If you click through to the anecdote[0] mentioned in the article, the problem was not with having to contact a sales rep. In fact the startup wanted a sales rep. Sun specifically asked them to use the website:

> More than once though, the Sun people did suggest I just buy the servers off the web site.

Dell was just the only one to callback.

I don't doubt your experience but that was at the height of Sun's business, not it's nadir as this article is about.

[0] - https://fullhoffman.com/2006/03/20/the-sun-doesnt-shine-on-m...