This is one of the most common arguments in the software world. I am usually firmly in the “just buy this stuff” party. Yes, I know that it looks like I am the guy that the “build it ourselves” party threw out because he was too radical, but do not let the misconception fool you.

I firmly believe that if you can get what you want by just buying something off the shelve, I think you should do it. The only qualification to that whatever you buy should be able to meet your needs.

What we have here is an email I just sent to a company I bought a 2,000$ component from. I did that after doing a fair amount of study on the topic, understanding what I need and what is the cost of trying to build that. I think that I’ll let the email stand on its own.

It has been 3 business days since I first indicated that I had critical issues with [product name].

Up to this point, I have had no further communication from you.

To repeat, I cannot [description of the problem]. Rendering the entire purchase unusable to me.
At this point in time, this issue is stopping me from releasing my software.
I am deeply disturbed by this lack of communication from you. I do not expect an immediate resolution, but I believe that three business days for a critical failure in the software is more than a reasonable time to respond to my issue.

This indicate a general problem with your support option, and is a cause for grave concern with regards to the level of trust that I can put in any component that I buy from you.

I expect to hear from you by Monday with regards to this issue, and I hope we will be able to reach a speedy resolution of this issue.

Assuming that we don't, I would like to remind you of Section 7 and 8 of our contract. [relating to warranty and refunds]

And no, I do not intend to disclose who that company is.