If I have my device worked on by a repair shop to replace the battery, Is it ok to put the device in lockdown mode before I hand the device over to the non-Apple authorized service shop? I only want the shop to replace the battery.

Thanks but that doesn’t really answer the question. FYI a couple of my friends have used the same service and not had issues (yet; 4 months and 2 weeks respectively for the time frames of my two friend’s’ replacements).

FYI, after I posted it dawned on me that changing my numerical password won’t be of much help to me since the shop will still have access to my device with the new temp numeric password. It would be helpful if they were to somehow get in possession of my phone in the future but it would be of little help in securing my phone while they had possession of it during the battery replacement service.

Your advice still makes sense but it will cost me several days and about $40 more to have an authorized shop do the replacement. It’s not really the money but it’s the time that is making me consider a non-authorized shop do the replacement.

Thx for your input.