No, as much of that is opinion it is hard to set it down in stone. Are there good pool stores out there, yes! But, most of them are in the "sun" states where a family can own a small store and operate it 12 months a year, give good service and make a profit.
In the rest of the country you mainly have a high school/college kid who has about an hour training testing your water and telling you what to buy to add to your water. I guess that's like going into a carpet store and asking if you need to buy new carpet.
Unfortunately the pool industry has evolved into sales by scare tactics, misdirection, misinformation and marketing hype. Go in to the store and tell them your TA is low and they are going to sell you baking soda in a fancy package at four times the cost of WalMart. Do they have a right to make a profit, yes - but lets be reasonable. Heck, even their definition of "low" can many times put you on a pH roller coaster that's hard to get off of. Is that lack of knowledge or a sales technique to sell you more chemicals to control your pH????
What the industry does not understand is that the internet is changing the industry. My favorite story is about my pool light. When I bought the house with the pool along with high CYA my pool light was not working. I could get a new bulb from Amazon for $19, but heck I'm part of that immediate gratification society as much as the next guy. I went down to the local pool store and there was the same bulb, $39. I talked with the manager. I didn't want them to match the price, they have to keep the lights on - just be a little more reasonable. The manager gave me two choices, take it or leave it.
OK, I'm off my soapbox and will stop derailing your thread.
yeah i faced a similar issue when my pump died. I could buy it online for $969 (cheapest price) and find someone to install it for $250 or I could go through local shops. One guy was like "well it is $3k retail price plus installation" and so i let him go on and prompted him "ok....but your price is...." and he goes "$1900 installed. I am like "so does it cost about $1k of labor to install it? and he is like "no this is an expensive pump"
I told him "I can get the pump for under $1k" and he goes "no you can't" and im like "im looking at itright now" and he then has the nerve to say "dont even tell me that I-word (internet) ....i am not the internet" and i said "i get it, and im willing to pay a premium for someone locally who not only supplies the item and installs it, but not that much"
basically i hung up on him at some point
however, some of these mfg are making it a pain to get the warranty unless you pay more through 'store locations'. buy it on your own, even if you install it through a licensed electrician/plumber and now ur 3 yr warranty is 60 days.
i buy my baking soda at costco when its got the $3 coupon.