some people are just like that---a different shop may (behave) differently-
a number of years ago i found a dealer who had my long-arm- and offered a class- i had my machine for over a year but had not had any classes and thought i might find it benificial- so signed up- it meant traveling 170 miles- and the class was $75-
the woman who (taught-and i use that loosely) actually had a totally different long-arm- different brand/manufacturer- and spent the entire class working on the display machine---and telling us all the difference between that one and hers---i learned more about her machine than i did about the one being demonstrated (my machine) so really felt that i had wasted alot of money, time and distance....i guess you just never know- i do know there are plenty of people out there that use brother machines---even from wally world- and do very well with them- even offer classes- maybe you could talk to someone in a local guild and find other people who do not have the (snobby attitude) to learn with.