I agree it’s a sh*tty (really… really… sh*tty) plugin, but I don’t see why you’re shocked about the cost of support.
I had my dishwasher fixed recently. It cost £120 and that’s with a warranty for the parts. So that money just covered the cost for a serviceman to come to take a look and for their labour. They certainly wouldn’t do it for free — despite the fact their damn product wasn’t working properly.
So my question is why do you expect others to give their time for free just because it’s a virtual product rather than physical..?