I had the liquid spill problem with my MacBook Air 15" 4 weeks ago. It was charging and the keyboard was lighting and nothing else. I waited for about 8 days to dry - still no luck. I was disheartened - a 7 month old machine just died. I learned from Apple Website the warranty doesn't cover liquid spill. I didn't buy the AppleCare service either. After a bit of thought, I made an appointment with our local Genius Bar. The greeter seated me on a long table. On the other end two apple workers saw me but continued to chat and laugh. Finally one of them came to me. I told him that I had liquid spill issues with my MB Air. He didn't even touch the equipment and said it will cost me $1100 to fix it. I knew that it will cost me a lot but wanted to find out how much - but did not expect what I heard. I left the store with disappointment due to the attitude of the tech. I realized that I bought the MB from Bestbuy. I wanted to see their price to fix it. In contrast to the Genius Bar worker, the Bestbuy Geek squad person was sympathetic and created a paperwork to ship the unit to their Mac service center. He said will have to pay $85 for the diagnostics.
12 days later, I received the unit with screen and battery replaced. It gets interesting - they charged me nothing!
In the future I will buy apple products only from Bestbuy. They also have discounts that you cannot get it at the Apple Store.