Japan: replacing a vacuum cleaner

So I went to Yamada Labi to exchange my faulty vacuum cleaner. I think I confused the sales assistant by asking her if she was English, as opposed to whether she spoke English. Soon enough she found someone that did speak English, an aged Japanese gentleman with slick grey hair. I explained that the vacuum cleaner had "popped" and then stopped working. For a moment I thought I had told him that my family had died as he was very apologetic, bowed almost 90 degrees and kept saying "beg your pardon, beg your pardon" as if he had snuck in to my house overnight to kill my vacuum cleaner and had been caught red handed. Eventually he led me to a sales desk where I waited a good 15 minutes for him to re-appear with some bad news. The vacuum cleaner was out of stock and it would take 2 weeks to replace. He could tell by my reaction this had upset me, and after a hushed discussion with 4 of his colleagues he returned to proudly announce that they could deliver a replacement to my home within 4 days direct from the manufacturer. 4 days?? My apartment was dirty now, I wasn't prepared to wait, so I came up with the genius idea of asking for store credit so I could pick a similar model and pay/claim the difference. Now, I've read in guide books that the Japanese like their processes, and that you'll struggle to get a milkshake with your meal in McDonald's if it's not on the set menu. The way he looked at me was as if I'd asked him to come back to my place and lick the floor clean whilst I waited for a replacement vacuum cleaner. He took a bit of persuading but eventually agreed, after consulting his colleagues.

You can probably imagine what happened next when I asked if I could take the display copy, which seemed in a good enough condition. He looked at me, somewhat perturbed. He packaged it up for me with a very puzzled look on his face, and before this saga could drag on any longer (we're at the 45minute mark around about this point) I left with a vacuum cleaner that worked :-). Phew...