Verizon cares?

I am generally skeptical that any major corporation has Customer Service that actually cares about its customers. For the most part, I expect that they will try to pacify you as quickly as possible, with as little effort as possible. When a colleague mentioned that they had a good experience getting Verizon Wireless to work with him on preventing overages on one particular month, I reluctantly decided to give them a call.

I explained that my wife was traveling for the next two weeks, and that we were running out of minutes. I asked if I could bump my calling plan to the next available level, to prevent overages. My 2 year contract with Verizon, during which I was not late on a single payment, expires in five days. They informed me that I would need to extend my contract for a year, in order to change my plan. I replied that I was not willing to do so, and asked if they could float me a few hundred minutes to tide me over for this month. She replied that this was not possible. I explained that a colleague had informed me that this was, in fact, precisely what they had actually done. She then explained that I was not "eligible" for that, but that they could offer me 1000 floating minutes, if I were to extend my contract for a year (once again, trying to trap me into staying, rather than convincing me of their merits).
Suddenly, it became clear. I had only been with them for 2 years. I supposed I would have needed to patronize them for the better part of a decade before they would extend themselves to enormously. So I reminded the Verizon representative that my contract is set to expire in just a few days, and that I am obviously deliberating about whether or not to stay with them. I asked, once again, if there was any way they could help me prevent overages this month. She replied that there was nothing she could do. I explained that she had made my decision of whether or not to stay with Verizon a fairly easy one. Unfazed, she asked if there was anything else she could do. I replied, "No, I believe you done quite enough."
She then broke into a canned speech "Don't forget that you can always dial pound six four six to check your remaining minute..."

Frustrated and incredulous, I hung up before she could continue. Obviously I was perfectly aware of how many minutes I had left. She demonstrated, perfectly clearly, that Verizon really doesn't care. That, if you've got a problem, don't bother to call Verizon about it. There is nothing they can do. You aren't eligible for Customer Service.

Disclaimer: The above phone conversation is recited, to the best of my ability. It is an actual conversation with a Verizon Wireless representative.

If you have any comments, or have your own stories to share that might help inform others that might be considering choosing Verizon Wireless as their cellular provider, please share them.