From auto to stick: a warantee myth?

the first mistake i made was getting an automatic. i've heard about such things as: if you mess up your automatic transmission enough, under warantee, honda will replace it, but with a stick shift transmission (cheaper). now of course, deliberately messing something up voids the warantee indefinately, so a little lying is in order. is any of that stuff really true?

about how long can a good, reputable place install a manual transmission in an automatic transmission?