I thought it was a bit sketchy too and spoke to their support agent about it. It seems this site is run by a partner, SPOT or Service Parts or Tools. Their privacy policy lists servicepartsortools.com as a domain but visiting the domain shows a standard parked domain page. The domain is owned by CTDI[0] which does seem more legitimate. The response I got from the support agent after pressing the issue was:
"Apple has partnered with CTDI for the SSR store and the fulfillment of related parts and tools. CTDI will utilize its SPOT subsidiary, including SPOT customer service agents, in support of SSR store customers."
It makes sense that Apple would offload this to someone else, but I agree it's a rather jarring experience.
"Apple has partnered with CTDI for the SSR store and the fulfillment of related parts and tools. CTDI will utilize its SPOT subsidiary, including SPOT customer service agents, in support of SSR store customers."
It makes sense that Apple would offload this to someone else, but I agree it's a rather jarring experience.
[0] https://www.ctdi.com