Those are all valid reasons to buy a pre-fab part that needs modifications. I totally get that. The kind of attitude displayed in the line I quoted above, if it came from a retailer, would merely prove that they're out of their depth in the retail world.

Dealing with customers who ask "stupid" questions or who make "invalid" complaints should be considered overhead. It's the cost of doing business...and it's exactly why we need to hire people who have the communication and interpersonal skills to accommodate customers while still protecting the company's interests.

It's a purely human reaction to receive a complaint and to become defensive but in this case, it's kinda like building a boat and being angry about the waves that lap against the hull. Being confronted by difficult customers is an absolute inevitability. Smart retailers will look inward and adjust their design of the boat so it can handle the waves.

They have absolutely no logical or ethical standing to complain about the source of their income. If I was financially backing a business that took this approach to customers, I'd pull my support so fast, their heads would spin. Nobody has to personally like dealing with rude or "stupid" people...but you can always find a new line of work if you can't handle it.

If the problem is pervasive, it might represent a need to change advertising to properly align customer expectations. Maybe this means a company needs to beef up technical support. Negative interactions are valuable information! I just don't know how a vendor could hope to be successful without understanding the simple fact that "people are people" and being totally unprepared to work with them.

So I've been car-crazy since I was a small kid. I have spent countless hours reading, watching, talking about, driving old cars... After all these years, I can do most jobs on my cars on my own but I'm absolutely not naturally mechanically inclined. I make mistakes and I ask stupid questions. I also have no sympathy for a retail business who mistakes me for being a stupid person. I have a good education and a good job and I have money to spend on hobbies (like old Mopars). They can earn either my business or they can kick rocks. I've encountered very few bad experiences in the "Mopar parts vendor world" but they are out there.

On the other side of that coin, I had to work a return with Summit Racing after the holidays (the new racing helmet was too small)...and I was blown away by their customer service. They were polite, friendly, gave me the benefit of the doubt, paid for the return shipping, emailed updates on the status of the return, etc. There's absolutely no question that this is part of their success.

Ok...I'm off of my soap box.