Why should I pay a single penny for Windows 7 upgrade from Vista?

I bought a Sony Vaio with Vista Home premium edition about a year ago. It looked good with new Apple-type interface and I brought it home. It did not take me long to find this was the worst OS Microsoft has ever produced. The most irks I got to find out that I could not VPN to my work network as it failed to connect. With no Vista support offered by my Company I was stuck and had to continue with my other very bulky Dell with XP. This weekend I had a chance to look at Windows(7) at a local BestBuy. It did not feel even a little different from Vista. Now Microsoft is asking for $129 upgrade fee for it. Why? When did I ever use my Vista properly at the first place? You sell me a buggy, practically non-working OS and then asking for a fee to get it fixed, if they have? Isn't this keeping Vista users hostage? Unless I shelve another $129 on top of a costly purchase that we already had made they do not have any other options. For me Windows(7) has already failed in the first week of its launch.