New Mac Book damaged after new laptop bag drops the mac...

Question

hi....
so - recently i purchased a new 15" macbook pro in Hong Kong on my way home to NZ for xmas. it was very nice. the guy even gave me a HP laptop bag free of charge...i also purchased the extended 3 year Applecare option. i was pretty happy with my purchase - what a lovely machine... until out xmas shopping i heard a bang as the bag strap came loose.
i'd be carrying the laptop around for about an hour. (i'd used the bag before this day - i was careful with it.)i wasn't knocked. i didn't knock into anything. the strap just came loose. no problem i thought. it didn't fall far it wont be damaged. how wrong i was.
the ethernet port is bent (i need to use this port) and screen does now not close as it should. 'luckily' the machine seems to work just fine.
i knew i wasn't covered by Applecare - but thought i'd try my luck at the apple store in wellington - thats when the news got really bad...
it appears the damage is very close to the logic board - the guy seemed to think the damage would void all Applecare and given time will start to cause problems with the machine.he seemed to think it wasn't even worth getting fixed...
i feel pretty.....erm....'annoyed' about this. i haven't done anything wrong. just bad luck. the bag even looks fine - i don't know what happened. it seems i am now stuck with a macbook that wont last very long - through an act of god - it's less than a month old!
if it was my fault - had i been reckless in anyway- fair enough i'd take it on the chin - but this seems so unfair....
and no i don't have travel insurance....
does anyone know if there is anything i can do!? i'm passing back through Hong Kong on my way back to london in a couple of weeks - but i'm guessing the store wont help.....
any ideas!?
thanks...

Answer 1

This is an unfortunate situation but I don't think that there is anything that anyone will be able to do for you. Apple certainly cannot help you; it is not their fault that the machine is now damaged.
What you may be able to do is purchase a replacement unibody enclosure from a 3rd party distributor on the internet. You could then ask to have this replacement fitted to the computer that you have by an Apple authorized service provider. There would be a fee for this service, I'm sure, but it would likely be cheaper than Apple repairing it.
However, you cannot be sure that the logic board was not damaged by the fall either. The safest option, as always, would be for Apple to diagnose the machine and repair it. Be prepared though, the cost will likely escalate to upwards of $1000 USD, or possibly more if the LCD screen was damaged as well.
If the machine is usable in its current form (except for the ethernet port) what you could do is purchase a USB to ethernet adaptor and use that to access ethernet. It won't be at gigabit speeds like the ethernet port, but it would work and is much cheaper than having the whole machine repaired.
One more possibility for you: If you purchased the machine on a major credit card, often they include insurance that covers accidental damage to any products purchased with that card for a specific period of time. I know my Visa covers accidental damage on all purchases for 90 days from purchase, for example. It may be worth checking your credit card terms of service for those details.
--Travis