Yep! As a shop manager for over 10 years, if a new guy ( one shift ) was asked a question and did not answer it correctly or at least ask someone who has the knowledge in the shop, said employee would not make it to the second shift. The correct way to handle this would have been to say..
" we will have x,y and z ski from Armada, Chances are you are referring to the El Ray. It is a great ski. They should be coming into the shop on this date and we would love to have you stop in and check out the whole line."
I don't want to bash you because you sound like a good guy. Love to ski and have a passion for the sport. I will say that who ever trained you needs to put in more work. Remember your general customer is not a NS'er or even a dedicated skier. Most just want to go and have fun. If they confuse a name or model so be it your job it to educate not make fun of. Good luck and have fun.