jpwise:

 

No worries - and yes, the WUR units are typically the minimum - bare main unit, no accessories, adapter, cords, manuals or other. I believe they were usually a white box, but may be some brown box ones now as well.  In terms of who's authorised to do what - that is very much an Apple question. We can only do what Apple authorizes us to do - upshot for the customer - our work is qualified by Apple and it's an Apple backed warranty. Downshot is we're limited to only do what they authorize - which means if a product is enforced as depot service - we can only faciliate that.  It's also another reason non Apple Authorised Service Providers can do some stuff outside the scope of what we do - in that they're not under contract with Apple - they can do what they want.  The process for Airpods has also changed several times over the years. If i'm recalling correctly we did originally do Airpods in house, then we had to send them away, then in house, and it's presently back to send away again.   
I imagine there is some justification from Apples side, and it may even be as simple as stockholding to bulk ship the left, right, and case components to a central location rather than individually packed and then shipped singularly to the AASP's as they order them.  For the AirPod/Beats Cases  - they're also qualified as a lithium ion battery and subject to the UN3480 standalone battery shipping regulations which means cargo/freight only flights and road freight.   Noting also that there are A LOT of fake AirPod and similar products in the market - so that may be part of the current handling restrictions to filter those out from being inadvertantly replaced by perhaps a junior staffer and the AASP being stuck wearing the cost.

 

Thanks for this. I have also noticed a massive influx of counterfeit AirPods products - Police should crack down on this as consumers must be getting defrauded left right and centre! For others; watch out when buying from FB/TM.