Corporate ethics is arguably rare. I was once a customer of AGL for gas only. About 10 years ago they sent me a renewal offer by post. I was happy to accept their offer but they refused to honour it since I did not also have electricity with them. They obviously knew that, and there was nothing in the offer stating anything about both accounts being required for their offer. I waved goodbye to AGL forever after that fiasco.
It is not just help lines, it is endemic in some companies. It could be sheer corporate incompetence, non-functional business systems, or as you say, a policy to try and push customers around.
