Is Customer Service Dead?

I am not kidding you when I say that the last week has been an eye-opening experience in the lack of good customer service. Whatever happened to "the customer is always right?" Here are just a couple of examples:

Case #1
Mike's laptop got broken this week when BK accidentally knocked it on the floor. It seemed like a simple repair, but the place we took it had to ship it to Memphis. Once there, they diagnosed the problem and just needed a small part to repair it. Unfortunately, it was a brand-specific part, so they called the manufacturer to see about ordering the part. Not only would they not sell them the part (they want to be the only ones to repair), but they said they would not just replace the small part, rather they would replace the whole mother-board!! Mike tried calling them himself and they were SO RUDE to him. So basically, the laptop is trash now because I'm sure it would cost as much to fix as to just go buy a new one. We do not have the money to buy a new one, so he will have to do without for now I guess. He really needs it too, because he's a teacher and the computer in his classroom has been broken since last year and the school won't fix it.

Case #2
I went to order new glasses at EyeMart Express. Because of the high index prescription, I ended up waiting almost two weeks for them to come in. When I went to pick them up, the first thing they told me was that they had broken the frame I had picked out, so they were giving me temporary frames (ugly) to wear until they could order a replacement. Then when I put them on, I realized the lens were very thick, even though I ordered the thinner ones. They insisted that this was the thinnest they could get them. I told them to look at the ones I was wearing and the prescription had not changed. Instead of being apologetic, they acted as if I should just accept them the way they were. I told them I wanted my money back. Now I have to order them somewhere else and wait another two weeks.

Case #3
We went to the Pizza Hut in Pearl last night. We ordered baked spaghetti, bread sticks and a personal pan pizza. When I went to get our salads, there were no plates and I had to ask three people before I got some. I got back to the table and realized we had no forks, so I had to ask for some. We ate our salads and waited for our food. After we were there about 45 minutes, I got the waitress' attention as she was walking by and asked her if she could check on our order. She said, "Oh...we are out of spaghetti." I asked her why no one let us know so we could order something else and she said, "Do you want to talk to the manager?" and walked away. So the manager came to our table. "What's the problem?" she said...without a smile or greeting. I was so aggravated, but I kept my cool. I explained that someone should have told us 45 minutes ago that they were out of spaghetti. She said, "Well, if you could see the orders that are stacked up back there, you would understand." (There were very few folks in the place at that time - the couple behind us had been waiting just as long.) I asked her about the rest of our order and she told us it had just come out, so I said to please just have someone bring it to us and we will go somewhere else next time. She turned around and walked away...no apology...nothing. We waited another 10 minutes and no order, so we paid for our salads and drinks and left. I'll never go back there...and that's a shame because I like their pizza.

Is this just a sign of the times, or is customer service truly a thing of the past?