This is something I’ve noticed lately. A lot of hifi shops and hifi manufacturers have helpful staff, but just as many are extremely rude and arrogant.
I’ve had people speak condescendingly about my amp when I’m demoing speakers. Same thing for my speakers. I’ve even had someone, and I kid you not, tell me my streamer has shit sound quality.
It seems like hifi shops are either extremely helpful or just downright awful. The same with manufacturers, they either recognise that there exists alternatives or everything sucks ass compared to their product.
All but two of the hi-fi shops I have been to in the last few decades have been helpful with a couple being extremely helpful. In the first exception I was refused a demo of what I had gone to buy. It could be seen as arrogance but at the time I was more baffled than annoyed because it seemed so weirdly counter productive. I guess I must have been judged a tyre kicker for some reason but it was odd. In the other I suspect the salesman genuinely held a range of the more extreme audiophile beliefs which made communicating with those a bit more grounded problematic. This could come across as arrogance because the lack of rational arguments to support those beliefs tends to lead to defensive behaviour with bald statements of “fact” and an unwillingness to consider conflicting information.
I have never been a salesman but if I “knew” the person in front of me was a time waster rather than a genuine customer then acting in an arrogant manner might be an effective way to make them go away and stay away. I never returned to either of the shops where I received an unhelpful response.
Was also pushed back when trying to get a demo of some Naim amps. Eventually they afreed to do something weeks later. Week before the demo I called them to tel it wasn’t nessecary anymore since I bought a Musical Fidelify Nuvista M3 elsewhere. After that he remained quiet.