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Hey everyone. So I had an appointment with the genius and great news. He told me there's no signs of water damage at all. How can two technicians be so far apart on a diagnosis? I did forewarn him that there was a minor accident involving water and he fully understood. Anyways, he checked it all out for me and he's going to keep it overnight to run extra tests, but he said I have nothing to worry about. Going to call the campus technician and ask him how he came to that conclusion, and possibly ask for my money back.

Glad to hear it. The Geniuses are pretty good at double-checking issues in favor of the customer (even if you tell them otherwise).

I on the other hand am about to see if I can get a third, non-faulty replacement logic board...

But congrats.
 
So very glad to hear your good news ... what a relief!

But having read the whole topic, I want to add my thoughts.

Spilling some water near or even on a computer does not = water damage.

The OP admits that she is not tech savvy and is not qualified to make a diagnosis of water damage. Just because it acted weird about the same time that some water got on or near the macbook doesn't mean it was caused by water. I would take the computer in and let the experts diagnose the problem without any preconceived notions from a layman.

Accusing her of witholding information or committing fraud is really, really extreme. When I trade in a car, I say nothing. No. Thing. They are the experts here and the onus is on them to evaluate the trade in. I'm not a mechanic ... what do I know?

Now if they ask her point blank whether there was water spilled on it, then she shouldn't lie (I wouldn't either), but I see no reason to volunteer something that could very well be totally inconsequential and would certainly be prejudicial against her.

As for the jerk that put the sticker in your computer, I would definitely ask for a refund since his diagnosis was clearly total bunk and he made an attempt to undermine your valid warranty service / checkup.
 
Hey everyone. So I had an appointment with the genius and great news. He told me there's no signs of water damage at all. How can two technicians be so far apart on a diagnosis? I did forewarn him that there was a minor accident involving water and he fully understood. Anyways, he checked it all out for me and he's going to keep it overnight to run extra tests, but he said I have nothing to worry about. Going to call the campus technician and ask him how he came to that conclusion, and possibly ask for my money back.

Wow, talk about real fraud. I can't believe he actually charged you for it, what a piece of shi
 
Good for you, OP. Glad to hear it worked out without any dishonesty (from you). Dunno what was up with that technician, then. Of course, keep in mind that sometimes damage from a spill will manifest over time, but hopefully the genius is right.

jW
 
Wow, talk about real fraud. I can't believe he actually charged you for it, what a piece of shi

Tell me about it huh? I mean, I'm not the type of person to bring in electronics all the time to get a diagnosis on things, but if a customer is going to be charged for someone's services, the least he could do was give me a heads up when I brought it in that it would be a $65 charge, NOT tell me that when I go in to pick it up! I know technicians at stores often charge for diagnosis, but at least tell the person. I couldn't get a hold of the manager, but I left a hefty complaint to hopefully get my money back.

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Good for you, OP. Glad to hear it worked out without any dishonesty (from you). Dunno what was up with that technician, then. Of course, keep in mind that sometimes damage from a spill will manifest over time, but hopefully the genius is right.

jW

Thanks. Yeah, I did tell him that there was some water involved. The genius took it apart in front of me and told me that he didn't see any signs of water damage, and if there was any, not enough to void my warranty. Now I just have to ask the first guy how he managed to see water "pouring" out of my laptop.

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So very glad to hear your good news ... what a relief!

But having read the whole topic, I want to add my thoughts.

Spilling some water near or even on a computer does not = water damage.

The OP admits that she is not tech savvy and is not qualified to make a diagnosis of water damage. Just because it acted weird about the same time that some water got on or near the macbook doesn't mean it was caused by water. I would take the computer in and let the experts diagnose the problem without any preconceived notions from a layman.

Accusing her of witholding information or committing fraud is really, really extreme. When I trade in a car, I say nothing. No. Thing. They are the experts here and the onus is on them to evaluate the trade in. I'm not a mechanic ... what do I know?

Now if they ask her point blank whether there was water spilled on it, then she shouldn't lie (I wouldn't either), but I see no reason to volunteer something that could very well be totally inconsequential and would certainly be prejudicial against her.

As for the jerk that put the sticker in your computer, I would definitely ask for a refund since his diagnosis was clearly total bunk and he made an attempt to undermine your valid warranty service / checkup.

Thanks for the thoughts! I am definitely going to argue for my money back. $65 is just too significant for me to throw away on something like that.

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I just want to say thank you to everyone for sharing their thoughts and offering me their advice. As cheesy as this may sound, I felt very lost on what to do and didn't have many people to ask that had experience in this kind of situation or had knowledge of it. I can't tell you how distressed I was after the phone call from the first technician telling me to quickly save all of my data or else it would be gone. All of my schoolwork and other very important things would be lost if I didn't do so. I was panicking on not only losing things, but figuring out how I could fund a new laptop.

Again, thank you all for your help, it is REALLY appreciated.

Samantha
 
Hey, that's exactly what I was trying to say! BTW, here's the technical definition, it's almost exactly what you described:



Sound familiar?

jW

Wrongful or criminal are the keywords there. Withholding information about the events of your life to the man behind the genius bar counter is neither of those things.
 
Because, depending on how severe the damage, they may not notice.

I mean it's a long shot, but theres a chance they could try to fix it for you without considering water damage, and if you're under warranty, that could mean free parts.

I used to work there, and it depends on who you get as a genius. Some will fix whatever for you without a care in the world, free parts galore. Others will grill you until you spill all the information and then will refuse to help you.

It's a gamble, that's why I said goodluck! :D

Were you a genius that would make the person spill the beans?

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Wow. Just… wow. You're actually justifying fraud based on your supposed financial problems.

I'm done here, and Dangerous Theory, I've seen too much crap in your posts so you're becoming my next addition to my ignore list.

OP, please just think through the ethical ramifications of what you're considering. Some things are a little more valuable than saving a few bucks.

jW

You really know how to ruin all the fun, Mal.
 
... I can't tell you how distressed I was after the phone call from the first technician telling me to quickly save all of my data or else it would be gone. All of my schoolwork and other very important things would be lost if I didn't do so. I was panicking on not only losing things, but figuring out how I could fund a new laptop.


At the risk of sounding preachy, you would be well-advised to get an external hard drive and keep a good backup of all those very important things. You may not have water damage today, but that hard drive will fail and I know from first hand experience what a awful feeling it is to lose tons of stuff.

If you get your $65 back, it may be enough to get an external hard drive large enough to clone you internal hard drive with Carbon Copy Cloner.
 
At the risk of sounding preachy, you would be well-advised to get an external hard drive and keep a good backup of all those very important things. You may not have water damage today, but that hard drive will fail and I know from first hand experience what a awful feeling it is to lose tons of stuff.

If you get your $65 back, it may be enough to get an external hard drive large enough to clone you internal hard drive with Carbon Copy Cloner.

Already bought one! Thanks for the heads up. Also going to invest in a waterproof sleeve.

Apple store called just now to tell me everything's ok, and that it was just an isolated incident.
 
Wrongful or criminal are the keywords there. Withholding information about the events of your life to the man behind the genius bar counter is neither of those things.

Wrongful or criminal refers to the purpose. In this case, it would be both if you refrained from mentioning the fact that something happened that may have invalidated your warranty. Besides, the OP handled it quite well, so I think perhaps you should understand that doing the right thing usually works out just fine anyways, without the need for deception.

jW
 
... so I think perhaps you should understand that doing the right thing usually works out just fine anyways, without the need for deception.

jW


Just because it worked out OK this time does not mean it always or even usually will. There are lots of folks out there (the first "technician" she took the machine to for instance) that are looking for ways to blame any problem on water. You mention water of any sort and immediately that's what they say is wrong. Volunteering something that harms your chances of an honest assessment of the problem, when you have no direct knowledge that your guess is correct is foolish. No good deed goes unpunished.

Again, if they ask you directly whether water was spilled on the machine, then you always tell the truth, but why walk in and say "I spilled something on the MacBook ... it's ruined!" That's just gift wrapping an expensive repair bill for them.
 
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