Not out of line at all. I've run into that before,at a car dealership.
I just smiled, turned to my wife, and said, "We're done here".

He then back-pedaled, apologized and said he was just kidding.

I turned back to him and said, "I wasn't".

And we left.

When DW and I made a 2nd trip to the stoneyard to pick out our granite slabs, the person who'd escorted us the first time noticed us sitting in the lobby and asked if we'd decided.

When he heard what we'd decided on, he burst out with "You don't want that!". And why not, I asked? "It's really expensive!". Indeed it is, but it's what we decided on. "Did your builder tell you how much it was?" Yup, he did. "How much did he quote you?" Yeah, about this time I got really tired of the whole conversation....

No, I've never been told that. I always ask the price and explain that I'm putting together my budget. (not sure why I feel like I need to explain though) I would feel the same way you did.

That is a sure way to NOT get a customer. I absolutely hate that kind of condescending and judgmental attitude. `Would leave a bad taste in my mouth for sure!

I think that's a silly thing to say and a way to lose a potential customer. It doesn't do him any good to go down a planning path with someone only to find out they can't afford it! (I bet he doesn't buy any significant purchases without checking the prices first!)

I have found through the years, and through building 2 houses, that sometimes things don't always cost as much as you think they will and also the opposite, but I have always asked. How else can you make decisions if you don't know what you are dealing with!?

I had a person show up one time to give me an estimate on a remodeling job and he kept telling me how "expensive" what I was wanting was going to be. I finally told him that he didn't know my financial situation and I would be the one to decide if it was expensive or not and when I did, he surely wouldn't be the one I hired to do it. I told him I was done with him and he stumbled all over himself trying to apologize. Too late buddy!

Have also had plenty of people act like I was the dumb "little woman" and they wanted to talk to my husband. They take on a new attitude when I tell them I am the one with the checkbook and they will not be getting a check from me.

Lots of jerks in the world!!

A number of sales people "qualify" a customer to decide if it's worth spending time on them - sometimes they get it wrong. Years ago when the Honda Accord first came out, I was trying to decide between a Honda and Toyota. The Honda salesman wouldn't give me the time of day and lied and told me they didn't have one for me to take a test drive - he handed me a brochure to look at. As I was leaving, I heard him tell another couple that the Accord would be back for their test drive in a few minutes. I went up to him and told him that I could pay cash for anything in his showroom but I would be spending it at the Toyota dealership instead - and I did!

Ionia, I have to respond to your "dumb little woman" comment because it reminded me of this jerk who called to ask about the car my hubby and I were selling. Hubby was out of town but I wasn't about to tell that to a stranger on the phone but the guy kept insisting that he needed to talk to the "man of the house." I finally convinced him that "the man of the house" was busy at present and couldn't come to the phone but I was perfectly capable of answering his questions.

His first question was "What color is it?"

Seriously?!?!?!?!

I did my best airhead impression and said, "Oh, gee, I don't remember! Let me go check." Then I told him that the price just went up a grand for him (jerk surcharge).

pickle2, you have every right to be offended. Honestly, some people need to do a sound check before the words come out of their mouths. What do you plan to do next?

I've had very similar experiences to iona's and weissman's.

One contractor just marveled as I explained to him what I wanted done and showed him my list of choices for everything and then said, Boy is that gonna be expensive! OK, yeah, that's why I need an estimate from you buddy. I never got one. Funny thing is, I still get junk mail newsletters from that company, five years later. Apparently they had time to add me to their mailing list but didn't have time to try to actually get my business. Go figure.

And when I bought my Nissan Maxima, back in 1986 (why do I still remember this?) one salesman told me I should be looking at lower priced cars. Really? Needless to say, I just bought my Maxima at a different dealership. I so wanted to drive it over to him and say, Here's my cheaper car, what do you think? But oh well, why waste my time?

Listen, even if I were a gazillionaire, no way would I make a decision on a major purchase without knowing prices. I know a lot of people with a LOT of money and believe me, neither would they. It's a sort of myth that "rich" people don't have to ask the price. Many of them figured out the way to STAY rich - don't throw money away.

I'm wondering how long this guy has been in business and, especially in this economy, how long he'll remain in business. Don't worry, you'll find someone else to do your cabinets. There are lots of people who WANT your business.

Off topic but related to what iona posted, I had one contractor say, "You think like a man!" which he clearly meant as a compliment, to which I replied, I'll take that as an insult. He laughed, but you know, he didn't get my business.

"It's a sort of myth that "rich" people don't have to ask the price. Many of them figured out the way to STAY rich - don't throw money away."

Exactly. (But I'd add "Many of the figured out the way to *GET rich and* STAY rich ...")

I have no doubt my response would be....

Well, actually I don't "have to ask", I choose to, but it was silly of you to make that assumption so don't bother because I will not be giving my money to you now anyway. Take care.

Personally I wouldn't be offended as I think people who make remarks like that are just kind of ignorant and/or naive. I have noticed that a number of trades people are kind of "uncomfortable" about the price of some things perhaps because their frame of reference is what's affordable to them.

I had a situation like this where more than one tradesperson assumed I wouldn't want to spend the money on a custom 16 foot Marvin french door/window to replace the original POS that came with my house. So several of them came and went because they only offered me unacceptable standard options. Finally one guy choked out the option of a custom door and apologized in advance about how expensive it would be. I told him to assume money was no object and just tell me what the possibilities were. In the end it was exactly what I wanted and it actually seemed like a good value to me to get exactly what I wanted.

Bottom line, I wouldn't get offended though I probably just wouldn't care to work with someone who doesn't know any better than to say something like that - who knows what else they don't know that they should know.

In this instance I wouldn't be too offended, but I'm not particularly easily put off. You found the cabinetmaker on the internet, all your communications have been via email, and your husband told him not to spend too much time on it. I don't see that it's such a big deal. If you were seriously researching and did not ask for a ballpark estimate (which could mean, "I'm just fishing around, but not a serious buyer,") then it could be a problem.

Oh, I hate the "man of the house" thing! It's not just the trades. Years ago, I was under the care of a reproductive endocrinologist. As the obsessive over-researcher I am, I researched and came to appointments with a list of very specific medical questions. I always got the "there, there, little lady" with the shoulder pat. Finally, I started giving my husband my questions. He got "Those are excellent questions!" with an approving voice and a detailed scientific explanation (which was what I wanted in the first place.)

The cabinet guy. His reaction did make me wonder if asking for a ballpark figure is code for "I'm just window shopping"? I always want a ballpark to pencil in my little Excel spreadsheet even when I'm a serious buyer. (See? I'm a major overplanner.) I had no idea what kind of money we were talking about for work like his. $30K? $50K? $100K? One meeelion dollars? Oh well.

Oh, and if you're wondering, it's not the folks I recently blogged about. Those folks are great.

We've been poor and we've been well off, but there's never been a time when we did not ask the price. That's a good way to become poorer or not get good value. It's also the mark of a poor salesperson.

Well, sure, I've been told it, but always in jest, like a warning. This might be something he does to "qualify" customers. If they're enticed by the line, and want to look like big shots, he takes them on. If they rebel, he thinks they're going to be more worried about the price than "doing it right" so he let's them be turned off.

Most artisans will show you something in their portfolio that's approximately the scale of your project and say something like, "this one is in the neighborhood of $50K, and that one is more like $100K." And if you're looking for $30K you go away feeling poor but acknowledged, instead of insulted and mystified.

The other thing to think about, however, is that he might be just that good at his craft and absolutely the worst in dealing with clients. And because of his skill he can get away with a take it or leave it attitude. Enough people take it.

Whatever it is, it's not you. Rich people stay rich by asking the price and shopping at discount stores, not by saying "money is no object" and buying pigs in pokes (a poke is a sack--that is, sight unseen).

I do think it is snobbery to say "If you have to ask..." It's not snobbery nor condescension when a contractor or salesman feels the need to apologize for stating the cost of something expensive (gibby's example), but it does make the customer feel he can't think for himself.

DH is a general dentist, specializing in restorative and aesthetic treatments. Often with restorative there are several options, but most often the better, longer term results come with the more costly treatment. Sometimes the less expensive one will be just as good. It has taken him a long time but he has finally gotten to the point of just giving the options and the cost of each in a straightforward way without apology. He will answer any questions patients have and usually will say what he would do for his own family. But as gibby said, tradespeople often put themselves in clients' shoes and may not be able to imagine paying some of the prices that better quality costs.

I have told DH that I don't want GC to make decisions for us, but neither do I want him to sit back and give us no opinion at all, as he tends to do.

(pickle2, we went thru an RE as well, years ago. I hope it was a good result for you. We ended up adopting our three.)

How rude and short-sighted of the cabinetmaker. In these days of casual dressing, there are a lot of wealthy people walking around in jeans, with messy haircuts and low-key cars. You can't tell by looking what someone is worth, so why assume they can't afford what you're selling?

I got into it with the engineer who was helping design the central a/c system in our house. When I asked about radiant heat for one floor, the first thing out of his mouth was "radiant is expensive." I said, "Give me a price and I'll tell you if it's expensive."

What a jerk. Anyone who hires a company without even asking the price of the product is a fool, and we all know a fool and his money soon part ways.

I would run away from him and thank God that you were tipped off early in the process that he is bad news.

We lost $1500 by hiring an arrogent cabinet maker early on. I was willing to overlook his arrogence to pay for his skill, but by the time we fired him, we were so thankful to be rid or him we didn't even fight for our $$ back.

I think arrogent cabinetmakers are a breed of their own and the best course of action is to flee and never look back!

More huge verbal red flags:
" Trust me, I've been doing this for 30 years" (or whatever his # is)
"At some point you just have to trust me"
- any sort of convincing/arguing/pushing you into features you do not want. If it starts early over something, even something small, it will scale out through the entire project. First it's the wood species, then the finish, then he is trying to convince you to do wrap around uppers, soapstone is a no-go for him, no you cannot have a window here, etc. It never ends. I wish everyone knew the signs. Thankfully you were given one!

jsweenc, thanks. It was a long, twisty road, but it all worked out. So glad it did for you too.

When I purchased my first Rolex I asked the salesman about a discount on list.

He said, " Perhaps the gentleman would prefer to see our popularly priced models?"

I laughed and left.

Came back a month later with a Submariner LV on my left wrist and asked to look at the Panerai.

Obviously did not buy but he showed me the models I wished to look at.

I would be offended, and it wouldn't matter if I could pay the price or not, I'd ask.

People make all kinds of assumptions about you. I did hear that line once at a granite store. My contractor needed to know about a tile I wanted asap so I went in with DS (only a few months old) in a tee shirt and jeans (my standard uniform of motherhoood). I had to freaking beg to get help and then the dork who helped me said I probably didn't want the tile I wanted because it was expensive. I said "how expensive" she laughed and said, well if you have to ask....

I bought the tile elsewhere but had dinner with her boss the next week. I mentioned the comment to him. He knew who we were and that we were doing an expensive remodel with unusual stones. (Because I'd asked him for a bid earlier). I'm sure that chickie got an ear full the next day.

I have a small child and he's ill. For the first two years he barfed on me all day long so I got in the habit of wearing tee shirts or sweat shirts. I don't dress up for barf...and so when I shop I'm often in the sweat shirt or tee shirt uniform. I get blown off all the time, and frankly, I prefer it to being overly annoyed because they do know who I am and have to lick my boots (or clogs LOL). I hate that crap.

Gibby I took your bathroom (other forum) comment wrong...but in reading this "Personally I wouldn't be offended as I think people who make remarks like that are just kind of ignorant and/or naive."

maybe I should not have taken it like it appeared.

My favorite snob story....this weekend was gorgeous so DS and I were out in the lawn. We've just purchased a bed and breakfast (which is now closed but we have to wait for permission from the city to remove the sign). So this gal walks up the stairs and from my position by the sign (painting out the "victorian inn" portion so people will quit knocking on our door LOL) I said "Sorry ma'am, the inn is closed". She said "for the weekend" "No it's a family home now" I said. She said "you mean a family has taken it for the entire season?" I said "No it's been sold, it's a family home forever". She was horrified and said "oh that's terrible". I kind of laughed and said we didn't think so...to which she replied...."You wouldn't,you probably make good money taking care of them" LOL Apparently I wasn't dressed properly as the lady of the house while painting heh heh

Momentarily I thought of offering her a room at a very silly price...enough to hire a painter LOL but I didn't think she could handle the 4 year old, dog and cat and dust bunnies because the maid isn't doing her job (ok I'm the maid too LOL0.

Years ago got a BIG check, went to the bank in my grungies, AKA grimey yard clothes. Bank attendant took one look and pointed, saying "The withdrawal slips are there." Big mistake! Don't fully recall the details, but left the bank and called the manager as soon as I got home. Little Miss Pisspot was no longer with the bank when I returned to make the deposit.

In my family, I usually get the new vehicles. They get passed down to DH when I am ready for a newer one (isn't that the way it should be?? lol). Anyway, I am not a teensy delicate looking woman. But I still get the "lets wait until your husband can come in before I give you a trade-in estimate" or "lets wait until your hubby returns before we discuss price" etc. Neither of those salesmen got my business. I politely told them that this vehicle was for ME and I was making the decisions.....and walked out. Last time I needed a vehicle, I wanted one of those crew cab pick-up trucks. I NEED a truck-type vehicle. The dealer at the Toyota dealership insisted that he is really good at his job and understanding what kind of vehicle a person needs. He insisted that I needed a SUV instead of a truck. I bought a Nissan truck instead.

About 30 years ago, my Dad pulled into a Mercedes dealership in his pickup truck, wearing work clothes (he owned a small manufacturing company) and got a lukewarm reception by the experienced salesmen, who sent the newbie over. Dad said, "I want that car there, I'm paying cash, and I'll pay a premium to have it ready by tomorrow morning." :)

A female relative of mine bought her first home as a single woman and had a workman in to do some repairs. He kept asking to speak to her husband or boyfriend (there was neither) and somewhere he noticed some Air Force paraphernalia. Hers. "Oh, what did you do in the AF?" She replied, "I was a Jet Engine mechanic." Silence.

Igloochic, that story about the woman figuring you were the employee instead of the owner reminds me of a Bill Cosby joke. Who knows if it's true but it does illustrate how we form impressions based totally on how someone looks.

Apparently when he was just newly successful and able to buy a home in a nicer neighborhood, he was out mowing the lawn one day. Someone driving by stopped to ask him what he got paid for the job. Cosby's reply: I get to sleep with the lady who lives here.

Over my lifetime I have heard COUNTLESS stories of how people who are judged on the basis of their clothes. It amazes me that this still happens. Are salespeople STILL not trained to look past that?

LOL Lowspark I wish I'd have heard that line before last weekend!!!

That's why I often dress up to go shopping for upscale goods. Saves the hassle.

However, I also bring a pretty commanding attitude--nice and polite, but commanding. If a salesperson treats me that way, I usually give them the look. This involves looking them up and down, and very ostentatiously stopping at several points on their bodies. Stare at the face for a second, then the neck (if a woman) or chest (if a man) and stop, then the belt, and stop, then the pants/knees, stop, and then the shoes, long stop, look at both feet, then reverse all the way back up, knees, belt, neck, face--stare at the face. Then turn away without a goodbye and start speaking to another sales person. Most times, the second salesperson has seen me give the look to the first victim, and treats me very, very differently.

In the same vein, Igloochic, you could've said, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but if you're here to apply for a housekeeping job you'll have to go round to the back door."

HA...this is a fun thread!

My husband had a co-worker who complained about visiting a certain Caribbean island that we absolutely love, St John, USVI. Her complaint:
" Everyone is so relaxed and casual, that you can't tell who is rich!"

It takes all kinds!

Isn't that horrible? And car salespeople are just the worst in that regard!

I was looking at buying a car a few years back, and had narrowed my search down to either this Lexus or that Mercedes. I went to the Lexus dealership first and told the salesman exactly that -- I was comparing this model Lexus to that model Mercedes, and could he give me his best sales pitch for why the Lexus was the better choice. So what did he do? He told me I was comparing the Lexus to the wrong model Mercedes! I explained that I didn't like that Mercedes -- I liked the other one. So then he tells me that if I'm looking at this Mercedes, I'm looking at the wrong Lexus! Again, I state that I don't like that Lexus -- I liked the other one -- and that I realized they were apples to oranges -- could he compare them anyway?! He said he couldn't do it -- to which I replied that I think I have the wrong salesman!

This is a fun thread. My sister used to be a bank teller and was always entertained by one of her regular customers. He was evidently an old hillbilly who wore nothing but overalls, a t-shirt, and work boots. He had a big bushy 10" beard and a pot belly and drove an old truck with rust on the body - the kind with a platform where the bed would be. But he had almost 10 million in his accounts at that bank alone and evidently many million more in other investments. How funny - I am sure he was dismissed all the time, but I guess for him it truly wasn't about the money, so much so that he ensured nobody else was able to make it about the money either.

focylrac - STJ is absolutely a passion! (I'm more obsessed with the VIOL board than this one even.)

Funny stories everyone has. OK, frustrating, too! I hate the financial brokers who sometimes cold call and insist on talking to my husband. (I can tell because they use the long form of his first name, not the one he goes by.) I'll ask who is calling and they just give a first name, as if they know him. (Hello! They would know me, too!) Sometimes I tell them he's busy meeting with his parole officer - that shuts them up.

If this line didn't work for him, this guy wouldn't say it, lame as it is.

He probably thinks the people who "get it" laugh it off, then they can either talk about the project with or without talking about the price.

Or people who are offended or intimidated or just not amused, he doesn't need their business enough to care.

LOL, chicagoans!

And LOL, low spark! Now I know where my dad got that line. Years ago, my folks lived in a very nice neighborhood in South Florida where *no one* did their own yard work. Except my folks, that is. One day my dad was out on the rider mower mowing the lawn on a very hot day in July. He was wearing old jean shorts, no shirt and a bandana tired around his forehead to keep the sweat from dripping into his eyes.

A man driving by in his expensive car stopped, got out and asked my dad what he charged for lawn care. My dad said, "Nothing, I get to sleep with the lady of the house." The man stared at him, speechless. Still cracks me up!

One time back in the 1980s I needed an interim used car to bridge the gap between my dying wheels and the car I wanted which wouldn't be available for a year or two. It was a cold winter rainy day when I walked into a deserted Buick showroom in my grubby plastic raincoat over windbreaker sartorial splendor and found a huddle of young hotshots entertaining each other plus one sad looking older gent sitting off to one side. The obvious loudmouth in charge soon directed old guy to get out in the rain and waste his time showing loser me the cars. They didn't have an Olds 98 in stock but a freshly painted 88 would do. Asked how much it was and took it for a drive, brought it back and paid full asking price with a fresh certified check from my bank branch. OG took care of everything, BS meeting with manager declined. Were they ever po!

Am I outta line for feeling vaguely offended?

yes. because it is not worth it.
Just because someone ticked you off, why would you pay full price for something if you did not need to? I would pretend that I really need them to drop the price so that I can get the best price possible. It seems that the salesman is treating you like a pauper and has pushed you to pay full price for something, then he made a good tactical move and won. I would ignore the comment and focus on the product and the price. So what if they say "if you have to ask how much...." Geesh, so what! Move on or play the game that he wants you to.

I am with growlery.

Wow. Kaismom. I've read some of the things you've posted in the past, and thought that perhaps you were not the most tactful of people. But I think that's actually too kind of a spin.

Did you even read my post or are you responding based on assumptions? I'm not paying full price for this work. I'm moving on. He is not a salesman. He is the artisan. I thought he was making an offensive (and poorly judged) comment because no matter what, a comment like that does more harm to him than good. If he had just quoted a price, reasonable or unreasonable, that would have been fine. If I didn't want to spend that amount, I may have returned when I had a smaller project. He appears to make beautiful things, and I have a particular appreciation for well-made wood pieces.

And geesh, I can play the negotiating game. That was not what the post was about.

yes, I've had that happened, and they did not get my business. Instead I went to another dealer and bought it from the person who wasn't rude or evasive. I grew up with some very wealthy people around me, and they were the most business minded, price conscious people I knew - after all, how do you think they got wealthy in the first place?

NEXT!

And yeah - I hate salespeople who somehow assume that women can't buy cars. They don't get my business either.
Hope you find the perfect cabinets. :-)

I'm wondering if he just used a very unfortunate choice of words to express the idea that it takes him time to do an estimate and that's a loss if you're a casual inquirer. Is the same as the "qualifying" process idea, but any craftsman, designer or similar person just has to have some kind of sequence of involvement that they can rely on that saves them time but still attracts new customers. I don't know how this works, of course, since the problem is, with many such efforts, you can't come up with an accurate estimate unless you know most of what you're being asked to do, so if it takes you 30 min, even, to figure that out, and you do that several times daily, and the return is low, you're broke. If someone is well-established in a fairly high end business, he might well charge a fee just to talk and see your wish list and give an estimate, and then that cost will be applied if you buy. For cabinetry, I would wonder if the person could have any kind of brochure or book of work with some example prices, even if price range was kinda broad and there were multiple disclaimers about "prices subject to change". I mean, you might be trying to figure out whether a custom built-in hutch costs $3k or $30 k, or whatever.

My point is just that, it would be more straightforward to be told it'll cost me to sit down with the guy and get an estimate, since that is just the business of how he values his time, and that would not be offensive, as I can then make my decision about whether I value it the same amount, and includes the sensible idea that people agree on fees before doing any level of business, compared to the "if you have to ask" approach.

Igloochic, that is hysterical.

The town we raised our children in (excellent school system) had several villages with locally owned boutiques. If you wore jeans, you were ignored. If you were dressed well, the sales people would be all over you like white on rice (or flies on a pile of... well, you know). Clothes are not my thing, and never will be. But even in jeans, I hardly ever looked like I had just come in from plowing.

20 years ago, we were looking at homes for sale. Couldn't decide whether to move or add-on, so we were seeing what was out there. We went in a house, on a good street, and it was a nice house but ours was larger and had a much better layout and lot. We were not interested in the least, but this was an Open House, so we thought we'd see if the agent knew of others we should see. She told us in a very condescending voice "well, you know, houses farther up the hill increase in value." And went on to say a few more things, implying we could not afford this house or any other house she could show us.

DH is usually an easy going, doesn't get mad. So in his own kind way, he let her know that we didn't have payments, this house was smaller than ours and we would not be needing her assistance in the future. We ended up adding on. We still shake our heads at her.

If this line didn't work for him, this guy wouldn't say it, lame as it is.

Well, we don't actually know if it works for him. Certainly it did not in this case. Count the number of responses in this thread that say they would not give this guy their business, or in fact did not give the business to the offender in a similar situation. Then count the responses that say they'd overlook it.

Give estimates is a cost of doing business when you're in the business of selling a product or service that is different for every customer. You figure it in to your overhead. If you choose to charge potential customers for the estimate, that's your business decision. Maybe it does help weed out folks who are just window shopping. But in either case, in order to do well, I believe that you have to treat ALL your customers with respect.

I also think it's ok to respectfully say, I'm not interested in this job but thanks for the opportunity. I've gotten that response before, and that's fine! No point in wasting either of our time.

But the minute the tone becomes condescending, disrespectful, or in any way rude, that's when the business person is out of line. And it's a business mistake. Because not only did they lose that person's business, but there's always the potential to lose additional word of mouth business you'll never even know about.

So, did it work for him? In this case it worked against him. It might work for him in some cases, who knows? But whether in this current economic environment or in good times, offhandedly turning away business just never makes sense.

Many people resist giving me a ballpark, so I don't ask for it with a single question. I say it in a few ways that all add up to the same request, repeated redund-ated reaffirmed and made doubly clear.

i agree with the above posters, including kaismom and growlery. We'll never know if the guy just didn't know how to give a "range of numbers" to show more or less what it cost, or if he was hoping to twig you spark you spur you on, or if he wanted to blow off an emailer who wasn't ready yet, or Whatever Other possibility truly happened.

In person, I often plow through all the obviously distasteful parts of what he said and get an immediate answer to my original question.
-- Pose your own question a second time, reworded slightly, but not enough to make it look like your emotions have risen to the surface.
-- This means you are Almost Acting like the first time he said it, it didn't happen.
-- He'll catch the nuance !!! He'll see you can ride the waves without getting tossed.

I've often found that people hate the word ballpark used in this context. Both buyers hearing a salesman pitching and salesmen hearing a query about pricing. Whoever uses the word first, somehow aggravates the other. I avoid using this word.

davidro1, that's an interesting perspective. I thought I was being thoughtful when I asked about a rough estimate. I don't remember if the email actually used the apparently distasteful term "ballpark." I wanted to save the seller the time and effort it would take to crunch the detailed numbers. If the estimate was far, far above what we wanted to spend, then our exchange would be concluded. If it was high, but somewhere we could venture to go, then we'd proceed. Apparently thoughtfulness is a sign of (a) negotiating weakness and (b) not being a serious purchaser. I'll have to remember this.

I think, in this case, this was a final straw. His questions to us about details of the work were couched in a very condescending tone. As if we were total ignoramuses. I'll be the first to admit that we're not experts, but we're fairly informed consumers. I won't try to figure out why he has this attitude. Perhaps he has enough customers to justify it. Perhaps he sees himself as an artist and would have this attitude even if bankrupt. Perhaps it's a way to shield himself from looky-loos. Don't know. Don't care. Just poor business practice. Even looky-loos may have far wealthier friends and internet access.

Jeans and t-shirts 24/7 here, too. When I first started the Great Kitchen Kaper, I looked in the Floor To Ceiling Store for counter top and was told it's too expensive. I've never been back. I have my dream kitchen anyway. Wilson Art. Love it.