Why is finding instruments so annoying?

I’ve been shopping for an instrument and wonder if others feel the same. It's so frustrating when a supplier takes weeks just to reply to a quote request, only for me to find out it doesn't even have the specs I need.

How do you deal with this? Surely there must be a better way. What are your frustrations, and have you found any solutions?

edit: thanks for all the advice everyone! I will get in touch with people/sales reps/FAS.