First Choice? They'd be my last choice

First Choice? More like Last Choice, if one of the main stories in my local paper, The Sentinel, today is anything to go by.
Stoke-on-Trent newlyweds Claire and Michael Kirk tie the knot and book thier honeymoon to the Dominican Republic with the aforementioned tour operator.
They pay £220 extra for premium class seats on their flight to a fortnight of marital bliss. So far, so good.
They get on the plane at Manchester Airport and indeed are shown to thier swanky seats. Yet there's just one problem. They're told they can fly first class, but they can't sit together.
Is it me or is there a credit crunch on? I know I'm obsessed by the economic downturn, but are we Brits not feeling the pinch? Are we not cutting back? Are we not thinking twice before putting our hands in our pockets?
And are some of the biggest names in business not going bump? Are previously gargantuan commercial powerhouses not crashing to the ground as the recession takes hold?
Well it's no bloody wonder, when hard-working punters are treated as shoddily as this.
I loathe bad customer service. In fact, when I'm on the receiving end of it, I go out of my way to (a) complain; (b) complain again - loudly; and (c) never darken the offending business's door with my shopping list and wallet again.
It's about time companies like First Choice got a grip. For too long they've been able to treat customers badly and get away with it, not least because of their sheer size and market dominance.
Claire and Michael Kirk, from Sneyd Green, near Hanley, in Stoke-on-Trent, apparently complained when they got home. But they got nowhere.
It was only when The Sentinel contacted First Choice and its Holiday Hypermarket at Festival Park, in Etruria, that First Choice offered a refund.
It shouldn't take the local press to ensure that common sense prevails and these bungling big boys do the right thing.
And if companies like First Choice want to survive the economic downturn, they'd do well to realise that - as cliched as it sounds - it's the customer who should always come first.