Does service matter?

I had a random thought sitting waiting for my plane to leave (late again) in Portland. Do you put up with an inferior product if the service was awesome? What is the ratio of awesome service to inferior product that you deem acceptable?

I think the answers are: “it depends” and “it varies”. I am likely to forgive a bad dish at a restaurant if the staff respond with awesome service. I am less likely to be thrilled, awesome service or not, if a medical procedure goes wrong. The same applies to airlines, whilst I’ve gotten excellent service in many cases it never seems to make up for the crapness that is the American airline industry.