Smoking voids Apple warranty?

By toadeater
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toadeater

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I bought an iMac for my son (for school) along with the extended Applecare warranty. A month ago, it quit working. My son took it to the authorized Mac service center. The "tech" informed him it would be ready in 48-72 hours. Five days go by and he's heard nothing, so I called. They informed me that his computer can't be worked on because it's contaminated.

When I asked for an explanation, she said he's a smoker and it's contaminated with cigarette smoke which they consider a bio-hazard! I checked my Applecare warranty and it says nothing about not honoring warranties if the owner is a smoker.

Dena [from Jobs' office] did advise me that nicotine is on OSHA's list of hazardous substances and Apple would not require an employee to repair anything deemed hazardous to their health. However, OSHA also lists calcium carbonate (found in calcium tablets), isopropyl alcohol (used to clean wounds), chlorine (used in swimming pools), hydrogen peroxide (also used to clean wounds), sucrose (a sugar), talc (as in powder), etc... as hazardous substances.

...

Dena set up an appointment at the same Apple store. They told me that they would take pictures of the computer - both inside and out before determining whether to proceed and that if the only problem was the optical drive, they'd probably just replace it. Dena called me earlier this week to deliver the "bad news." She said that the computer is beyond economical repair due to tar from cigarette smoke! She said the hard drive is about to fail, the optical drive has failed and it isn't feasible to repair the computer under the warranty. This computer is less than 2 years old! Only one person in my household smokes - one 21 year old college student. She said that I can get it repaired elsewhere at my expense. I asked why my warranty didn't cover the repair and was told it's an OSHA violation.

http://consumerist.com/5408885/smoking-nea...ne=true&s=x

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https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/848026-smoking-voids-apple-warranty/
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Grand Master

null_

Posted
Posted
wtf :huh: ?

My thoughts exactly. I could see if it was actual bio-hazardous material, such as human waste, but tar from cigarette smoke? Touching it isn't going to likely kill you, plus you can always wear gloves. The only way I could see this sort of "contamination" being harmful were if the technicians were to lick the hardware - let me guess, they have to taste like apples now?

Grand Master

_neutrino Veteran

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  • Veteran
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i can understand that if the tar has caused it to fail that they would not honor it being that it was not a defect with the hardware and in fact the damage was caused by human intervention on the part of the smoking person.

Rising Star

mduren2445

Posted
Posted

they just did not want to honor the warranty..Smoking yeah right! as I remember the hundreds of times I have cleaned out inches of dust from customers computers...Check with your local authorities (where I live in the US is Maine so I would check my sec of state) or a lawyer and find out your rights. Then go back to the repair shop and speak to the Boss and stand your ground and insist they repair under the terms of the warranty. Make sure you bring a witness and stand your ground and insist. Also call apple and insist because basically you have a contract and they are using a very lame excuse to get out of it. If there were cirgarette ashes or actual tabacco I could see their point dust and or the smell of cigarette smoke to me is considered normal wear and tear. Basically what I am saying is if you rasie a big enough stink about it you should get what you want...Good luck!

Grand Master

Mr. Gibs

Posted
Posted
I'm sorry but I would refuse to clean it also. It's just disgusting working on a computer from a household with smoke.

Well what you do is different as to what apple has to do when it comes to warranty. I mean yeh its gross, but if you're paying for the warranty its a bit bs for apple to deny it cause of that reason

However, I think it states that the final decision rests with the manufacturer (in this case Apple)

Grand Master

Randolph

Posted
Posted
Well what you do is different as to what apple has to do when it comes to warranty. I mean yeh its gross, but if you're paying for the warranty its a bit bs for apple to deny it cause of that reason

However, I think it states that the final decision rests with the manufacturer (in this case Apple)

You have a point...but man. I've seen dust...but I have never seen brown dust with tar and hair balls in a PC before. LOL :wacko: :x

Grand Master

zhangm Supervisor

Posted
  • Supervisor
Posted

There is a line that needs to be drawn. Depending on usage conditions, laptops can build up a large amount of dust inside within just a few months of use. If the computer is on 24/7, there may be a large amount of dust inside.

Tobacco smoke, as you all should know, has a tar component. The tar also gets into the computer and makes internal components oily and sticky. This increases the amount of gunk buildup. After two years, you really can get something that looks like fuzzy black sludge, because the tar also sticks to the dirt.

At that point, I'd probably also tell the guy to take a hike.

post-17075-1258865845.jpg

Grand Master

zhangm Supervisor

Posted
  • Supervisor
Posted
While I agree that having a computer in a house full of smokers is very bad for it, I think Apple should have a special point in their agreement when you sign up for Applecare

The employer must still work within the limits established by OSHA. If you require an employee to work in conditions that do not satisfy OSHA standards for a safe work environment, the employee can 1). sue the employer, and 2). OSHA can come in with the ban hammer and shut down the workplace.

Enthusiast

Arkangel

Posted
Posted

i have worked with computers that have had that same problem and it is terribly frustrating to the point I wanted to just toss it in the garbage but as far as I'm concerned Apple should have specified that in the warranty if felt so strongly about it.

What I suggest you do is take it home and give it a good clean inside and out, get a nice brush such as paint brush and a can of compressed air also a nice vacuuming to remove any excess dust once you have done all that I would use something such as wd40 (only a very little bit) on a cloth to make it sparkle. I'm not sure what you could do about the smell but for the outside of the case use Mr Sheen or some sort of other household polish thats not to harsh, once you are happy with your clean up job take it to another apple centre or whatever and repeat your claim for warranty as normal ;)

Smoking is a terrible habit, it ruins lives and electronics... I have actually read in many electronic manuals about smoke causing damage to parts and voiding warranties so I'd like to know why apple didn't have it in theirs.

I actually had a really bad dust storm that caused a lot of red dirt to be collected by my pc, I had to clean it out recently but without compressed air and a really good amount of downtime will I be able to remove more of it but it will always be there now.

Grand Master

leesmithg

Posted
Posted

The tar and nicotine slime layer on and inside can cause illness.

Nicotine is in same class as an insectoside and highly addictive and poisonous.

When the engineer(s) have to do a repair and maybe a clean, their health is at risk.

I suppose they can wear a bio-hzard suit and breathing apparatus, but that should not be the case.

Grand Master

+Warwagon MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

Good is all I can say. Seeing what tar does to the cpu heat sink in a desktop I can only imagine the havok it reeks inside a laptop. If you want to smoke go out side. Plus it keeps your house from stinking too. I hate going to people's houses and it smells so bad I can hardly breath.

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