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There are plenty of liars and cheats working in the telecommunications industry but there are also some decent people there. The industry also utilizes many unfair practices, e.g., the use of the word "cap" to mean the minimum you will pay rather than the maximum as most people would expect, hiring outside contractors to lie and sign people up to plans that don't exist ("But no telco company employee lied directly...", no just the outsiders the company paid), adding unwarranted CID or handset rental charges to bills, etc.
However, slamming the phone down in somebody's ear is not the way to get things resolved unless it is yet another telemarketer in which case I say "Slam away!". Read any contract before you sign - all of it. Get all explanations and offers/promises in writing. Verbal agreements are usually impossible to prove in this situation and hence worthless regardless of the finer points of the law. Check your bills closely! At my last employer, I never received a correct bill. There were always mistakes, usually including ones that I'd pointed out before and had been promised would be fixed and refunded several bills back (generally there will be two billing periods before corrections show up on bills). Ring customer service (or your rep if you have one) and explain the problems and send a follow-up email or fax (and save it). Make notes of the results of your calls (who promised what and when) and ask for a follow-up email/fax containing the details as a reference (only realistic for businesses with reps). If you don't get satisfaction (i.e., an explanation of why you are wrong or the problem fixed) then ask to talk to the telco employee's boss. Don't rant, just move up the chain. If they don't resolve things then ask to speak to their boss, etc. Do not immediately run to the TIO because they will not be at all interested until you've gone at least a few rounds with your telco first. Be organized, have proof (paper trail) and be persistent and you will eventually get most or all of the errors fixed and refunded. I don't claim that it is fun or that you ought to have to do it (you shouldn't have to!) but realistically you have two choices - work to get things fixed or whinge and let them take advantage of you.
The above is based on plenty of experience in dealing with telco companies (and other suppliers but phone companies were the worst). It cost me plenty of time I could have put to better use but it also saved my employers tens of thousands of dollars. Am I happy that I don't have to deal with that as part of my job now - you bet!
I wish you the best of luck getting things fixed.
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