I don't doubt Alterra has their good days.
The neat part about this forum being publicly accessible is Alterra could surely post something in response themselves, or reach out to the OP privately after being aware of this thread and ask him to report back here. Nothing is stopping them from doing the service part of customer service. other than their own choosing. If they get that far, customer service shouldn't be a see-saw approach based on the mood of the person at the company that day. In my eyes, the biggest indicator of a healthy company that goes about their business with integrity and ethics is how they respond when there is a problem.