I did my first and only in-person 90-day report at "CBI" Jomtien at the start of September and all you had to do then was hand over your passport, take a number, and sit and wait amongst the great unwashed for a bit.
They even had free water, albeit unchilled, in their cute little CBI branded plastic bottles.
So yeah, having to go from "easy as" to the new rigmarole is understandably frustrating for the Pattaya types.
Obviously I'll be using the agent that handled my visa/extension from now on.