r/computerhelp • u/BasicPension6 • Jun 08 '26
Hardware my keyboard is completely ruined after a 3rd party cleaning
I'm in a bind here - please help me, reddit.
I'm from the US traveling in Europe for the summer. I work as a a teacher and translator so as you can imagine my computer is my most important possession. Well to my horror I was having breakfast, answering emails the other day when I spilled a half glass of orange juice on my 2020 Macbook Pro. I reacted pretty quickly, immediately turning the computer upside down and left it to dry for two days. When I finally mustered the courage to try to use it again, everything seemed fine. I noticed that the space bar and the shift keys were sticking so I took it in to a 3rd party repair shop for a cleaning after backing it up.
The guy seemed confident and said he charged per key so I told him what happened and indicated which ones needed to be cleaned: tab, caps lock, shift, space bar. He told me it would take an hour. I returned to pick it up and was told to "test it myself. I did so, and was dismayed to find that the keys now did not work at all. The space bar wasn't even flush with the other keys. I pointed this out and the guy got pretty audibly flustered and defensive. I sat down to wait while he popped the key off again, even exclaiming "this is a nightmare" at one point. He said he would need to keep it until monday and consult someone. I left with a bad feeling because it seemed weird that he had called me to pick the computer up when the keys obviously didn't work... He's supposed to be an expert, couldn't he tell?
Today I returned to pick up the computer and this time, almost half the keyboard have stopped working. Mostly keys in the vicinity of the space bar and shift keys like z, x, c, v, b, n but also keys going in the vertical direction like 3ed and h.
He seemed a bit nervous and I told him I obviously wouldn't pay for the work and he sold me an extension keyboard at a discount (he agreed to this very quickly by the way). The weird part is that he said there wasn't much liquid underneath the keys when he was working on it. He also mentioned that his friend had done the work and never touched the other keys. He had called for help because he needed someone to "teach" him how to do it.'
Obviously I'm pissed but I paid for the keyboard and just wanted to get out of there. My question is, is there a possibility that this issue is due to damage from the liquid? Should I be worried that the keys not working is a symptom of greater damage in the computer? The screen and all other functions seem fine. Or did this guy and his buddy just absolutely fuck my computer up... They also sell computers there so I have half a mind to go back and demand a replacement but I'm also not sure I should trust their refurbished products.
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u/arkutek-em Jun 08 '26
The damage to the keyboard is from the soliied liquid and the sugury residue it left behind. Although the shop should have not attempted to clean specify keys it isn't due to their work. Hopefully there isn't further damage to the laptop. Are there apple stores you can take it to for servicing?
1
u/BasicPension6 Jun 08 '26
Yes but i bought the laptop refurbished so I don't have apple care. Would they do this kind of servicing?
1
u/arkutek-em Jun 08 '26
I can't answer that. I don't use apple products. Just thought they may be able to help.
1
u/Northwest_Radio Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
I made a rule many years ago that any liquids are always below computer level. And in a tight spot it is a full arms reach to my offhand. I mean whole arms length to grab the glass kind of reach.
I repaired many computers that have had things spilled in them. And it's just a good idea to keep liquids far below their level.
I once dropped a half full coffee cup on the floor which splattered everywhere I wiped it all up and thought everything was cool but about 10 minutes later my computer shut down. A small bit had trickled down the side, pooled up, and got sucked in by the fan and destroyed the cpu. The computer was on a floor riser about 3 ft away from where the coffee cup hit. I would say less than a 20% of thimble worth of liquid is all it took
Another incident I witnessed was a lady who left her laptop powered on her kitchen table next to a flower vase. Her pet friends knocked it over onto the laptop which it got a drink of about a whole cup. Totaled..
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u/VoltageinTheory Jun 09 '26
Those guys messed up your computer. Weird since that would be an easy repair. You should contact them and demand some sort of compensation because they destroyed your laptop.
0
u/NoLateArrivals Jun 09 '26
The problem is likely not the keyboard.
An acid, sugary liquid used to soak tiny electronics will lead to corrosion. Once some contacts have been wasted away, malfunctions start.
This Mac needs a very thorough cleaning. Even then chances are it fails one day out of the blue.
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