so here's what happened although i wasn't expecting much as it was my fault in the first place.
My friend who is now in San Fransico from India took the ipad last evening to the 2 stores around his area. The first store said that they would replace the glass for $300 but it would take 2 weeks for delivery. I found that interesting because nobody on this forum ever had that option provided to them. Infact even in the stores in India, all they said was that they'd swap the ipad for a new one. Anyway, since my friend is flying out next week, the 2 week wait option was not possible. The store then said that to replace it with a new ipad would cost $600.
My friend then went into the 2nd store who did not offer to replace the glass but straight away said that exchanging it for a new ipad would cost $600. My friend then gave him the explanation about how his little kid loves playing with the ipad and dropped it accidentaly. He even said that their store was highly recommended with great service since they have been nice to customers earlier with similar cases. The guy at the counter then said that the only ipads they had replaced free were the ONLY WIFI ones and now because of the holiday season and huge traffice into stores, even that was not possible.
After much cajoling and pleading by my friend, the guy went inside and came back saying as a goodwill gesture, they would waive off 50% of the retail price of a new ipad (32GB WIFI + 3G) so that's $729 less 50% = $369 approximately. My friend had 24 hours to avail the offer.
My friend came back to his hotel room and then emailed me about what needed to be done. I have asked him to pay the $369 and get it replaced. I dont have a choice and in no mood to ask my friend to visit a few more stores. On conversion, that works out to about 20,000 Indian Rupees which is 5000 cheaper than what the stores in India asked for ...so some consolation
ps: the guy from singapore who just wrote about how unfair it is etc etc should realise that it is indeed our mistake if we damaged the ipad and then expect free replacement. If you bang your car, will you go to the service centre and ask for free denting/paint job etc..hell! would you ask for a new car ?
Chin up buddy. This too will pass.
Thanks everyone for reading and have a great holiday season with your families, loved ones and ipad