Bit of a digression, but I've been wondering about the same thing.
And really, I just want to point out how ****ed you are if you don't have a certified repair shop within range.
I have a Tab-key with a wonky corner (the bottom left corner is much lower than the others, fully depressed really) and the nearest certified repair shop is a twelve hour drive away.
I want Apple to send me a box, a box that I then can put my computer in and ship it to Apple for repairs.
But Apple are refusing to do so, saying that they "don't have the facilities to perform the repairs".
So they want me to send my Mac through the post, which only insure half of my Mac's value, to a repair shop.
-which is out of the question, naturally.
Frankly, it's outrageous. It's been a couple of months since I first contacted Apple and I keep postponing it, but one of these days I'm going to give a poor customer service rep a stern talking to.