One thing I learned is that you more and more have to act as an a-hole when dealing with customer service. Otherwise they just brush you off, even if you're have a completely valid complaint or problem. Probably because of the mindset that all complaining customers are part of that 5 percent.

I'm not happy with that evolution, but that's the reality that we're living in. Now when I'm dealing with customer service I start with being myself, nice and reasonable, but as soon that I notice that they're trying to brush me off, I switch to full assertive mode. I will not yell or berate the employee, I know most of the time they are just following standard scripts or procedures, but being really persistent and not letting go is more and more the only way to get a fair treatment.

That's really unfortunate, but I guess it's the logical conclusion of outsourcing to the cheapest call centers, viewing customer service as a cost only or paying customer support employees minimum wages. It forces genuine nice people to act a certain way they wouldn't normally do and don't feel comfortable with. For me personally, I know it's just an act, it's not personal, but it takes more energy than it should be. And it helps to have worked in customer service before to put things in perspective.