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BigSaintDogs

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 13, 2011
69
2
Rhode Island, USA
Was on a train ride last weekend and sitting in the Cafe Car a guy on the otherside of the table dumped his Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA and it ALL landed in the keyboard of my MacBook Air... Dogfish Head 1 - MacBook Air 0

Took it to an apple store and it is shot... got a $755 bill to send it in for Tier 4 Accident Damage.

That became the most expense beer of the year!
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
If you're going to douse your computer with beer, it might as well be a world-reknowned beer. :eek: Last computer I attacked with a beverage got a martini to the keyboard. Martini one, keyboard zero.
 

soco

macrumors 68030
Dec 14, 2009
2,840
119
Yardley, PA
matbook, really dude? :rolleyes:

Crummy story man. I'll repeat that at least it was a great beer lol I first discovered DFH through these forums and never looked back.

Mildly off-topic, but I can't wait for Black Guinness. :D
 

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,020
7,863
I did that to my 2010 MacBook Air (but with a glass of chardonnay). I got the same bill, but the Genius Bar waived the charge (winning an instant customer later that week when the 2011 version came out).

I have since taken out a personal articles policy on my 2011. It's $33/year with a $250 deductible, but it covers accidental damage as well as theft. I figure if it happens again, it's better that then a $755 repair bill. I also purchased a keyboard cover that I use when I'm on a plane (I don't like using it otherwise, but a plane is another place where such an accident can happen).

That said, when I got the 2010 back, it was better than new. They replaced the logic board, trackpad, keyboard, and some case components, along with the battery (it had 0 cycles on it). My data was also preserved.
 

SurferMan

macrumors 65816
May 14, 2010
1,267
51
South FL
That sucks, but at least it was an excellent beer like DFH 90 and not some bud crap :D . What'd the guy say, hopefully he's paying for it and not you.
 

MBHockey

macrumors 601
Oct 4, 2003
4,050
297
Connecticut
Was on a train ride last weekend and sitting in the Cafe Car a guy on the otherside of the table dumped his Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA and it ALL landed in the keyboard of my MacBook Air... Dogfish Head 1 - MacBook Air 0

Took it to an apple store and it is shot... got a $755 bill to send it in for Tier 4 Accident Damage.

That became the most expense beer of the year!

Sorry to hear. Do you know the person who spilled it? Seems they should be helping you out with the repair costs...
 

seepel

macrumors 6502
Dec 22, 2009
471
1
They recently stopped distributing Dogfish Head in my area so it is a shame that this guy spilled it, and a quadruple shame that it wrecked your computer, sorry man.
 

mopppish

macrumors 6502
Nov 27, 2005
356
1
Gave him the bill... to be followed by a trip to court if needed.

OK, good to hear.
When I read the title to this thread, I thought the same things many others have:
"At least it was a great beer!"
But then I saw that you weren't even the one drinking it! Somehow that made it worse. If you spilled your own beer on your computer, at least you were enjoying some delicious 90 minute before it happened.

(as an aside, I live in WI, and we lost DFH last year when they pulled out of the state unexpectedly)

Anyway, I really really hope you get the money from that guy. When I was working at the Apple store, some girl came in with a similar experience. She was in a cafe, and some douche either knocked over her coffee or spilled his own all over her computer. She said that all she got was a "uh, sorry" from him. The Genii took pity on her and just gave her a new machine, but maybe that had something to do with the fact that a cute girl was crying at their bar.
:D
(I only slightly kid, but there is of course something to be said for the way that our particular store made it a priority to do whatever was "right" for the customer, regardless of rules. Someone having liquid involuntarily spilled on their machine is perhaps to be treated differently than every joe schmoe that dropped their phone and shattered the glass.)
 

BigSaintDogs

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 13, 2011
69
2
Rhode Island, USA
OK, good to hear.
When I read the title to this thread, I thought the same things many others have:
"At least it was a great beer!"
But then I saw that you weren't even the one drinking it! Somehow that made it worse. If you spilled your own beer on your computer, at least you were enjoying some delicious 90 minute before it happened.

(as an aside, I live in WI, and we lost DFH last year when they pulled out of the state unexpectedly)

Anyway, I really really hope you get the money from that guy. When I was working at the Apple store, some girl came in with a similar experience. She was in a cafe, and some douche either knocked over her coffee or spilled his own all over her computer. She said that all she got was a "uh, sorry" from him. The Genii took pity on her and just gave her a new machine, but maybe that had something to do with the fact that a cute girl was crying at their bar.
:D
(I only slightly kid, but there is of course something to be said for the way that our particular store made it a priority to do whatever was "right" for the customer, regardless of rules. Someone having liquid involuntarily spilled on their machine is perhaps to be treated differently than every joe schmoe that dropped their phone and shattered the glass.)


DFH pulled out of allot of states last year. when "Brew Masters" became a hit they could not meet the ammount of beer they would have had to make so they reeled it back a bit... We lost them in RI Too. But while on travel in Fairfax, VA there is a DFH Ale house a mile from the hotel! I will soak my sorrows while Apple tears my computer apart to make it better!
 

mopppish

macrumors 6502
Nov 27, 2005
356
1
DFH pulled out of allot of states last year. when "Brew Masters" became a hit they could not meet the ammount of beer they would have had to make so they reeled it back a bit... We lost them in RI Too. But while on travel in Fairfax, VA there is a DFH Ale house a mile from the hotel! I will soak my sorrows while Apple tears my computer apart to make it better!

Luckily, I live less than an hour from the Illinois border, and there's a place with a pretty decent DFH selection right over the border that's off route 12 on the way to my parents'. :cool:
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
But while on travel in Fairfax, VA there is a DFH Ale house a mile from the hotel! I will soak my sorrows while Apple tears my computer apart to make it better!

I went there (probably the same one) last time I was over on that side of the country. The food was unremarkable, and the decor could have been purchased from TGI Fridays, but they do have interesting beers available that are not bottled (or not bottled in high volume), so I definitely recommend it.
 

AlecEdworthy

macrumors 6502
May 1, 2007
415
129
Leicestershire, UK
Took it to an apple store and it is shot... got a $755 bill to send it in for Tier 4 Accident Damage.

That became the most expense beer of the year!
That's not so bad IMHO! I spilled coffee (black, no sugar) over my 2011 11 inch MBA and when I took it to the Genius Bar (in the UK) I got a repair bill of £1270 plus tax (£1524 inc tax, $2012 exc tax, $2415 inc tax). Given a new one only costs the equivalent of $1820 inc tax (and that's retail, with my education discount it would be $1565 inc tax) you can see that's a little expensive! The genius basically said it's beyond economical repair and so a write off from an insurance point of view.

Alec
 

daverso

macrumors regular
Sep 5, 2007
118
222
Sorry about your laptop man. Hopefully you got to sip on a few beers after this incident! :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:

calvol

macrumors 6502a
Feb 3, 2011
995
4
Sorry for your loss man! That's why I keep a keyboard cover over the keys when I'm just browsing with the touchpad in a coffee house or airplane when liquids are around. My rule is, if a liquid is within arms reach of my Air, it can find it's way inside the machine, and I either close the machine or take precautions.
 

BigSaintDogs

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 13, 2011
69
2
Rhode Island, USA
Got it back from Apple!

I dropped the MacBook Air off at the Apple Store in Fairfax, VA on the evening Tues 20 March they had it back on Fri 23 March. I picked it up when I got done with work.. forgot it was iPad day. The Tier 4 Maintenance ended up replacing the entire bottom and components. The only thing not replaced was the display and the SSD. I lost no data. Total cost $787.75.
 

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,020
7,863
I dropped the MacBook Air off at the Apple Store in Fairfax, VA on the evening Tues 20 March they had it back on Fri 23 March. I picked it up when I got done with work.. forgot it was iPad day. The Tier 4 Maintenance ended up replacing the entire bottom and components. The only thing not replaced was the display and the SSD. I lost no data. Total cost $787.75.

Great news. That was my experience with Tier 4 Maintenance, as well. Hopefully you are able to recover the money from the other person, in which case the net result will be a virtually brand new MacBook Air.
 

coldmack

macrumors 6502
Dec 26, 2008
382
0
Well that positive to hear no data was lost.

It's stories like these I wish Apple gave us spill proof keyboards.
 

jouster

macrumors 65816
Jan 21, 2002
1,456
603
Connecticut
I marinated my PowerBook G3 Lombard* in Pepsi. The Pepsi won, but it was all good: I had an excuse to buy a TiBook, which lasted for a loooooong time...

Basically, liquid beats laptops 90% of the time..l
















* Look it up, kids!
 
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