A drop of coffee = over £2000 worth of damage?

[SlCKB0Y]

The OP spilled something into his computer. That is what caused the damage. It's called being responsible for your actions.

For the record, I spilled a glass of whiskey into my old 2007 MBP once. Fortunately it didn't get on the logic board. I bought a new keyboard and replaced it myself and everything worked fine until I sold it a number of years later.

Did you take responsibility for your actions and tell the purchaser of your Mac about spilling a whole glass of whiskey on it?

Yea, I thought not...

----------

find someone at your school who is handy and a day doing it. A damp rag with distilled water

Coffee stains shouldn't be that damaging just wash it off with clear water.

Why recommend water over pure alcohol?

----------

The OP spilled something into his computer. That is what caused the damage. It's called being responsible for your actions.

One other point, whilst the OP spilled something on the computer that doesn't discount the possibility of the technician being negligent during their assessment. I'm not sure why you would think this is automatically the case.

If someone told me they had spilled something on their machine, no way would I try and start it up without doing an internal inspection first.

----------

Your liquid contact indicators are definitely tripped, no amount of cleaning is going to undue that.

Where are they on his MBP?

 

[Makendu]

Sorry but I have to say apples warrantys are complete bull **** all they sell are ones to extend the manufactures warrenty which is dumb because they should be responsible for the parts if they stop working due to manufacture defect. They don't even offer a accidental damage insurance. Either way no Apple insurance or not you still get ****ed hard for replacment parts because there all sawderd together and cost a ******** just to fix. Not hating on Apple I like Apple I got lots of Apple products I just think it's crazy they how the insurance policy works. Even on top of the manufactures warrenty you still have to pay to get it fixed which is dumb cause I have never had to do that anyone were els if I extend. Warrenty at bestbuy and something breaks cause of manufacturing defect they just give me a new product. They don't make me pay half the cost of it to get a new one on top the warrenty I paid for .

 

[JTToft]

Sorry but I have to say apples warrantys are complete bull **** all they sell are ones to extend the manufactures warrenty which is dumb because they should be responsible for the parts if they stop working due to manufacture defect. They don't even offer a accidental damage insurance. Either way no Apple insurance or not you still get ****ed hard for replacment parts because there all sawderd together and cost a ******** just to fix. Not hating on Apple I like Apple I got lots of Apple products I just think it's crazy they how the insurance policy works. Even on top of the manufactures warrenty you still have to pay to get it fixed which is dumb cause I have never had to do that anyone were els if I extend. Warrenty at bestbuy and something breaks cause of manufacturing defect they just give me a new product. They don't make me pay half the cost of it to get a new one on top the warrenty I paid for .

- What in the world are you talking about?

 

[MH01]

liquid damage is not covered by warranty. I know it sucks, but that is the facts. You did everything right in trying to prevent damage, though it seems the coffee hit a component that resulting in damage, unlucky.

The other problem you face is modern Apple computers are non serviceable, so any damage results in the guts getting replaced. The old machines you could replace the damaged component, the new ones, with everything soldered result in these types of repair costs.

While the coffee damage is not Apple's fault, the design of the new laptops is, and its BS that it cost 2K to repair!

 

[T5BRICK]

Did you take responsibility for your actions and tell the purchaser of your Mac about spilling a whole glass of whiskey on it?

Yea, I thought not...

You thought wrong. I did let the buyer know.

One other point, whilst the OP spilled something on the computer that doesn't discount the possibility of the technician being negligent during their assessment. I'm not sure why you would think this is automatically the case.

If someone told me they had spilled something on their machine, no way would I try and start it up without doing an internal inspection first.

Spilling anything on the computer immediately voids the warranty and requires that many parts are replaced. About 8 years ago I worked in an Apple Authorized repair center. Whenever we found a laptop will liquid damage, the owner was notified if they hadn't already told us. If approved, it became a "tier 4" repair, where we sent it to Apple and they replaced just about everything. These repairs cost anywhere from $1000-1500.

My point is, the damage was caused by the liquid spill. Don't spill things on your computer.

 

[AZhappyjack]

I'm always skeptical when I hear of service reports from the company that sells you the computer, when you can't observe what they're doing behind closed doors. Call me a cynic but who's to say they didn't just poor coffee over it themselves? Unlikely but the point is you can't be sure.

For this reason I'd always suggest taking a water or liquid-damaged laptop to an independent repair store and ask them to thoroughly clean and dry the internals first before switching on. Then if it's dead you know it's basically not salvageable. You know Apple won't do this. They'll switch it on first potentially causing further damage. They don't care because they can sell you a new computer anyway.

The third-party repairer has nothing to gain from screwing you around.

Poppycock. Pure and simple.

 

[Quu]

- What in the world are you talking about?

I think he's saying he wished Apple would provide some kind of Apple Care which covered accidental damage and not just manufacturing defects.

I think they do on some things like the iPhone right? I'd probably pay more for accidental damage on Macs directly from Apple, not a fan of the 3rd party repair coverage.

 

[Gildarts]

I'm confused.

You said you have AppleCare. AppleCare covers liquid damage. Did you tell them that you have AppleCare?

There used to be AppleCare and AppleCare+.
AppleCare+ was the variant that covered liquid damage. I think last year they just removed the two distinguishes and just renamed it AppleCare. Since you bought it a month ago. I'm assuming you have AppleCare+ or whatever it's called now.

I read the booklet with the terms and it explicitly says that liquid damage is covered.

However I have to mention that I'm from the Netherlands and that the AppleCare+ that I had is voor iPhone and iPad but I imagine it's the same for Macs.

 

[kazibole]

However I have to mention that I'm from the Netherlands and that the AppleCare+ that I had is voor iPhone and iPad but I imagine it's the same for Macs.

AppleCare+ is for iPhones and iPads only, not Macs.

 

[NT1440]

Where are they on his MBP?

Here you go:

 

[Gildarts]

Just did some googling. AppleCare+ still exist but is limited to iPhone, iPad & iPod.

There's no AppleCare+ for Macs. So sorry mate. Maybe you can try and see if you can get it insured and then claim damages after like a month or so.

 

[Makendu]

- what in the world are you talking about?

lol

 

[simonsi]

Just did some googling. AppleCare+ still exist but is limited to iPhone, iPad & iPod.

There's no AppleCare+ for Macs. So sorry mate. Maybe you can try and see if you can get it insured and then claim damages after like a month or so.

Great. More fraud.

 

[wksj]

So how much money do they want now?

 

[andyp350]

I assume that as you put the pice you paid in £ that you're in England or somewhere else in the UK.
It'll definitely be worth checking your contents insurance as a majority of policies cover you for personal possessions and for accidental damage. My housemate dropped her brand new iPhone 6 down the storm drain outside our house and our contents insurance replaced it for a £100 excess.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Great. More fraud.

You really expect morality to rule the day any more? Wake up, man. We're living in the age of entitlement, don't you know.

Ironically, I just ran across this quote earlier today:

This is true joy in life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. ~ George Bernard Shaw

I imagine that it would be lost on many in this thread.

 

[simonsi]

I imagine that it would be lost on many in this thread.

True

 

[walkie]

IMHO it should not be that easy to ruin a $3000 laptop by spilling a cup of coffee over it, I have read a lot of dreadful stories about coffee spilling on Macs on this forum, Apple definitively should take action on this instead of making it thinner and thinner...

As a general rule I always keep any liquid (coffee,tea,water) at least 60 cm away from my laptop.

 

[newellj]

Those of you who think every laptop should be waterproof: should Apple revamp their entire line to be Toughbook equivalents? If they do, do you want to pay the premium for that, and do you really want to carry around the extra bulk and weight?

 

[walkie]

Those of you who think every laptop should be waterproof: should Apple revamp their entire line to be Toughbook equivalents? If they do, do you want to pay the premium for that, and do you really want to carry around the extra bulk and weight?

I'm not telling that Mac laptops must be totally waterproof so that you can use it in the bathtub, what I'm telling is that at least they should be sealed on the keyboard so that the water cannot make its way in and ruin the whole laptop.

 

[Orr]

Junk situation OP. But in the world outside of school, you'll come to find pretty quickly that your actions do have very real consequences. Tough way to learn what will hopefully prove to be a valuable life lesson.

 

[brdeveloper]

Those of you who think every laptop should be waterproof: should Apple revamp their entire line to be Toughbook equivalents? If they do, do you want to pay the premium for that, and do you really want to carry around the extra bulk and weight?

I would. I'm always drinking coffee, tea, water, juice when using my Macbooks, and I'm OCD enough to keep the glass on another surface (my wife does not, though). I'd really enjoy keeping a glass of water on the side of my retina Macbook without being afraid of seeing a $2500 investment turning into garbage.

 

[newellj]

IMHO it should not be that easy to ruin a $3000 laptop by spilling a cup of coffee over it, I have read a lot of dreadful stories about coffee spilling on Macs on this forum, Apple definitively should take action on this instead of making it thinner and thinner...

As a general rule I always keep any liquid (coffee,tea,water) at least 60 cm away from my laptop.

I would. I'm always drinking coffee, tea, water, juice when using my Macbooks, and I'm OCD enough to keep the glass on another surface (my wife does not, though). I'd really enjoy keeping a glass of water on the side of my retina Macbook without being afraid of seeing a $2500 investment turning into garbage.

This is a friendly comment, not an in-your-face retort - the funny thing about both of your responses is that you're both obviously very careful about liquids and have apparently never killed a laptop with a spill. (I understand that the point is that you'd like to be able not to have to worry about it.) I've had enough knock-the-cup spills over the years that I, too, am careful. You guys are probably the kind of people that insurance companies love to sell policies to - you are careful and never need to make claims on your policies.

I think the last bad one I had was a 16 oz. mocha drink (coffee + milk + chocolate syrup) that went all over my desk at work. Everything was completely soaked and glued together. That was probably 25 years ago and I have been very cautious ever since.

 

[AZhappyjack]

I would. I'm always drinking coffee, tea, water, juice when using my Macbooks, and I'm OCD enough to keep the glass on another surface (my wife does not, though). I'd really enjoy keeping a glass of water on the side of my retina Macbook without being afraid of seeing a $2500 investment turning into garbage.

Get a cup with a freaking lid.

http://www.walmart.com/c/ep/plastic-insulated-tumblers

 

[Romanesq]

I think the last bad one I had was a 16 oz. mocha drink (coffee + milk + chocolate syrup) that went all over my desk at work. Everything was completely soaked and glued together. That was probably 25 years ago and I have been very cautious ever since.

Once opened up a bottle of orange soda near my computer setup, early 2008 Penryn 15" MBP and it sprayed a bit. Fizz, fizz here and there. Cleaned it up and didn't think much of it as it didn't seem to get much around or on anything of the laptop.

Maybe a year or more later, had an issue (Left I/O board) and so take it in to local Apple Store thinking its better to let them do it for about $120. They then sent me photos saying it had liquid damage and refused to switch the part. When I looked at the photos I saw an orange tinge on some of the left side of the components near the front.

Since I drink orange soda quite rarely, I knew it had been some time ago. Went inside and cleaned it all up. The orange soda remnants were on the front left and not deep so the spray of soda hadn't gotten very far. Researched and found a used left I/O board for $40 and replaced it myself.

The Penryn has been working fine ever since, although it's on a second logic board Apple replaced earlier under the Nvidia warranty but I strive to keep it running cool.

I'm sure if I ever showed up with the laptop seeking Apple's help, they'd find it in the records and deny anything short of offering to sell a magsafe power cable.

FWIW, this is how Apple deals with the intangible issues of liquid damage. They wouldn't touch my laptop for a simple swap of the part although I politely pleaded. In the end, I learned how to tackle that board and fix it.