Sadly, the behavior of the matron (and like) doesn't encourage passengers to travel UA, join the RCC, fly through IAD, or seek out *A itineraries. How, then, is it in anyone's best interests to continue to allow problems like this continue?
Now, I know that FT folks are a bit obsessive about what these programs provide to their loyal customers, but if you hang out in the terminals for a while you hear similar stories from many, many customers. All the marketing in the world won't save a company if their customers are complaining to one another.