I don't generally cook, so I'm more of a consumer than most. And one thing I've noticed lately is that customer service is dead.

Occasionally, I leave a drive-through with exactly what I ordered. Sometimes I get good service at a restaurant, and every once in awhile, I feel like something I bought was really worth it.

Those moments are too few and far between. More often, spending my hard-earned dollars leaves me wanting more. Or just feeling screwed.

Between the credit card companies, phone companies, Internet service providers, health clubs, grocery stores, gas stations, landlords and restaurants, it seems like there's always something to deal with: Incorrect charges, service interruptions, substandard products, the list goes on.

Even pizza — which used to be free if not delivered within 30 minutes — can't comfort me. When I call Domino's nowadays, the company that once offered the 30-minutes-or-free promotion, I'm told to expect a 45-minute wait. And if my pizza runs late? Oh, well.

The way I look at it, if I'm paying for something, I want it the way it was promised to me. And I want it in a timely and respectful manner.

I have one friend — a former waitress — who refuses to tip wait staff for bad service. They have corporate standards to meet, she says. If they can't meet them, why show gratitude with an undeserved tip?

If any problems come up with whatever product or service I purchased, I want them remedied without having to play a game of pass the caller or where in the world is a manager with whatever company wronged me.

 The only thing worse than getting screwed over by corporate America is trying to get corporate America to make up for its mistakes. Sure, I can make phone calls, write letters and use MySpace to urge friends to ditch the giant that crossed me, but what's that going to get me?

I'm still waiting for coupons from a couple of restaurants that left me feeling I wasted my money and time with them. I could boycott these companies, but I'm pretty sure losing one customer wouldn't force them to change their ways.

“As an individual, you are insignificant in the overall business plan,” author Ron Burley writes in “Unscrewed: The Consumer's Guide to Getting What You Paid For.”

“Once you are identified as a customer who calls Customer Support, which costs them money, you are labeled an ‘unwanted problem customer,'.” Burley writes. “It's cheaper to replace you than take care of you.”

It's a depressing thought. For all the power I have in my dollars, the threat of withholding my money doesn't seem to faze many companies these days.

It almost makes me wish I wasn't too high maintenance for life as part of a self-sustaining commune.