fireflybob
Welcome to the modern ATC world. Training shortened to a third of what it used to be, and money rather than zeal-for-the-job as the main attraction.
Familiarisation flights almost non existent due to massive financial resources reserved for management courses and extra department creation schemes.
On a serious note......and this goes for other posters' points.....record these instances in the voyage report or at least tell the Chief Pilot. The more fuss you make the more likely a change will be forthcoming.
Fuel saving is supposed to be the flavour-of-the-month......the joke is that many restrictions....particularly level-capping and premature descent.... are written in one office, whereas the office next door is writing some peculiar procedure to save the fuel that the other guy has caused to be burnt.
Example: Airbus out of Bristol for Inverness probably burns third/half a ton more than Heathrow to Aberdeen.....one is capped at FL280, the other gets up to FL380. If it goes to Belfast, it is capped at FL240.
Exeter to Glasgow sometimes goes up to FL400, out of Bristol or Cardiff capped at FL260/280. Don't blame us...we only work here!