iPhone "Liquid Indicators"

I wanted to see if anyone has run into a similar problem. My iPhone had an issue where the sound output from the headset within the phone was distorted. I called AppleCare and they stated that this issue would be covered and to send in the phone and they would send a replacement at no charge as long as there was not any liquid damage or damage beyond regular use. Note that I would have taken the phone to an Apple store but I live in a rural area 2 hours away.

Needless to say, I received an email indicating that my warrant was void and I was being charged $205 dollars for a replacement as my phone had "liquid damage". The phone was never exposed to water or any other liquids which has made this very difficult to swallow. I do live in hte mountains and am surrounded in snow and rapidly changing temperatures but I'm not sure what the indicator would be set off by these conditions. In addition after talking to a manager today I was told that the phone has visual indicators which I could have checked ahead of time, in which case I would have lived with the sound distortions. I was told that I could have found this information on the website and therefore was informed.

Anyway, at this point I'm very disapointed and I am hoping someone out there can help or maybe Apple will notice that a good amount of people are having similar problems. Maybe they will even change their policy and inform everyone on the phone on how to check for liquid damage...