Thanks for the great trip report - it really resonated with me, and I'm sure most of us recognise both parts of your trip from other flights.

I don't agree with Pucci Galore that small niggles should be brought up with people, for a few reasons.
Firstly, they're small niggles - I'd happily have one or two on each flight and come away with a smile on my face. Unfortunately, trips can have many of these niggles which really means I'm unhappy with the service - but can see how my complaint will be interpreted. If I go running off to a CSD or ground staff and complain that someone directed me to my seat by pointing and grunting, what are they going to think of me? I'll come off as a total prima donna.
Secondly, as you can see just from this board with just a limited number of BA staff, some people just don't take feedback or complaints well. I don't want to be made upset by some over-defensive staff member pointing out that no-one else on the jumbo jet has complained.
Thirdly, I'm not convinced it'll make a difference - not all CSDs are as customer-focussed as those on Flyertalk, and I'm sure the same applies to staff elsewhere. After being told incorrect rules by a couple of TSA security people last week, I gave some immediate feedback to a supervisor. He was friendly and polite, but ignored my points and I can assure you there was no re-training or guidance given to the TSA people who were giving out incorrect advice. All I'd done was waste a couple of minutes of my time.

BA should indeed be listening to the recurring gripes on boards like these (having ignored the nut jobs and fantasists) and sound them out with the customer focus groups - and I'm pretty sure they are and are aware of their brands' deficiencies. It's just disappointing that they don't have the resources and/or desire to fix them.