In the past, I've always had pleasant (if not competent) help from the International Reservations Desk, but I just got off of the phone with someone with a major attitude. Is this common these days?

I was just trying to get a seat assignment (which I had no problem doing last night). I noticed today that the seat map had become available for one more flight when I did a dummy booking. I called the reservation desk and asked if I could choose a seat.

The agent seemed frustrated from the start, and she asked me which seat I was "looking at". I told her that I was looking at the entire seat map for the economy section to which she replied that the seats hadn't been released yet. I told her that I had chosen a seat last night just after the seat map had become available, and she asked me again which seat I was "looking at." I guessed she meant which seat I wanted, so I told her 35H (on a 777). She tried to tell me IN A VERY LOUD VOICE that seat 35H was in the premium economy cabin, but I let her know that I had chosen seat 32H (on the same type of 777) the night before. Then she yelled once more, "WHICH SEAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?"

I didn't feel it was appropriate for her to raise her voice (since I definitely hadn't raised mine or been rude) so I asked to speak to her supervisor. At that point, she put me on hold without saying anything. In about 30 seconds, she came back on the line and asked me once more which seat I was "looking at." I told her again in a calm voice that I would like to speak to the supervisor.

When the supervisor came on the line, she asked, "Which seat are you looking at?" I told her that I was looking at the entire seat map of the economy section of the flight, but she said she really meant which seat I was looking for. I told her I wanted 35H, and she said that she would open it up for me, even though she was not supposed to. I thanked her, and apologized for bothering her. She gave me a halfhearted apology and we hung up.

I'm interested in anyone else's "take" on the situation.

First of all, where I'm from, we rarely use "look at" to mean "want". Does United require its employees to use "look at" because it sounds better than "want" or "would like?" Or is that common usage in the area where the call center is? I felt like the whole call was one long non sequitur.

Also, what are the rules regarding seat selection? When I just checked the same flights again on a cheaper dummy booking, the seat map was unavailable like it was when I bought the ticket a few weeks ago. It seems to be viewable only if the ticket is more expensive. I had never seen that situation before. Sure, economy plus is only open to those people who pay higher fares. But in my experience, I have always been able to choose a seat in economy no matter how low the fare I paid was.