Date > 2039 error downloading into Excel

I ran into an interesting problem yesterday using Excel and the
iSeries addin to download files.
It seems that dates greater than 2039 were causing the download to fail with
error message:
CWBDB0099 - No more data is available for the stream fetch request
SQL0181 - Value in date, time, or timestamp string not valid.

The annoying part of the error message is the fact that it states
dates 0001 thru 9999 are valid, when in fact they are not!

The field is a Date type (L) format MM/DD/YYYY.

IBM's solution for the problem is to change the options for my
download (on the pc) and change the date format to USA instead of the
default MDY.
This is a usable workaround for myself. However, I asked if this
default could be changed to always be USA and could I set it for all
my users via a parameter somewhere. Unfortunately, this is a new issue
and there isn't another solution. They are creating a fix that will
add the values to an INI file that can be edited and changed. Again, a
usable workaround for myself, but I'm hoping for a better solution
going forward, because the default date format is apparently set
during install and is then unchangable, except on a indivudual
download process at least until the fix with the INI file is made
available.

Should I submit a Design Change request on this that would allow more
flexibilty during the install as well as after via an interface
dialog? I argued with the support rep, that the solution being
provided was a good workaround, but ultimately, the user should be
able to do this without having to edit an INI. Also, the century date
cutoff should be more flexible.

Opninions, comments, questions?

Thanks,