Apple Store visit from hell!!

So i just wanted to share this story with people and see what you guys think.
i have been having horrible issues with my phones battery and basically i think the battery is bad which is what ever ill pay the 80 bucks and have it replaced.
so i go into the store tonight and tell the girl i want the battery replaced ill pay the 80 bucks we do some paperwork and she takes it back. 30 minutes later the tech comes out and proceeds to inform me that he can't do the repair because the phone is missing a internal piece and now is considered a tampered device....
i have never opened this device ever so this is a factory defect in the phone and should be there issue so i tell him this and that I'm paying for the battery to be replaced and i don't care. he tells me he can't do anything further with the phone and that i would need to contact corporate and go from there as they can issue a CS code to override a retail store and give them the permission to do a fix or issue a phone. i come home contact apple support by phone and tell the guy everything thats happened and he pulls the case and see's what I'm telling him. he then tells me he can't do anything as the retail store has the final say in a repair since they have physical possession of the device. he says he will schedule a call back and get in touch with the store and see whats going on but not until friday afternoon since he is off the next 2 days.
I've decided i will be going back into the local apple store tomorrow and speaking with the highest member of management i can find and see what they have to say.

i went the apple support area on there website and did the get support section and entered in all my information and they called me.
wouldn't this be the apple care people i need to talk to or is that a different section all together.

carjakester said:

did they not specify which "internal piece" was missing?

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he did tell me and i can't remember what it was called exactly and i looked at the parts list on ifixit and i don't see anything listed that resembles the name or is ringing the bell.

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T5BRICK said:

Yeah, that's the right people. Were they able to help you?

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no he basically said hey the retail store has final say so i don't know why they told you to call me. he was like i can call them on friday and get there side of the story and well go from there.

Sure said:

Wow, that's really crappy. If Apple really ends up screwing you over after you play out all your options, I suggest just changing the battery yourself. It takes 5 minutes and will cost you $10 or less.

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yeah I'm almost to the point of that but what has be worried is this was a replacement phone and the battery went to **** in a year, now theres a piece missing so who knows what else is wrong with this device. i feel that there quality and customer care has gone downhill drastically and they prices sure haven't dropped any to reflect this.

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T5BRICK said:

That's strange. I had issues at one of the Apple stores regarding a warranty extension, but when I called in and talked to the Applecare folks, they've always taken care of me.

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yeah the retail store tech seemed like they would have the answers and the guy on the phone acted as if he had no clue what was going on.

Sure said:

Honestly I think you've just had a horrible experience. My experience with Apple service and products has been the opposite of yours. Still sucks though.

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ive had only great things to say until recently. i have tons of apple products and it seems recently anytime you go into the store they don't have a answer and don't wanna work with you. its beginning to get frustrating. i feel as if we pay a high price for a premium product with premium assistance and aren't receiving it.
I'm giving everyone the benefit of the doubt in the situation as most of the issue i fix myself but i just don't have time to wait around on a battery and don't feel real comfortable dealing with the internals of a phone.

so just for the hell of it i went ahead and contacted the online chat support and they listened to my story and had the senior manager escalated my case and added some additional notes to the case to document everything more in depth since i guess nether people had added what i told them to the case file.
they informed that i should just wait till friday and let the senior advisor sort it out before going back into the store.
i guess ill wait till friday and see what happens..

Yeah I will definitely check the capacity. At this point I would of just rather gone to a 3rd party shop but I figured this would be a quick fix and I really want a new phone instead of just a battery replacement since who knows what else is wrong with this thing.

alright so i had my call back appointment today and talked with the supervisor in charge and he got in touch with the apple store manager and has pushed through a 1 time exception. Not real happy about this as now i know theres a piece missing on the inside of my phone and they still don't want to fix that there just going to let me still pay for a 80 dollar battery and put it in.
i guess it'll have to do for now until the new iPhone 6 comes out.

well guy i can't remember what the piece was that was missing but after talking with the rep he said to go to the store and they would fix my battery and that they did free of charge. The apple rep informed me of the piece that was missing and said that its a piece that makes the assembly process easier as it help control some wires in final stages of production but really isn't a necessary part. Not real happy about that but it is what it is at this point.

Image attached to verify new battery too.