John Lewis - What a let down

[stevee1966]

I've been thinking about getting some headphones for a while, so yesterday decided that as i was in Cardiff (Nine Inch Nails gig) i would visit John Lewis to test some out. I was planning to try out some Sennheiser Momentums (on and over ear), B+W P5 and P7, and any others that were available to test, so i was most disappointed to find that none of the displayed items were connected to any source, so unable to audition (they didn't even have the P7 on display).

So basically they had a load of headphones on display which i could try on but not listen to, so i gained nothing from my visit. There's no way i'm shelling out a few hundred pounds on something i've not even heard.

The only listening post there was for the Bose range of 'noise cancelling' phones which i have already tried out in a Bose store. Very disappointed.

 

[The_Lhc]

You didn't think to take something with you, like a phone with some music on?

 

[cheeseboy]

dunno, surely if it's that important you should take your own source. I agree they should have had something, but given this is a hifi forum I would half expect people to lob something in their pocket they are familiar with. Did you not have a phone with a few tracks on?

edit - doh! beaten to it

 

[simonlewis]

Not every retailer, stock that they have has every product on display although i should sympathise with you, i think what they did have in store JL should have given you a proper demo.

 

[The_Lhc]

Not every retailer, stock that they have has every product on display although i should sympathise with you, i think what they did have in store JL should have given you a proper demo.

I'd expect that from a hi-fi store (although I'd still want to listen with my own device) but not from a department store.

 

[stevee1966]

You didn't think to take something with you, like a phone with some music on?

I had my ipod with me, but the headphones on display did not even have any cables attached.

 

[cheeseboy]

You didn't think to take something with you, like a phone with some music on?

I had my ipod with me, but the headphones on display did not even have any cables attached.

sorry to ask the obvious, but did you ask?

 

[The_Lhc]

You didn't think to take something with you, like a phone with some music on?

I had my ipod with me, but the headphones on display did not even have any cables attached.

Oh, they were all the sort with removable cables? Fair do's, I take it back...

 

[stevee1966]

You didn't think to take something with you, like a phone with some music on?

I had my ipod with me, but the headphones on display did not even have any cables attached.

sorry to ask the obvious, but did you ask?

I'd have preferred to take my time and audition without the pressure and attention of some shop assistant hanging over my shoulder. I'd have wanted to try various headphones with various styles of music, so would not have felt particularly comfortable about taking up someones time for too long, probably resulting in me rushing the auditions and not learning enough about the product.

 

[bigboss]

Did you ask a salesperson that you want to demo the headphones? I'm sure if the headphones are out on display, they are meant for demo.

 

[bigboss]

Ok, saw the subsequent responses later. In my experience, JL staff only help as much as you want them to, and they leave you alone if you want them to.

 

[cheeseboy]

I'd have preferred to take my time and audition without the pressure and attention of some shop assistant hanging over my shoulder. I'd have wanted to try various headphones with various styles of music, so would not have felt particularly comfortable about taking up someones time for too long, probably resulting in me rushing the auditions and not learning enough about the product.

so unless I've read this wrong, you are complaining that there were no cables on the headphones (probably because they would get nicked if they were, and I'm guessing that's probably what's happened in the past and why they weren't there) and you didn't ask to try them out, so you couldn't even say if they would have hanged around or not, because you may have felt uncomfortable about something that didn't happen... ?

So you didn't even give them a chance, yet you're quite willing to post about how much of a let down it was?

 

[stevee1966]

I'd have preferred to take my time and audition without the pressure and attention of some shop assistant hanging over my shoulder. I'd have wanted to try various headphones with various styles of music, so would not have felt particularly comfortable about taking up someones time for too long, probably resulting in me rushing the auditions and not learning enough about the product.

so unless I've read this wrong, you are complaining that there were no cables on the headphones (probably because they would get nicked if they were, and I'm guessing that's probably what's happened in the past and why they weren't there) and you didn't ask to try them out, so you couldn't even say if they would have hanged around or not, because you may have felt uncomfortable about something that didn't happen... ?

So you didn't even give them a chance, yet you're quite willing to post about how much of a let down it was?

Yes, to find that there were no headphones available to audition, without needing to find assistance was a let down. No more to say on the matter.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Our John Lewis just have the B&W for demo not the Bose.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I couldn't tell the difference between the P7's and P5's!

 

[Deleted member 2457]

The Apple shop have them on demo too.

 

[bigboss]

I'd have preferred to take my time and audition without the pressure and attention of some shop assistant hanging over my shoulder. I'd have wanted to try various headphones with various styles of music, so would not have felt particularly comfortable about taking up someones time for too long, probably resulting in me rushing the auditions and not learning enough about the product.

so unless I've read this wrong, you are complaining that there were no cables on the headphones (probably because they would get nicked if they were, and I'm guessing that's probably what's happened in the past and why they weren't there) and you didn't ask to try them out, so you couldn't even say if they would have hanged around or not, because you may have felt uncomfortable about something that didn't happen... ?

So you didn't even give them a chance, yet you're quite willing to post about how much of a let down it was?

Yes, to find that there were no headphones available to audition, without needing to find assistance was a let down. No more to say on the matter.

That's a tad unfair on JL I must say. Anyway, we all have different expectations.

 

[stevee1966]

The Apple shop have them on demo too.

Last time i was in the Apple Store there were no P7's on demo, and the P5's only had audio coming from one earcup. Perhaps i'm jinxed.

And no, i didn't ask for assistance. :doh: :doh: :doh:

 

[bigboss]

Every store has a method of serving its customers. I can't complain about Argos on lack of products on display. JL believes in more interaction with customers. They're never pushy.

 

[spiny norman]

Don't worry, someone's bound to be along in a minute to tell you all headphones sound the same and buying expensive ones is just a sign you are being ripped off by some massive global industrial conspiracy.

Or I'm sure if you'd asked the nice JL people would've found something you could plug into to have alisten, though whether they'd have your fave kind of music is less certain. Which is another good reason fro taking your own iWhatsit or Android thingy with you for a listen.

I guess the headphones are displayed without cables to make them less nickable (or indeed to stop people nicking the cables): as I learned when I was i retail and doing shows and the like, 'if anything, however lacking in vaue, isn't nailed down, it'll walk'. We used to get people stealing control knobs from amplifiers, the metal jumper bars off the back of speakers, and all kinds of things like that.

 

[dalethorn]

Last time i was in the Apple Store there were no P7's on demo, and the P5's only had audio coming from one earcup. Perhaps i'm jinxed. And no, i didn't ask for assistance. :doh: :doh: :doh:

I shop all the time, with mixed results. In any shop with no cables, there should at least be a sign telling you that 1) No, we don't demo headphones, so take a hike - or 2) Please ask _____ for assistance with the headphones for demo.

In some places here across the pond, at Brookstone for example, I've learned to wait patiently for the clerk to remove the cable from the kiosk so I can plug it into my player. At Best Buy they will not demo, but they take returns so I buy the one (one only) I most want to hear, take it out to the car, have a listen, then walk it back in and return it.

At Apple, there's about a 33 percent chance that the headphone doesn't work, a 50 percent chance that the headphone on the shelf isn't on display, and a 100 percent chance that they will not replace a defective demo in less than one week. Having purchased nearly $100000 USD from the Apple store assures absolutely NO special customer treatment. So, I just do to Apple what I do with Best Buy - take it outside and listen, then return if necessary. There have been a few times that they opened a box for me when they realized it was going to cost them 2 extra minutes of time to do the sale-and-return. Very likely JL doesn't care about the time factor, but seconds are crucial at Apple.