We've had similar issues. You usually just threaten to "come to fucking <insert country> and burn the support center down" and they will escalate it to the right people and it will get resolved.

Fine example: Sony just replaced my spare TV which was 2 years out of warranty.

As for my ThinkPad, I bought two. If this one fails, I will just get the other one out and use it whilst repairing this with bits from eBay for not much money at all.