Do you drive a POS car that is never washed also? How about a rusty assed old shotgun that is never oiled to hunt with? Fishing rod that doesn't work half of the time?
Why must you insist on ******* in someone's Wheaties? It's their time, their money and their choice in boxes. I happen to like mine and try to keep it clean. It gets wiped down every 6 months or so but that is my choice. If you choose to keep you tools in a 40 qt igloo cooler, that's your choice and I would be happy for you.
I figured i'd put my two cents in on this.
First, i'm completely on your side. I work on my own vehicles (mostly) but the times when they go elsewhere to be worked on, the FIRST things I look at are the tech, his appearance, and the way he takes care of his tools/box. NOTHING in this world shows that you care more about your job and the work you perform than a clean work area and a tidy appearance.
Sure, mostly in the world, a toolbox is only there to perform it's duties.....holding tools. Letting it get all beat to ****, scratching it up and really not giving a damn about it is absurd, especially considering how much money people sink into these things. It's an INVESTMENT of your CAREER for christ sake.
I'll give you the best example. When I moved back to IL and bought out my brother, all I kept hearing was "a toolbox is merely to hold tools...wiping it down weekly is a waste of time and effort". This coming from someone who owned a 10 year old, beat to **** husky tool box. I won't get into all the details but, after a period of time, I came into some money. I decided to do something nice for my brother, and buy him the box he'd always wanted, but never could bring himself to buy. The day the box arrived, before a single tool went into it, it had a fresh coat of paint sealer and two coats of wax put on it. Now, EVERY single friday my brother and I both are seen cleaning our boxes with a spray wax. MONTHLY they get buffed and fresh coat of wax applied.
He never really understood why I did all that, until one day a customer came through our new shop and said "wow, you guys really care about what you do. You seem to be the type to "make it right no matter what"".
I'd be willing to bet you take two people with the same box, color, etc, put an ad somewhere selling both boxes for the same price, the one taken care of...sells first.
I dunno about other guys, but the amount of money I have invested into tools, toolboxes, etc...you'd be DAMN sure that i'm gonna take care of them. Moreso now that I'm finalizing my order of my new epiq box.