I think the upset is about the way they were treated after the problems were discovered, and not the problems. That fact that problems heaped upon problems should have meant the service became more attentive, not less.

Agreed that the pilots did the right thing, but the customer facing staff did not.

I think the question here is is this an institutional problem with AA, or a one off. From everything I can seen, and my own experiences flying in the US, this seems to be a regular issue for AA and other US airlines.