If 7-10 days is getting to be the norm then there's some serious slippage going on at Apple.
My repair experiences include two warranty screen replacements on a TiBook, both of them 48 hour turnaround, and thoroughly diagnosing some nagging hard drive trouble, also 48 hour turnaround, with the computer deposited at Apple Stores by me; and, going back a decade, a screen shim on a PowerBook 145 (out-of-warranty recall) which involved Apple shipping an Airborne mailer to me for the computer, overnight to Apple at their expense, same-day turnaround and overnight back to me. Granted, that last one was a minor repair that they had done thousands of, but still most impressive.
I would be interested to find out the impact ProCare is having on Apple's overall repair service. The last repair I had, the second TiBook screen replacement, was done in store but it was very clear that ProCare customers were getting priority and I was fortunate to get the speedy turnaround I did (the fact that there weren't any logic board issues helped in that regard too) as they beat their target date by two days. I worry that it may be a case of ProCare getting the service everyone used to get but not better, and everyone else being dumbed down.
The other thing I'm curious about is whether Apple's service budget is getting ramped up in line with the company's overall sales.