Bad-mouthing competitors has a way of coming back to splatter you.
People in the know understand that the former is a better business tactic than the latter, but judging from the amount of trash talk one hears around the industry, it seems the majority of wholesalers are not in the know. Either that, or their baser human instincts trump their business sense. Or, they just don't believe it's true that bad-mouthing competitors can backfire. They would do well to heed this tale of serendipity.