Bergantino sell direct in the US as a ways and means to attempt to help keep the costs of the products down. (Similarly Bergantino do not have an artist endorsement program, they do not give anything away, so the 'average Joe' doesn't have to cough up.) They do have shops selling Bergantino equipment in the US but of course they don't have the problems with VAT and customs and all that jazz we have here with importing US gear. Bergantino do want to have a UK outlet but the nearest we have at the moment is Bass Buddha in Denmark owned by the rather awesome chap Morten Ehlers.
On the subject of whether or not he's great to deal with, I have to say that I have had the opposite experience. Friendly, keen to share the knowledge and has even sent out an email just to see how I'm getting on with my amp! Oh, the B|Amp software updates he sends out personally!
Knowing that actually Bergantino is a reasonable small family owned business, I can imagine (actually I do know) that at times Jim is putting in long hours. Maybe you'd just caught him on a difficult day? I want to let you know that for whatever reason, I think that is a rare experience you've had. He's a good guy I think.