Your answer only tackles one part of the problem, and a very narrow part of it, too. If you want to return an Apple product that you bought at Best Buy, for example, it's true that you have to go back to Best Buy. But it's a process that's just as painless (or painful depending on your perspective) as doing the same at an Apple Store.

However, the case isn't true if you need to have a repair made. If you purchased a Dell computer at Best Buy, the retailer would obviously redirect you to the manufacturer. But if you purchased an Apple computer at Best Buy, you can definitely take it into an Apple Store to have it diagnosed and repaired.

You said, "I bought this thing and I just want it to work. I want to talk to someone familiar with the product. I want to talk to someone who actually cares about my feelings about the product."

You can buy an Apple product at Best Buy, Target or Wal-Mart and take it right into an Apple Store to have it serviced, so the argument that you're better off buying something at an Apple Store because they'll take care of you isn't a very good one. I bought my MacBook Air from Best Buy, and when I had a problem with the display, I took it to the Genius Bar at an Apple Store and it was fixed in a matter of minutes.