Applecare - Not covering Liquid spill (what to do?)

[joesterbrah]

Hello there,

I recently was studying for my exams and spilled coconut water in my backpack, and my Macbook Pro Retina 15" (early 2013) ended up getting water into the left side of the ports (affecting the Thunderbolt and charging ports). I took my laptop for repair with Apple, hoping they wouldn't notice the liquid spill. The Apple Genius told me the charging port was working fine, issuing me a new replacement charger under warranty. He then told me the Thunderbolt ports weren't working, and so he issued a logic board replacement (without opening the Mac up). A week later I get a call from one of the technicians saying there's liquid spill around the Thunderbolt ports, which is why it's not working and some sticky residue on the fans (which he said was not a big deal, it can easily be wiped off) so they cannot go through with the repair under warranty. I then replied back with denying the water damage and that the first technician who looked at it said everything was okay. The technician replied back saying he's sorry and isn't sure if the previous employee opened it up or not to check. The repair costs $647 plus tax originally, but then he brought down the labour fee ($40), making the repair $607 plus tax. (He brought the price down without me asking to do so FYI)

Now I was wondering if there is any reasoning I can give to support my claim of the water damage not being my fault? One scenario I was thinking was to say that the first Apple Genius bar employee opened up the Mac and said everything was fine, putting the blame on their end. As a student, a $600 repair is very expensive and since I already spent $300 extra on Applecare, I want to fully utilize it.

If I could get any advice on my situation I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you guys so much!

 

[aristobrat]

One scenario I was thinking was to say that the first Apple Genius bar employee opened up the Mac and said everything was fine, putting the blame on their end.

What gets logged into the technical notes for your incident is what matters, not what was told to you. If they opened the case (vs doing a quick visual inspection), it should be logged in the notes. If they spoke to you about something specific, it should also be logged in the notes.

Also, the Apple Store I worked at, the Genius Bar (and the whole Back of House) was under video surveillance. So if you're going to try and make the case they got it wet, you need to be prepared for them potentially reviewing the video.

Maybe next time you should consider SquareTrade's warranties. Some of them offer accidental damage coverage.

 

[Dave Braine]

I was thinking was to say that the first Apple Genius bar employee opened up the Mac and said everything was fine, putting the blame on their end.

So, all that happened is that the first guy didn't notice the water damage? Are you going to try and convince them that they spilt water on it?

You spilt water on it, simple.

 

[Altemose]

AppleCare is an extended warranty, not an insurance policy and we do not condone cheating Apple on this forum.

 

[rolsskk]

If I could get any advice on my situation I would greatly appreciate it!

Act like an adult and accept responsibility?

 

[chscag]

AppleCare is an extended warranty, not an insurance policy and we do not condone cheating Apple on this forum.

+1 and that goes for any Apple forum. You were careless, so now accept the responsibility.

 

[Wondercow]

So you want us to help you cheat, lie, and (illegally) defraud a company? Why sure! We'll get right on that.

If I could get any advice on my situation I would greatly appreciate it!

Accept fault for your mistakes and don't make your problems the responsibility of others.

 

[CooperBox]

You took a gamble on your dishonestly not being discovered. It was, and it cost you. That's life, get over it. Life is a lesson, and you've just learned a valuable one.

 

[LiveM]

How much is the excess for your insurance policy?

I can sort of understand the temptation to cheat, but not having such a laissez-faire attitude that it wasn't tempting so much as your first instinct, not to mention your brazen request for accomplices.

 

[CooperBox]

How much is the excess for your insurance policy?

I can sort of understand the temptation to cheat, but not having such a laissez-faire attitude that it wasn't tempting so much as your first instinct, not to mention your brazen request for accomplices.

Exactly. It was the request for 'advise' that imho added insult to injury.

 

[cjducasse]

I doubt the first rep logged win the notes that there was no liquid damage. They usually just note the external physical condition. What they're charging you for is the main logic board (motherboard). That has the ports connected to it. You could go to a third party repair shop and they could order a used part and put that in. There are also companies that perform liquid damage repair to the motherboard. You're gambling using that type of service, but it's definitely cheaper.

Apple probably never blamed you for getting it wet. To them, they don't really care how it happened or if it was you who damaged it. The fact is, it's been damaged. They likely took pictures for proof. Own up to it.

They're actually cutting you a break. Normally they default to sending it to their offsite repair (US Only) as soon as liquid damage is discovered. That would cost you around $1,300 USD. Take the $600 repair.