If you're ever in that situation again, take it to the seller, mention the sales of goods act if you have to. Warranties aren't how things are supposed to work in the UK, it's the seller that carries the responsibility and so they're generally a lot better at it.
Of course, I went straight to amazon after the experience with Asus customer support and got a full refund in an hour.
Best they would offer is an out of warranty repair.
I know someone with the same model, exact same problem happened to him.
Horrible build quality and support.