Current Apple employee here. The “Get to yes” initiative is long gone. In my store we have no problem saying “No,” if you’re out of warranty or didn’t buy AppleCare. Stores are tracked by number of exceptions and have a threshold they cannot go past which effects managers’ numbers and mobility.

I work at the Genius Bar and wanted to chime in saying AppleCare does cover the battery. We have a test that checks battery capacity. Once the battery dips to 80% (after 500 cycles of charging/year and a half of use typically) it's covered under the limited warranty or AppleCare. This applies to macs as well.