It's death by a thousand paper cuts. Regardless of the corporate, it seems today that your chances of a smooth customer service transaction is far lower than before. You essentially have to block out 1 hour of your day, get prepared to be frustrated, and have to repeat the same information, the same story, countless times to a revolving personnel. Most people, myself included, either give up because we consider our time too valuable or believe the exchange of value for our dollar and our own sanity is not commensurate.

To be fair, there are times I get great service. However, it is completely idiosyncratic, because at the end a *human* must solve a problem. Your impression of the company then boils down to how 1-2 people handle you. If I sense a good faith effort from them, regardless of the outcome, I typically am far more understanding. On the other hand, if I sense a robotic or apathetic stance, my patience wears very thin.

Competition is the best cure, and typically is why customer service in the US is unbeatable compared with elsewhere. I am extremely eager to get FIOS in my area so that I can drop Comcast, or at least have far more leverage when I talk to them.