PiqueYo

I work at a different kind of call centre (insurance if it matters, house contents and car and I'm not in sales), but I have six years (of avg 40-50 calls a day) on my back with this so I can answer your questions from a general view.

I find out of the people that I speak to with more assets tend to have much higher expectations in the range services they are offered and to what standard and are more likely to complain about bad service where people in more basic situations tend to be more likely to either not think it's bad or just take as part of their bad luck/their fault, so this to me would be very likely to be a cause of that conception.

I work in a customer service role that regularly deals with upset customers, and what you are saying is logical but in practice if you are a good person, so you don't insult your company but you truly empathise with and understand the customer they will appreciate and remember this more.

This is where tact comes in to play big time, so you acknowledging the mistake is a bad experience is important as long as you don't make the people who made the mistake seem like bad people, as the customer is more likely to trust and respect you, because you have shown yourself to be a smart person in their eyes by understanding where they come from. You can't just say 'I understand' because not everyone but most people will know this is bullshit if you don't prove it.

EDIT: It's not about throwing people under the bus it's about throwing peoples mistakes under the bus, a lot of managers don't realise how effective this is.