What the OP is going through isn't unique, I've seen this situation happen more than once.
Pool_Shark: This is exactly the type of stigma that can cripple a company (Sprint's customer service anyone?), and that kind of stink can take years to get rid of. When I was a kid, my father had one or two negative experiences with Sears, and he refused to back to them for decades. I learned of this when my wife and I bought a fridge from them a few years back. During my experience, everyone I dealt with at Sears was practically BEGGING me to rate their customer service as a 10 out of 10, and made more than clear that giving them anything less was failure on their part. It takes a long time for the mega giants to figure it out; I'd wager Verizon is years away from that point as they're still the biggest (AT&T merger not withstanding), but these things add up.