Here's my long and windy road to a replacement ipad mini. I've been an apple customer since 2000 and currently have in my home 2 iphone 4s, 1 iphone 4, 2 macbook pro 13", 1 ipad, 1 mini, and about 5 ipods. also have about $1000 in accessories docks/chargers/battery cases/battery packs etc.
I have to say I've heard great things about Apple store employees using discretion to help out. Heck, I was even next to a woman with an white macbook and they said something like "this is a one time" replacement and they swapped out her mac for a newer one. But I've never received any sort of discretionary help since the iphone was introduced.
I stopped getting applecare for my iphone/idevices after i went in with my iphone 3g 20 months after purchase(with applecare) for failing battery(not holding charge) after calling apple over the phone to diagnose the problem. they told me to backup and reset it before going in to replace. when i get there i spent 30 min as "genius" looked at the phone and then gave me crap about how i reset it and they need the phone to be turned on for 3 days so they can monitor the battery for usage. anyway, he told me to come back in 3 days. i went to a manager and explained the situation and how even apple states 500 charges or 18 months before battery starts losing charge. anyway, they grudgingly gave me a 3g replacement.
back to the mini. i had called apple store to ask if they repaired but they wouldn't tell me. so i went down and genius told me i would have to pay $220+ tax and they would swap out the mini. he said they don't and may never do in house repairs for cracked screens. genius was not very helpful as is my experience in nyc.
i almost bit the bullet but figured I could keep the ipad mini, get another mini, and only spend $110 more total($350+$240 vs. $350+$350). heck, for $220 more I could even get applecare+ with the new mini. so not a great deal.
so i went to a family manager and asked if he could help in anyway. after some research he said he could add applecare+ and that i could come in a few days later and pay $50 to get it replaced.
i was out of town in the south and went in for my appointment and was greeted by an older gentleman who looked like a grizzled ex-surfer. very cool guy and in minutes he brought out a mini to replace the broken one.
to top it off: his co-worker also said damage was caused by "stress factor" so i didn't even have to pay $50 and it didn't count as one of the 2 replacements.
Amazing difference between this and the 5th avenue store in manhattan. no attitude. no confrontation. very refreshing.