A bit odd. I've had nothing but the best of experiences in my limited dealings with Apple's after-care service.
What numbers, if any, does Apple quote for battery life per charge on standby and in use? Have you (or they) looked at the Energy Saver settings under System Preferences? Portables have two settings, one for mains and the other for battery. Has the MacBook Pro been upgraded in any way from the base configuration, extra memory or storage, SSD? Do you use it to charge/sync iPhone/iPads/iPods while on battery only?