I'll give kudos when it is deserved. I called the generator company and they had a guy here by 9am (call was at 7.30). It took a bit, but it's up and running, I'm online and the neighborhood is still out. That's good.
Of course, what I paid (a lot of money) for was to not have to think about it, to not have to call anyone, for the system to transition seamlessly. That didn't happen.
I don't pay for the generator to be operational when there's power, I pay for the 2-4 times/year when we are down for 3-12 hours.
And that failed me.
So, what should the company do?
There's an annual service charge of $150 (check parts, etc.) that I think could factor into the equation.
Based on suggestions here, I will approach the company (not naming names yet).