Embarq Customer Service?

I usually stay away from major conglomerates. Alas, in rural Central Ohio we don't have a lot of options for our utilities. Our needs include high speed internet and Embarq is the only service provider at both my current residence and the cabin I am moving to in the next few weeks.
Let me qualify up front that with regards to the actual service we receive, Embarq has been great. I even convinced my tightwad brother who lives three miles from me to switch to Embarq after 9 years of dial-up internet service.
Once we finalized all the details of the move, I began making calls to switch the utilities. Past experience has taught me that Embarq (as well as their partner satellite dish provider) need at least 2 weeks notice of service changes.
The phone call to move my service 11 miles (within the same area code) lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes. One portion that I really can't blame on Embarq was the call to the satellite service provider for the move. The first "customer service representative" we reached (via conference call) could not help us because my service is bundled with Embarq. OK, that was understandable. While on the line with the first CSR, my Embarq rep asked for the number for the department that handles bundled accounts to save time in the future. Reasonable request, right?
No. This very heavily accented, difficult to understand rep said "I don't know the number. I can only transfer you." Your company (Dish Network, by the way) would rather have misdirected phone calls from a PARTNER company, inconveniencing customers with longer telephone conversations? Even the Embarq rep was shocked. She/he (again, heavy accent and could not understand the name) asked again for the direct number to the correct department and was greeted with the sound of 2 telephone keys being pressed in order to transfer us to the correct department.
One hour and twenty minutes on the telephone to transfer service to another address seems incredibly excessive. It was necessary to change my phone number (which sucks for a whole other host of reasons - business related!), but the service was staying exactly the same. Same bandwidth for the internet. Same package for the satellite dish. Same unlimited long distance.
Oh - the unlimited long distance.
The next day, when attempting to call a friend who happens to be a long distance call, I was greeted with a "busy" signal before completely dialing the number. I tried a couple more times and knew exactly what was wrong. I also tried my boyfriend's cell phone (again, long distance) and was greeted with the same obnoxious sound. I knew that during the course of inputting the order, the Embarq CSR had deleted the unlimited long distance order. I had a similar problem several months ago while I was traveling and I forgot to pay the bill before I left. The phone service was restored, but they "forgot" to reactivate the unlimited long distance.
I pulled out my cell phone - of course, NOT during evening or weekend unlimited calling times - and called Embarq. This 18 minute conversation resulted in "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience. We'll restore your long distance immediately. You should have access within the next 2-4 hours."
I really try to maintain a professional demeanor when I am complaining about something - try not to raise my voice, remembering that I'm speaking with the messenger usually, not the offender - but I was HOT.
No one has to come to my house to correct this error. Mistakes happen. But, when the mistakes happen, why does it take 2-4 hours for a different department to correct the mistake?
I'm certain someone will ask "Why not go VOIP"? That gives options rather than the area monopoly held by Embarq. Because I still have to pay Embarq for the lines in order to have high speed internet that will operate the VOIP.

Thank you. I feel so much better. Have a nice day.