Short answer? No. What WAS normal then is no longer normal now. This is normal.

Long answer? You should probably should learn to relax a bit & not blow that gasket, cause things aren't likely to change. Folks aren't willing to work customer service anymore because people got out of pocket too often. Folks just aren't willing to put up with it. So yeah, get used to appointments. An appointment makes better sense anyway, because with an appointment, you know you'll be seen at least fairly close to your time & not wait around all day. It also means that the salesmen (because you're obviously talking about retail sales of furniture, appliances, or the like) won't have anything else pulling them away from you. Their time will be devoted to you and your needs.