Another brush with customer service...

My Sony Viao has always had problems, despite how cute it is. A week ago, I submitted a help request to the Sony.com site because my DVD drive has stopped working. I was told that Sony outsources its extended warranties and that the person wasn't exactly sure which company I should contact for help.

Today, I gave it a shot and tried Sony's 1-800 #. It worked, sort of. Apparently Sony can service their own computers... It was strange though. The customer service person asked me a series of questions to see what I had tried to repair the computer myself. The one question I said no to was if I had done a recovery of my computer. It went a little like this:

Operator: Have you tried to fix the computer?
Me: Yes.
Operator: What have you done?
Me: I restarted it and I tried multiple DVDs.
Operator: Did you perform a recovery?
Me: No, because I don't have a DVD drive, it wasn't ideal. I'd just like to send it in.
Operator: Did you do a recovery?
Me: No.
Operator: We cannot send in your computer until after you have done a recovery and we can do that on the phone.
Me: It's so difficult to perform things on the phone. I'd just like to send it in.
Operator: You must do a recovery before you send it in. If you haven't done it, I can help you do it over the phone. Otherwise, if you have done a recovery, I can just make a note that you have in the system and then I can mail you a box to send it in. That's if you have done the recovery. Do you understand?
Me: Yes.
Operator: So, did you perform a recovery of your computer on the system? If so, I can mail you a box to mail it in to be repaired.
Me: Uhhh.... I guess so???
Operator: Thank you. I've made a note that you did perform a recovery and I'll mail you a box to send the computer in for repair.

What is the world coming to when the help desk operator asks you to lie just so she can do her job?