My Blue ray stopped working?

Hi everyone! I have had a great PS3 for the past 5+ years and recently found myself with a dying hard drive. I couldn't load one of my more complex games and streaming video would get "stuck" while the sound continued fine. I had a lovely cheep new hard drive within 10 days. got it all swapped out no problem. now all the sudden my Blue ray doesn't work? error code 80029973 , it had worked just fine before. never had issues with it. Sony wants me to send it in so they can "look at it physically" I really don't know what they will gain other then my money from looking at it that they can't learn over the phone. I've taken the whole machine apart and put it back together. I've reset , restored , reinstalled , wiped / reloaded a couple times each and still it does not work. there is no reason in my mind for this. anyone?