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mohitjain1112

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 25, 2017
3
0
Hii i have purchased an used retina late 2013 15 inch macbook from an unknown individual macbook is in extended warranty because of this i have purchased it without much checking

but after using it for one month i feel there is an problem of noisy fan at that time mac is in warranty so i have take the macbook to nearby apple care which is 30 km away from my home

i have submitted my macbook one day later received a call they tell me mac is liquid damaged i visited the service center he opened the macbook in front of me and showed marks of tea spills and he said warranty is void due to liquid damage

so i take the mac back and used it normally after two days the sound of fan become very noisy i decided to reset the smc but after resetting the smc macbook doesn't switch on and doesn't charge

pls help macbook is in warranty till upcoming july what should i do purchased from my hard earned money
 

New_Mac_Smell

macrumors 68000
Oct 17, 2016
1,931
1,552
Shanghai
This could be an expensive lesson in buying used devices unfortunately. The warranty is void and there is nothing you can do about that, Apple will not repair it for free.

You could try to sweet talk Apple into offering to do a repair cheaper, but I would not expect this and likely could take months of back and forth. You could just pay whatever they ask for and get it done. Or you could try a reputable 3rd party, which will be cheaper but not the same guarantee. Or you could try to fix it yourself, which if you know what you're doing might not be bad, otherwise will require a lot of research and learning and zero guarantee.

Really up to you, and what your priorities are. Depending on where and if you'd purchased it a few days ago I'd say try contacting or resolving something through them. But it looks like you'll have to pay something to get it sorted. See what Apple will charge and go from there is what I'd suggest.
 

mohitjain1112

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 25, 2017
3
0
i have purchased this macbook with my savings just got a job three months ago so saved some amount want to try the apple ecosystem as i don't have amount to purchase the new mac so purchased a preowned macbook which is in warranty the person who sold me macbook is doctor and looks decent and he said this is too big for him he have purchased 13 inch model so i just checked the basic functioning and its warranty by its serial now he is switched off its phone

this is an expensive lesson for me my three months savings gone and i am now without any laptop typing this from my brothers laptop

is any walk through as i have read water damaged macbook works all right it was working fine except noisy fan it becomes dead only after i reset the smc i have done some wrong steps to reset its smc maybe any way

i have purchased this macbook approx with my 2 months salary and i have talked to local mechanic he is telling me to replace its motherboard which is costing half of the mac
 
Last edited:

windows4ever

macrumors member
Aug 14, 2011
70
41
If you purchased it online with paypal, then you have 6 months to file a claim to get your money back. If you paid cash you can sue him in court since he said it was under warranty when in fact it isn't because of liquid damage. You could also try filing a police report for fraud. That should get his attention.
 

New_Mac_Smell

macrumors 68000
Oct 17, 2016
1,931
1,552
Shanghai
i have purchased this macbook with my savings just got a job three months ago so saved some amount want to try the apple ecosystem as i don't have amount to purchase the new mac so purchased a preowned macbook which is in warranty the person who sold me macbook is doctor and looks decent and he said this is too big for him he have purchased 13 inch model so i just checked the basic functioning and its warranty by its serial now he is switched off its phone

this is an expensive lesson for me my three months savings gone and i am now without any laptop typing this from my brothers laptop

is any walk through as i have read water damaged macbook works all right it was working fine except noisy fan it becomes dead only after i reset the smc i have done some wrong steps to reset its smc maybe any way

i have purchased this macbook approx with my 2 months salary and i have talked to local mechanic he is telling me to replace its motherboard which is costing half of the mac

Believe me I feel your pain here, I don't personally touch used computers and would rather buy a lesser new computer over a used, but I understand how saddening stuff like this is. It could just be the battery. Did Apple say anything that could be wrong with it? I'd strongly suggest you plead with them to see if they had any ideas to give you a starting point before throwing money at it yourself trying to fix things.

If you purchased it online with paypal, then you have 6 months to file a claim to get your money back. If you paid cash you can sue him in court since he said it was under warranty when in fact it isn't because of liquid damage. You could also try filing a police report for fraud. That should get his attention.

Whilst all that is true and would hopefully be successful. The first thing you'd want to do is take photos of the water damage, and try work out if there's anything you can do to prove this damage was caused prior to your purchase. Otherwise it'll come down to a he said/she said situation which is impossible for a court to settle, and will just cost money.

If as you said (OP) the seller is no longer replying to your messages, to me this would indicate the seller was aware of the issue. So PayPal could be a good choice, but keep any evidence and records you can. But do this ASAP because you need some kind of proof this was damaged prior to purchase. And do this before you attempt any kind of repair on the device.

-

Just reading up for you, a lot of people are suggesting they fixed things with a new battery and using an 85w charger. However if that didn't work it'd be a logic board replacement. If you've gone through PayPal try that first, then I'd strongly recommend taking it to a 3rd party repair shop and asking them to have a look.
 

windows4ever

macrumors member
Aug 14, 2011
70
41
...prove this damage was caused prior to your purchase. Otherwise it'll come down to a he said/she said situation which is impossible for a court to settle, and will just cost money.

A judge would have to decide who was telling the truth. Judges do this all the time in small court cases. The laptop was sold with the seller representing that it was under Applecare warranty and the buyer finds out it isn't. That's a breach of contract.

OP may want to read this on failed SMC resets:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/smc-issue-on-mbp-13-hardware-troubleshooting-guide.1122338/
 
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