iTunes 11 Check for Updates button not working

Anyone else having a non-responsive "Check for Updates" and "Get More Apps" button (found in the apps pane)? Clicking either button yields no result, no dialogue bubble to acknowledge the input, not even an error message that it can't connect or that there's no updates available like in previous versions. As of this morning, the button is displaying that I have "3 Updates Available", but clicking on the button does not do anything, the same goes for the adjacent "Get More Apps" button. I ran Disk First Aid's permissions etc. and rebooted, was able to get it to work for the first try, and then thereafter it has reverted back to non-responsiveness. I also resorted to re-installing the iTunes 11 via a fresh download, still the same bug. This versions suffers again from a lot of bugs (and missed opportunities) and I can't revert back to v10.7 because Mountain Lion simply won't let you. Le sigh.

😕 😟 😠