Here's the thing, if you're not going to play the game that gets your phones into consumer's hands, you're going to have to offer something else. When I have to pay more and go out of my way to get ahold of your product, I'm not going to be willing to put up with additional grief on top of that.

While the RAZR's service and support might suck, as a consumer, I didn't pay much ($100, $50, or even $0) and it's coming from a carrier, so the value isn't very high in the first place and I don't expect good service because, well, it's a US carrier.

On the other hand, if I go and spend $400+ on a Nokia phone that I've had to seek out specifically (not purchase as a "Do you want fries with that?"), I'm going to expect a lot more from the service and support.

Whatever level of service the competition has is irrelevant when you're not selling you product through the same channels and getting the same perception as your competitors.