Had to do it once with Sony and another time with an electronics insurance company. Money was back in my account in less than 24h.
In some countries I've lived, the government has refused to do anything against companies refusing a refund for various things, even if the conditions for the refund is matching. In other countries, I've had very helpful government people issuing a "letter of concern" (not sure exact translation) and the companies doing the refund quickly after that.
The problem is that these companies are monopolies or at least oligopolies. Punish them simply for being big, and they will either divide (like living cells do) or die. Then when one of them wastes your time, you can take your business to the next one.
Government is never going to fix these things. Politicians are geniuses at saying things that make you think they will fix these problems, but never actually doing it. The only hope is to align our needs (smaller corporations) with the government's needs (moar tax dollars). It's really quite simple.
Say it with me, kids:
Graduated. Corporate. Income. Tax.
Not sure that if you have no prior agreement with someone that you can force them to not sue and use arbitration instead. Not a lawyer, but that is my understanding (in the USA anyway)
Chat bots all the way down.