delores

for years, my personal happy place was Eastside Records in Tempe, AZ.
well, on tuesday, one of their snobbiest clerks totally ruined it. he might has well have burnt down my happy place and built a wal-mart on top of it.
neothespian and i are out running errands on tuesday and end up in tempe, so i make puppy dog eyes to stop into Eastside to check their prices on used turntables.
as i'm scoping out the decks by the register, the clerk is casting a disdainful eye towards both of us, of course, but i ignore it cause all the clerks are mega snobs and the customer service is all but nonexistent. i approach a nice looking used Technics for $80, lift the the lid, and go to move the plastic guard over the stylus to check if the stylus is indeed intact. i've seen too many used ones with none whatsoever, so i wanna be sure before i get my heart set on one. as soon as i do this, the clerk all but jumps on my back and yells at me not to touch the stylus. when i inform him that i'm just looking to see if the stylus is there, he curtly informs me that all the systems work. i smile and tell him i've seen many a turntable work, but have no stylus. it doesn't require a stylus to spin, so lacking one does not make the system broken, but rather in need of an expensive replacement piece. he repeats that all their systems work. the whole time he's talking to me like i'm a total idiot and i have zero idea of what i'm talking about, and frankly embarrassing me in front of the rest of the patrons (all men, by the way). i thank him for his time and storm out of the store with neo following in some confusion.
once in the car i start to cry a bit from sheer anger. i've never had good customer service there, but then i've never had bad service either. i've always left that store feeling very happy, unless i didn't have money to buy what i wanted, and that's not the store's fault.
as i'm trying to calm down, neo is offering to go back in and punch the guy or at least give him whatfor. i quickly decided that the experience was terrible enough that i wont be shopping there anymore so i decide to march back in and tell him that myself.
i walk back in and tell him that he's lost himself a very loyal customer usually doesn't leave without buying something, and have been making plans to buy a turntable from them as well as flush out my record collection a bit more. he says that he's sorry that i took his comments harshly but that styluses are very delicate. i inform him that i know that very well because i have three turntables at home, one with a broken stylus, which i tried to replace at their store but their clerk sold me the wrong one (for an archiving system, so not any one will do). he looks rather shocked by this bit of information, but still curtly informs me that they're very delicate. fighting not to punch him in his holier than thou music snob face, i repeat that i know, and that they've lost themselves a good customer, and that i'll be informing all my friends who collect as well. all he says to that is "well, bye". at this point i'm seething with rage, so i just storm out or else i was gonna pull down a cd rack or something.
i recently met a guy at work who knew the owner of Eastsides, and i asked him if i should bother complaining to him about this shitty service. he tells me not to bother, as he knows exactly who this clerk is and that he's always a royal asshole to everyone and has worked there forever and complaining wont make a lick of difference. i sadly tell him that i wont be going back to the store anymore and that i still need a new system. the next day he told me that he called Hoodlum's Records and they still sell systems, but they start at $100.
*sigh*

ok. that is my vent. i already miss my happy place.