For me it's got to be a Yamaha CD player from the late 80's. It lasted just long enough to get out of waranty then the disc drawer wouldn't always open. It would tease me first though, and then slam shut again, cruel player. This cat and mouse game went on until the player grew tired of me and wouldn't open at all.

At the time there was a local stereo store that I frequented and the salesmen would actually care about their customers. (Unlike today where the only store in town starts with a B and ends with Buy and the employees don't care and are even less knowledgable.) Because it was out of waranty the salesman couldn't fix it for free but he did feel bad for me and offered to sell another player at cost which turned out to be about 1/3 off. Even some of the specialty shops in the larger cities near my home have closed. I really miss spending an afternoon playing with the latest gear that I can't afford.