>Well last time I got angry down votes for saying this. But you are really renting if apple can lock you out.

Only in the same way that you're "only renting" a safelock if you can lock it and are not able to open it (e.g. by forgetting the lock, or having some key inside).

>My non technical wife managed to lock herself out of her device and icloud with no recourse as I didn't preserve the reciept.

That's a security feature. If there was a recourse then locking the device (when you're done using it for the moment) would be security theater.