When I was researching, some folks said “buy from your local bike shop so you can take it back there for maintenance” which seems like good advice for folks who aren’t comfortable doing their own maintenance.
As someone that used to work as a bike mechanic, that’s incredibly silly advice. Your local shop should be able to do maintenance on any bike for a fee, and unless they offer some sort of servicing plan, won’t do it for free just because you bought from them (unless it’s a warranty issue).
No, I also found the way he handled it really distasteful. Even before his response, just generally the way the whole thing was attempted under a veil wasn’t great. The actions taken should have been transparent from the start.
I do agree that it shouldn’t be polluting this thread like this though.