To be completely honest, when I was working in the industry I wish more people had gotten online to check out tips. Most of the time customer service will simply quote those that work and if it doesn't they'll transfer to tech support. People could bypass the aggravation and hold times by just checking online knowledge bases.
I completely agree that slight changes would go a long way, although I think they need to consider other options as well. To be completely honest, I've spent the last few days checking out ICS - although a different ICS than the update. It works really well - without all of the extra crap tied to it. I think having the ability to discuss alternatives and how to approach them would go a long way - even if you don't provide technical support. Some of these taboo topics are actually run counter customer service. What do you do when you're a ways away from upgrade and your phone breaks, but can't afford to buy a new phone outright? The solution I provided people may have been a bit hackey, but it prevented customers from cancelling their contracts because it worked - and AT&T for example is actually happy if you can resolve their customers issues even if it does fall outside of their normal procedures/policies.
Same thing here. When you've got unhappy customers, you should be willing to help them reach a resolution and solve their issue. I've had (and implemented) a solution to the OP's issue the first day when I posted. Unfortunately due to a high level of censorship, I am unable to provide a solution to those that are unhappy with the current state of their phone. There are ways of limiting bad information being cross-linked, but even if you don't do that, a simple disclaimer stating you won't provide customer support for such topics should be enough to cover your own bases.
Maybe it's just the hacker/developer in me. But when you're providing a good or service, I believe that all solutions should be considered when you're trying to assist customers with your product. If you don't personally have the answer, but someone has an unsupported method - well at least you're getting tech support from a worker you don't have to pay!
