I don't think your experience is atypical. It's UK GA. I'm well glad I'm out of it. GA can suffer from the small town mentality as it were. I'd often pitch up and be treated more like a trespasser than a paying customer at some airfields. And as for flights schools they're very unpredictable - keep looking until you find a good one. If they don't treat you well when you come to them as potential business then they're not going to treat you well once you've signed up and they have your membership fee or fee or worse you pay up front for their block rates.