> how incredibly stingy tech companies are about spending any money on support

Which is crazy. Support is part of marketing so it should get the same kind of consideration.

Why do people think Amazon is hard to beat? Price? nope. Product range? nope. Delivery time? In part. The fact if you have a problem with your product they'll handle it? Yes. After getting burned multiple times by other retailers you're gonna pay the Amazon tax so you don't have to ask 10 times for a refund or be redirected to the supplier own support or some third party repair shop.

Everyone knows it. But people are still stuck on the "support is a cost center" way of life so they keep on getting beat by the big bad Amazon.