that kind of BS is inexcusable. A similar type of thing happened to me a few years back with Feather Craft - and the response was poor, the impression given that it just wasn't a matter worth worrying about. Needless to say, I wouldn't consider giving another penny of my hard-earned money to them. Not that they care.
I don't know what it is with fly shops... I've had more poor customer experiences at fly shops than at any other type of specialty sports shops.
To the simpleton, proof does not matter once emotion takes hold of an issue.