DMGStriking Back at The Man
A few years ago, I packed everything I owned into four large cardboard boxes. I handed the boxes to UPS, and I boarded a plane for home.
And then I went through hell trying to get UPS to actually deliver those boxes. Their reps broke promises. They obfuscated. They contradicted each other. They lied. And no, nobody ever called back when they said they would. (Or at all, for that matter.)
So, here's how you keep them honest: take notes. I Will Teach You to be Rich has posted a handy customer service notes Excel file to help you do this. I speak from experience: when you can say who told you what and when, it really cuts the options they have to make you go away. (Which is really what they want: they figure it's cheaper to lose your business than to make you happy.)
The trouble taking notes is worth it, if only for the silence that happens after they say, "Well I don't know who told you that," and you reply, "Well, Devon told me that. His rep. ID is 4851, and I talked with him yesterday at 4:22."
So, there are two morals to this story: never ship anything UPS if you can avoid it, and take notes every time you talk to a service rep on the phone.