I can't speak for what happened to Alexb, but as a technical matter it depends on your carrier and the rules of your fare. As a practical matter, however, it is standard practice, to get put on the next flight if you have a C&I delay and you are on one ticket and the original connection abided by the respective MCT.

If you read the conditions of carriage, you can find that some carriers have policies dealing with this instance. I can only speak to the standard practice at the airport-- people mis-connect all the time at IAD due to the midfield CBP and the airlines are used to it and don't go out of their way to antagonize; they just dump you on the next flight that has room.

As far as the redress process, it is for travelers who routinely suffer extended delays and other problems with CBP and/or TSA; if you haven't had a problem, the redress process isn't for you.