Of course there's not much support difference between buying a Dell and downloading Linux these days. With Dell/Windows, We would sit on the phone for hours with people in India who knew nothing more than how to read cue cards. Then we would figure it out for ourselves.
A couple of years ago I had to install Windows .Net (now Win 2003) on a server. After installation it required you to call a number to activate the OS before you could use it. The guy who answered the phone informed me in broken English that he had NO idea what I was talking about. His supervisor also had no clue and they had no way to transfer me to someone who could help. And this was the number that was printed right on the screen!
I pitched it at that point and never tried again.