If I have to choose, I prefer the "deer in the headlight look employee" to one that thinks he knows better than you...
I absolutely hate that! There's one store near my job, where the owner does the exact same thing! I collect knives along with lights. Her Wilderness store is surprisingly well-stocked with both. (Especially Pelican lights). I once wanted a specific LED light. It looked as though she only had the inca version in stock. When I asked her to check some more, she thought she was going to lose a sure sale.... So she made up some nonsense that inca lights last longer than LEDs! :shakehead
It was pathetic. on another visit, I wanted a plain-edged folding knife from Spyderco. She only had the serrated version and told me how "everyone" prefers serrated-edge knives. Well, I don't.... She did eventually find one LED version of the light I wanted.
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REGARDING INTERNET vs. BRICK & MORTAR STORES:
Yeah, the generally higher prices are no longer for any type of great customer service you might get at a Brick & Mortar store. More like, not having to deal with returning a defective light back to the internet shop. Not having to wait to get your light. Not worrying if the guy running the internet shop is a con-man. (Okay, you
can limit that possibility by buying from the more established internet shops).
With a Brick & Mortar store, you get to examine the light you want to buy. You can pick out the best example of a model from the ones on the rack. You have the light in your hand immediately after paying for it. You can walk out the shop, put batteries in the light, and if it doesn't work; you can turn around and head right back into the shop so they can fix the problem or replace the light. (Did that very thing with a 2AAA Mini-Mag a few months ago. They fixed it, I walked out happy).
Living in NYC gives me a lot of options when it comes to lights. In fact,
every light I own was purchased from a Brick & Mortar shop.... even my Surefires.
But you can forget about customer service from a Brick & Mortar store. I once waited half an hour to buy a Gerber knife at Wal*Mart. Nope, no line at the checkout. That's how long it took the person with the key to the knife cabinet to come over. And no, the place wasn't busy. Wal*Mart now uses lockeable racks for their knives. Next time I want a knife, I'm just going to take the scissors from my Swiss Army pen Knife, and cut into the plastic tab that holds the blister-packed knives in place. And if any Wal*Mart employee asks why I did that, I'll tell him about my previous experience with their B.S. customer service. :ironic: