Will dent void my AppleCare plan?

[PT123]

Hi all,

I have a 2010 unibody MacBook Pro (in the UK) and a while back, I dropped it on its corner and it dented in a little chunk of aluminium in the bottom corner (see below). Everything works perfectly and it wasn't a serious drop at all.

The computer is almost a year old now, and I want to extend the AppleCare warranty for another 2 years as it's my main computer. My question is, will this cosmetic dent give me problems if I need to claim from AppleCare down the road? It's not a big dent but it is obvious and clearly visible.

Also would be interesting to know how much it costs to fix this dent...I'm a perfectionist

Thanks!
Pete

 

[miles01110]

It will not "void" it, but any damage determined to be caused from the bump will not be covered. Unfortunately you have no way of knowing what Apple will "determine" is broken.

 

[PT123]

Hmmmm...you think they might just use that as an excuse to say no to lots of things....I'm just wondering whether to drop £200 on another 2 years of apple care.

 

[MH01]

Hmmmm...you think they might just use that as an excuse to say no to lots of things....I'm just wondering whether to drop £200 on another 2 years of apple care.

Dont bother fixing it. I very much doubt they would use that as an excuse. But if your a perfectionist.. I would put that £200 towards a new model. Just not worth fixing it, you will need a new case.

 

[PT123]

Dont bother fixing it. I very much doubt they would use that as an excuse. But if your a perfectionist.. I would put that £200 towards a new model. Just not worth fixing it, you will need a new case.

Well, I'd like this one to last me for a few more years (hence my AppleCare dilemma) so if they aren't going to be too fussy about the dent, I will get the plan (never had any reason to use AppleCare at all yet so not sure of their policies)

 

[2contagious]

Well, I'd like this one to last me for a few more years (hence my AppleCare dilemma) so if they aren't going to be too fussy about the dent, I will get the plan (never had any reason to use AppleCare at all yet so not sure of their policies)

maybe schedule a genius bar appointment and let them check your macbook pro and confirm that it would be covered even if there is cosmetic damage.

 

[Mal]

Chances are if you send that in for service at the depot, they'll at least try to rule whatever problems you have as user damage. There's some validity to that, too, because a drop or impact that could cause that could loosen connections or even crack a board, but because of the way it's held in place, problems might not result for months or years. Taking it in to an Apple Store won't really do anything as far as guaranteeing future coverage, for the same reason. You either chance it or don't buy AppleCare and just plan on paying for any repairs you do end up needing. It's always a gamble to buy AppleCare, like any service plan, but it's a bit more of one when you have damage you know might resulting that being voided.

jW

 

[PT123]

JW, thanks for that post, I think you have made my mind up. Any assessment now is meaningless for future problems, and apple care is a case of Russian roulette because they will try and blame everything on this dent. I will leave it without renewing apple care and hope it never breaks down shame though because I would like this to last me five years!

 

[cathyy]

Unless they wanna be really, really anal about it, they're not likely to turn you away for a small dent like that. I have several small dents all over my Macbook Pro (about 5) and multiple scratches, but recently I had my motherboard and LCD replaced for free under AppleCare.

They even had a section whereby they logged down every little bit of cosmetic damage, so that their engineers wouldn't be held accountable should the customer accuse them of making those dents. They filled up the entire space given when logging down the cosmetic damage on my laptop but yeh it wasn't an issue anyway.

 

[PT123]

Unless they wanna be really, really anal about it, they're not likely to turn you away for a small dent like that. I have several small dents all over my Macbook Pro (about 5) and multiple scratches, but recently I had my motherboard and LCD replaced for free under AppleCare.

They even had a section whereby they logged down every little bit of cosmetic damage, so that their engineers wouldn't be held accountable should the customer accuse them of making those dents. They filled up the entire space given when logging down the cosmetic damage on my laptop but yeh it wasn't an issue anyway.

Ah that's interesting Cathy, gives me some confidence actually I'm going to run it past someone at the Genius Bar just to see their views, but I'm now probably going to extend the AppleCare.