you bought your frame from Trek direct for $999. the LBS said they could have sold it you for $899. it sounds like you never got a price from the LBS first before your order with Trek. i don't see that the LBS rep did anything wrong by bringing that to your attention, yet you're pissed at him for saying anything. sounds like it's on you for not doing due diligence in your price shopping.

I'm a bit off-topic here...

But being that I have zero retail experience, except having been a register jockey at a gas 'n sip for a year or two, I had no idea that this was a thing. But I gotta believe it really puts you guys as retailers in a bind on some brands as you watch people turn online/elsewhere for significant savings. Does it drive you nuts? Or does it just sort of "come with the territory" and you hope people will wait until they push a sale price down for you?

I think I can boil down to a handful, the reasons why I've made internet purchases instead of my local shop:
-The vendor pricing demands (sup, Garmin?)
-limited clothing selection in stock in my size (rather big boy with odd upper/lower proportioning) or suited to my particular desires. Or shoes. I'm a wide. Hard to fault a store for any of this. Inventory carrying nightmare.
-when I need something simple that I could almost DIY, but would rather just spend a few bucks on. Example....a simple bottle mount for a seatpost. I don't want a whole wind tunnel aero tested name-branded rig with doohickeys for cartridges and a special cage. I just want a thingy that'll solve a problem, and I can usually find that for a few bucks online. Again, hard to fault a shop for not carrying this kind of inventory.

For my purchasing history, the vendor pricing is responsible for the biggest single dollar amounts by purchase. The clothing probably represents the most comprehensive total dollars.
The last one? Probably drives sales, because my hairbrained DIY kludged idea generally doesn't work and I need to go get something that does. Although, my $5 seatpost one worked out brilliantly. Others, not so much.