LG and customer service
I never cease to be surprised at the problems reasonable people - especially, but not only, on the East Coast have with LG.
Peter - maybe you should get together a list of all the folks who have had problems with LG customer service in the last, oh, say 18 months. Our site, other sites (epinions is good) and so on.
Put it all together in a form easy for a busy journalist to look at and say "Hey - I could really rake some mud with this."
Then send it on to all the newspapers, radio shows, TV programs, blogs, fora, etc. you can find. Be sure that the competitors of LG also get a copy - and be sure that you also emphasize the reason you bought LG was not price, but quality and how sad you are. All the appliance stores and chains should also know about it.
I would be very surprised if someone, somewhere didn't think it was worth helping you.
At the very least, you have vented your frustration to the world at large. At best, an otherwise good manufacturer - and LG does build good appliances - will (finally) wake up and see they have big problems with their Customer Service in the US.
Good luck.