Customer "Service"

I'm not sure if it's because I'm immersed in business school, but recently I've been shocked (and ridiculously frustrated) at the lack of customer service all over the place. Two examples:

1. In the past few days I discovered that United Airlines has a computer booking system that is flawed and creates a frustrating user experience, along with a totally lackluster Customer "Service" group. This started when a reward flight was booked for me under my dad's Premier Executive account for Thanksgiving, and the seats chosen for me were 9D and 16C. Immediately upon booking the flight, the seats assigned to me were 14D and 27E.

After spending about 2 hours being told to call different departments, calling between three different phone numbers (Premier Reservations, Mileage Plus Customer Service, and Customer Relations) and speaking with 4 different representatives, I finally spoke with a supervisor who told me the reason was because the seat is in an exit row and only 1K and Premier Executives can book those seats prior to getting to the airport. Complaint 1--the miles were booked using my dad's 50,000 miles, so let the person who's flying book that seat OR don't let the user choose that seat at all OR notify them that they aren't allowed to choose the seat and ask them to choose another one before going through with booking the flight. Complaint 2--no one I spoke with seemed to have the slightest care about my problem and the first lady even tried to transfer me at every opportunity she had. Apparently United doesn't feel compelled to actually provide "service" or to try to keep a healthy relation with its customers (maybe they would if I was a 1K or Premier Executive members, not a lowly Premier member--I'll find out when I try calling under my dad's account) And in case it's not clear, it's more the principal of the matter rather than the crappy middle back seat on a redeye flight that they assigned to me.

2. I bought a ThinkPad three years ago, which included a three-year warranty, which is expiring. I've received two e-mails (from the same guy) pretty much trying to scare me into buying an extended warranty. His "word of caution" on how it can cost up to $80 an hour to fix problems was very amiable indeed.