Agree, about 7 years ago I spilt liquid on my MacBook Pro. They let me off the repair costs (significant, new motherboard etc..), just said be a bit more careful. Have recounted this story many times since, sad to hear things may have changed.
I even heard in some part of the world Apple started to paid commission to Apple Retail Staff for products sales. ( They used to pride themselves the lack of conflict of interest and to provide the best services possible )
It was the best tech support experience I've had in my life.
Jobs was one of a kind.
Seeing reports about old laptops breaking from the same, I suppose the upside is that they are becoming less fragile.