Just to balance things out and keep good karma, here's a little AppleCare story of my own.
Slot load iMac Blueberry + Square credit card CD ROM = Bust CD Drive.
The machine was 2 weeks out of the std 1 year warranty (No Applecare extension) and they agreed to replace the CD drive without begging or anything. I just said I thought it was over a year old - which the guy on the phone said was correct but don't worry. I took it to an authorised dealer and it was repaired and back with us within a week.