I've owned and broken my apple electronics for nearly 10 years now and I've never ventured out of apple genius bar for my repairs, even when my macbook was out of warranty.
On Thursday night I spilled water all over my trackpad, and on Friday afternoon I went to the Genius bar. They said that my entire logic board needed to be replaced, and that it would be $630 (incl tax) and would take 7-10 business days. I had an exam on Monday so that was a huge no, and dropped by ASK Computers. They finished the repair in 2 hours and I paid $280 (incl tax).
The only downside to all of this is that I realize I way overpaid for all of my previous repairs with Apple. The store people were very friendly, helpful, and professional, and if I ever break any electronic ever again I would not hesitate at all to come back.