You are so right about everything that you say here.
Reputation is hard earned and needs to be protected every day. It is very easily lost. And, how one handles a large dollar dispute is what determines the character of a dealer. Small dollars are easy for anyone to resolve... but, the big ones?
All of these 'lifetime guarantees' are only as good as the word of the man who gave them. And, what happens to the guarantee when the dealer moves on or dies?
I believe that one reason that so many close ranks when a bad deal goes sour is that everyone sometimes deals with everyone else in this hobby and few people want to burn bridges because that could cost them a deal in the future. Many high end items are sold by a grouping of dealers (one knows a collector with deep pockets, another knows where a high end item is available, a third has a relationship with the owner of the high end item, etc, so they all get together and share in the profits). So, why tee off a potential money maker?
