A distinction needs to be made between...
speaking to a broker and speaking with your brokerage.
When you speak with your brokerage, 99% of the time your speaking with one of their customer service reps. These reps are kids fresh out of school with BAs and little else - not even a Series 7. Their only real knowledge is what appears on their screen from their menu of ready-made responses. They access the same information services which we have access to (albeit on their in-house platform), and, as has recently been demonstrated, that info can be obsolete, dated, or incomplete.
Now, speaking with a broker is a different matter altogether. Likely, this is someone with access to proprietary information, and, ideally, has the knowledge and experience to know how the game is played in an applied manner, not simply theoretical. This person would (hopefully) have the means and know-how to ask the right questions of the right people to get real answers. I'm not saying all brokers do, but the good ones should.
Perhaps someone who has an active, ongoing rapport with their broker can press them for an honest to goodness answer.
The first couple of times are excusable; thereafter, it's pitiful...
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