Anyone have MBP “die” from liquid damage, but eventually come back?

[Sedulous]

If the keyboard lit up at some point but the display did not illuminate, then the “spill” hit LCD driver chip at least. I’d call up Louis Rossmann.

 

[fishkorp]

That's good. The owner Louis Rossmann is a vocal figure in the right to repair movement. He's also got a Youtube channel with a lot of followers. Dealing with right to repair and demonstrations of different complex repairs and some of the equipment he uses.

It’ll be a crap shoot. No way (obviously) to give an estimate without seeing it. However, they said for 16” MBPs, many chips and components are unavailable, so they wouldn’t be able to do anything involving those anyway and would just have to send it back to me. Something I need to think about, but not for too long.

 

[JPack]

In general, corrosion from liquids gets worse over time. Most cases of things coming back to life are short lived.

 

[fishkorp]

An update for you all.
I couldn’t deal with the uncertainty if Rossmann could fix it or not. I paid for Tier 2 (cheapest they’d let me start with). They got my laptop on Friday, started repair yesterday, got an email today it’s done and shipped. Now, the repair site doesn’t say what they did or if they charged me additional. I’m guessing I’ll get more information on Monday since it’s a business day. My gut says they just did a logic board swap and will charge me the difference (as of now, no charges on my card). We’ll see. Tracking says it’ll be back to me on Tuesday.
Overall, super smooth and very fast repair experience with Apple. Probably overpaid, but hopefully it’s back and working and lasts a while.

 

[thekev]

My gut says they just did a logic board swap and will charge me the difference (as of now, no charges on my card).

Not unless you authorized that.... At least in the US, there are actual laws surrounding such things. Unless you authorized them in advance, they cannot charge you more. Also if you weren't paying ala carte for repairs which are done in store, eg, quote to swap logic board, these things are flat rates, not itemized, typically sent out to third party repair facilities.

 

[fishkorp]

Not unless you authorized that.... At least in the US, there are actual laws surrounding such things. Unless you authorized them in advance, they cannot charge you more. Also if you weren't paying ala carte for repairs which are done in store, eg, quote to swap logic board, these things are flat rates, not itemized, typically sent out to third party repair facilities.

I sent the laptop directly to apple and paid a “2019 16” MacBook Pro Tier 2 Accidental Damage” fee. I was told on the phone it could possibly end up being Tier 4 (complete logic board replacement) and they wouldn’t know until they got their hands on it. I’ll find out tomorrow (I’m assuming) if an additional charge hit my card. The original charge must’ve been a hold, because that dropped off. They never asked questions or updated saying it was higher than what I originally paid for. They just got it, started working on it, completed, shipped in a 48 hour period. Over the weekend at that. So, they didn’t say “it’ll be this much, is that ok?” But they did say they’ll start at Tier 2 but it could be Tier 4. By me authorizing the repair it was probably understood I’m ok with it being up to the Tier 4 price. We’ll see.

 

[thekev]

By me authorizing the repair it was probably understood I’m ok with it being up to the Tier 4 price. We’ll see.

They would have let you know regarding the updated cost, unless you authorized repairs up to the cost of a Tier 4 repair. Still, I'm hoping for you that you get it back at Tier 2 pricing.

 

[fishkorp]

They would have let you know regarding the updated cost, unless you authorized repairs up to the cost of a Tier 4 repair. Still, I'm hoping for you that you get it back at Tier 2 pricing.

That’s my hope as well. Ends up being netter than I expected (I expected the worst) and even possibly cheaper than Rossmann if they were even able to fix it. I’ll find out soon enough.

 

[fishkorp]

Ok, final update. They charged the original Tier 2 fee and that’s it. So for $732 (parts, labor, shipping) I got a new logic board, new battery, new top case, new Touch ID sensor.