Based on your description, it seems your approach has a number of flaws, which would lead to "closing out" the report of a security hole, which is a catastrophic failure in your approach.

Someone would have to go to the store in question to investigate further, in any case. Whether I offered the cert here publicly or not won't change that. I've given enough indication of a serious security problem that it merits investigation. Someone is trying to insert their own cert on a particular URL I was visiting when using the Apple Store Kahala Mall wifi.

Whoever performs the investigation can easily look into the specifics of the cert itself. Your response was detrimental to the process in addition to coming across as abrasive, and your follow-up simile related to the mechanic is further insulting. I recognize you are an expert in your field but it's not a way to work with colleagues. I offer this criticism with only the best of intentions, as someone who can well-relate to your line of thinking on such matters.