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Back Story:
This customer brought in a laptop that he had spilled coke on to have the keyboard cleaned. The original complain was JUST that the keys were sticky and the buttons on the touchpad stuck. So we gave they keyboard and touchpad assembly an acetone bath and cleaned them. Fast forward 3 months later and he brought his unit back in because, apparently, we hadn't cleaned all the dust (which probably accumulated over the course of the 3 months) and that different problems were occuring with his computer. We sent the laptop in to our repair depot per the request of our customer. During the course of their diagnostic and estimation they, of course, found liquid spill damage which voided his extended warranty. This meant that he would have to pay $1300 out of his own pocket to fix a $1600 computer. But, hey, he voided his warranty through his own stupidity so it is fault...of course not.
Fast Forward:
It's been a few weeks and the technician working on it has called him several times to inform him of the fact that his warranty is now void and he will have to pay for it if he wants to get it fixed. He finally decides to call us back and I get to field his call.
I'm going to skip the beginning parts of the conversation and get to the "Sucky" part.
Me: Basically what the repair depot is saying is that they found spill damage and that is not covered by the warranty you purchased. Had you gone with the Platinum plan you would have been fine.
Him: That's ridiculous, you expect me to pay $1300 dollars for a laptop that costs only $300 dollars more?
Me: It is out of our hands. They have found spill damage and you admitted that you had spilled liquid on it before. So, unfortunately that voids your warranty because that is what is most likely causing your system to malfunction.
Him: But I only brought it in to get the keyboard cleaned. The coke did not break anything else.
Me: Maybe you didn't notice the other problems before because your keyboard wasn't working and you couldn't even access your computer. Usually liquid damages are very apparent from the get-go...other times it can be delayed or not so obvious.
Him: But, when I brought it in the only problem was that the keys were sticking.
Me: It's a chicken or the egg problem right now. They have no way of knowing if the problems occured after the spill or before it. But the mere fact that there is evidence that liquid has been spilled on the system board VOIDs your warranty.
Him: Look, I have been working on computers for FOUR YEARS and assembled some myself. I know, there IS no possible way that liquids can damage a computer like that. I want to talk to a manager because this is your fault and I shouldn't have to pay for it. It was fine when I brought it in the first time.
Me: I'll have him give you a call tomorrow.
Yeah buddy, because there is no way liquids can get under a keyboard and get onto the system board. Maybe you have pieced computers together for four years...but those were probably desktops and not notebooks. If you spill on a desktop keyboard it probably won't screw your entire system...but this is a LAPTOP. 4 years? I've been working with computers for over 12 years and am a Software Engineer.....so I doubt you know more than me with your measily 4 years. Hopefully my manager tells him to f off.
This customer brought in a laptop that he had spilled coke on to have the keyboard cleaned. The original complain was JUST that the keys were sticky and the buttons on the touchpad stuck. So we gave they keyboard and touchpad assembly an acetone bath and cleaned them. Fast forward 3 months later and he brought his unit back in because, apparently, we hadn't cleaned all the dust (which probably accumulated over the course of the 3 months) and that different problems were occuring with his computer. We sent the laptop in to our repair depot per the request of our customer. During the course of their diagnostic and estimation they, of course, found liquid spill damage which voided his extended warranty. This meant that he would have to pay $1300 out of his own pocket to fix a $1600 computer. But, hey, he voided his warranty through his own stupidity so it is fault...of course not.
Fast Forward:
It's been a few weeks and the technician working on it has called him several times to inform him of the fact that his warranty is now void and he will have to pay for it if he wants to get it fixed. He finally decides to call us back and I get to field his call.
I'm going to skip the beginning parts of the conversation and get to the "Sucky" part.
Me: Basically what the repair depot is saying is that they found spill damage and that is not covered by the warranty you purchased. Had you gone with the Platinum plan you would have been fine.
Him: That's ridiculous, you expect me to pay $1300 dollars for a laptop that costs only $300 dollars more?
Me: It is out of our hands. They have found spill damage and you admitted that you had spilled liquid on it before. So, unfortunately that voids your warranty because that is what is most likely causing your system to malfunction.
Him: But I only brought it in to get the keyboard cleaned. The coke did not break anything else.
Me: Maybe you didn't notice the other problems before because your keyboard wasn't working and you couldn't even access your computer. Usually liquid damages are very apparent from the get-go...other times it can be delayed or not so obvious.
Him: But, when I brought it in the only problem was that the keys were sticking.
Me: It's a chicken or the egg problem right now. They have no way of knowing if the problems occured after the spill or before it. But the mere fact that there is evidence that liquid has been spilled on the system board VOIDs your warranty.
Him: Look, I have been working on computers for FOUR YEARS and assembled some myself. I know, there IS no possible way that liquids can damage a computer like that. I want to talk to a manager because this is your fault and I shouldn't have to pay for it. It was fine when I brought it in the first time.
Me: I'll have him give you a call tomorrow.
Yeah buddy, because there is no way liquids can get under a keyboard and get onto the system board. Maybe you have pieced computers together for four years...but those were probably desktops and not notebooks. If you spill on a desktop keyboard it probably won't screw your entire system...but this is a LAPTOP. 4 years? I've been working with computers for over 12 years and am a Software Engineer.....so I doubt you know more than me with your measily 4 years. Hopefully my manager tells him to f off.
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