They've also more than once had in stock what I just couldn't find elsewhere. Many camera repairs turn out to be just cleaning, replacing light seals, or replacing broken levers. These jobs can be done by anyone who has reasonably good fine motricity, some patience, and a set of small screwdrivers, ring openers and a few other tools. The time invested is often less than what you would take to find out a service shop, pack the camera, ship it, etc. I have repaired a few dozen cameras and accesories over the years, both my own and those of friends, and found that in almost all cases the problem is something mechanical, often quite obvious.
Electronic problems are much less common.
Keep a tube of cyanoacrilate glue at hand. It looked like an electronic problem. The battery had a manufacturing defect, manifesting itself in very high internal resistance, while the voltage at no load was perfectly normal. So, don't take anything for granted. Camera Tech of Anaheim for all old cameras.