On Tuesday I happened to knock over a mug of coffee, and a relatively small amount of it went through the keyboard of my brand-new maximum specification 13" MacBook Pro Retina. I dived out of my chair, removed the adapter, and the power immediately cut off. I gently dried it off with a towel, and then stood it next to a radiator in a tent-like position and left it there for around 24 hours, as instructed by those I'd found online who'd experienced similar accidents. The next day I took it to have the damage evaluated at my local Apple Store. I'd been warned not to try to switch it on, so I was concerned when the bloke had his thumb over the power button about five seconds after I'd opened it. Despite my skepticism, everything seemed to be working fine. But then, after about about ten minutes of fiddling, it became apparent that the speakers were completely dead. But hey, that's a lot better than what I was expecting. A new set of speakers will set me back, what, £100? Hardly the horror story that I'd been hearing from people online, I thought.
So, next this bloke tells me he's going to take it into the back of the store to take a look at the internals. I'm waiting around for about two minutes before he comes back with this uncomfortable expression on his face. He sits down opposite me, takes a slow breath through his bearing teeth, and then begins to unload the bad news. The general gist was that every single component inside of my machine would need to be replaced, and that would amount to more than the actual value of a brand-new one. He told me that he could visibly see coffee residue on each part of the machine, which from Apple's point of view, means that they'd all need to be replaced in order to reinstate my warranty. He then finished with, "at this point, your best bet is to actually sell it for parts, and then use the money to buy yourself a new one".
I'm absolutely astounded by their response to this matter. I paid very shy of £2,000 for this computer with a year's AppleCare on top of that, and their best advice is to simply sell it for pocket change? I told him that I wasn't happy with his evaluation and that I'd be returning to hopefully see someone else in the near future, but he stabbed back at me by telling me that he'd already put all of this down on my record so it wouldn't do me any good. I don't know whether there's any truth to that, or whether he was just saying it to spite me, but at the moment I'd bet on the latter.
I have absolutely no idea what my next move is. I know that while I do nothing, my internals are likely corroding away, which is pushing me towards finding someone who knows how to disassemble and clean computer internals. I'm also wondering that if that is the case, and all traces of coffee are gone, can I return to the Apple store and have it reevaluated in the hopes that I'll be seen by someone who genuinely wants to help me?
I'm almost at the point of breaking down. I'm a student, I'm living away from home, I'm in the midst of my exams, and now I'm apparently £2,000 down too.
Please, help.
So, next this bloke tells me he's going to take it into the back of the store to take a look at the internals. I'm waiting around for about two minutes before he comes back with this uncomfortable expression on his face. He sits down opposite me, takes a slow breath through his bearing teeth, and then begins to unload the bad news. The general gist was that every single component inside of my machine would need to be replaced, and that would amount to more than the actual value of a brand-new one. He told me that he could visibly see coffee residue on each part of the machine, which from Apple's point of view, means that they'd all need to be replaced in order to reinstate my warranty. He then finished with, "at this point, your best bet is to actually sell it for parts, and then use the money to buy yourself a new one".
I'm absolutely astounded by their response to this matter. I paid very shy of £2,000 for this computer with a year's AppleCare on top of that, and their best advice is to simply sell it for pocket change? I told him that I wasn't happy with his evaluation and that I'd be returning to hopefully see someone else in the near future, but he stabbed back at me by telling me that he'd already put all of this down on my record so it wouldn't do me any good. I don't know whether there's any truth to that, or whether he was just saying it to spite me, but at the moment I'd bet on the latter.
I have absolutely no idea what my next move is. I know that while I do nothing, my internals are likely corroding away, which is pushing me towards finding someone who knows how to disassemble and clean computer internals. I'm also wondering that if that is the case, and all traces of coffee are gone, can I return to the Apple store and have it reevaluated in the hopes that I'll be seen by someone who genuinely wants to help me?
I'm almost at the point of breaking down. I'm a student, I'm living away from home, I'm in the midst of my exams, and now I'm apparently £2,000 down too.
Please, help.
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