So about 5 months ago coffee was spilled on the keyboard of my mbp. I immediately unplugged, powered down and flipped it over. I turned it back on the next day and everything worked fine except a few keys on one side of the keyboard. I brought in to an authorized apple technician to have the keyboard replaced 3 weeks ago and when I talked to them today they are claiming that during the repair some moisture dripped onto the logic board and shorted the connection to my monitor. They claim this is always a risk and they are not liable. Is this even possible? Wouldn't there need to be an active electrical current running to the logic board for it to short? And shouldn't they have made sure that everything was clean and dry before putting it back together and turning it on? They're refunding my money and sending my computer back with the old keyboard and now a screen that doesn't work!
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Spill damage repair gone wrong!
- Thread starter DayDreamer666
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That sounds like a little bit of BS lol.
Did they make you sign anything saying they are not responsible for any damage that might occur?
When you pay them to fix something, they are 1000% liable for all of their work unless they state prior to fixing.
It sounds to me like whoever was fixing it messed up and they made up some excuse so they dont take a hit.
Did they make you sign anything saying they are not responsible for any damage that might occur?
When you pay them to fix something, they are 1000% liable for all of their work unless they state prior to fixing.
It sounds to me like whoever was fixing it messed up and they made up some excuse so they dont take a hit.
My thoughts exactly! No I didn't sign anything and no one warned me of any potential risk. Obviously I wouldn't risk ruining my logic board to fix the keyboard! My first clue should have been when the tech called about a "buzzing" sound and I had to tell him it sounded a lot like a sticking key. Trained professional?! LOL
You should deff go back to them and ask for the value of the computer prior to them 'fixing it'. Demand like 75% of its worth since most of it was working.
lol yeah 'Trained Professionals'. Try threatening them that you are going to go to Apple and complain that they should not be Apple certified or something.
Nope "authorized apple technician"
Not really. They're taking the new keyboard out and putting the broken one back in. So not only did they not fix anything, they broke it more. A refund is far from generous!
Any liquid would have evaporated over 3 weeks. Go demand a fix for whatever they broke or sue them.
Plan on that too! Just wanted to make sure I wasn't the one sounding like an idiot who didn't know what I was talking about. Thanks for the help
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Just a refund on the keyboard replacement. They charged me for it 2 weeks ago then told me they hadn't even ordered the part yet! And they're removing the new keyboard and putting the old one back in!
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i can think of at least 3 or 4 cases where ive seen machines with liquid spills where the display was working while still plugged in and then not after being unplugged and plugged back in again. that can happen when testing, it can happen when swapping a top case...it can happen in lots of different ways. there is a fuse on the logic board in most newer macs that can very easily be tripped if liquid has dried and corroded on the display connection
Yes that is possible but either way, once he handed it to the technician and paid for it to be fixed it becomes the responsibility of the technician to be aware of that ensure that he avoids what happen here.
Would this have been something that could have been seen and avoided...or at least warned me about before proceeding? Like I mentioned in my original post, I never would have risked my logic board over a keyboard. And how, if at all, would this affect the use of an external monitor? When I talked to the service manager he said the screen is fine, the problem is the logic board and it works great when hooked up to a monitor. When I talked to the manager he said when they hooked it up to their service monitor, it blew that too...but then he offered to provide me with a monitor...umm what?! And if it blew their screen does that mean my screen is busted and would need to be replaced as well as the logic board? I'll admit I don't have much of a clue when it comes to any of this but from a common sense standpoint it just doesn't make any sense to me.
They should replace it especially because on there end it sounds all too fishy, I would speak to someone higher or even call up Apple and explain to them what had happened.
Sorry, their story sounds fishy? Please. I am willing to best the OP didn't mention the prior liquid damage before dumping it into their lap. This OP smells of BS.
I'm sorry - you spilled liquid on it - and are then surprised to find out that the liquid hit another component?
It can often take days for the liquid to drip through damaging another component. Very rarely do you get away with replacing just the top case after a liquid spill.
It sounds, to me, like you need to take responsibility for your actions, rather than blaming a repair shop who I'm guessing you didn't tell about the liquid in the first place (since they wouldn't have quoted just the top case in that case - they'd have quoted "top case plus any other bits that have got wet".
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A third party repair shop should replace his liquid damaged laptop?
Excuse me whilst I go laugh my ass off.
It can often take days for the liquid to drip through damaging another component. Very rarely do you get away with replacing just the top case after a liquid spill.
It sounds, to me, like you need to take responsibility for your actions, rather than blaming a repair shop who I'm guessing you didn't tell about the liquid in the first place (since they wouldn't have quoted just the top case in that case - they'd have quoted "top case plus any other bits that have got wet".
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A third party repair shop should replace his liquid damaged laptop?
Excuse me whilst I go laugh my ass off.
I'm not sure I understand the explanation of the issue... Are they saying that while they were repairing it, additional liquid (from the original spill or otherwise) caused logic board damage? or, there was logic board damage from the original spill that caused damage that manifested during the repair? It is totally possible that the display connector was corroded by the liquid and, while functional, was damaged beyond reuse for the repair... I've seen it, more than once!
Actually I very specifically told them coffee had been spilled in it! They said they'd run a diagnostic and let me know how extensive the damage was. They called me two days later saying it was just the keyboard that needed to be replaced.
No, I'm surprised that a technician apparently didn't think to make sure there was no other damage before he started pulling pieces apart. I'm also surprised that if this is a relatively common problem, that I wasn't warned about the risks. I'm not a tech! I payed them to tell me what was wrong and fix it!
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At this point the story depends on who you talk to. Originally the service manager said that moisture from the keyboard got onto the logic board during the repair and shorted it out. I called again to clarify and be said the same thing but when I said certain parts of he explanation didn't mak sense I was "we'll I didn't say that, and I didn't mean that". When I talked to the general manager he more or less the same thing but when I mentioned it was coffee that had spilled it was "oh well coffee leaves a residue so it must have been that" Not once did anyone mention any corrosion which is what I would have expected.
Just to give you some background as to how this may have happened - there was possibly liquid between the MLB and the Keyboard. When opening the bottom case to inspect, they wouldn't have seen this until they took the MLB out.
OK, but who's liable? Him or them? If damage happens after I turn my computer over for repair, I think it is the responsibility of the repairman to make it right.
To use an analogy:
You crash your car, and drive it to the garage. They quote you for the bodywork, and front wheels/suspension. As they drive it up the ramp, and take the wheel off - the steering rod snaps.
It's not their fault - it's a result of the crash. Still your fault.
Apparently they didn't even see it then because it took them shorting out two of their own logic boards and their service screen to even realize what "the problem" was...though nobody can seem to explain what that problem was to me because I've now been given about 6 different explanations from 3 different people...not one of which has been "there was some corrosion on your logic board..." No, not fishy at all!
Coffee spilled on machine 5 months ago. Aside from funky-acting keys on the keyboard, system works normally.
Repair shop claims that ~16 weeks after initial spill (not a few weeks, this is four months), some leftover moisture dripped onto the logic board, shorting it out.
I suppose it's possible, but it depends on how much coffee was spilled. Are we talking a teaspoon worth, tablespoon worth, or like half a cup full, etc? If it was just a wee bit, if the system was used daily (or thereabouts) for that ~4 months after the initial spill, then I find the repair shop's explanation very hard to believe. Over a 4 month period of daily use, the ambient temperature of the laptop should have been enough to dry up any left over moisture, if the system wasn't sitting in a bag or on a desk powered off since the spill. Also, since the incident with them, you've been given multiple different explanations from different people.
The corrosion explanation makes more sense, but since that wasn't the first explanation given to you, that tells me that they couldn't think of a believable excuse immediately, but came up with one after a quick meeting with the manager or a good night's sleep (so to speak.)
Something doesn't add up. I suspect they may be trying to get out of replacing your logic board at their expense.
I would cease to communicate with them vocally from now. Get everything in writing moving forward if you can. Hopefully, you'll be able to get enough in writing to show their inconsistency in explaining what happened ... I doubt you will though. It sounds like they probably have all of their CYA ducks in a row at this point, and it will basically come down to your word against theirs in court (if it ever comes to that.)
Repair shop claims that ~16 weeks after initial spill (not a few weeks, this is four months), some leftover moisture dripped onto the logic board, shorting it out.
I suppose it's possible, but it depends on how much coffee was spilled. Are we talking a teaspoon worth, tablespoon worth, or like half a cup full, etc? If it was just a wee bit, if the system was used daily (or thereabouts) for that ~4 months after the initial spill, then I find the repair shop's explanation very hard to believe. Over a 4 month period of daily use, the ambient temperature of the laptop should have been enough to dry up any left over moisture, if the system wasn't sitting in a bag or on a desk powered off since the spill. Also, since the incident with them, you've been given multiple different explanations from different people.
The corrosion explanation makes more sense, but since that wasn't the first explanation given to you, that tells me that they couldn't think of a believable excuse immediately, but came up with one after a quick meeting with the manager or a good night's sleep (so to speak.)
Something doesn't add up. I suspect they may be trying to get out of replacing your logic board at their expense.
I would cease to communicate with them vocally from now. Get everything in writing moving forward if you can. Hopefully, you'll be able to get enough in writing to show their inconsistency in explaining what happened ... I doubt you will though. It sounds like they probably have all of their CYA ducks in a row at this point, and it will basically come down to your word against theirs in court (if it ever comes to that.)
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