Yes exactly that - I am a customer with several vps, I signed up knowing that it could be a dud (when something seems too good to be true, it normally is), $12 a year I think is pretty cheap (price of 4 coffees, one days caffeine for some) for the lowest spec. I'm happy enough, so sorry to hear you are having trouble, I hope you get it all resolved.

Note that my problems are not unique individual problems. They have had downtime and major infrastructure issues where they do not blanket communicate anything. Or just give vague promises and explanations.

I don't expect a lot. But I do expect a minimum level of dealing well with your customers. Even that is completely missing.

I've been using several services for very cheap VPS and cloud hosting and, while hit or miss, I've had my fair share of great customer support.

For example, in my experience iniz.com are really great at what they do, I strongly recommend them if you're looking for an alternative.

How is that even supposed to work? Are they renting Amazon VMs on stolen credit cards underneath?

Oh trust me, I did not expect a whole lot. Doesn't mean I can't have complaints though.