And this is why it's important to recognize and retain people who get the right things done. One does not simply backfill a support position and replace someone who has built up the internal AND external reputation and relationships required for issues like this to get fast-tracked and fixed in a way that makes everyone happy.
I was a regular support drone as far as anyone knew.
I just had some connections that came about because I could be discrete and the engineers understood that I didn't bring them garbage too early (without enough information) or without good reason.