Does apple fix sim readers?

I have a iPhone 6 plus, I had went to turn my phone on and we had encountered a problem. My phone wouldn't read sim cards, we tried three different sim cards and it read "Insert a valid SIM with no PIN lock to activate iPhone" I was told to go to apple and replace the sim card reader. The person from the phone store told me that would cost $175 Does apple fix sim card readers? Or is it possible for me to exchange this phone and pay cash for another phone like mine?