Liquid Spill - should I try to sell my Macbook?

[dpriestley]

Spilled liquid on my Macbook [1.83, 1g RAM, 60gig] two weeks ago - been working kinda, but clearly affected. (Did the 48 hour dry out...) Battery hasn't worked since - thinking maybe a logic board problem.

Apple Care wants $600 to fix it, I looked into trying to myself (whatever that would entail).

Feeling best to sell it to someone who would want to fix it - people want to fix these things, right?

Thoughts? Is it worth anything?

 

[mad jew]

It's really difficult to tell how much damage there is without taking it apart. If you're not sure what you're doing in terms of taking it apart, and you don't want to get it fixed by AppleCare, then I'd recommend selling it for parts and buying a new one. Bad luck mate.

 

[schmintan]

i know applecare dont cover it , but they should. i mean, you have to pay for them to cover their own hardware in case it fails ( applecare). that doesnt show much faith in their product. cover should be as standard for at least 2 years. occasionally dell used to make allowences towards spillages, if you didnt describe the issue as a spillage! a guy would come to your house, take out the old mother board and replace it with a new one. free. apple show little confidence in their products and thats worrying. im sure il get a lot of flames thrown at me for that but thats my opinion.

 

[dpriestley]

Apple will fix it - they just want to replace all the innards... Is it hard to say what it's worth because hard to say what's broken?

 

[pubb]

i know applecare dont cover it , but they should. i mean, you have to pay for them to cover their own hardware in case it fails ( applecare). that doesnt show much faith in their product. cover should be as standard for at least 2 years.

1) Apple clearly states that hardware has a one year warranty. Not generous, but also not a secret. If you want coverage beyond that point, buy AppleCare (notice how its NOT 'an extended warranty'? Warranties give you specific legal rights, extended service plans do not).

Not really a big deal because the most expensive one is $350 (MBP) and covers airports/cinema displays purchased along with the computer. One hardware repair and it paid for itself. Add in three years worth of pestering the call center folks with questions and its a bargain. Overall, Apple has to make money on APPs or else they wouldn't do it, but you know that there are computers that cost Apple money over the three years. A hard drive here, an lcd screen there, and pretty soon those repairs add up, even at cost.

2) Why should Apple pay for something that was clearly preventable and admittedly caused by the user? Ford doesn't guarantee their cars to work after you crash them into a wall. Nowhere on its website does Apple claim that the Macbooks are liquid-resistant.

Pubb

 

[Antares]

$600 is a bit much. 3 years ago, Apple charged me a $134 flat rate to fix my G3 Pismo Powerbook (when I had shorted out the power/sound board and subsequently damaged the motherboard and logic board when I tried to replace that soundboard, myself). Apple replaced all of those parts for $134. Maybe it was because my computer was already 4 years old at the time? I don't know.

Anyway, I say you do a comparsion of what it would cost you if you sold the Macbook and then bought a new one vs. paying the $600 repair fee. Also, if it's a Core Duo Macbook, I would say sell it and get a refurb Core 2 Duo. They're not THAT much more than the repair fee (especially taking your selling of the damaged, original, into account).

 

[Roba]

I make sure that my laptops are covered under my home insurance policy. They are covered for accidental damage in and out of the home and for theft in and outside the home.
Maybe you could look at your home insurance policy or if you don't have one if you are a student maybe you could look at your parents policy and see if their policy may cover this type of accident?
It is a lot of money to pay out it would be more sensible to sell it on it for spares if you have no insurance cover.
Look into getting yourself some good insurance cover though in the future.

 

[MacNut]

I never understand how someone who spills liquid into a computer then complains to Apple for making a bad product. Take some responsibility for your actions and don't blame Apple for your mistakes.

Now if you are going to try and sell it you have to say that there is damage. its like selling a car. If it was in a flood you have to say that when you sell it. Don't expect to get much for it if the damage is bad.

 

[pubb]

They use a flat rate repair system for accidents/abuse. There are also flat-rate repairs that are simply out of warranty. If your iBook motherboard fails outside of the warranty, they'll fix it for about $300. If, ten seconds after getting off the phone with AppleCare, you spill coffee in that same computer, its ~$800.

Accidental damage is broken into levels: the first level is minor stuff and goes for about $200 for a macbook (MBP/PBG4 pricing is higher). The middle level is more expensive stuff like cases and combodrives. The highest level is for logic boards, superdrives and lcds. On a MBP, thats about $1200.

$600 is a bit much. 3 years ago, Apple charged me a $134 flat rate to fix my G3 Pismo Powerbook (when I had shorted out the power/sound board and subsequently damaged the motherboard and logic board when I tried to replace that soundboard, myself). Apple replaced all of those parts for $134. Maybe it was because my computer was already 4 years old at the time? I don't know.

You paid the flat-rate repair charge and they didn't know you tried to take the computer apart yourself. Good for you. Replacement costs shouldn't vary based on how the damage occurred. If they need to replace the logic board, it should cost the same regardless of whether or not the repair was caused by my stupidity or sheer bad luck.

Pubb

 

[EvryDayImShufln]

Anyway some of you idiots might notice that the original poster did not complain that apple made a bad product, he is simply stating a scenario that he is in, and is looking for a way out.

If I were you I'd open it up myself, but that's just me, to check around and see if anything looks clearly damaged.

 

[Rahsten]

I spilled Diet Cola on my MacBook like 2 months ago and I haven't had any problems. I thought I was screwed when it happened but now I'm very happy that everything seems to be OK still! My MacBook keeps on impressing me everyday, however, that may be easy to do since I'm an ex-iBook user (the one with all the Logic Board failures....).

 

[Natadic]

Accidents do happen

I completely understand your problem.
Last night I accidentaly spilled a tiny bit of liquid into my new macbook (not even one week old) and it stopped working completely.
In panic I called apple care and they told me that of course they don't cover such accidents.

I'm not sure if I'm annoyed, worried or what. I understand that apple cannot cover for my stupidity, but it' not like I did it on purpose. Accidents do happen, and if I could do anything to change it I would.
I know probably I shouldn't have liquids around the laptop, however isn't hte idea of a laptop to be mobile so you can carry on with your life whilst working with it???

Anyway, the nice guy at applecare told me to not volunteer any information and I may be alright for the standard cover; so that's what I'm going to do......

Good luck I say.........