I dropped my 15" MacBook Pro off of the couch onto hardwood floor (a drop of about 24 inches). It works fine still, but the bottom part (not the LCD) has bent inwards as a result. So if you are looking at the laptop with your eyes at desk-level the left hand side of the case is bent in a few millimeters on the bottom. This warping has caused the bottom-panel (the big panel screwed into the bottom) to jut out slightly.
I talked to Apple and they said that this sort of damage isn't covered by any warranty, and all they could do is replace the entire lower unibody frame for something like $600.
Does anyone know if there are Mac repair shops that will bend a unibody frame back into shape? Is there a reliable national chain that offers this? An online repair shop that you would trust mailing your laptop to? Tips on locating a local shop that might do this sort of work?
Also, I live in the S.F. Bay Area so if anyone knows personally of a repair shop that does this sort of thing, that would be awesome to know as well.
Best Answer
I could not recommend you any service, but here is my story.
I was almost the same situation about a year ago. I decided to replace the "top-case" which is the keyboard actually. I've got the old bended part and later it was easy to bend it back to it's original shape (it's really elastic aluminum) by myself.
The sad thing that the whole inside should be screwed out and back to replace the "top-case". So it's not an easy job, they even shortcut something at first time at the Apple service.
The bottom part which is just an aluminum plate can be easily bended back at home.