I do IT support for a small software house. If someone's hard drive dies, I can get a new one from a shop and get it installed, having them up and running, far faster than if I had to wait for /any/ brand-name support. We are not large enough to have spare PCs lying around in case of failure.

While I am a 'tinkerer', it is also my professional duty to perform actions like these. The Right Way is not to find a hacky "elegant and creative way around" this issue, but to have direct access.

"Or perhaps these new screws simply work better in their machines, jam up less, can be screwed in faster, whatever."

This is... optimistic...