Spilled green tea on MPB Retina

[Rambus]

Last Thurs, my 17-yr old daughter spilled green tea on her 13" MBP Retina (not over the keyboard, but behind). An 'X'-sign appeared over the battery icon, with a message 'no battery available'. She continued to use her MBP. Next day, she told me the Power button didn't work (she didn't tell me the rest of the story!). The MBP was still under warranty (plus AppleCare till 8/2016).

Telephone support took me through SMC reset & NV Ram/P Ram reset. Finally they told me to take it to the service center. Service called me the same evening with bad news. Water stains on the logic board. Not covered by warranty. AppleCare which I purchased to be voided! Serial no. of machine noted by Apple. He would call back with a repair quotation.

Today he called again - he had done an internal clean-up & MBP seemed to be working fine. I could collect the MBP (no charge), but there would be no further warranties.

Just posting to check on his last statement - the original warranty (1-Yr) isn't over till mid-Aug, and the 2-yr AppleCare plan hasn't even started. Will Apple really blacklist the unit?

 

[johnnnw]

It is "blacklisted" because liquid damage to electronics is a slippery slope.

I won't say for certain, but this type of damage tends to show itself later on when parts start to corrode etc. I will say, don't be surprised if it stops working again.

Apple knows this and doesn't cover liquid damage because it's unpredictable. Not to mention not a fault of their product. (which is also why they don't cover physical drop damage, screen crack, etc)

 

[Justin Horne]

It is "blacklisted" because liquid damage to electronics is a slippery slope.

Yep

Apple knows this and doesn't cover liquid damage because it's unpredictable. Not to mention not a fault of their product. (which is also why they don't cover physical drop damage, screen crack, etc)

Which makes me wonder why so many here recommend Applecare when things like Squaretrade also cover accidental / spillage.

 

[maflynn]

Will Apple really blacklist the unit?

Of course, negligence cause the problems and apple does not want to foot the bill. The warranty is for manufacturer defects, not accidental damage, so your warranty is now gone

Sorry man 🙁

 

[T5BRICK]

You can request a refund for your AppleCare, although I'm not sure how they handle refund requests in cases like this.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5688

 

[kelon111]

Of course, negligence cause the problems and apple does not want to foot the bill. The warranty is for manufacturer defects, not accidental damage, so your warranty is now gone

Sorry man 🙁

Apple doesn't offer accidental damage warranty either so the OP is totally out of luck.

 

[Skylitfly]

I wonder if I'm just extremely lucky or I'm still waiting for the disaster to happen.

I spilled whiskey on my 15" rMBP like 8-9 months ago and it's still running like the day I got it. 😀

Gotta knock on wood after posting this...

 

[scatterbug]

But the good news

You MAY have caught it in time. 8 weeks ago I started having heat & battery problems with my macbook still under warranty. I live 100 mi from nearest apple store so took it to Simply Mac. The technician said all was well, no problem. Then last week it started jumping screens & all sorts of things. Back to Simply Mac with the verdict being needs a tier 4 Depot Service as resistor & another chip are damaged beyond repair. These chips are responsible for managing computers charging. I can't help but think if this problem had been caught when I first brought it in I wouldn't be looking at a fried macbook pro. So in my mind you have good news/bad news.

 

[TjeuV]

I was quite surprised they did a clean up and got things working smooth again. The void applecare is no surprise though ...

 

[amoda]

You can request a refund for your AppleCare, although I'm not sure how they handle refund requests in cases like this.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5688

This is really your only option now. The unit, 100%, is blacklisted.

 

[Pentad]

Last Thurs, my 17-yr old daughter spilled green tea on her 13" MBP Retina...Just posting to check on his last statement - the original warranty (1-Yr) isn't over till mid-Aug, and the 2-yr AppleCare plan hasn't even started. Will Apple really blacklist the unit?

Honestly, you should be very grateful that Apple did anything to help you. None of Apple's warranties cover accidental damage and they could have declined to help you at all.

Be happy Apple helped you. I would treat this as an educational experience. I have accidental insurance on my children's notebooks and extended Applecare on mine. Though, my kids never eat or drink around their notebooks.

I'm always surprised when people treat such an expensive item like a TV tray but with so many posts like these I must in the minority.

However, Apple treated you very well. I have found their support to be unmatched.

-P

 

[perezr10]

I'd buy a high school kid a used Mac.

 

[kelon111]

I'd buy a high school kid a used Mac.

Even in high school I knew better than to drink or eat around a laptop.