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Tell tale signs of spillage

S

sc25893

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 2, 2012
86
0
Hi everyone,

I bought a 2nd hand macbook pro 13" off ebay which was apparently 1 month old and in superb condition. However, there is a small chip near the inputs, the backlight does not work (even after unchecking auto brightness in keyboard settings, f5 and f6 bring up animation, but no lights). Also, the tab key and the tilde are sticky as hell, the tab almost stays down! It all just stinks of a cover up, and I'm over £700 down, and not happy. Also, keeps beach balling too, just seems slow for a very new computer with a brand new install of 10.8.3.

You lot have owned more macbooks than me so what's your opinion on this?

Thanks.

Sam.
 
This reminds me of spillage. I have a friend who had the same kind of problems after his dog spilled coke all over his MacBook Pro 15.

His MBP starts, and is usable, but the keys are sticky, the backlight does not work, the battery wont charge, and everytime he restarts the computer, it says that Time and Locale settings are reset.

So probably you have been out of luck with this purchase?

There are some indicators in the computer, that will show if it has been in contact with liquid.

You can find out more here

http://appleinsider.com/articles/08/10/15/inside_the_new_macbooks_lsi_battery_hd_and_ram.html
 
Thanks for the info. I have requested a return with a refund for the item as the seller offered this.

I'm tired of ebay dishonesty so I may take finance on a new one instead, at least I know I take care of my things.
 
sc25893 said:
Thanks for the info. I have requested a return with a refund for the item as the seller offered this.

I'm tired of ebay dishonesty so I may take finance on a new one instead, at least I know I take care of my things.
Click to expand...

If you're looking to save some cash stick with the Apple certified refurbs. Authorized 3rd party sellers also often knock some money off the Apple price.
 
swerve147 said:
If you're looking to save some cash stick with the Apple certified refurbs. Authorized 3rd party sellers also often knock some money off the Apple price.
Click to expand...

Sound advice, you will save some and be covered by Apple`s warrantee for 12 months. There are good deals to be had on Ebay equally there are many who misrepresent what they are selling, as is clearly the case here.
 
They guy said he didn't notice the problems which is hard to believe. I wish I could warn potential buyers for when this piece of crap goes back on eBay!

In fairness, he did offer a replacement but I am returning it instead and he is issuing a refund. This has cost me a fair bit of time and aggravation so I used my student discount (computer science at Open Uni) and got finance on a 2.9GHz i7 13.3" Macbook Pro brand new.

It was the same price as the 13.3" retina (£1074 after discount) but I already have an unopened 256GB Crucial M4 here and 16GB RAM which I intended to put into the one from eBay. That's £250 worth of gear that's not going to waste. The retina was the same price but I'm not interested in soldered in parts until the time comes when there's no choice.

Thanks for the help everyone :) just gotta wait now until about Friday/Saturday when hopefully the new one will arrive.

This 2011 13.3" Macbook Pro which I'm typing on now is on eBay finishing Tues night. The difference is, this is in superb condition apart from one minor mark which I told people about. Honesty, on eBay? That's a new one!

Macbook Pro 13.3" 2011
Time left:
2d 08h (30 Apr, 2013 21:45:32 BST)

In case anyone wants a bid ;)

p.s it's not the one that some moron has listed ending at nearly the exact same time as mine! Except his is in crap condition, listed as 'great condition'... *sigh*
 
Last edited:
Return that system to the seller ASAP and File a complaint with eBay and PayPal.

You have been sold a damaged computer. If there was something spilt on it it will die sooner than it normally would and if any of whatever was spilt on it got inside it has more than likely activated the moisture strips Apple places inside. If that has happened all warranties are void.
 
I didn't bother opening up and checking the strips. The keyboard was so sticky around the tab key, it has to have been a spillage.

It's on its way back with UPS, I expect a refund by Weds/Thurs at the latest.
 
sc25893 said:
I didn't bother opening up and checking the strips. The keyboard was so sticky around the tab key, it has to have been a spillage.

It's on its way back with UPS, I expect a refund by Weds/Thurs at the latest.
Click to expand...

Yeah I posted before I read the whole thread. Glad you are sending it back and supposedly getting a refund. I say supposedly as without filing some type of claim with eBay & PP the refund is really up to the seller, whether he issues one and for how much.

Good Luck with your new system.
 
Just as a follow up, all went smoothly, got a full refund including postage.

Typing now on a brand new i7 2.9GHz 13.3" with the added goodies of 256GB M4 SSD and 16GB RAM. Now I just gotta pay for it.

All in all, a very nice machine. I had to calibrate the LCD as it was a bit washed out, I like strong colours to match my monitor. Easy enough to do that though.

Thanks for everyone's input.
 
sc25893 said:
Just as a follow up, all went smoothly, got a full refund including postage.

Typing now on a brand new i7 2.9GHz 13.3" with the added goodies of 256GB M4 SSD and 16GB RAM. Now I just gotta pay for it.

All in all, a very nice machine. I had to calibrate the LCD as it was a bit washed out, I like strong colours to match my monitor. Easy enough to do that though.

Thanks for everyone's input.
Click to expand...

I didn't see this soon enough as I'm considering selling my MacBook, spec in sig, pretty much same spec as u just purchased!

Hope u enjoy your machine ;)
 
Ifti said:
I didn't see this soon enough as I'm considering selling my MacBook, spec in sig, pretty much same spec as u just purchased!

Hope u enjoy your machine ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks. Not sure I'd ever go 2nd hand again after getting a new one. The refurb store isn't advantageous to me either as I'm a mature student and I get a decent discount on the normal store.

I'm a student until about 2018 (part time) so I'm guessing that discount will be required again before I'm done! :D
 
sc25893 said:
Thanks. Not sure I'd ever go 2nd hand again after getting a new one. The refurb store isn't advantageous to me either as I'm a mature student and I get a decent discount on the normal store.
Click to expand...

I'd never buy 2nd hand or the refurb store myself either; it's just not worth the possible hassle and issues trying to get things fixed. With a new machine you can check it out in the apple store and you have 14 days to find out if it's a lemon and they will exchange it no problem.
 
rockyroad55 said:
I'd leave bad or neutral feedback. You never know if that person might try to trick someone else with that BS again.
Click to expand...

They've already sold it I was told, but after a 'quick fix', whatever that is. Not sure how you can quickly fix a broken backlight and hugely sticky keys. It was under warranty still so hopefully they took it to a store and got it fixed properly before some other unlucky buyer snapped it up.

What I like about my new one is that, obviously, everything works, but also because I am the only one responsible for it and I know I look after my stuff. Especially stuff that costs £1000.
 
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