A laptop that gets liquid spilled on it usually doesn't fail immediately. It fails over the following hours and days, as whatever was in the liquid, sugar, salt, milk, corrodes the connections on the board underneath the keyboard. Turning it on to check "if it still works" pushes power through exactly the connections that are corroding, which is what finishes them off.
Why rice doesn't work
Rice is genuinely good at pulling moisture out of the air around it, which is why it ends up in shipping boxes with electronics. But surface moisture was never the real threat. The damage that kills a laptop happens underneath the keyboard, where liquid reaches the board directly, and rice has no way to reach that or stop the corrosion already starting there.
What it costs
$150 to $400, and the range here is wider than almost any other repair, because severity varies enormously. Plain water spilled and caught quickly sits at the low end. A sugary drink left to sit overnight, needing a full disassembly and corrosion clean, sits at the top.
What the clean-up actually involves
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Full disassembly
Every component that liquid could have reached comes out, not just a wipe-down.
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Corrosion inspection
Checking every connection and component for the early signs of damage.
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Isopropyl clean
Displaces residue and moisture from components without the water damage that caused the problem.
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Reassemble and test
Full power-on and function test before it goes back to you.
Common questions
It turned back on fine. Do I still need to bring it in?
Yes, and soon. Corrosion from sugary or salty liquid keeps spreading after the laptop dries out and appears to work. Machines that seemed fine on day one sometimes fail completely a week later, once corrosion has had time to eat through a connection.
Why not rice?
Rice pulls out surface moisture, which was never the main problem. The damage that actually kills laptops is corrosion forming on the board underneath, and rice does nothing about that.
What if it was just water, not coffee or juice?
Plain water is the best case, since it doesn't leave a sugary or mineral residue behind. Still worth a clean and check, but less likely to cause the ongoing corrosion that sweeter or salted liquids do.
Will my data survive?
In most cases, yes. The drive is usually the last thing affected, and even where the motherboard is damaged beyond repair, we can often recover the data before writing it off.