Ace, the place, the angry people working there

Ace Hardware advertises itself as being "the place" to go for "friendly advice" about home improvement projects and questions about hardware.

Why is it then that every time we're there it's an uncomfortable conversation with the angry retiree helper-guy where we're reminded about how little we know about the subjects we're asking about.

Case in point: Chastising last night for not knowing the correct manufacturer on the quart of paint we wanted to buy. We left with it 20 minutes later.