SquareTrade slow service San Francisco California

So, I had my Microsoft Surface break on me 3 weeks ago. Thankfully, I had my warranty with accidental damage protection. I filed one claim previously with SquareTrade, and that was no hitch. This warranty, however, was nothing but trouble.

It all started on Friday, January 3rd, 18 days ago, when I broke my tablet. I sent it into SquareTrade that day but due to FedEx dragging their feet, it was delivered to the Third Party Service Center, United Camera, on Wednesday the 8th.

By Thursday the 9th, SquareTrade had not updated their website, but I called and was assured that United Camera had gotten my Surface and was looking at it. I got no updates or any other information, so I called on Tuesday the 14th in the morning. I was told my tablet was with an "Account Manager" at United Camera, and that I would get a status update by end of the day. I did not get a status update at all that day, so I called around 5 to see what was going on. To SquareTrade's credit, the agent was very helpful, realized that this day was the extent of their 5 day guarantee, and gave me a refund for my warranty. He called the service center, United Camera, and was told that they do not know what was happening with the tablet and that it was with an "Account Manager". He told me to call tomorrow to see if anything has changed, but that SquareTrade would take care of me.

The next day, Wednesday the 14th, I finally got the message that my tablet was irreparable (I assumed as much) and that I would be getting my Amazon gift card in the next few days. This Monday, the 20th, I had not gotten my refund, so I called, and was again given the run around. I was told that I should be getting it soon, but that Amazon was responsible from this point since SquareTrade has already submitted the giftcard order to them. Finally, today, the 21st of January, 18 days (or 13 Business days) later, I FINALLY have my gift card.

In summary and TL;DR:
Avoid SquareTrade at all costs, they are nothing but trouble and will do anything to delay your warranty, repair, and payout. Instead of taking responsibility for their warranties and payouts, they will ALWAYS blame a third party, be it FedEx, United Camera, or Amazon. If I had not called them at every step to see what the hold up was, I doubtless would still be without my tablet or my warranty payout.