Appraisals? Who are they good for?

This post is part frustration and part inquiry into others' experience. It seems to me that lately appraisers and their reports are getting crazy. Most appraisers are scared beyond belief to put a value on a property that is higher than the purchase price. Is it me, but it now seems that the banks are intimidating the appraisers? I've seen banks refuse the appraisals of the their own appraisers! How ironic is that? The bank is usually the entity that orders the appraiser, even though the buyer pays for it, and now they're not trusting their own contractors! When will this insanity end? It's bad enough that as Realtors we are counselling our sellers to be conservative in pricing their homes, now we have banks that are undercutting the even more conservative appraisers. Then, on top of all of the outside influences, I'm encountering appraisers who are not even consulting the listing agent as to how the list price was determined. It's one thing to not want to have an agent push a high price, but it is another thing to not ask the lsiting agent what this particular property has, that might demand a higher price than other surrounding properties. This trend of under appraiseing properties will just continue the current market condition and not bring relief to anyone. If appraisers would give an accurate value for a home irregardless to the likelyhood of them receiving furture orders from any specific financial institute, then maybe values wouldn't be all over the board.