re: Do you ever call a service company and demand that someone come out RIGHT NOW?

No....but after one of the hurricanes, I called Entergy asked them when the power on my street in Baton Rouge was going to be restored. It had been about a month since the storm and all the surrounding blocks had lights. There was no visible damage to any of the lines other than some debris caught in them.

At some point, the Entergy person on the phone said that the transformer needed to be reset (I have no idea what that means) and that it would take a week to get someone to my street with a bucket truck because of all the damage. In the most Cajun accent I could pull off, I told not to bother because I had a ladder and I could do it myself, and then hung up.

An Entergy truck showed up about 20 minutes later, and my power was restored within an hour.