I've had similar experiences where they "owed me nothing" but took care of me. Not everyone does. (I've noticed it tends to happen to those who are polite in the stores and not ranting lunatics, but granted my "sample set" is pretty small... I've only seen a few other people who've had similar damage problems in the stores.)
Showing up at non-busy times seems to help as well, just like any retail outlet. Genius Bar reservation required, of course... which once I hated, but now have grown to like the system. The tech gets enough time with each customer, and they actually have time to think about your problem.
My first experience was when an original MacBook that died an infant mortality death two days into ownership had to go back. Came back from the trip I was on a few days later, walked in, showed them that it wouldn't boot, and they offered to give me an on-the-spot exchange or a full refund. No "stocking fees" or other BS... every penny back.
I took the refund and thought about it for a couple of days, and walked back in and plunked down more money than before for the "BlackBook" model, which was a $200 rip-off in many ways, but I wanted black for work...
Even though I was angry as all get-out when the first machine crapped out on the second day of a week-long trip, part of my decision was that if they'd do 100% refund with nothing more than a cursory glance at the hardware, a smile, and a "Is there anything else I can help you with?"... I wanted to continue to do business with that type of company.
I had gotten hasty and posted on my blog about the dead machine and how angry I was. A friend who I had no idea worked for Apple, called up and said he was authorized to help in any way he could. Not only did he personally reach out, but the company backed him up when he said he'd seen a friend ranting and raving about a MacBook that had failed him two days into service.
Years later, I took my iPhone to the Genius counter once for a problem with a portion of the touch-screen not working well... intermittent. (What Apple didn't know was that I'd had another Mac professional repair shop, take the glass and sensor under the glass off, clean it all including contacts, and then reassemble it. Then they did the proper realignment of the digitizer.
I worked through the problem logically and politely with the tech -- and he PAID ATTENTION and listened, and he also realized the problem was a bit intermittent in nature.
Rather than shoo me off as soon as he had the phone working, he looked it over carefully (which was odd, since he'd been holding it and hooking it to his MacBook to try a few things prior to that, and all of a sudden I could tell he was in "inspection mode"), and said, "Do you see this little crack right here?" I could barely see it.
"That crack is a known manufacturing defect. Here, let me get you a replacement phone. It'll be a refurbished one, but the glass is brand new. Would you mind?"
Heck, mine was scratched to heck (3G, the black case on the back) and the glass and bezel were beat up too... normal wear and tear for me, I'm hard on phones.
He swapped it, handing me a refurbished 3GS because the 3G wasn't available any longer, and I walked out with a huge smile on my face.
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Finally, with my wife's machine ... it did still have AppleCare on it at the time ...
I made a call to the 800 number when the keyboard died. I suspected that my wife had spilled something in it, but I wasn't sure. Tech on the other end said he'd ship a new keyboard for free, not even the cost of shipping. Said they wouldn't cover water damage, and I could be billed if that's what it was, and never heard from them again.
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So, in all, I'd say I've received a couple hundred bucks worth of free stuff (their cost, my cost it would be worth much more) over the years from Apple just by asking nicely and not expecting them to do anything -- I was willing to pay to fix all of the above problems.
Those "high prices" seem to also include covering a lot of the silliness that happens with consumer electronics, the human/right way -- they don't hassle or blame you for the failures, even if they might be your fault... they just find you a replacement for a reasonable price, if you're polite and kind, and their hands aren't tied... like with water damage. They don't "do" water.
I've certainly seen "horror stories" on the Web, too... but my in-person experience at the stores when seeking service, has been almost too easy.
