Apple Refuses to Fix Smokers' Computers

I'm a Mac user, prefer Macs to PCs having used both for years, plan to make my next computer a Mac, and in spite of all that...

Denying these people their warranty coverage is wrong, blatantly so, and the rationale for doing so insultingly stupid.

This is pathetic and Apple needs to fix it.

Richard.

Where are all the Mac fanboy's now?

I smell Class Action suit.

They could go a step further: some atrociously toxic chemicals are used in the process of making semiconductors (gallium arsenide and many, many more), and are still present in motherboard elements.

By this rationale, Apple employees should not be required to touch a computer at all.


Or they could admit that some d-bag at Apple thought this was a safe way to display gross incompetence.

Allot of artist smoke, allot of artist use macs.

wow

BS what kind of business would even consider that an excuse not to uphold their guarenteed services, almost everything in a computer is hazardous in one way or another, way to save a buck apple

Wow, just wow.

I'm a smoker though I never smoke indoors it got me thinking, other than keeping an ashtray right by the air intake how can you possibly contaminate the computer to the point that someone doing internal repairs can tell you're a smoker?

While I don't like Apple's policy it does make me question if we're just hearing one side of the story here. If someone used their computer case as an ashtray I can understand the warranty being voided...

Solution:
Boycott Apple.

When im repairing a "smokers" computer i can sure smell it, and they are always full of dust and crap, and the dust is thicker and harder to remove - it stains the cooler a brown color but other then that its the same as any other repair.

Just another ploy not to take responsibility for fixing their junk computers!

Most retarded thing I have ever heard.

"but Ruth points out that sucrose, chlorine, talc, calcium carbonate and isopropyl are also on the list."

What's to say Apple would repair a computer with sucrose, chlorine, talc etc in them?

If people want to smoke and accelerate their deaths and those of people near them when smoking then that's fine by me. They have to live with the financial consequences too though so smoke damaged computers, furniture etc should be expected.

next thing you know they will be getting letters like this.

Dear consumer,
Sorry we are unable to fix your computer because you had cats in the house. Your computer is contaminated with cat hair and our tech guys are allergic.
sincerly,
mac guy

No, by this rationale, Apple is actually selling chemical weapons.

dont you all see? its not because its dangerous its because apple cant figure out the problem so they blame it on smoke! tbh the only things they fix is itunes and case fans. dont ask them to fix circuitry that like asking a blind man to play "i spy" its just wrong

i'd say this is valid. when you smoke near a computer your just letting the computer suck in the nicotine and ash which can make the computer overheat. i remember at work had someone donate there old computer and when i opened it everything had yellow stains and when i turned it on nothing but cigarette smoke just filled the room. it was so bad that i just chucked the computer and everything in it.

Yeah, my daughters have cats in their rooms and you should see the furr I have to clean out of their computers.

Also, yes, I can instantly tell if I'm working on a smoker's computer by the odor. Other than that, it's really not any worse than regular dust. Disconnect all the cords; take off the panels; take out doors and go to work with some canned air. Voiding their warranty is just a cheesy effort to cut costs.

Incidently, the WORST computer I ever worked on was in a trailer for one of the contractors at the Rio Rancho, NM INTEL plant when they were building FAB 11. As most of you know, New Mexico is a desert and Rio Rancho is out on an open mesa and has blowing sand aplenty. I opened up this computer and there was sand in the case. Not just a little sand, mind you, but when I dumped it out, I was able to fill a coffee cup! As Adam Savage from Mythbusters is fond of saying, "Well there's your problem!"

That's what happens when you join a cult, promises that do not materialize.

Technically, if they refuse to work on it due to bio-hazardous materials. Yet in their contract fail to recognize it as a reason for voiding coverage. Then Apple is obligated to replace the entire machine if they will not repair it.

so what your
saying is all i have to do is blow smoke in my computer and then send it to the computer manufacurer and they will give me a new computre. oh yea that makes sense FAIL

It's true that long term heavy cigarette smoke will damage some electronics goods.
However if one smoked in the garage or outside that concern should be minimal and the levels of contamination so low that claiming damage by contamination would be absurd.Never smoke in front of your computer though.
The term "contamination" is often used and overblown with extensive exaggeration by environmentalists and health officials.
In fact in those fields it's a quite common and well known fact that they intentionally fudge scientifically determined levels by a magnitude of 3 or a factor of 1,000 to claim contamination or heavy pollution when in fact those levels are actually safe.

this ridiculous, as the world gone mad? you wont get cancer by touching something with nicotne on it for god sake! what as the world come to. nowadays, smoking is regarded as bad as strangling puppies!!

Let me start by saying that I am not an Apple fan boy!!

I agree that if it is not a disclaimer in the warranty then it should be honored. However, I have been repairing PCs and laptops for over 13 years and let me tell ya, every time I have had to work on a PC owned by a smoker I have wanted to hand it back and tell them I won't fix it. That was never an option but there were times I wish it had been. I'm not telling people they are wrong for smoking. People are certainly not wrong for using a PC. But I do get the feeling at times that many (not all) smokers are not very considerate of the fact that smoke, smoke residue, and cigarette ash is F-ing nasty. It is one of the worse kinds of environmental contaminants for not just people but for PCs as well. I do feel that an individual technician should have the right to refuse to work on such a PC in such circumstances but if a company sells a warranty they should honor it to the letter. There are plenty of techs out there that smoke and probably could care less about working on them, I however am not one of them.

If you are a smoker, when you drop off your computer at the Apple store for repair leave a hazmat suit with it.

Would you like a smoking or non-smoking technician for that repair?

I better talk my brother out of buying a mac to take with him for his next deployment to afghanistan....

I can understand apples position i do computer service for a living and have been doing so for over 20 years here is what cigarette smoke does to computers:

Tar from cigarette smoke can clog up the ventilation holes, which can cause the computer to overheat.

Tar from cigarette smoke builds up on a CPU fan it can keep the fan from spinning properly causing it to overheat.

Smoke can damage a hard drive by getting stuck between a platter and the head, or by damaging the motor.

Cigarette smoke particles corrode electronic circuitry on the motherboard which can cause the computer to stop working altogether.

General read error failure in a floppy drive is due to collected
smoke on the drive heads.

Data loss on floppy disks due to cigarette smoke.

Then there is the possibility of nicotine building up on a surface to such an extent that absorption through the skin numerous times can lead to heart problems.

Sixty milligrams of nicotine has the potential to kill an adult.

wait, democrat i bet.(and a mac user id wager)
whats happening isn't socialism...
its called 'loosing' the election deal with it. of course anything they do that you don't agree with is going to be slapped with a negative catch phrase to scare the fell supporters.

I see what you did there...turned a mac thread into a "let me toss in a totally unrelated topic to squeeze in my political opinion here"

If the customers are in the US, they need to remind Apple that the warranty they paid for is a legally binding contract and that Apple is required by law to repair or replace the computers unless there is a clearly/plainly stated clause to the effect that smoking near the computer voids the warranty.

This PC World is really sucking the big one.
Bye Bye Apple you are to stupid and this is plain BS.