I have to say had to look up what "1/4" sawn was but I'm a little wiser now. But I know what a profile gauge is and I don't take photos of my computer screen when I can just right click and paste. ......I think everyone has their quirks!!!
...But a you can take your pick: Maplins used to be comical to the point of unbearable, I stepped into a sales pitch to help one cusomer who was frankly buried in ***** quickler than it could be shovelled away. My old Toyota dealership were terrible: I got a lecture about my GT4 one day, being an import they couldn't get parts, I needed a £400 replacement key on account of the (imaginary) immobiliser instead of the £10 key it actually cost me elsewhere (cut from an e-mailed scan of the old key which they pulled the actual key code from!!). Halfords got so bad every one I go in now just pretty much ditched the car market now -I was in there often when I was into cars. One day the Audio guy took a card payment for summit like £750 labour for fitting a stereo and gutting and replacing their original speakers and wiring (parts were separate). When I managed to get some oxygen into me again he said that was the "quirk of the car -they all need doing this way because of the nightmare wiring". I had to show him the page in his very own catalogue with a £25 converter connector which did exactly the same job (a 2 min fix, like I always did on the same cars!). Never seen the blood drain from someones face like that! Last year I bought car remote battery for my Volvo from Halfords, I was told it had to be "specially fitted by trained staff because the security system wipes the immobiliser code and locks the doors when the fob battery is changed". Needless to say I smirked, fitted the battery in front of the teenager at the counter, pressed the unlock button outside and away I went as normal. I worked in the fresh and waste water industry for a couple of years, and on the retail side of the buisness, I cannot tell you the absolute pure and utter, complete "guff" people get told (and frequenty get conned into being sold) out there.
The retail trade has always been happy to pay its staff peanuts, so the result should not surprise anybody.
More of a problem than that. When I was growing up I used to work in retail but I had to know what I was selling. Looking back I was paid peanut crumbs even after inflation (nevermind the peanuts), but knowledge was part of your job! Even in car garages, or engineering suppliers or service centres now, you don't need to know your product, in fact it seems more a rule that you don't have to force someone to know, and you can't not employ someone who doesnt! You have to be a bit savvy I think with what you ask for these days, otherwise you can be a bit of a "quack" knowing what you want, and you always get frustrated.