I dont get a lot of the whining. I just made 1K literally today, and have been Platinum for most of the year. I have found UAs service to be pretty darned good, particularly at the United Club service desks.
Recent customer service experiences include:
1. Being 1 hour late for flight because I slept through my alarm. I got rebooked and was given a 1st class upgrade at no charge. I got to my destination at the same time as my original scheduled flight.
2. Coming home my connection into IAH was late due to weather. I arrived in IAH 45 minutes late and there was no way I was getting home that night. I was booked into first class the next morning and I was still given a hotel voucher despite the delay being weather related.
3. Needed to escape a city prior to a huge storm coming in. I showed up at airport 3 days before my scheduled departure date. Explained the situation and I was rebooked on the next flight out of town with no change fees.
My experience has been good and status does count.
It seems to me everybody is just whining because they dont get as many free FC upgrades. If it happens, great. If it doesnt... Economy+ really isnt that bad.