This is one of the reasons why I am happy to support Linode with my business: they seem to care about doing things the right way and keeping people happy. I've got a simple 512 Linode server that I use infrequently (I like having a Linux box available in the "cloud" to SSH to from home/work) and yet I've always been treated as a "real" customer. I know it's sad that I'm impressed by it, but grandfathering in customers like this just by default, and always having great support turnaround times (within a couple hours at basically any time of the day) makes me like the Linode guys a ton. This sort of stuff is the reason why I don't really care if there's a cheaper alternative; I know what I'm paying for and I'm very happy with what I'm getting.