Originally Posted by ItsJustMe

REI does not employ knowledgeable staff as a charity so that everyone can come in and spend their time deciding what to get, then to go buy stuff somewhere else. The reason it's cheaper elsewhere is that the cheaper place is NOT employing people to help you. You're taking money from REI and spending it elsewhere.

I do buy stuff at other places that I could get at REI. I go in and look at the prices and compare them to other prices. I will only bother the REI people if I decide I'm willing to pay whatever the extra is to purchase there. if I'm not willing to pay that, then I don't bother their employees, I go and do my research online. I will probably spend more of my own time doing online research than if I asked those people. That should go into the equation for how much extra you're willing to spend. I might make an ill-informed decision and buy the wrong thing. Again, that should go into the equation.

I will sometimes go in and poke at their demo stuff even if I'm not going to buy there, but I won't take up any of their time.

Yes, it's rude to resort to name calling, but when one is responding to actions that are in themselves really rude as well, it may be called for.