Smoking could be hazardous to your Apple warranty
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/ ... rranty.ars

If you are a smoker and have a Mac, Apple may choose not to honor your warranty. Is the reasoning legit or is Apple just pushing an agenda?
By Jeff Smykil | Last updated November 24, 2009 4:53 PM


If you're a Mac user and smoking is your crutch, you may want to leave the room the next time you light up. According to multiple users, as reported by the Consumerist, smoking in the vicinity of your Apple hardware is enough for Apple to deny you service, even if you are under warranty. In at least one instance, a customer challenged the decision by bringing it to the office of Steve Jobs, but without any success.

In the first case, a black MacBook was taken into the Jordan Creek Apple Store with overheating issues. After some time at the store, the customer received a call from an employee saying that the warranty had ben voided due to "health risks of second hand smoke." In another instance, an iMac brought to an Authorized Apple Service Center met a similar fate when it was labeled a "bio-hazard" by the technician. Apple responded to the customer's complaints by saying that nicotine was on OSHA's hazardous substance list; as a result, the company would not make an employee work on the machine. A third account, which also ended without service, also cited OSHA in the explanation.

Anecdote time: When I worked as an Apple Specialist about five years ago, we worked on nicotine-stained machines and it was rather disgusting—often they smelled up the entire shop. That being said, we never denied a repair due to cigarette smoke exposure. It seems that if you have a Mac that has been exposed to a large amount of second-hand smoke, you may be better off finding a privately owned authorized repair center. In that case, single parts will be removed from the machine and sent back to Apple (if it's a desktop, anyway), increasing the odds that you will get a repair under warranty.

If the machine is a portable, though, you may be out of luck. More often than not, Apple requires authorized dealers to send laptops in for service.

Peter better be listening here.

i've got no problem with that regulation.

Apple always struck me as a hippy dippy kind of outfit. This kinda goes against their corporate and public image or something though, no?

This goes right along with their image as idiotic, over controlling, douchebags.

Evidently. It's a bit harsh and uncompromising if they carry it out. How would they prove it? lotsa people use their Macs in cities and streets, lots of poor air quality, how would they back a refusal to fix something on this premise up? weird.

I honestly have no idea if the effects caused from city air would cause the same problem. If it did Apple would still probably try to blame you and not pay up.

Woulda thought ordinary regular dust would cause more hassle than cigarette smoke though. There's definitely another agenda in this. Whatever that may be.

dust can easily be blown away, tar sticks. Good luck cleaning that off.

The agenda is $ obviously. Nothing more to it.

If your ipod breaks here and is under warranty, that special €99 extra warranty that is, they send a guy out to collect it, it's driven down to Cork to the plant there and repaired and returned to you in a few days. Are Macs extended that kind of service I wonder?
You're right though, it's clearly money they're after but it's an odd move.

I already said I wouldn't buy another mac. This solidifies my stance.

I'm assuming all macs come with a warranty for a certain period. You can probably pay for an extended one.
Companies replace computers that fall under the warranty as long as the damage isn't intentional. I guess Apple is trying to claim that smoking is an act that intentionally causes damage to the computer.
It's not really odd. Companies will do whatever they can get away with to save some money. The only thing that could happen is a lawsuit claiming that apple didn't honor the warranty, but I guess they figure the chances of a lawsuit are low enough to make this move.

it depends on what the warranty says... if it says that machines that would cause health problems for its employees aren't covered, then they have no responsibility to cover it.

That's not what apple is claiming though. They're claiming the the second hand smoke will harm the technician working on the machine, not that the smoke is harming the machine itself.

I think there's a significant difference between your computer being around smoke in a coffee shop and you blowing smoke on it multiple times a day. Non-smokers shouldn't have anything to deal with.



Why not?

The harming the technician part is pretty much bullshit. It's as easy as wearing a mask to avoid any problems (I doubt that it even significant to start with).

I can see how tar could lead to a malfunction however.

Don't get me wrong, they're amazing and well built machines. It's just I don't think it's worth the money. Plus the piece of software I use more than anything else (besides maybe a web browser) is Adobe Audition, which they still haven't made a Mac version for.

There really isn't a lot of strong scientific data suggesting that second hand smoke is very dangerous. And on top of that, this is actually "3rd hand smoke". 2nd hand would be the technician breathing while the owner puffs smoke from over his shoulder.

Since you're quitting, this will be a non issue soon, yeah?

Who said I was quitting?