Man, we've got a resolution. Great Clips ftw and they've earned a customer for life.
So, after the failed phone call attempt, I realized I needed to move onto another place as others suggested. I brought my car in for service today and lo and behold, there's a Great Clips just a 1 minute walk away. I don't believe in fate, but this did have me wondering a bit.....
I sign in online with my phone as I'm walking over. I go in and there's no one in except an elderly lady sitting up front who is clearly not waiting to have her hair done. The lady working there checks me in and I go "So, we have a little situation. Can I talk to you for a moment?". She's a little taken aback but, I was smiling, so she smiles back and goes "Ok, let's head back to the chair and we can talk there". Perfect.
I gave her a somewhat Cliff's version of the OP. She's nodding in affirmation as I'm talking. When I'm done, her words are like music to my ears: "So, tell me what we're looking to do so we can fix this". I tell her, she throws the robe over me and she starts going to work. Now, it's weird, but I can FEEL when my hair is being cut right and when it's the right length. This cut is feeling like magic. She's done in less than 10 minutes, shows me the back, and I've got a proper fade. While in the chair, we were chatting it up as I was making sure to come off friendly. As we were talking about what happened with the last cut, she said "I could see the problem with your hair as soon as you came in" and she agreed that it wasn't done right.
When we were all finished, we head to the register. The nice thing is that the "clip notes" actually are available at all locations so she could see what I ask for and could see I was there 3 days earlier. I didn't know that since I've only gone to the 1 location since they started the "clip notes". As I'm pulling out my $10.99 card to pay, she rings it up as no charge since this was fixing up a recent cut. I handed her $5, thanked her, and headed on my way.
THAT is customer service. And all of you that are bagging on Great Clips, I would suggest you rethink your position on them.
I'd like to thank all the excellent advice I got in here.