I'm hardly one to stick up for bad service, but you are being totally unreasonable here. First, I've never bought a printer that came with a cable -- parallel printer or USB. I have bought several printers that, when I got it unpacked, I discovered it didn't have a cable and went, "oh, ____", then went back and got it. Or stole a cable from some other hardware item. Either way I never called the manufacturer.
I've bought several HP printers over the years and frankly, consider HP one of the best hardware companies going. All have worked flawlessly. I've bought a Deskjet, an Office Jet, a LaserJet 5MP, my wife's color one (don't know model number), and recently a 1012 that I use on my desk at work. On the other hand, I bought a Canon machine for copies and faxes that I am now having trouble with.
If you are that unhappy with the product, why don't you return it?
It's a little late for me to return it. I wasted too much time anticipating that they'd honor their promises to me.
I should probably note that no one from HP ever gave me any justification for not including the cable, as several have done on this thread.