I'm Cheap

Me and my friend, The Shuster, went to a music store in town to get my flute repaired. It was a sketchy area of the city, and I didn't want to go alone!

So there we are, we get to the right place (finally) and I approach the counter. Nice looking, older gentleman, in a suit and tie. How bad could this be?

Me: "Hi, I'd like someone to take a look at my flute please."

Him: "Sure, what seems to be the problem?" *opens flute case up*

M: "A few of my notes are very sharp. My instructor recommended this place to get it repaired. I think there's a leak in a few of my pads."

H: *wrinkled his brow* "Did you purchase it from here?"

M: "No."

H: "Where did you get it from?"

M: "Uhhh...I got it as a gift." +

H: "I see." *inspects keys*closes keys*hums*has" "It appears that your pads aren't sitting on the flute correctly. That's the curse with purchasing an inexpensive instrument."

M: *shocked expression*

H: "I'll be right back."

The Shuster: "Dude. He just called you cheap."

M: *laughing* "I know...WTF!?"

H: "Ok. That'll take about a week to a week and a half. It'll be about an hour's worth of work for about $65 / hour. We have flute rentals you can rent in the mean time. Can I interest you in a rental today?"

M: "Ah, no. Thank you."

H: "Ok, we'll give you a call when we're all finished."

Now. Why, in my right mind, after you backhandedly insult me, would I want to spend another $50 to rent a flute from you? I guess you were thinking, if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's probably some cheap ass flute player who isn't willing to spend $2695 for a brand new flute, let alone $50/week to rent a quality flute, until I have the privilege of tinkering with this crappy excuse for a flute.

Wow, where has good customer service gone?

+Note: I purchased the darned thing from eBay. It cost me $110 USD with the shipping included. If I had told him that, I think he would have turned into a robotron Transformer and burned my eyeballs out with his laserbeams. Again; just a feeling I got from him at that point....