Mac owners who purchased their system between June 11 and July 25 are entitled to a free upgrade to the Mountain Lion operating system if their Mac did not already have it installed, through the OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date Program.

Through the program, valid Mac owners are issued a redemption code which, in true redemption code fashion, can be redeemed for something; that something in this case being OS X Mountain Lion.

Only problem is, some users have not been getting OS X Mountain Lion through their redemption code, they've been getting OS X Server in some cases (which adds file sharing and other features to Mountain Lion, but doesn't actually do much good without it; in fact it's completely useless without it), while in other cases customers have been reporting codes that simply aren't working at all.

And those are the lucky (well, unlucky in their cases admittedly) ones who have actually got codes at all. Others have been waiting patiently, and not so patiently alike for their own codes to arrive, and their shot to spin the redemption code prize wheel and see what they get.

"IF I DON'T GET MY REDEMPTION CODE FOR MOUNTAIN LION SOON, I'M GUNNA GO TO AN APPLE STORE AND SLAP THE FIRST EMPLOYEE I SEE WITH AN iPAD!" tweeted one person, who may have been just slightly annoyed by the delay in receiving his code.

Confusion likely stems from Apple's somewhat awkward wording in the terms of use for the redemption, which states: "Upon receipt of your completed order form and proof of purchase, a content code for OS X Mountain Lion, redeemable on the Mac App Store, will be emailed within 24 hours of order qualification."

That phrasing does not do a very good job of spelling out when the actual 24 hour countdown begins, and could easily be misinterpreted to be 24 hours after the information is submitted to them, which seems to be what many users were expecting (and not getting).

Have you had any issues with the OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date Program? Share your sad tale with us below, or make everyone else roar with envy at how smooth the process was for you.