The major problem I've seen in our community is from small business. I'm a huge supporter of small, independently owned businesses. I KNOW I can get it cheaper else where but I choose to spend a bit more to help out. Over the past few years, I've  seen a huge decline in service and also a huge growth in them EXPECTING you to shop at their stores, even when you point out the lackluster customer service. Example. While I was in the market for sewing/embroidery machines, a local shop owner was my "best friend" and I could do no wrong. Once my machinery purchases were done over a few years, I became NOT important. Back tracking on verbal commitments and being a bit smart ass when I pointed it out. And this scenario has happened at multiple businesses and to multiple of my friends.

Today, because of this shitty trend and with the inflation we are experiencing today, I shop for the best price. DH and I are retired. It's all about getting the big bang for my money. So, I have a mix of big box store shopping and small businesses that appreciate me for spending a little more with them.

The board is indeed dead! You would think people would have more compassion and such after the pandemic, but instead it has gotten so hard to get good customer service. I very much appreciate a local coffee shop, everyone who works there is so friendly and one time I had left my debt card at home gave me my coffees and breakfast sandwiches anyway, with the promise I'd return to pay for them. I did return within 30 minutes and gave them a very good tip. 
 

i make sure I am extra polite and gracious to the people who actually give good customer service since it is so hard to find!

And when its packed, you queue in line like normal. I could have a full shopping trolley and a tantrumy kid that i'm doing my best to get out asap. Finally get to the front and checkout lady wants to serve an older lady back of the queue with like 1-2 items. rarely do they ask is it ok i serve them so they can leave quickly when i've got 1 tantrumy kid and i'll just say i wanna leave quickly too and if they aren't gonna open all the cash registers, she can wait in place.

that old lady saw me with 2 little kids and 1 who was crying. She looked uncomfortable having checkout lady bumping her to the front.

i hate shopping at aldo for that reason. Its like do you care more about repeated customers that spend $100 or more per grocery shopping trip or someone buying bare $5 worth of goods??

But yes I do think customer service is really dead.  Most mega corps are trying to put in kiosks or whatever cyber interface to avoid hiring/training/retaining people in those roles.  Sad but true.

Well, it's clearly not dead everywhere since you are identifying other companies you would prefer where there is better customer service. Mostly what you are seeing in those places is bad management. Good managers insist on good customer service, provided the customers aren't rude (which I'm sure you are not). 
 

ETA: the labor shortage also complicates things a lot.

Quality Control has tanked.  Out of 10 workstations for our 911 center, 3 were bad out of the box.  I find you have to babysit each and every transaction.   It is a rare case where everything goes to plan. 

People fail to follow simple instructions... they barely read information.

Everyone is tired, and I have a lot of sympathy for customer service folks right now. I live in an area where folks don't take COVID seriously. I can't imagine having to work in a store for no/limited benefits, poverty-level pay, and people are being inconsiderate by not wearing masks or being downright sick while at the store. Many places around here are also working with much smaller staffs, whether it's due to actual staff shortages (e.g. parents who left or were pushed out of the workforce because they had minor children to take care of and no school/daycare; staff literally dying or taking too much time off work because they were sick; staff leaving for home-based or better paying jobs) or manufactured by the employer to save money (e.g. not hiring more staff in spite of applicants).

Working right now, for most people, is just rough. You're spending your PTO on quarantine and illness, not vacation. You're working with unmasked, unvaxxed coworkers who come in sick. You may be immunocompromised or have a co-morbidity but you need a paycheck to survive. You've got fewer coworkers than normal because those who could afford to stay home or switch jobs or whatever aren't there anymore and it's taking forever to replace them. Policies and procedures have changed, and continue to change, so everything is always in a state of flux. And all of this is happening while family and friends might be sick or dying, and your ability to recharge while under stress that an ever-changing pandemic and non-work world brings is minimal at best.

So, folks are grumpier than normal. It was happening before the pandemic, too, but I think folks were able to handle the occasional Karen's and Kyle's a lot better. Now, folks just don't care to deal with those kinds of folks and they can't recharge after having to deal with them...so it spirals.

The CPA should have sent the files via mail. That's really the only example from the list where I see an issue. Phone company front line are dealing with angry folks who can't get a new phone immediately due to parts shortage (or are having to pay for high-end phones because that's what's available). The guy who answered at your old company may not be the receptionist and truly didn't know, or he was but the phones were ringing off the hook, or someone just yelled at him and he didn't have a chance to process. Should folks be nicer? Absolutely! But I think most folks right now are running on empty. We tell SPs when their emotional well is empty that they need to disengage. This is no different.

I always make it a point to ask cashiers, wait staff, employees in general how they are doing and that I hope they have a good day.  It surprises me how often many of them are shocked somebody acknowledged them and asked them how they were.  

My mom had a horrible time with her cell phone.  Multiple visits to the store during covid with no resolution. I told her to send her compliant and all the documents to the CEO, company secretary and the non ex directors. Low and behold her problem was fix immediately after they got the letter. With a call from the CEO's pa to make sure she was ok.