Right, and we know the rep was wrong.

That's not really an issue though. He was doing his job and it's OK he was. The estimate was basically for a wrist case scenario, which is actually what we do as well. Provide a range of estimates based on what we can determine quickly. Initial inspections are not necessarily conclusive and we also charge a minimum for time spent in case the customer either can't afford or doesn't opt for a worst case scenario when it occurs.

We have no way of knowing whether they would or wouldn't, but at that point it doesn't really matter anymore, does it?

It's actually customary, in this industry, as in others, not to charge for unnecessary repairs because once you find they aren't necessary you don't do them.

Plus we would know if we had video that showed the customer asking perfectly reasonable questions that a real one might, such as "can you do a better inspection because there was no liquid exposure and I've read those dots trigger from high humidity".

And I'll repeat again, the video in no way shows the rep's liquid exposure diagnosis is incorrect either. We are just supposed to assume it's humidity caused. Perhaps just like the pin, they triggered the red dots intentionally as well with enough liquid that would simulate an actual incident. 1m of actual useful video prefacing the visit to Apple would solidify this.

No one's going to send in their laptop for a repair in the hopes that the issue was originally misdiagnosed and it won't cost them $1200. The idea is to get them to buy a new one.

One doesn't prepay in full for the repair and I can guarantee you any repair shop, including Apple, will give give the machine a more thorough teardown and inspection to provide a more accurate estimate, as long as they can charge some sort of minimum fee for it in case the customer declines the repair.

This video presents the situation as $1200 to fix a bent pin, which this other guy will do for free, and it's actually dishonest in multiple ways.

I, because I know what I'm doing as well, could rig a laptop similarly, bring it to Rossum, get a high estimate for a simple fix, and then use that as evidence as well against him. It doesn't mean he wouldn't be honest I'm the end, correctly diagnosis the issue in the process, and fix the machine for the correct price.