I assume your friend had Apple Care, in which case it would be expected to receive a replacement device if they cannot repair it or cannot repair it in a timely manner.
He did, but it was out of AppleCare too. The kicker was that the problem had begun to manifest while still within the three year window, so there was documented history. It was most of a year out of AppleCare when it failed the last time and they decided to cover it as goodwill.
