There's a sign hanging above my workbench where I work. It says simply,
The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
We give discounts to alot of our customers, especially regulars. There are certain shops in my area where I have no qualms about asking for a bit off, and there are some that I don't even have to ask as everything is sold to me at cost. Are they great shops? Not really. But I will go back there everytime I get the chance. Short term, they aren't making as much money off of me as they would Joe Baggadonuts off the street. However, they have a customer for life, and word travels fast. It takes years to build a solid customer base, but only one bad experience from a single customer to bring it all down. As the saying goes, bad news travels faster than good news.
You're not in the wrong at all, Chris. In your shoes, I would have done the same. As you already know, a store has to be sensitive to the needs or desires of the customer, and must be flexible enough to work with them. That's one of the main reasons that everything is going to on-line: no customer interaction. In a cyber business, there's no storefront, no walk-in customers, and nothing is done face-to-face. There are no people skills required to open a store like that. Today, I've seen a steady decline in the social interaction skills of kids, as well as adults. That's why ebay and stores like that are so popular, and why it's driving the local hobby shops out of business, if, like your example, they aren't doing it to themselves.
Sorry so long.
demono69