Is it wrong for me to think that this is absurd?

Question

I went to the Apple Store at Easton (Columbus, OH) today to get my Macbook Air 13'' (one model back) battery replaced. I made an appointment for 2:30, got served at 3:45 (because I guarentee they were taking 4S buyers w/o appointments before me). It's still in warranty, but the battery has gone to crap. The "Genius" there kept asking questions like what is my usage, do I use flash (cause normal Facebook usage has flash, you know...), if my wifi was on, etc. He turned off all services, wifi off, dimmed the screen completely, and I was getting 3.5 hours of battery life on 98% charge. So they tried to run the Apple Service diagnostic connect to the demo network, alt boot, but their server was down. So he said he could replace my battery, but they didn't have it in stock, so they'd call me when the had to order it.
The thing that irked me was that his "receipt/contract" thing says it will take 5-7 days for the replacement. 5-7 days...for a battery replacement? He said it would need diagnostics and stuff. Honestly, I work two jobs in tech (website management [requires CS5.5 daily] and computer repair [requires MS Office daily]) and am a full time student. Unless they are going to provide a replacement for me to use, I can't do it. I need it for both jobs and school, I don't have time to let them have my Air for 5-7 days to replace a dead battery.
So am I wrong to think that's absurd? Especially considering that this website: http://www.apple.com/support/macbookair/service/battery/ says that it should be a same day repair with an appointment once the battery is in stock? I'd like my laptop to work as intended, but I don't have the time to give it. Honestly I'll wait in the store an hour or two for it to be replaced, rather than it sitting on a shelf at Apple for a week.

Answer 1

Hi tjessberger,
Sounds perfectly normal, to be honest. First off, the people who help you at the Genius Bar don't sell products and the ratio of specialists to Genius in a store is usually 4 or 5 (at least) to 1. To have an appointment at 2:30pm on a Saturday and only be 45-minutes late is actually pretty good, that's probably the worst possible time on the worst possible day of the week to try and make an appointment. Now, that's not your fault, in a perfect world you should have been seen right away but that's just not how that works at 99% of the stores that I've been to on a Saturday.
Secondly, before arranging any sort of swap there's a series of usability and environmental questions that the tech needs to ask you. It's procedure, so the faster you can get through that part of the appointment then you can get on your way.
Thirdly, the 5 to 7 day quote is normal and the usual quote. You're right, the battery is considered same day service. But as Carl indicated the battery is not in-stock and as such the same day rule doesn't apply. If you drop your machine off, it goes into a queue and it goes to the end of the line. If they order your battery today the earliest it arrives is Tuesday, that's at least 3 days right there. So while your repair might be a 15 minute job for someone that knows what they're doing that's just not how the service queue works at Apple Retail.
The one-year limited warranty doesn't include a loaner why your machine is in for service, it is the responsibility of the owner to arrange a solution when your machine is in for repair. I'm surprised, if you're working two tech jobs that you don't have a work supplied machine or a second unit. You do all of your production work on just a MacBook Air?
What we use to arrange for customers on "quick repairs" is that we'd arrange to order the part for you and then have you bring the machine back to perform the service once the part was in-stock. We'd offer either same day service, or while you wait service based on the nature of the repair, the volume that day and the time (on that day) you brought it in. That seems like a reasonable solution for this issue.