Well, the first thing to do is to see what kind of waranty your laptop is, and also to find out places to get it looked at. While it may well be completely dead, assuming that without getting it verified is a bad idea. Take it to the store you were thinking of taking it to and get it checked out.
That said, you know what the right thing to do is. You tell your parents the exact circumstances of what happened. The fact that you've let this go for two weeks without telling them is bad, and its only going to get worse if you don't suck it up and admit the truth. They're going to figure it out eventually, so you might as well tell the truth. Letting it drag on and then eventually getting found out will only erode your family's ability to trust you.
This happened to me. You're machine isn't totally fucked, you probably just fried the logic board, which doesn't effect your memory or anything. You just need to replace it, which... is super expensive...(like nearly 1K), but that's much better than paying 3K for a new one.
Actually I'm 100% positive it's the logic board, as mine didn't turn on either, etc etc. If you have a spare 1K, I would just get it repared and not bother telling your parents. If not, then you'd pretty much have to tell them, OR get a job to save up for the repair (if you can live with out having a computer for a while)
I highly reccomend this repair place http://www.myservice.com/ . They fixed my computer perfectly each time it busted, and it's a lot cheaper than most places, and they're very fast and thorough. They just send a box to put your mac in, you ship it out for free, they fix it, and send it back to you. Really easy, really fast.
Just bite the bullet and tell them. Explain to them what happened and that your going to buy yourself a replacement by working over the summer. Say that you are at fault and that you were sorry for being careless. Seriously its better to get it out of the way because eventually your computer will come up some how and you don't want to be caught in a bad situation just because you didn't tell them sooner. They'd probably be just as angry for that then if you lied to them.
"Hey mom, dad I had an accident at school and spilt water on my laptop and I am so sorry, it was all my fault. Is there anyway I can work off a new one or buy a new one with money I make over summer?"
The worst part is you're building yourself up for the pain, don't do that. Get it over with like a band-aide, it'll suck but it's worse than not telling or waiting.
bowen on
not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
Before you tell them, figure out how much it'll cost to fix and then come up with a way to pay for it. Showing your parents that you're taking responsibility will dull their anger.
I think one angle you could play up is that you already got 3k worth of use out of it and as much as it sucks that there was an accident that broke it, the only way to have avoided that accident would have been to not be using it.
Probably best to try and make it clear that you didn't take it for granted and aren't expecting them to buy you another one.
I don't really know what the situation with the grandparents are. If you want to work and buy a new one and pull the wool over their eyes and your parents are OK with this it wouldn't be that terrible.
My grandfather is old, and he has basically said he is OK with not hearing minor bad news. If one of us gets an A in university or a raise at work, he'd love to know about it. Boss reams you out over something that isn't your fault and you know your not going to be fired? no need to tell grandpa. Computer breaks? We called it a victory when he rebooted his computer (on/off button) to get back to his homepage we made for him, he doesn't know or care about computers.
It's very possible that this is covered under your parents homeowner's policy. Sometimes you have to pay extra for spill coverage on computers though. My sister had a very nice trumpet jacked while in college and my parent's insurance company payed for a brand-new top of the line horn with no questions asked.
I could just buy another laptop and not tell them, but I am sure they would notice the money missing.
Don't do this. However mad you think they will be if you tell them openly, they will be much more upset if they find out via "Honey, I was just looking at the bank statements, what the fuck happened to 3000 dollars?"
Man (or woman if applicable) up and just tell them. Apologize and offer to help pay for a replacement. Then actually do that, bust your hump and get some extra hours at work.
They may also have an alternative you haven't considered, such as the previously mentioned homeowners insurance.
Erandus on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
0
WulfDisciple of TzeentchThe Void... (New Jersey)Registered Userregular
buy a pc? They cost you 500 bucks. If you don't have 500 bucks, you should get a job. If you claim you cannot get a job because you are a student, you are wrong, I knew double majors with jobs.
"Mom, Dad, I accidentally spilled water on my laptop and it won't turn on anymore, I know it was a really stupid thing to do. I've been doing research online and took it into the store and found out it will cost about X to repair it. I should have enough money for that by the end of the summer but I was wondering if you could help me out to get it repaired now and I will pay you back."
"Mom, Dad, I accidentally spilled water on my laptop and it won't turn on anymore, I know it was a really stupid thing to do. I've been doing research online and took it into the store and found out it will cost about X to repair it. I can pay for Y, but I was wondering if you could cover the rest and I will pay you back for it."
"Mom, Dad, I accidentally spilled water on my laptop and it won't turn on anymore. I know it was a really stupid thing to do. I've been doing research online and took it into the store and found out it will cost about X to repair it. I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to pay for this and was wondering if you could help me figure that out."
Unknown User on
0
WulfDisciple of TzeentchThe Void... (New Jersey)Registered Userregular
Are macs not like PCs where you can just buy the replacement part?
You... don't work with laptops much eh?
You can replace laptop parts. You should be able to replace the logic board, but it's best to take it to a repair centre and get a quote.
The other thing is you can probably get a PC that's on par for about $400-500, might even be able to cannibalise a few parts.
Yeah, you can get replacement parts, but dude doesn't sound comfortably up to that level of skill if he can't fix minor water damage before he fried something. Also. No you can most definitely not get a PC laptop that compares in real world operations for $400-500. I have a first class ticket to the ninth circle of hell reserved for the assmunchliarface who came up with those god-damned commercials.... /rant *huff* *huff*
Not only that but the software he would have to shell out for PC versions of? Yeah
He isn't using cheap software folks.
"Mom, Dad, I accidentally spilled water on my laptop and it won't turn on anymore, I know it was a really stupid thing to do. I've been doing research online and took it into the store and found out it will cost about X to repair it. I should have enough money for that by the end of the summer but I was wondering if you could help me out to get it repaired now and I will pay you back."
"Mom, Dad, I accidentally spilled water on my laptop and it won't turn on anymore, I know it was a really stupid thing to do. I've been doing research online and took it into the store and found out it will cost about X to repair it. I can pay for Y, but I was wondering if you could cover the rest and I will pay you back for it."
"Mom, Dad, I accidentally spilled water on my laptop and it won't turn on anymore. I know it was a really stupid thing to do. I've been doing research online and took it into the store and found out it will cost about X to repair it. I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to pay for this and was wondering if you could help me figure that out."
Are macs not like PCs where you can just buy the replacement part?
You... don't work with laptops much eh?
You can replace laptop parts. You should be able to replace the logic board, but it's best to take it to a repair centre and get a quote.
The other thing is you can probably get a PC that's on par for about $400-500, might even be able to cannibalise a few parts.
Yeah, you can get replacement parts, but dude doesn't sound comfortably up to that level of skill if he can't fix minor water damage before he fried something. Also. No you can most definitely not get a PC laptop that compares in real world operations for $400-500. I have a first class ticket to the ninth circle of hell reserved for the assmunchliarface who came up with those god-damned commercials.... /rant *huff* *huff*
Not only that but the software he would have to shell out for PC versions of? Yeah
He isn't using cheap software folks.
Regardless, yeah time to man up and speak out :P
PC, not PC laptop. Although saying all that, you probably could buy a stripped down PC laptop and swap a lot of the parts in.
Rook on
0
HakkekageSpace Whore Academysumma cum laudeRegistered Userregular
edited June 2009
Um, have you tried going to the genius bar? If you got it under a year ago, you're still covered by AppleCare.
I recently got my macbook pro sent to depot and they literally fixed everything, even the things I didn't ask for or know about, for free. Although that was a combination of sympathy on the part of the genius, a sad comment about how long I'd saved up for this, and distressed accounting on my part with my bank account numbers and the quote he gave me which likely stirred up the aforementioned sympathy. Also, I was very honest about what happened to it, and that was why the guy put CS code on it to make it free...everything WAS accidental damage, and I agreed with him right off the bat, and didn't argue anything. Just be really nice. And be honest.
I'm not saying you will be able to get it fixed for free--i got the impression that this was a very rare thing to happen, because after i brought it home to back up the harddrive (which didn't matter cause it was returned unwiped) and then went back to the store to drop it off the other guy at the genius bar was like "whoa CS code"--you will at least get a quote and a diagnosis of what exactly is wrong with it.
I got my out-of-warranty iPod touch fixed for free. It was under Applecare, but the guy screwed up when I was registering it and it was never put on my account. It didn't matter, however, since the guy at the genius bar said they'd fix it anyway, since it was only a couple months out. They're very nice people if you explain your situation and make sad eyes.
Trillian on
They cast a shadow like a sundial in the morning light. It was half past 10.
If you go to Applecare, don't tell them you spilled anything on it. Applecare doesn't cover that.
Applecare doesn't cover accidental damage either, like my laptop being kicked, scratches and dents all over the case, and dents on the display that were causing pressure on the LCD and dead pixels to show up on the screen.
But they did for me.
I'm just saying you have nothing to lose by going, and as it turned out for me and possibly for you as well, everything to gain.
I mean for god's sake, I expected to have to pay out the ass or live with the damages because there was no way any of them were going to be classified as non-accidental damage, and the guy still did me a huge favor.
When I spilled on my laptop, i ended up having to pay $250. I later found out that people who went in and told the Genuises nothing didn't have to pay anything at all.
HakkekageSpace Whore Academysumma cum laudeRegistered Userregular
edited June 2009
Well what did they say, "it just stopped working?"
A good compromise (to the genius at least) would be "My classmate/friend/archenemy spilled water on it in school" if you would like to evade a possible charge.
maybe the geniuses at my store were just tired of being lied to
Some people are insanely good at being (or pretending to be) completely oblivious to anything when it comes to technology. I'm pretty sure my sister could throw her laptop off of the roof of her building and somehow avoid being charged out the rear.
The genius bar helping you for free is completely random and it is 99% likely they'll charge you and they'll charge you out the butt. Apple kind of sucks like that. Hence why I switched to a PC with accident insurance.
Some people are insanely good at being (or pretending to be) completely oblivious to anything when it comes to technology. I'm pretty sure my sister could throw her laptop off of the roof of her building and somehow avoid being charged out the rear.
most likely, she's a woman, and talking to a geek at an apple store
Say you left your dorm to visit your parents for a week and left the laptop on your desk. When you got back, it wouldn't boot. Your roommate swears nothing happened to it and he didn't touch it - you have no idea whats going on.
Say you left your dorm to visit your parents for a week and left the laptop on your desk. When you got back, it wouldn't boot. Your roommate swears nothing happened to it and he didn't touch it - you have no idea whats going on.
Don't lie dude tell the truth. As a parent it sucks to hear bad news from your kids especially when bad news involves a high dollar amount but its much better than lying and they find out different later also it shows good character to be truthful. As one poster mentioned get a quote on the repair cost and then come up with a plan on paying it back. Also its possible they may have gotten some kind of extended warranty on it I know I would have, or be covered under homeowners insurance. So just be honest
Does insurance really cover accidental damage to a laptop?
My policy has an additional "computer coverage" rider, which takes care of water damage, drops, and other stupid human tricks. The policy itself already covered theft, fire, and all the other normal renters insurance stuff.
1. Start stalking someone who works at one of these genius bar places, find out which Starbucks he takes his coffee break at and when.
2. Call your mum and pretend to be your dad. Invite her to meet 'you' (your dad) for coffee at said Starbucks at the time the genius bar guy takes his break, tell her that there will be a guy there holding a table for them and describe genius bar staff guy.
3. Go to Starbucks at same time as arranged 'date' with your laptop, buy a large coffee (it's ok, you aren't going to have to drink it), hide in waiting until your mum arrives and approaches the table the genius guy is sitting at.
4. Briskly walk past genius guy, bumping into him with your coffee arm and spill your coffee on your laptop and yourself.
5. Round on genius guy 'Ow! Hey! You spilled my coffee on me and my lapto...OH MY GOD MUM! YOU'RE DATING MY MUM?!?!'
6. Terrify genius guy into getting your laptop fixed for free, mum will be too shocked to ask any questions about laptop, dad etc. and will just want to pretend none of this happened.
7. Sue Starbucks
8. ...
9 . Profit.
Alternatively, check you insurance, check your applecare, find out how much repair is going to cost and put on your meekest face and fess up to your folks. They will probably be annoyed but most people realise shit happens. This won't have been the first toy they've bought you that ended up getting broke.
Does insurance really cover accidental damage to a laptop?
My policy has an additional "computer coverage" rider, which takes care of water damage, drops, and other stupid human tricks. The policy itself already covered theft, fire, and all the other normal renters insurance stuff.
You learn something new everyday. I figured insurance companies were such bastards that they'd basically tell you to get lost for self-inflicted damage. It's what I'd do. Also, this sort of incident is one reason I went with ASUS when I bought a PC laptop, they give you a free one year accidental damage coverage.
Does insurance really cover accidental damage to a laptop?
My policy has an additional "computer coverage" rider, which takes care of water damage, drops, and other stupid human tricks. The policy itself already covered theft, fire, and all the other normal renters insurance stuff.
You learn something new everyday. I figured insurance companies were such bastards that they'd basically tell you to get lost for self-inflicted damage. It's what I'd do. Also, this sort of incident is one reason I went with ASUS when I bought a PC laptop, they give you a free one year accidental damage coverage.
Accidental damage is pretty much the point of insurance companies (that and theft and lost). It's the intentional damage they generally refuse to pay out on.
Say you left your dorm to visit your parents for a week and left the laptop on your desk. When you got back, it wouldn't boot. Your roommate swears nothing happened to it and he didn't touch it - you have no idea whats going on.
Don't lie dude tell the truth. As a parent it sucks to hear bad news from your kids especially when bad news involves a high dollar amount but its much better than lying and they find out different later also it shows good character to be truthful. As one poster mentioned get a quote on the repair cost and then come up with a plan on paying it back. Also its possible they may have gotten some kind of extended warranty on it I know I would have, or be covered under homeowners insurance. So just be honest
My response was for what to tell Apple, not his parents. Yes, you'd still probably red it, yes it's a lie. However, if they know you spilled liquid on it, you're fucked. If you feign ignorance, you have a chance at getting it repaired as it's still under warranty (right?).
Registered User regular
Posts
That said, you know what the right thing to do is. You tell your parents the exact circumstances of what happened. The fact that you've let this go for two weeks without telling them is bad, and its only going to get worse if you don't suck it up and admit the truth. They're going to figure it out eventually, so you might as well tell the truth. Letting it drag on and then eventually getting found out will only erode your family's ability to trust you.
But why not try taking it to a repair place and see if it can be salvaged before you tell them?
They might be mad. They might yell and say you're an idiot, but they'll forgive you unless they're dicks. And they don't sound like dicks.
Actually I'm 100% positive it's the logic board, as mine didn't turn on either, etc etc. If you have a spare 1K, I would just get it repared and not bother telling your parents. If not, then you'd pretty much have to tell them, OR get a job to save up for the repair (if you can live with out having a computer for a while)
I highly reccomend this repair place http://www.myservice.com/ . They fixed my computer perfectly each time it busted, and it's a lot cheaper than most places, and they're very fast and thorough. They just send a box to put your mac in, you ship it out for free, they fix it, and send it back to you. Really easy, really fast.
Check out my art! Buy some prints!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
The worst part is you're building yourself up for the pain, don't do that. Get it over with like a band-aide, it'll suck but it's worse than not telling or waiting.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
I think one angle you could play up is that you already got 3k worth of use out of it and as much as it sucks that there was an accident that broke it, the only way to have avoided that accident would have been to not be using it.
Probably best to try and make it clear that you didn't take it for granted and aren't expecting them to buy you another one.
I don't really know what the situation with the grandparents are. If you want to work and buy a new one and pull the wool over their eyes and your parents are OK with this it wouldn't be that terrible.
My grandfather is old, and he has basically said he is OK with not hearing minor bad news. If one of us gets an A in university or a raise at work, he'd love to know about it. Boss reams you out over something that isn't your fault and you know your not going to be fired? no need to tell grandpa. Computer breaks? We called it a victory when he rebooted his computer (on/off button) to get back to his homepage we made for him, he doesn't know or care about computers.
. . . but what if they are assholes and just want to shit all over everyone?
Don't do this. However mad you think they will be if you tell them openly, they will be much more upset if they find out via "Honey, I was just looking at the bank statements, what the fuck happened to 3000 dollars?"
Man (or woman if applicable) up and just tell them. Apologize and offer to help pay for a replacement. Then actually do that, bust your hump and get some extra hours at work.
They may also have an alternative you haven't considered, such as the previously mentioned homeowners insurance.
You... don't work with laptops much eh?
You can replace laptop parts. You should be able to replace the logic board, but it's best to take it to a repair centre and get a quote.
The other thing is you can probably get a PC that's on par for about $400-500, might even be able to cannibalise a few parts.
"Mom, Dad, I accidentally spilled water on my laptop and it won't turn on anymore, I know it was a really stupid thing to do. I've been doing research online and took it into the store and found out it will cost about X to repair it. I can pay for Y, but I was wondering if you could cover the rest and I will pay you back for it."
"Mom, Dad, I accidentally spilled water on my laptop and it won't turn on anymore. I know it was a really stupid thing to do. I've been doing research online and took it into the store and found out it will cost about X to repair it. I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to pay for this and was wondering if you could help me figure that out."
Yeah, you can get replacement parts, but dude doesn't sound comfortably up to that level of skill if he can't fix minor water damage before he fried something. Also. No you can most definitely not get a PC laptop that compares in real world operations for $400-500. I have a first class ticket to the ninth circle of hell reserved for the assmunchliarface who came up with those god-damned commercials.... /rant *huff* *huff*
Not only that but the software he would have to shell out for PC versions of? Yeah
He isn't using cheap software folks.
Regardless, yeah time to man up and speak out :P
I would lime all of this but I am lazy...
OP, pick one and then lock this.
Then be all "Kidding! But about my laptop.."
PC, not PC laptop. Although saying all that, you probably could buy a stripped down PC laptop and swap a lot of the parts in.
I recently got my macbook pro sent to depot and they literally fixed everything, even the things I didn't ask for or know about, for free. Although that was a combination of sympathy on the part of the genius, a sad comment about how long I'd saved up for this, and distressed accounting on my part with my bank account numbers and the quote he gave me which likely stirred up the aforementioned sympathy. Also, I was very honest about what happened to it, and that was why the guy put CS code on it to make it free...everything WAS accidental damage, and I agreed with him right off the bat, and didn't argue anything. Just be really nice. And be honest.
I'm not saying you will be able to get it fixed for free--i got the impression that this was a very rare thing to happen, because after i brought it home to back up the harddrive (which didn't matter cause it was returned unwiped) and then went back to the store to drop it off the other guy at the genius bar was like "whoa CS code"--you will at least get a quote and a diagnosis of what exactly is wrong with it.
And my parents didn't know a thing.
NNID: Hakkekage
They cast a shadow like a sundial in the morning light. It was half past 10.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
But they did for me.
I'm just saying you have nothing to lose by going, and as it turned out for me and possibly for you as well, everything to gain.
I mean for god's sake, I expected to have to pay out the ass or live with the damages because there was no way any of them were going to be classified as non-accidental damage, and the guy still did me a huge favor.
NNID: Hakkekage
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
A good compromise (to the genius at least) would be "My classmate/friend/archenemy spilled water on it in school" if you would like to evade a possible charge.
maybe the geniuses at my store were just tired of being lied to
NNID: Hakkekage
most likely, she's a woman, and talking to a geek at an apple store
:winky:
Don't lie dude tell the truth. As a parent it sucks to hear bad news from your kids especially when bad news involves a high dollar amount but its much better than lying and they find out different later also it shows good character to be truthful. As one poster mentioned get a quote on the repair cost and then come up with a plan on paying it back. Also its possible they may have gotten some kind of extended warranty on it I know I would have, or be covered under homeowners insurance. So just be honest
It can, yeah, depending on your policy.
My policy has an additional "computer coverage" rider, which takes care of water damage, drops, and other stupid human tricks. The policy itself already covered theft, fire, and all the other normal renters insurance stuff.
1. Start stalking someone who works at one of these genius bar places, find out which Starbucks he takes his coffee break at and when.
2. Call your mum and pretend to be your dad. Invite her to meet 'you' (your dad) for coffee at said Starbucks at the time the genius bar guy takes his break, tell her that there will be a guy there holding a table for them and describe genius bar staff guy.
3. Go to Starbucks at same time as arranged 'date' with your laptop, buy a large coffee (it's ok, you aren't going to have to drink it), hide in waiting until your mum arrives and approaches the table the genius guy is sitting at.
4. Briskly walk past genius guy, bumping into him with your coffee arm and spill your coffee on your laptop and yourself.
5. Round on genius guy 'Ow! Hey! You spilled my coffee on me and my lapto...OH MY GOD MUM! YOU'RE DATING MY MUM?!?!'
6. Terrify genius guy into getting your laptop fixed for free, mum will be too shocked to ask any questions about laptop, dad etc. and will just want to pretend none of this happened.
7. Sue Starbucks
8. ...
9 . Profit.
You learn something new everyday. I figured insurance companies were such bastards that they'd basically tell you to get lost for self-inflicted damage. It's what I'd do. Also, this sort of incident is one reason I went with ASUS when I bought a PC laptop, they give you a free one year accidental damage coverage.
Accidental damage is pretty much the point of insurance companies (that and theft and lost). It's the intentional damage they generally refuse to pay out on.
My response was for what to tell Apple, not his parents. Yes, you'd still probably red it, yes it's a lie. However, if they know you spilled liquid on it, you're fucked. If you feign ignorance, you have a chance at getting it repaired as it's still under warranty (right?).