You are quite right, MinusTheBear - strong customer service is essential. The key is that this strong customer service must be consistent, day-in and day-out, and as transparent as possible. Ideally, you just need to have an easy purchasing experience, with little or no need to test the quality of the after-sale support. If you do need to test the company's ability to support a problem, that needs to be equally graceful.
I wonder if the thread will get locked or sdeuskar permanently banned? Oops - forgot that praise is welcome, and only inconvenient questions bring down the moderation hammer.