Unfortunately, that is the nature of most businesses today. Software companies, telecom, services, utilities, pretty much all industries have outsourced to lower cost service centres which usually also means a reduction in quality. Then again, if 90% of the calls are of a basic nature (and most are although I'm making up the 90% statistic) these can often be properly handled, or handled with minimal annoyance, by someone that has basic training. I/m sure many calls are simply about getting a remote to work and other basic things.
The real issue is the true, knowledgable user that calls in with an issue or a call about the advanced options/technology or "new" features/services. The customer often gets stuck in the lower levels and goes through a lot of frustration before getting bumped to higher level support.
Unfortunately, upper manaement is focused on the bottom line. Money is what they see. They don't see/hear about the customer issues directly. Have you tried writing the CEO/president of a company? I have, it often makes a difference (albeit only for you, not for other customers usually). If enough people write in, maybe things would change?