(If anyone from Apple reads this don't let store Managers abuse their position; you lose sales, and employee store moral goes out the window. You can guess which store it is from my name. Don't take my version of the story. Verify the incident with other employees, I don't think anyone would forget--it happened feb 1, 2013, and "The Manager" was Greg?)
And yes, virtually any corporation works somewhat like an army unit. Nothing strange about that.
They were set on allowing people to believe that a structural defect is only available for out of warranty service until the issue got enough attention.
(of course, under normal usage it's very unlikely that a modern battery will swell, but it's not impossible)