Kevin Pinto (DL) and William Sanders (Starwood Lurker) are two PRIMARY reasons why I give those companies my business. Sure, I like (ok, love) DL's inflight entertainment and Starwood's reach, but those two guys have been huge for me. And, I am loyal, in part, for their kind/thoughtful assistance.

Sure, those guys deal with front line customer service issues, but who says that ALL customer service issues have to go through one channel and get processed in the same manner. Why not take advantage of the internet, social networking (facebook, twitter...), etc.?

At the end of the day, it should be about customer service regardless of channel.