IMHO I think that the worst thing for a first time quilter to be encouraged to do is to use a kit. The best kits are well thought out and carefully cut with good directions. The worst can have slightly off pre-cuts or not quite enough fabric and the this brand new quilter has to cope with how to work this out after the fact. I've seen experienced quilters frustrated with things like that but at least they have an arsenal of tools and experience at their disposal to diagnose the underlying error or essentially throw out the original pattern and turn what is left into something else. And a person who wants to try their hand at quilting is already a creative person who will have a critical eye and want to have the final result look at least good if not perfect.
All it takes is one lap quilt with all square lines to get the basics. An all squares quilt needn't be boring. The squares can be different sizes for some variety like alternating plain and 9 patch. By starting from scratch a new quilter can see the importance of accurate initial cutting, what a 1/4" seam really is, how to match those pesky lines and at the end, the easiest machine quilting to start with is plain stitch in the ditch and straight lines are easy to follow. Now if the next project is a kit, at least a new quilter can then remember to check the sizes of the pre-cuts because they will know this is important to the final product, they will know that if the sizes are correct then the problem is somewhere else. They will also know to look at the pattern and think about seam allowances and whether they add up correctly in the block before they start to sew them together. I can not count the number of times with patterns that I've found errors like this. It often seems like the pattern drafter wanted to re-size the block and forgot to resize one of the pieces. And don't even get me started on paper piecing patterns. Except to say, that my guild, with some long time experienced quilters, held a workshop on a curved block with a "name" quilter. When the blocks were assembled, the curved lines weren't lining up unless the block was stretched a wee bit, which in quilting is a no-no. The printer paper size paper piecing pattern that was to be copied was 1/8" of an inch wrong in one dimension. How is a new quilter going to know to check everything and twice when that pretty quilt picture is so inviting?
I don't necessarily think that the LQS was being deliberately unhelpful for monetary reasons. There is the underlying assumption that if a kit is put together by someone else then it is that person's problem. If the kit was put together by the LQS, it probably wasn't done by the sales person. When you asked for help with the machine quilting, the person you spoke to probably doesn't even know how to machine quilt. Often people will be dismissive when they in fact don't know the answer. In any event I believe it is important that a sales person for something like this not hard sell the kit if she knows a person is totally new. She should first find out if you have a sewing buddy or have any basic experience and suggest that it might be better to get some experience with basics first.
This is a personal hobby horse of mine. Sorry for the long post. I hope you hang in there with quilting and have much better luck with your next quilt!
Diana