Customer Service

I called SBC, the telephone company, the other day to order caller id. The customer service person greeted me by saying “My name is Susan and how may I provide you with excellent service today”. Isn’t excellent service something that gets experienced by the customer - not told to you by the CS person? Is this a trick? Are they trying to trick me into thinking I’m going to get excellent service before the fact, then actually deliver crappy service. I feel sorry for those nice CS reps who have to say “and how may I provide you with excellent service” all day long. What are companies thinking when they come up with stupid things like this. Have they hired some market research firm that tells them this is a good idea and they feel that they need to listen to them? Am I the only person who would prefer not to do business with companies that come up with silly things like this? Am I nuts to even notice things like this let alone ranting about it? Do I need help? (That’s a rhetorical question, no answers please.)