Jay H.'s dashboard

My girlfriend bought a Compaq Presario CQ50Z Notebook just before Christmas. When it arrived, there was a scratch on the display, and she called to ask about an exchange. Customer service told her that they would either give her $45 off the price to compensate for the scratch or replace the computer, and that she had until January 15th to let them know what she wanted to do. She called again this week, after deciding the scratch was going to be a problem, and asked for a replacement. She was told that this model had become obsolete sometime during the beginning of the month, and the available replacements all had weaker specs than her current, scratched, notebook. She eventually agreed to a replacement that had the same specs, but no ethernet port (which she really needs, but after hours on the phone, she was tired of arguing).

To provide this, customer service had to charge her $93 -- which they said they would eventually refund -- and wait to receive the old computer back by FedEx before building starts on the new one. To make things even more frustrating, the FedEx label expires tonight -- she just got off the phone, and it's 9:30 EST, so she can't go mail her computer back tonight. Regardless, she'll have to be without a computer for 2-3 weeks. None of this seems like an acceptable solution to a defect that wasn't her fault.

Can we come up with something better? Preferably, a replacement with the same specs (including an Ethernet port) and no extra charges to fix something that shouldn't have been wrong in the first place.

I've been Pheltup since the second round of invitations, and, at the risk of breaking the NDA, I want to ask why I still haven't received my drink vouchers! I was able to take advantage of some of the other perks -- like the custom espresso drink, yum! -- but I'm tired of paying for all my drinks at bars that I know have Pheltup. Can someone resolve this problem for me?