RIPPING PEOPLE OFF MY DECLARING WATER DAMAGE

I purchased an Apple laptop from DeonWired in 2018 which came with a 3-year warranty. Recently I had an issue with my laptop and I took it to Massmart (Game) and they told me they will cover the warranty from DeonWired and that I need to take it to iStore to send it in for an assessment,

I took it into your iStore branch in Canal Walk (Western Cape). They mentioned it could be the backlight and they will book it in to see what the issue is exactly. They gave me a reference WF081186 and they said the following, and I quote: “..Kindly note that the unit was booked informed no backlight, we reseated all internal cables and backlight is now functioning. We tested the unit over a few days and it still works…”

From my understanding to RESEAT INTERNAL CABLES the unit had to be opened up, examined and assessed to see what the issue is and how to resolve it. It is the only logical understanding. So then I collected the unit from the store and the technician handed me a page with “instruction” on how to reset the device if it does occur. I thought this was a bit strange because they said the problem was resolved, but I accepted it and thought it would be fine. The instructions are as follows:

“First: Mac Switched off” —> SMC Reset: Shift + Ctrl + Alt + Power —> PRAM Reset: CMD + R + P + ALT POWER SHORT —> 2 Chime”

That same night the device did the same issue, where I could not see the screen, so I followed the “instructions” and reset it and it worked for a few minutes and then the same issue happened. I then took it to the same store and explained the situation and they booked it in again. I was given a reference WF081440. They then said the following “We have determined that your unit has been affected due to liquid damage. Regretfully this unit is deemed uneconomical to repaid…”

I called the service centre and asked how can this be a different diagnosis all within a 1 week span and they said that the first time (WF081186) the unit was just reset and the unit WAS NOT opened up. I found this very strange because in the email from the first booking they mentioned that they reseated all the cables.

Then I tried to call their call centre technical team - which it took 30 minutes for them to answer - only for them to drop the call on me. I tried this twice and then on the third time instead of redirecting to the technical help I selected sales in which someone assisted me within 4 minutes. I got through and spoke to Viviane and Amanda who both said they will get someone to give me a call back that day but that did not happen. I waited more than 1 week for a call back before I decided to escalate the issue.

Thereafter I got hold of core groups, operational manager, Deon van Wyk and explained the situation to him and he said that he will get someone else to give me a call and contact me. This is when Elizaan gave me a call. After many emails back and forth and many phone calls, she said she cannot help me. On one of our telephone calls she said that the LCI (liquid contact indicator) was NOT activated however there Is liquid damage. I have asked her to explain to me how this was possible as Apple products have an internal and external LCI and once they are activated the warranty is void.

When I worked at iStore, we were taught and trained that when a device is booked in and if a device is opened up there is 2 things which a technician can detect:

1. If it has been opened up by an unauthorized technician 2. If there has been water damage

Elizaan cannot explain how there is "corrosion" on the motherboard and why the LCI was not activated.

I tried to escalate it as high as possible (their head office) but their attitude is "Do what you want"

Can you please assist me with this matter. Apple products are not cheap and for a company to do this to many customers i feel it is unfair and *********.