[LiveTheDream]

Perverse idea/thought experiment: what about creating two versions of some service X which are ostensibly competitors; one is a free/cheap version A with no support and one is a much higher-priced, supported and professional version B. The answer to support requests on A would mostly be "no", with the occasional "if you want that, use service B". Sort of an extreme take on freemium/market segmentation. A acts simultaneously as the top of a funnel for B (users who actually need the service and have experienced the pain of a bad offering) and as a screen for bad customers (the ones you'd "fire" for consuming more than their fair share of your resources).

[nantes]

I vaguely remember that in my previous career in grocery management that diaper companies did something similar. I don't remember the brands/companies, but one brand would be positioned at the high end while another was at the low end. The high end had all the 'features' - moisture sensors, velco tabs, etc. This allowed the one company to garner more shelf space, and thus eyeballs, which brought higher market share.

[jacques_chester]

Market segmentation is a common tactic. Different consumers want different things and are prepared to pay different prices. They will however lump together anything under the same name.

So, for example, Cheap'n'Nasty Nappies Co may have done very well in the bottom market segment. It will now struggle in the higher segment unless it invents a new brand, say Bling Slings Nappies, with some ostensible differences ("6 layers of plastic!") and a much higher price.

You will see this practice in every industry with large firms. They will own multiple brands in multiple market segments.

[yannickmahe]

That's a pretty common strategy for Open Source companies. For example, Magento (OpenSource PHP e-commerce solution) is free, with no support. Then there's the full-on enterprise edition at 10 000 Euros per server where you get complete support from Magento Inc, including guaranteed revenue in case Magento fails.

Pain is not built-in though, but close.

[VladRussian]

reminds of how "protection" services were being sold in Russia 15-20+ years ago : once "A" branch of the protecting organization visits you today, tomorrow - you're are a happy paying customer of the "B" branch. Bad cop, good cop.