Canon denies warranty claim simply because of living in Texas

This Warranty claim denial is familiar. When I bought my Rebel T3 the mode dial was stiff when turning to change modes. As time went on, it was so tight that when I turned the on-off lever the mode dial would turn to a different setting- like AV toM. I  had 3 months left on the one year warranty so I e mailed a repair order to VA Beach repair center. I received an e mail  that said it was covered. I sent it in for repair. A few days later I receive an e mail claiming "Liquid damage". This was a shock as I had no idea what this was about.  I called the repair center and a woman answered. I asked what this Liquid problem was. She said tech dep't would send a picture showing what the problem was. She then suggested that I should upgrade to a better camera. I said, No Thanks as I was satisfied with the pictures the T3 took. I received another  e mail of a photo showing the top of the T3 with two red arrows - one pointing to the mode dial - on off switch and the second red arrow pointed to the flash housing. I couldn't determine anything by this as it showed nothing. They claimed 'Liquid Damage" and wanted $204.00 to repair it. I told them this was bogus and to return the camera if they weren't going to repair it under the Warranty. When I got the camera back I had several people to look  at it to see if they saw any sign of "Liquid damage in the areas the Red Arrows pointed to. No one saw anything at all. I took the camera to a place that I had some repair work done once before. The repair tech saw no sign of any "Liquid" He said he had encountered the tight mode dial on a T3 before. He took the camera into his repair room and a few minutes later came out. He handed me the camera and said, "Try it now". I did and it worked great. When I took my wallet out to pay, He said, "No Charge" and not to always trust your Warranty. I am sure I will never trust that repair center again.