customers are a problem for him?

You gotta love someone who is on the "customer service" (related) industry, but hates people....

John

Would not even consider it .............. take my business elsewhere

If he is in such economic trouble (or so fed up with looky loos) that he is
charging $500 to audition speakers, then his door will soon have a sign that
reads, "Going Out of Business".

I think he just said that cause you have been wasting his time and it was his subtle way of giving you the arm.Many paths to salvation they say.YMMV,Bob

I came across this with a dealer who sold a particular brand of amp. This was long before the internet age where people might take advantage of a dealer and then buy online. I believe the policy applied to models other than the ones he had on demo in the store and had to be brought in specifically for you to audition. His rationale was that once the box for a unit was opened, it had to be sold at a discount even though it was new. So he charged a nonrefundable deposit that could be applied as a credit towards the purchase if you subsequently bought. The manufacturer was aware of this policy when a disgruntled consumer informed them of the store. They didn't approve; however, they said they couldn't do anything about it other than withdraw their products from the store, which they did not want to do.