Upper management makes decisions based upon longevity at the company. It doesn't matter how much education or certifications you have, you can be gone when it is time to cut.
Upper management is out of touch with users until they get told off at a conference. If the techs say it sucks, then believe them. UpMangmt will come back and have the monitoring police listening to every phone call trying to improve customer service. Customer service is not the issue. Lack of trained technical people is the issue.