I don't know. There are several factors at work here. This is all individual. Some are jerks, some aren't. My local Husqvarna/Echo shop, for example, was really great. Good ol' guys working there. I needed a small part for a trimmer, but wasn't sure which one would fit. He just handed me one and said "take it home and see if it fits. If it does, just drop by and pay for it, or just bring it back." It fit. I dropped by and paid for it later. Imagine that happening at Home Depot.
But... a LOT of these guys, like many other mom-and-pop businesses, are suffocating. They can't compete with the big box stores and chains. The place I just mentioned sold Echo trimmers for $375 that Home Depot had for $179. You would be in a bad mood, too, if creditors were threatening to take away your livelihood that you pay for your food and home with, and people were constantly reminding you of how cheap they could buy something down the street at Lowes, or they made a big fuss about some 5-cent washer, or whining because you didn't smile enough at them. So I don't know, I'm tempted to cut these people a little slack sometimes, although I agree there are some real dipwads out there.
The place I described? They went bankrupt. Closed and sold out. Sad.