CarloM

Same. Worked at food service in college, and right after graduating lived with a friend who was a waitress for a couple of years who would bring home nightmare stories of customer behavior. It doesn't cost you to be kind, and kindness often gets you way further in life than being a *@#$.

That said, I've noticed at my local chain bike shop, the employees who are lower down the hierarchy, and especially the newer/younger ones, are the most helpful. The older managers seem to be burned out and gruff, and can be unhelpful even when I'm making sure the interaction is as pleasant as possible. For example, just the other day I asked a manager at one of the stores if they had any extra brake bleed blocks I could buy for Shimano and he looked at me like I had just asked to slap him. He told me they had none to sell; so I knew, for a shop that does so much business, that he was just being difficult. I rode to a smaller one of their stores closer to my place, and saw a friendly young mechanic who'd helped me with a chain noise issue a few months ago. I asked the same question, offering to buy them, and he smiled and said "nah man we get plenty of them with the bikes and brake kits...here have a couple." Keep in mind I spent my first $5K at this LBS chain over the summer. But ever since discovering some other shops with much friendlier customer service (in SoCal I'm blessed with more bike shops than I can shake a stick at) they won't be getting much more of my money as I prefer to spend it at places that treat me with the same respect I give the employees.