I actually had a similar experience at the local Kragen. I needed the
heater hose that comes off the #1 cylinder and tapers down, while bending,
from something like 1" ID to 3/4" in two feet or so where it meets the tee
for the rear heater. After listening to my description for a while, the
counter girl just says, "Want to go back and look for it?" So I go back to
their huge rack of maybe 300 different hoses and find something that tapers,
bends, etc. in pretty much the right way--and costs a fraction of OEM.
Worked for me.