This is why I use Linode, 5 years no issues, superb support.
The difference between $5 per VPS and $20 per VPS is offset as soon as I have to spend half an hour figuring out an issue.
If I have clients on that machine the difference is offset the second I get a ticket from them, loss of goodwill is worth way more than $20 with my customers.
Linode's support is only good if you have basic issues. But the minute it becomes complicated or it is an outage then suddenly they are no where to be seen. Combined with their disgraceful record on security disclosure I would think twice about calling their support "superb".
Not my experience but then I've never had even basic issues and I've run anywhere from 4 to 12 nodes at varying points.
The security thing however was unfortunately handled initially however their response since has been good to excellent - they stopped all new development for 6 months while they assessed and improved their security infrastructure and they've brought in two-factor authentication amongst other improvements.
No company is immune to this stuff (Adobe, Target, Evernote, Living Social) and the reality is that I doubt anyone else in the market is any better certainly not the $1 dollar per month hosts.
The difference between $5 per VPS and $20 per VPS is offset as soon as I have to spend half an hour figuring out an issue.
If I have clients on that machine the difference is offset the second I get a ticket from them, loss of goodwill is worth way more than $20 with my customers.