Sadly, I have to agree -- with the one excecption you mentioned (regarding disputes).

FirstUSA customer service is famously bad; for example, remember the class action settlement they recently had to pay when they were caught unfairly charging many of their customers inappropriate late penalties. FirstUSA's credit card business has traditionally been a mass-market style business, often aimed at people with less-than-perfect credit (their affinity cards, such as frequent flyer cards, aside), and they generally treat customers in down-market, "mass-production" manner. HOWEVER, they are also notorious for mistreating merchants and upholding even unfair disputes filed by their cardmembers. Why? Because FirstUSA has discovered a way to make their cardholders very happy at no expense to FirstUSA, by ruling on behalf of the cardholder in a dispute, since it is the MERCHANT who pays the bill. FirstUSA can thereby give something of "value" to the cardholder, without taking a penny out of their own pocket.