Gateway Revisited

So after receiving the "overnight" means "week and a half" email, I wrote back, asking whether I would be able to cancel the order, or, barring that, to cancel the "overnight" delivery charge (thus saving me $10). I got a response on Friday afternoon, saying that, "I have found that your order could be canceled at this point of time," and "Please post back confirming the option you prefer." The "option" referred to was whether I wanted to cancel outright or drop the delivery priority; this was resolved, of course, in my response, but the customer service rep didn't seem to have the most wonderful grasp on the language, so being forced to "confirm" my choice is not a real problem. Or so I thought.

I wrote back Friday evening, informing Gateway in no uncertain terms that I would like to cancel. I got the following response, Saturday evening:

"At this point of time, I am unable to cancel your order in our records. If you further wish to cancel your order, I request you delivery refuse the item while it arrives. Once the item is returned back to Gateway, you will be issues a refund in 10 to 14 business days."

Fun! So I'm told on Friday at 2 PM that I can still cancel, but told on Saturday at 11 PM that it is too late. Such efficiency! But why then is my "overnight" order not going to arrive until Thursday this week? And why does Gateway get to play around with my money for almost two weeks? And this after I've already found an alternate seller (who has a lower price and a sooner expected arrival). Lucky me.