10% Restocking Fee applies to returns only?

[yourdream]

Is the 10% restocking fee mandatory to pay if I return a defective aluminum MacBook back to Apple (Shipping.) And as in defective I mean dead/stuck pixels, slanted keys, and loose keys. I already shipped it back and it is going to be in Apple's Return Center soon. The Apple representative made a mistake when he put on the packaging slip saying the reason for return was "Decided to buy elsewhere.", but I specifically said that it had dead/stuck pixels, slanted keys, and loose keys.

Is it possible to get a refund without being charged with a 10% restocking fee, as the Apple representative never said I would be charged a fee for returning a opened notebook. Or would I be able to exchange for another MacBook or a MacBook Air without being charged a 10% restocking fee.

 

[abbynormal]

I don't think you should be charged a restocking fee if you're trying to just get a replacement MacBook, but Apple doesn't do returns that I'm aware of without this silly restocking fee. I ran into this a few years ago buying my first iBook. The "student discounted" model was stripped down from the one they said they were discounting and didn't have a DVD player. Long story short, it ended up being the worst customer service experience in my life and they wouldn't even help me upgrade to a more expensive machine without charging me a restocking fee. All of this for something that was mostly their fault.