Seriously, I suspect that attitude is still ingrained throughout the organization. And if the vindictive culture we still occasionally observe them to exhibit when dealing with customers is also, as one should expect, how the organization handles employees, what can you expect? No matter how much the top wants to implement changes, if rank and file remains cynical,
I used to think this way.
But with each passing day I find the AC front line employees to be more and more customer focused. Management however, is a completely different animal.
There I see the vindictive culture you speak of, and it does appear to be ingrained in the management system. I suspect that in large part is due to management hiring other managers who conform to the "customer is the enemy" model.
As for me, the day oil crosses $100/bbl can't come soon enough.