apple care issues

I am wondering if anyone out there has had similar problems with MacBook Pros and Apple Care.
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My wife has a two year old MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard, fortunately still covered by Apple Care.* Back in June 2012, the computer started having problems (kernel panic, system crashes).* We took it to the local Apple Store (Smith Haven Mall in Long Island). They replaced some ram.* The computer continued to have problems.* We took it back to the local Apple Store.* They reinstalled the operating system.* In late June, the computer stopped functioning when my wife was trying to back up the hard drive.*
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At this point, we gave up on the local Apple Store and turned to TekServe in Manhattan.* TekServe did the data recovery for about $1000 and promised to replace the hard drive for free (under Apple Care).* Five weeks later (first week of August now), we got the computer back in the mail, but it still was not functioning.* The computer turned on to display a blinking file folder.* With the DVD operating system installation disk, we were able to get a little further, but the computer could not find an internal hard drive on which to install the operating system.*
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We decided to try shipping the computer back to Apple to have them perform the repairs.* Today (August 16, 2012), we got the computer back by FedEx.* Apple had replaced the logic board and the airport card, but the computer is still not functioning.* It turns on to display the same blinking file folder.
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Needless to say, my wife has wasted countless hours on the phone with the local Apple Store, with TekServe, with Apple customer service.* In the latest round, Apple customer service, after putting my wife on hold for a couple of hours, volunteered to make her an appointment at the local Apple Store.
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There seems to be some disconnect here between the popularity of Apple products on the one side and their quality and the abilities of Apple affiliated employees on the other.

I find it flabbergasting that both TekServe and Apple would ship you back the machine in a non-functional state. When it came back from TekServe that way in the first place, did you reach out to them? $1000 seems a bit excessive for data recovery. I'd love to know exactly what they did to warrant such a lofty fee.

TekServe promised the computer back in two weeks. Instead it took closer to five and many phone calls. We did reach out to them to complain after receiving the computer back. We were hesitant to bring it back to TekServe, in part because it's four hours in the train for us to bring the computer in.

Regarding the $1000, the receipt indicates $849 for RECOTIER3 Data Recovery Tier 3. Not sure what that is.

The response from TekServe was as follows:

"I just wanted to touch base with you and apologize for your repair experience. we did finally get to the bottom of what happened. We did do the HD replacement, However your machine was sitting next to another machine that had very similar work order (SRO) numbers. That particular machine was here for data recovery. We accidentally grabbed your machine and removed the new HD thinking it was the computer that needed the HD removed for data recovery. we then put the computer back together. This explains why your computer was booting to a flashing question mark. When you picked it up, According to the work order, the machine had been repaired, but unbeknownst to everyone, we had accidentally mixed that machine up with another one and wrongly pulled your HD from the machine. Once again, I do apologize for the mix up. We do have the correct HD here that we can install into your machine while you wait if you would like to bring your machine back in. Let me know if you would like us to install the new HD, and when you might be in so we can expedite your service."

What's incredible to me is that they (both TekServe and Apple!) did not try booting the computer before sending it back.