Whatever happened to customer service?

Horrible customer service during my flight back home from Seattle. Here's the scenario.

I arrived at the airport and went to the American ticket/check in, but was informed that as the first leg was on Alaska, I had to go to Alaska Airlines to check in for the flight. There was no one at their ticket counter--just a lot of Position Closed signs, so I used the automated system. Which spit out only the boarding pass for the first flight. So, I went back to American to get my boarding pass for the second flight. (Note that even though these two airlines are close alphabetically, they were on opposite ends of the long, long line of airline counters.) Then I went back to Alaska to try to check my bag. After waiting and waiting for someone, I noted that my boarding pass said "check in with the agent at gate."

I navigate through security and dash to the gate as it is getting late. I go to the counter, explain the situation, and ask for assistance. Wrong! The agent informs me that I needed to check my bag in at the ticket counter.

"But, " I say, " there was no one there. "

"There are 6000 people a day who come through here, I assure you someone was at the counter," replies the guy.

"I don't know about the other 5,999 people," I say, "but there was no one there for this one."

"Then you were in the wrong place."

"The ticket counter is where I was," I reply.

"Then you were at the wrong ticket counter."

Now, I'm getting pissed. "I assure you that I can spell....ALASKA." I replied. I know where I was."

"Well, you were obviously wrong." he says.

"Well, you obviously have no idea of the concept of good customer service," I reply. "Do you want to argue with me or help me out?"

"There's nothing I can do for you," he replies.

"How about a gate hold check?"

"Well, I suppose I can do that."

Sadly, no where in the coversation were the words: "How may I help you?" I simply wanted to check my bag, but his agenda seemed to be proving he was right.

This is a pet peeve with me. I am often stunned at the lack of quality customer service at the grocery store, at the service station, at the department store. People seem more inclined to argue or ignore than anything else. Sad commentary on interpersonal relationships in the new century.