Maybe what we like doing is also linked, in some part, to our background.  I too came to 3D art from photography, a hobby that has stayed with me for over 40 years and I can still follow with the limitations old age places on my body.  This means that my interest is in the 2D image, in fact 3D is only really an extension to photography in many ways.  My other interest is Sc-Fi and again this interest goes way back.  3D allows me to 'photograph' my visions of the future or to try an portray an emotion without the hiring of a model.  To this degree the hobbies complement each other.

As to criticism well even if it is justified it can be done with dignity and not thinking the seller is an idiot or just on the make is a good starting point.  I remember working in a camera shop where a customer brought back a zoom lens where the zoom ring was far from smooth.  The customer was abusive from the start both about me as a sales person and the equipment we sold.  After he had calmed down I took the lens from him and tried it, he was right.  I did not have another lens of the same type in stock but offered the customer and upgrade free of charge.  Some what surprised the customer accepted and I even threw in a lens cleaning kit because of the trouble the faulty lens had caused the customer, something I would have done anyway.  He was full of praise when he left but how much better it would have been if he had started politely and only resorted to anger if the situation really warranted it.  Not only would it have been better for me and the other customers in the shop but it would have had less effect on the complaining customer's blood pressure as well.

Yes. Yes. Yes. It's as well to remember this as the customer. During the 3 months I worked for AT&T as a customer service rep (horrible job!), I learned that even brand new reps had up to $600 per day in discretionary "funds" that they could use to reduce someone's phone bill or to eliminate false charges -- without having to resort to asking for a manager.

The people who were nice and polite got the benefit of this. During training we would listen in on a seasoned partner's calls. One I will never forget was from a lady who was having trouble paying her bill. I forget why exactly she was troubled -- but it's a very common occurrence. And she was wondering if it was possible for her to pay for half the bill and still keep using her phone. She was truly lovely on the phone, and as a result, the rep came back and said, "Ma'am, you don't have to worry about that bill. It's taken care of." He just wiped over $500 completely clean. Because he could, and because it was customers like her who made the job bearable. Her response was "Praise Jesus! I can't believe you did this!" followed by a lot of gracious expressions of gratitude. 

[He logged it as a customer who signed up for the wrong "plan" and mistakenly used too many minutes, which was one of the allowable reasons to forgive legitimate charges.]

The jerks -- if they didn't experience a sudden unexplained disconnection from the rep centre -- were the ones who ended up being transferred repeatedly.  And their jerky behavior was noted on their account.

It's been pretty much the same way in every customer service job I've had. Whenever you have a legitimate problem that needs to be solved, if you're nicer than the usual customer (which isn't hard, believe me), the clerk will often try their best to give you way more than you asked for. And if you're a DB -- well, unless hornet3d serves you, you'll get the minimum that will make you leave without breaking things.

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PoserPro 2014, PS CS5.5 Ext, Nikon D300. Win 8, i7-4770 @ 3.4 GHz, AMD Radeon 8570, 12 GB RAM.