What do a major PC maker, a security software vendor, a charitable organization bent on bridging the world's digital divide, and the "biggest store on the planet" have in common? They all seem to believe the phrase "customer support" is some kind of oxymoron. My inbox has been filling up with complaints about customers done wrong -- or just plain ignored -- by the companies they've chosen to do business with. He What do a major PC maker, a security software vendor, a charitable organization bent on bridging the world’s digital divide, and the “biggest store on the planet” have in common? They all seem to believe the phrase “customer support” is some kind of oxymoron.My inbox has been filling up with complaints about customers done wrong — or just plain ignored — by the companies they’ve chosen to do business with. Here are four stories.Reader J. B. bought a new Vista-powered laptop from Acer, wiped the hard drive, and proceeded to install XP Pro — or tried to. That’s when he discovered that the laptop lacked the hardware and firmware drivers that would allow his new/old OS to load, and Acer had no interest in helping him. (Though other Acer-heads with this problem have found some drivers here.) As J. B. rightly opines: Let’s face it: Vista is an expensive product knowingly sold by M$ with many, many OEM defects. The implied warranty of any manufacturer is to make their new product perform as advertised… or return the customer’s money! Cringester S. M. found a bug in Norton Internet Security 2007 (no surprise there), so he endeavored to get Symantec’s tech support to fix it. Three chat sessions and five technicians later, Symantec acknowledged the bug and promised a fix… that never arrived. Then he started getting e-mail from Symantec, asking him if his problem had been resolved. When he responded in the negative, he’d get the same e-mail every two days. Finally he stopped responding, so Symantec sent him a survey asking him to rate their support. You can guess how that one went. He now uses AVG, Zone Alarm, SpyBot, and AdAware to protect his family’s PCs.W. G. went for the One Laptop Per Child’s Get 1, Give 1 plan: buy two XO machines for roughly $400, and donate the second to a needy child. We don’t know if the needy child got an XO machine, but he definitely didn’t. It was last seen at a Fed Ex depot in northern New Jersey, but Wayne can’t get a live human at OLPC to respond to any of his queries about tracking the dingus. (UPDATE: After I contacted their PR folk, OLPC sent a message to W. G., saying they were checking with Fed Ex and would ship out a new laptop if the original could not be located.) He’s not the only consumer who paid for an XO machine but failed to get his hands on one. Now that the G1G1 offer is over, regular civilians are unable to buy an XO box. Hasn’t anybody over there heard the phrase “charity begins at home”?Finally, longtime Cringe contributor W. P. complains that a robotic parrot he bought as a Christmas gift from Amazon has joined the choir invisible; it has ceased to be, it is pushing up daisies, it is an ex-robotic parrot. (And yes, Monty Python fans, it is a lovely Norwegian Blue .) He bought it on sale for $54; Amazon says his only option is to return the broken one and buy a new one at its new price: $100. Apparently Amazon believes a broken bird in the hand is worth two kicks in the tush. Are you being served? Tell your tales of woe (or wonder) below, or e-mail them to me here. If your contribution makes the cut you’ll be in line for Cringe swag. Software DevelopmentSmall and Medium Business