Use of Timeouts

[MrJohnston]

Alas... in the finals in our district event, the two strongest robots on our alliance had some mechanical issues. We attempted to use a timeout four minutes before our match was supposed to begin, but were told, "It would only give you one minute beyond the scheduled starting time because it is only a five minute time out." So, we asked if we could wait three minutes to use it and were told, "No, that would be an intentional delay of game."

My question: What good, then, is a five minute time out if it does not actually give you more time to do what you have to do?