Guess I must have been imagining it I can't be the only one who had to frequently pick up one of those stupid phones and wait while an an agent bumbled away for 5min and then announced "ok try check in again now!"

All well before SHARES, I can assure you. I went through this at least 20 times in the last 10 years, as a 1K, general member, *Gold on a partner airline, etc. Pretty much universal.