Related startup story. I just spent two days in a long email conversation with Amazon. I signed up for AWS 4 days before they started their freebie special, s

Related startup story. I just spent two days in a long email conversation with Amazon. I signed up for AWS 4 days before they started their freebie special, so once I realized this, I begged and pleaded with them to help my startup by grandfathering me in and letting me take advantage of the promotion. All I got was form letters and BS. I could have used another Amazon account, but I'm not going to cheat. I love the AWS stack, but as far as I'm concerned the folks at Amazon may be keen on PR, but they're no friends of startups, neither bootstrapped or otherwise, no matter how many contests they run. I also feel like the AWS guys are a completely different bunch than the rest of Amazon, who seem to care about their customers a lot more. And while I love the stack, I'm not impressed with the customer service at all. 99% of retailers will grandfather customers into a promotion if they ordered within a few days of the promotion starting. Assholes. There. That bit of venting made me feel better. :) Hope it had the same effect on the OP. The point being that sometimes venting and sour grapes serve a useful purpose.