Q: my friends mac book pro never got an upgrde that allowed her to have the app store on her dock, now I can't help her to upgrade to OSX mountain lion... any ideas on how to do this?? it's driving me crazy!

you need a minimum of 10.6.6 to access the app store.  They need to purchase Snow Leopard

It might have been removed off the Dock, look under the Apple Menu for it.

Bad choice, since the cost is exorbitant. Snow Leopard ($29 USD) is available from its online store's telesales agents.[1-800-MY-APPLE (1-800-692-7753) or Customer Service and Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775.]

Additionally, you can get a MAS redemption code via the same route. See https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4140947?tstart=0 for details.