'...the upshot being that in the end nobody really knows..'
This should read '...the upshot being that in the end nobody really cares..'
The problem is that the folk on these Customer Service (haha) lines don't give a toss about you or your problem, and are probably thinking of their next coffee break. If you complain (as I have) to the organisation concerned, about their poor Customer Service standards, they don't give a toss either, you are just a sum of money to them. It enrages people and makes us savage!