I have done this for my family in the past (although very sparingly (perhaps 2-3 times) and mostly when wait times were hours long and I was meeting them somewhere en route).

I suspect that with the staff being short everywhere, including the SE desk, that they may be just less tolerant now. Maybe if they were bored and weren't seeing much call volume you might have gotten a different response (or from a different agent).

I too would caution against using it too much. As with anything, if it is overused, then the benefits to elite members are diluted.