Are they big chains? When I had to work for a big-box clothing company here one summer, I was appalled by how little training we were given. Unless I'd had to clean that specific area, I had NO IDEA what we had. I hated it, customers hated it, presumably the store has so much turnover they don't give a shit.

Granted, I was a bit better at the whole 'customer service' thing than you describe...but I wouldn't be surprised if it's less a problem with people only interested in surface stuff as a problem with large-scale retail in general.

To counter-act this, I had a really marvelous mechanic experience recently! Pulling into a shop (with a very minor light problem) to find out they do motorcycles, not cars, and the guy came out anyway, took a look, and showed me exactly what I needed to do fix it. Some places still rock. (I'm car-inept, by the way).