Smoking Voids apple warranties!

[THRiLL KiLL]

unless you've just arrived in 2009 on a time machine, you know that smoking isn't good for you. Did you know, that smoking isn't good for your computer, either? It's true, at least according to Apple. Two readers in different parts of the country claim that their Applecare warranties were voided due to secondhand smoke. Both readers appealed their cases up to the office of God Steve Jobs himself. Both lost.

Back in April, Derek copied us on his e-mail to Jobs:

Jobs' office did not help Derek, but he resolved some of the problems himself by disassembling his Macbook and cleaning it out with a can of compressed air.

A few months later, reader Ruth wrote to us with an identical complaint after trying to have her son's iMac repaired at a local authorized repair center

Ruth appealed her case to Steve Jobs's office, which also declined to repair the iMac. In another letter, she wrote:

Consumerist has tried repeatedly to obtain some kind of answer about these two cases from Apple's media relations department, and we have received nothing on the record after months of waiting. Mostly, we're curious what the threshold is for smoke damage to a computer, and why this is not mentioned in the Applecare contract.

Wow. I am at a loss for words.

Do you know how many systems i have seen that have lived in a smokers house. Yes the dust is thicker, and anything white is yellow. But to date, i havent heard of a cigarette killing a pc.

Source
http://consumerist.com/5408885/smoki...voids-warranty

[hat]

Just another way to cut expenses. A lot of people are smokers, and that's a lot of warranties they don't have to honor.

[Easo]

Though i hate smoking and smokers, this is plain bullshit...

[oli_ramsay]

Just another reason to never buy an apple product (even though I don't smoke)

[Kantastic]

Not letting my dad get near my iTouch anymore!

[TheCrow]

WOW!

Just another nail in the coffin of apple if you ask me. Why on earth anyone would even consider buying their products in the first place is beyond me.

[niko084]

Hate to say it but I can agree with it.

So can anyone that has ever opened up a computer case from a heavy smoking household. The smoke sticks to it and it's sticky so the dust really piles in and stays, I doubt the tar film dissipates heat as well as copper.

Although on another side, it is kinda a dirty tactic to pull to save a few bucks.

[troyrae360]

Apples are a fashion statment, as long as your sitting at a cafe with your apple youll look like you've got money, so weather or not the apple is actually working youll still look the part, just don't let anyone look at the screen,

so what you need to do in a situation where you apple isnt working is just take it down to the local coffee shop put it down on the table (you dont even have to open it) and it will still be serving its purpose

[kenkickr]

I have now been smoke free for almost 6 months but I will say I feel for the customer..but feel for Apple at the same time. I never smoked in my house so I never had to deal with my own means causing issues because I feel my daughters health is alot more important than my "quick" fix but I've had systems at work that we had to clean and I couldn't stand cleaning other peoples tar covered systems. The biggest issue I had with cleaning them is how I would smell after, It's really bad now since the olfactory is working alot better.

I do agree with what the mom said though about smoke damage on the apple being "Bio-hazard". That's just plain ridiculous

[newtekie1]

Despite my dislike of Apple, I can kind of agree with them. Though saying it is because it is a biohazard is kind of lame.

They would have been better off just coming right out and saying they are doing it because smoking around electronics is bad for them. And after years of pulling apart computers to fix them, I can tell you that it is easy to spot the ones from heavy smokers(and crazy cat horders).

Heavy smoking can definitely cause problems, and IMO anything done by the user that causes problems with the computer shouldn't be covered under warranty.

[lemonadesoda]

Steve Jobs should be sued so hard he ends up a beggar. Just because HE has health problems... to fleece customers of extended warranty payments and then invent and defend an entirely bogus voiding of a warranty beggars belief. All because they dont live lives in HIS image.

So, KY jelly up the floppy would be OK. But a bit of dust in the computer isnt. Well bally-hoo to people that can afford to live in massive underfurnished dust free mansions. So not everyone lives in a dust-free oxygen tent? Well I never. What does the small print on the extended warranty say? Bow down to an icon of THE LEADER and wear only expensive lint-free black turtlenecks and never smoke and only eat rye grass and drink no alcohol and dont smoke not even just touching your lips but not inhaling and... and...

I have no respect for people or companies that dont give aftersales service. Even less respect when they encourage people to pay big$ for extended warranties where, at the outset, it was set up as a fleecing scam and no additional service or warranty was ever intended.

Bad bad bad.

[AphexDreamer]

I remember reading my Playstation 2 Manual when I first got my PS2 (Phat) and it said to avoid somking near it to avoid damage to the PS2.

I guess its a fact, smoking does damage electrical equipment and any damage done by you to your devices shouldn't be covered unless its accidental. Tough Love.

[THRiLL KiLL]

Originally Posted by AphexDreamer

I remember reading my Playstation 2 Manual when I first got my PS2 (Phat) and it said to avoid somking near it to avoid damage to the PS2.

I guess its a fact, smoking does damage electrical equipment and any damage done by you to your devices shouldn't be covered unless its accidental. Tough Love.

yeah tar + optical drive = bad. but it doesn't mean that it's going to do physical damage.

tar doesn't conduct electricity. it just makes killer dust balls.

Originally Posted by newtekie1

Despite my dislike of Apple, I can kind of agree with them. Though saying it is because it is a biohazard is kind of lame.

They would have been better off just coming right out and saying they are doing it because smoking around electronics is bad for them. And after years of pulling apart computers to fix them, I can tell you that it is easy to spot the ones from heavy smokers(and crazy cat horders).

Heavy smoking can definitely cause problems, and IMO anything done by the user that causes problems with the computer shouldn't be covered under warranty.

Oh really, so should we all wrap our shiny pc's and macs in bubblewrap to stop them accumulating non smokers dust particles also because this is also caused by the user and by your way of thinking this voids the warranty also, or should we all have industrial clean rooms as offices otherwise any normal family household by your logic voids the warranty anyway.

Not related to newtekies quote btw but some people just need to go on a witch hunt for the sake of it, makes me laugh when all the non smokers get up in arms on their high horses about smokers, get over it. You have a choice dont smoke, dont fricken moan to me if I do or dont thats my business, and can smoking in a room cause a pc/mac to die??? no can it hell, unless you fall asleep with the goddam cigarette and burn the house down.

Apple are just fail anyway, I would never buy any junk from them, but its so shiney and white fick fick must resist the shiney whiteness

[BUCK NASTY]

Wow, when did they place "false" employee hazards above customer service? Sounds like they need to re-vamp their public relations machine. Gen1 ipod nano was the 1st and last Apple product I bought. I just feel sorry for the consumers caught in this loophole. Fail, Steve Jobs, Fail!

[troyrae360]

Steve Jobs is gay? http://www.fakesteve.net/2008/05/we-...not-funny.html

Have your say!!
Steve jobs facts poll http://www.stevejobsfacts.com/recent/page5

[warup89]

Just in case some of you guys never seen tar + dust in a PC, I will try to get some pics from my friend's GF computer [heavy a$$ smoker]. She pays me to clean her PC every two months because of the heavy dust/tar build-up, yuk.....I dont have any pics right now, but just picture brown thick steakie dust, all around the fans and stuck on the chips. Man thats stuff is not only lethal to human but to our beloved PCs too.

Dont smoke kids!

[niko084]

Originally Posted by troyrae360

Apples are a fashion statment, as long as your sitting at a cafe with your apple youll look like you've got money, so weather or not the apple is actually working youll still look the part, just don't let anyone look at the screen,

so what you need to do in a situation where you apple isnt working is just take it down to the local coffee shop put it down on the table (you dont even have to open it) and it will still be serving its purpose

LOL same goes for my BMW I guess.

[troyrae360]

Originally Posted by niko084

LOL same goes for my BMW I guess.

Lol yea, When i see a hot chick walking down the road first thing i do is find a nice looking porche or ferrari and lean on it like i own it, when they ask to go for a spin i simpily tell them i've had 1 drink to many and should'nt really drive but offer them a ride first thing in the morning after i've cooked them breakfast

[hv43082]

Originally Posted by troyrae360

Lol yea, When i see a hot chick walking down the road first thing i do is find a nice looking porche or ferrari and lean on it like i own it, when they ask to go for a spin i simpily tell them i've had 1 drink to many and should'nt really drive but offer them a ride first thing in the morning after i've cooked them breakfast

Does it ever work?

[eidairaman1]

Kind of funny you would do that as I have a regular truck and get the laddies just fine and dandy. They find out what my other assets are heh, should see how big their eyes get.

[Mussels]

damn.... not surprised however, i have worked on machines that were literally coated with tar on the inside and were totally disgusting.

that was a machine that the owners had used the front dust filter as an ashtray however, so cases like that should be extremely rare.

[niko084]

Originally Posted by Mussels

damn.... not surprised however, i have worked on machines that were literally coated with tar on the inside and were totally disgusting.

that was a machine that the owners had used the front dust filter as an ashtray however, so cases like that should be extremely rare.

They are, but I have seen plenty myself. I always used to ask the customers if their machine smoked, most the time I got funny looks and a "no, it's just got viruses I think".............. ....... ..... ...... .....

[Polarman]

[newtekie1]

Originally Posted by InTeL-iNsIdE

Oh really, so should we all wrap our shiny pc's and macs in bubblewrap to stop them accumulating non smokers dust particles also because this is also caused by the user and by your way of thinking this voids the warranty also, or should we all have industrial clean rooms as offices otherwise any normal family household by your logic voids the warranty anyway.

There is nothing the user can do about normal dust, it is expected.

However, there IS something the user can do about the extra dust and grime that is associated with smoking.

Normal wear and tear, this includes normal amounts of environmental dust, is acceptable. Extra wear and tear caused directly by the users actions is not.

Originally Posted by InTeL-iNsIdE

Not related to newtekies quote btw but some people just need to go on a witch hunt for the sake of it, makes me laugh when all the non smokers get up in arms on their high horses about smokers, get over it. You have a choice dont smoke, dont fricken moan to me if I do or dont thats my business, and can smoking in a room cause a pc/mac to die??? no can it hell, unless you fall asleep with the goddam cigarette and burn the house down.

Yes, actually smoking can harm electronics, no matter how much you on your high horse want to deny it. Smoke particles not only amount to extra dust, which clogs vents, and gums up fans, but it is also sticky. Which adds to the problem. So you not only have extra dust, but that dust tends to stick to everything. This, obviously, can lead to overheating and premature death of electronics.

This isn't anything new actually, a lot of electronics manufacturers will not warranty products in smoking environments.

And most non-smokers have no problem if you want to smoke in your private home, but don't do it in public where they have to smell it and deal with the shitty smell. There are some places that smoking is acceptable, bars for example, and others where it is not, restuarants for example.