MacBook Pro display defect?

Question

Hi!
I brought my first gen core2duo 15" MacBook Pro (March 2007.. I think) to an Apple store genius bar today. It has the SAME defect as shown in pics in this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9955601
Unfortunately, I did not take pics of mine. I am a paraplegic for life, high level, wheelchair, and get bed ridden a lot, so the MBP has been a good friend. But, I was called a liar at the sotre today, and told that there was no way that the damage was due to anything but water damage, and therefor AppleCare would not cover it. I was so ticked off, and had no idea what to do. I asked them to please send it in, and that way I could have official documentation at least.
I have not ever had any type of liquid anywhere near my MBP. My apartment is small, and kept at 65-72 degrees F, low humidity. It is only used when I am stuck in bed, sometimes for a day or three. It sits on a shelf at night to charge, and gets placed on a hospital table for me to use. It has gone nowhere else, never been abused, dropped, etc. Almost like new!
It also has the battery issue (battery shows charged, but MBP will simply shut off, even with more than half a charge showing!), and the dvd drive does not write properly all the time (fails about 75-80% of the time). They said the battery simply ran out of life, not covered. And the dvd drive.. if they determine the display to be liquid damage, the dvd drive will not be tested. They also said that they will simply and ONLY open it, turn it on, look at the screen, and immediately assess it as being liquid damage. WHAT?!?!?
Are there any other occurrences of this... defect? I will gladly take a polygraph. It is NOT water/liquid damage, but no one at the store would believe me. I had a friend bring me there today, and they are ready to sell their MBP and iphone now after the horrible treatment. Any help in tracking down other cases would be HUGELY appreciated! Thank you!

Answer 1

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you are having. It seems you are dealing with a less than normal quality level Apple store. You need to contact Apple Customer Relations at: [phone]. These are not the same folks that you would normally talk to for support questions and they have a bit more authority in these matters. Water damage can not definitively be determined without opening up the machine. Even if there is something on the surface of your machine caused by water or other fluid, that does not automatically mean it went into your machine and caused a problem. They need to examine the machine to make that determination. Just be aware... just as in the post you linked to... it does "appear" to be similar to water damage. So that is what they are going to think first. If you are sure it is not due to water damage, you need to stand your ground. But be understanding in that their first impression was the problem was caused by water or other fluid.