Are recruiting companies really worth the time?

So, I went to a recruiting company today and had a very interesting experience. It was all the way in San Francisco, which meant that I had a long haul to get up there in hopes of not being disappointed. I think that they tried to not disappoint me either, but I don't think that I could have helped it after the chaos that I saw there.

There were basically 12 people sitting in a small room, each with a desk and a phone. I am under the firm belief that this represents the whole company at this point. From the outside, all one can hear is this noise of incessant voices like I imagine the stock market is on Wall Street right before the closing bell. Then I discover that each one of them is talking on the phone with a prospective recruit. I wonder why I couldn't hear all the other voices when the recruiter who called me actually called. I'll have to keep my ears open next time for that.

Well, they took me in to the office and I sat right in the middle of the 12 of them, still all talking as if they are on a high dose of caffeine and have just had the happiest day of their lives. We conduct a short and shallow interview just so that he recruiter can find out how to pitch me and before I know it, I am all done. I am treated well and escorted back to the waiting room where I am supposed to wait for more people to come interview me for an even briefer time. Only one came out because they were all so busy.

At the end, I feel as if I just wasted my time and they are not going to help me at all. I get the idea that they are mainly after a buck and are not willing to go too far from their desks and phones to get it. I am on the virge of writing off recruiters completely.