ML up-to-date claim nightmare

Question

I wanted to share with you guys my frustration and sheer displeasure with the ML up-to date program and the terrible experience I've had in dealing with Apple.
On June 16th 2012 I paid for a 13" MPB from Best Buy using the the store pickup option from their website. The machine was brand new, not open box or anything like that.
On July 25th 2012 I submitted a ML up-to-date claim with a scanned copy of my store pickup reciept and store invoice/pickup slip.
3 days later I called apple support to find out if there was an issue with my claim as I had not reiceved any e-mails. They told me to wait a few more hours as I should get something around 72 hours after submitting.
I called the next day after not getting any e-mails and an escalation was submitted, a few hours later I got this e-mail:
Receipt was not provided
Receipt is missing part number
Date of purchase is outside of the offer
I was quite confused as all of those items were on the attached reciept(s).
A second escalation was done and after a few more days of no response I called support and they advised that another escalation would be done. I was told there may have been an issue with my serial number and that I should e-mail the up-to-date department directly. I did this and after a few more days of no response and I called support and another escalation was done, this time I was told to submit a new claim. Which I did.
The next day I got this e-mail:
Receipt is missing purchase date
Receipt is missing part number
Receipt does not indicate product was paid for and received
Again, I'm left extremely confused. All of these are clearly on my reciept.
I called support again, and another escalation was done. This time I was told to attach screenshots from the Best Buy website showing my order and resubmit the claim.  I did this and after 4 days of no claim approval I called again last evening. Another escalation was done, now I am being told that my claim is being denied since there is no serial number on my reciept. Unless I can supply a reciept with a serial number the claim will continue to be denied. I called my local Best Buy and they told me that they don't track or print serial numbers for most products, and certainly not for laptops. Apple is adamant that Best Buy should be tracking serial numbers and have told me to contact Best Buy corporate. At this point I'm asking my self if all these phone calls and e-mails is worth $20 for an upgrade.
This is where things get silly, the support person then advises me as an FYI that since I don't have a serial number (the box and the machine are not acceptable proof) I may be denied warranty service depending on the purchase date that Apple has in their system (which could be any date). So I may potentially end up with only 6 months of warranty rather than a year. This changes the complexion of things drastically since they are basically saying that I can't prove WHEN I actually purchased the product.
I'm going to try reaching out to Apple corporate office today as this is easily the worst customer service experience I have ever had with any company of any kind. I must have spent atleast 7 hours on the phone with apple (maybe 10-12 calls).  I still have about a week to return the machine to Best Buy and I'm giving this serious thought at this point. I've never felt so frustrated before and almost embarassed to even have purchased this machine to be quite honest. The 30 day period to claim the ML upgrade is approaching and I have wasted far too much time going back and forth with Apple.
Has anyone else had a similar experience like this and were you required to furnish a reciept with a serial number on it ?

Answer 1

Called Apple corproate today and they provided a bit of clarification on the serial number issue. Apparently, serial numbers on reciepts are not required for warranty service or for the up-to-date program. The date of purchase on the reciepts I provided SHOULD have been sufficient. Apparently I was given misinformation by the Apple support department.
Furthermore, I was advised that corporate can do nothing to help me and that I will now have it wait it out while it goes through "the up-to-date process".  While expressing some surprise that the claim had not yet been filled the gentleman on the phone advised that there was nothing he could do to assist me at this time. No exceptions.
Tomorrow makes 3 weeks that I have been waiting through "the process". This is my first interaction with Apple though I've owned a few of their products over the past decade. This is pathetic.
At this point its not even about the **** $20 software, its about principle and not feeling so helpless as a custtomer.
I got an iPod Touch and Apple TV as birthday gifts a couple weeks ago and  I have been really itching to try out Airplay, but if no upgrade code is forthcoming by EOD Thursday all three are being returned to Best Buy.