Apple has come under fire for refusing to honour its “Applecare” warranty due to cigarette smoke residue being a considered “biohazard,” and hence unsafe to work with.
Critics point out that this is far from standard industry practice, and is mentioned nowhere in the warranty…
Several US Mac users report problems getting their faulty Macs serviced as a result of the policy:
I took my mid 2007 apple macbook (black) into the Jordan Creek Apple Store in West Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, April 25th, because I had been experiencing some issues with it overheating, and figured the fan was bad. After some initial testing, they took the computer in for work under my Applecare plan, which has over a year remaining on it.
Today, April, 28, 2008, the Apple store called and informed me that due to the computer having been used in a house where there was smoking, that has voided the warranty and they refuse to work on the machine, due to “health risks of second hand smoke”.
Not only is this faulty science, attributing non smoking residue to second hand smoke, on Chad’s part, no where in your applecare terms of service can I find anything mentioning being used in a smoking environment as voiding the warranty.
This unfortunate had to clean his own Mac.
Another Mac owner reported identical problems with her warranty:
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.
The Applecare representative said they defer to the technician and my son’s computer cannot be fixed at any Apple Service Center due to being listed a bio-hazard.
This computer cost approx. $3,000, with the extended warranty. I’m all for destroying cigarettes and putting big tobacco out of business (yes, I’m a reformed smoker), but to label a computer a biohazard because one is a smoker is going a bit too far in regulating who can have the warranty they purchased honored.
Shouldn’t there be some disclaimer stating that they won’t honor warranties from smokers?
She attempted to bring her case to the notice of the mighty Steve Jobs, and describes her dealings with his lackeys:
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.
Apple has not commented on its refusal to service these “contaminated” Macs.
Another class action suit may be in the offing, although in this case it is hard to see it failing…
I don’t know what the AppleCare T&Cs say, but if it’s like any other contract, it probably has a section in it that says that the terms of the contract (the warranty) are subject to change without notice. If at some point Apple deemed cigarettes a hazard then they can do that. It is some nasty stuff (btw, it’s called third-hand smoke, the products from tobacco being released in the air from objects exposed to it, like clothing, books, or in this case, computers); someone that I know that I had not spoken with for eight months told me within minutes of his arrival at my house that I had been right about his mom’s heavy smoking at the computer prematurely killing it, except in this case it was more of a show than I anticipated (it threw off some sparks). Maybe Apple should update the terms, but I don’t think they are at fault because the repairs would not be necessary if it were not for the user’s negligent actions. As much as I now hate Apple and find them overbearing, I believe what they did was legal AND smart. If there’s one thing Apple is good at, it’s setting a precedent. I hope that other companies take this stance. BTW, I am NOT a fanboy, I own ten PCs and only four Macs, two of which are over ten years old. I use both to distinguish myself from other technicians.
It’s a cop-out.
The whole thing about Apple is an illusion. They are so concerned about marketing the brand and the image. If you make enough noise, eventually they’ll pay you off to shut up.
A smoker’s computer can be really icky, but for the amount that Apple charges for their Macs, the least they could’ve done was just fix the damned thing. Other manufacturers would’ve done that no questions asked. I’m not really for smoking, but I certainly hope they sue…
smoke cigs? GET A WINDOWS!
… then install ubuntu.
Cigarette smoke leaves dust and tar on computer insides. Dust and tar (and any other kind of gunk, for that matter) are bad for computer parts. Most manufacturers, while not specifically mentioning cigarette smoke, specifically do not cover failures caused by dust or dirt, or anything else that wouldn’t be a problem if the computer was cleaned semi-regularly. AppleCare T&Cs don’t specifically mention dust (although they probably should) but they do mention that they do not cover “(x) Preventative maintenance on the Covered Equipment” or damage caused by “extreme environment”. That would explain why the one poor bastard had to “clean his own Mac” (poor baby) as once it was clean it was probably fine and got repaired without a problem afterwards, while the other one was messed up because of the lung leavings, so that moron was stuck out.
They sell those little cans of air for a reason, people. Even Mac users can figure out how to use them…
Marking the unit as a “biohazard” is a copout, though. This is why repair places charge to clean computers. Bust out a hospital mask and a shop vac and get some more money out of your customer, Apple… Then tell them it’s not covered. If they’re stupid enough to not clean their computer and stupid enough to smoke, (and stupid enough to pay an extra few hundred for a silver apple decal and a style-over-substance O/S) thay’re stupid enough to cough up a few extra Hamiltons for wasting your time… Morons…
My god I’ve delt with PCs and other peripherals that have come from a smoker’s house.
They’re clogged full of crap and gunk that ruin the insides so I’m not really surprised that Apple rejected the claims.
Electronic equipment isn’t designed to be put in such an environment unless it’s specified such as milspec or industrial equipment.