>Craig - not Microsoft employees but for all intents and purposes the face of Microsoft to the world.

That's correct. However, there are two things to keep in mind:

1) The person answering the phone feels no corporate responsiblity to MS, as they aren't an MS employee.
2) This is a bigger reason that #1. The person answering the phone is probably some college student who couldn't care less about your ordering problems. It's easier for them to hang up on an irate caller than deal with them.

I always get the name of the agent, their agent number (if available) and which call center they work in at the beginning of the call. That way, if I'm treated poorly, I can contact their supervisor and customer (in this case, MS) and register a complaint.