When was the last time you got irritated when some customer support guy gave you a reply, “Sorry sir, our company policy restricts us from doing this.” I think it is a more polite way of saying, “you are wrong. we are right. you accept it and pay for it and we do business.”
This is one of the reasons where small businesses can beat the big players. Small businesses have the flexibility to make the customers happy. In India, customer service of the big companies are far from satisfactory, which makes me believe that one small good company with excellent customer service can be an instant hit.
I am really disappointed with the lame “matter of policy” excuse. Someone bring on something good! If not, I will.