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:
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.
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.
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?
Ruth appealed her case to Steve Jobs’s office, which also declined to repair the iMac. In another letter, she wrote:
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.
UPDATE:On Monday, reader Jeniffer wrote in that she has experienced the same problem with her Mac–in the last week.
I own a mac and live in Oklahoma. Recently the burner stopped working.
We have AppleCare so we took it in 2 days ago for repair. We just
recieved a call today stating we needed to come get it because they
are refusing to work on it due to health hazards from second hand
smoke due to OSHA violations.
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.
(Photo: Sutanto Saputro ???)
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You gotta be kidding. There’s millions of 40-year smokers walking among us, as healthy as the next guy, who have inhaled billions of times the amount of residue that someone’s going to get by touching the inside of a computer. Geez. So is Apple instructing their sales reps to say “Sorry, we can’t sell you a computer because we’re not obligated to touch your stinky, smoky credit card”?
I am not a smoker and have never been, nor am I a drinker like so many. I find it ridicules that Apple will honor warranty repairs for drunks that spill liquor on their computers, yet refuse smokers the ability to have their products repaired under the coverage that they paid for. I have been at the Apple store in Towson Maryland which is a big drinker town with all of the college students in the area that attend the university there, witnessing this while in line at the “genius bar” on two different occasions is just disgusting in every way.
I grew up with 3 smokers, now I do know that it is not healthy to smoke in any way, nor is it so for drinking……it is just such a double standard for smokers though. Those that drink do seem to have everything in their favor, yet smokers are pushed around and not treated very well. Just look at the cigarette tax vs. the alcohol taxes, the first is raised every time the government wants someone to bail out the public with tax funds, yet the bingers do not need to worry about it because their tax has not been raised in 20+ years.
A bit one sided, don’t you think??? I say we ban both cigarettes and alcohol for all, not just for some. That is unfortunately the american way, allowing some to indulge and refusing others.
What a shame that these people paid for the products plus the extended warranty coverage then get screwed after paying for it and expecting it to be there when they needed it most.
Just another excuse to quit smoking. I will agree with it.
Amusing article. These customers won’t find any sympathy from me. Let’s face it, they’re probably not the brightest LED in the array. Not only do they smoke, they smoke INSIDE their homes. Nuff said.
So to the warranty issue. Whether the hardware failure was smoke-related is irrelevant. If the technicians did find residue on any parts it would be easy to say it was being used in an “improper environment”, thus clearing them of any warranty commitments. Perhaps I would take the owner’s side if Apple refused repairs because of “too much dust”, but the owners in this situation clearly did not hold up their end of the warranty agreement.
“This computer is less than 2 years old! Only one person in my household smokes – one 21 year old college student”.
Does this mean you would understand if it were two retirees? Laughable.
If a warranty wouldn’t cover water damage caused by a user deliberately pouring liquids on a computer, why would it cover other damage specifically caused by the user
Anyone who thinks that this is ridiculous has never seen the inside of a smoker’s computer before.
Have a peek: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2462/3750243698_321b62d64d.jpg
I get paid by apple to smoke next to computer so they don’t have to worry about the warranty.
i dont smoke, and with that said
lol….apple doesnt like smokers. put that in your pipe and smoke it!
and if you had a pc you could of probably fixed it yourself or sent it to many pc repair shops that dont wear hazmat suits when fixing pc’s!
ok apple fan, fire away!
They are going with the “hazardous” excuse because there is no checkbox on their reply form for “the insides of your computer are so fucking disgusting from you chain smoking next to it on the porch of starbucks 4 days a week for the past 2 years”
The insides of smokers computers are D I S G U S T I N G.
The only thing that makes the inside of a computer worse is if the chain smoker has several long haired cats as well.
I’m a little late in the game on this post but……..I’ve smoked for over 50 years, just got my 3rd eMachine. Power supplies went out on the first 2 after about 5 years, easy to fix. I open them up every year, vaccum out the dust, check for loose connections etc. Don’t have any problems with them.
Never noticed any caked on sludge like so many have decscribed, but then the tower is usually on the floor, under the desk, with the back of the unit where the fan is located a couple of inches away from the wall. I suspect 99% of computer towers are in the same place, smoking or non smoking. Conclusion? Must be an Apple thing, combined with the fact smoking is blamed for everything from wrinkles on your belly to hair on your toes. Aw well, you all eat food and your turn is coming.;-)
Smoking can ruin electronic devices, gums up fans and connections. When doing repairs on them I’ve never voided warranties for it (just as I’ve never voided warranties for dust or pet hair) but I can understand the perspective.
wow super tldr comments on this one.
This is undoubtedly about the smell. I used to work in a store that would buy used electronics, and some of them were just so disgustingly polluted. A skilled computer repairperson shouldn’t be forced to stick their face in someone’s gross stinky smokedusty computer.
I know this is an old story but…..This is the most asinine thing I’ve ever read. Mac’s must be extremely delicate. I have smoked next to my computers (pc’s) for years and I’ve never had the problems these nonsmokers are bitching about. No tar, no build up of anything. Just dust, like everyone else. Perhaps eveyone should stick to PC’s. They can handle a little dirt and dust.
Believe what you want but there are scientifically verifiable gaseous, liquid and solid particulate carcinogens in normal cigarette smoke.
Most people are not measurably affected by day to day exposure to cigarette smoke; the biggest complaint being that it stinks, most ignore it. Most non-smokers will get a headache when forced to breath cigarette smoke for more than 2 hours.
For some people the mere presence of cigarette smoke is enough to cause migraine like cluster headaches within seconds from distances of over 50 feet from a single smoker.
The problem is that the chemicals that cause these headaches are the same chemicals that remain behind on all surfaces near a smoker.
Anything with a fan collects more of the carcinogens from cigarette smoke. The liquid and condensed gaseous carcinogens are sticky and accelerate the collection of more of the same.
Over time the inside of a computer concentrates the amounts of cigarette smoke carcinogens to levels that are much higher than would exist anywhere else.
Then you send this chemical weapon to some company that is liable for workplace related illnesses.
Even if you don’t believe in empirically verifiable FACT the simple fact of the matter is that a company like Apple has deep pockets. Apple employes a lot of people. When a small minority of hyper allergic former employees sue for medical costs, disability and punitive damages Apple has much more to lose.
I live in a rural area, and my car tends to get dusty and/or muddy, depending on the season. Before I take it to the shop for services, I wash it. This I call ‘common sense’, or courtesy if you like. Since neither sense nor courtesy are common these days, I would suggest that Apple add a ‘Filth’ clause to their warranty. This covers smoking, grease, hair or whatever else may come up. End of problem.
i am a college student and a lot of people from my bio class smoke (including me) now because the class is two hours long for the lecture and lab we get breaks in between…say i dont smoke but for the breaks i want to go out side to do my homework or something of that sort and i am around smokers (cigarette smoke creates a bio hazard in the computer) my warranty is voided because i used my computer around smokers? no not right if you purchased the extended warranty (smoker or not) it should be covered (unless of course it states in the warranty that it does not cover that kind of damage)
Isopropyl Alcohol is not only on the biohazard list, but it is also, the principle agent used to clean electronics……ahhhh…Like computers.
I’m surprised that when my smoker boyfriend sent his Apple in for care, that they cited his cat as their excuse for not working on the machine, rather than his smoking. They’ve also done the same to his father, who doesn’t smoke and owns shorthair kitties.
@smiling1809: it doesnt say the smoke caused the damage. he says the fan failed causing it to overheat. they just refused to work on the computer because it has been “contaminated”
@wrjohnston91283: i cant read it. i dont have a computer.
@Covertghost:
What if I just use a better filter?
@Covertghost:
Were they really promoted as healthier? As a non-smoker I was always under the impression that it was more about flavor.
@zentex: I do computer repairs and I can always tell when the owner is a smoker. When a smoker has a laptop or desktop computer, the dirt is always sticky like someone poured syrup into the computer then let dust and hair stick to it. I often have to take these systems completely apart, replace the fans and spend a long time with brushes and other tools and alcohol to clean the heatsink fins. Even with quality fans, the smoke causes gunk to build up on the motors of the fans and they burn out quickly.
on some computers the hard drive will fail and the breather hole will be covered in dust and sticky gunk, especially when a case fan blows on the hard drive.
smoking kills living things and it also kills computers
but apple should still fix it as they did not list anything about smoking in their warranty.
@Powerlurker:
It’s toxic but not really carcinogenic…I think that was his point. Many things are toxic in high enough doses.
@temporaryerror: Actually, everything is toxic in high enough doses. Nicotine happens to have a relatively low dose at which it’s toxic.
@sqlrob: I disagree with this. Smoking is abuse to your body, and as someone who’s fixed many a smoker’s PCs I can attest that the tar does damage to the internal components as well. It can easily be chalked up to abuse, which is covered under the warranty. I wouldn’t be against it, but I don’t see a need for it – if it’s bad for you to inhale, it’s probably bad for your electronic equipment as well.
@Crim Law Geek: Without photos it’s hard to say what it is in this case, but as anyone who’s seen tar death knows, the resin is glue-like and can easily cause moving parts to fail, including fans. Dust doesn’t cause this usually unless it’s *really* badly coated, whereas even a thin film of tar can gum up a processor fan or GPU fan enough to cause slow spin or even stop the spin altogether, which will cause thermal death fairly quickly. And no, Apple should not have to fix a machine that’s succumbed to this. It would be nice to see pictures of this though to prove Apple’s claims, although I’m guessing we won’t.
@Mythandros: If that’s the case then it should be clearly spelled out in the contract and not left to some vague “it’s a biohazard” excuse.
So the truth is it is too much work?
@cluberti:
I would not have a problem with Apple saying “tar killed your fan, we’re not fixing it for free” or even “tar killed your fan, which killed your CPU, we’re not fixing it for free”. Assuming they had some sort of proof, such a finding is well within the letter of the AppleCare warranty contract.
What Apple is saying is “it smells of tar, warranty void!”. Such a finding is NOT allowed under the AppleCare contract. Read the AppleCare contract over, the ONLY mechanism for voiding the warranty in full is upon application by the customer or Apple AFTER a pro-rated refund. There is absolutely NO mechanism for voiding the entire warranty for damage (short of having damaged every single component).
@Mythandros:
“Why should I, as a tech, work a a dirty, filty, grime-encrusted computer that the customer is either too lazy to attach the proper value to, or just doesn’t care? Why should I care? Fix it yourself.”
I imagine you, as a tech, get paid for the work you do? There’s no reason you need to care about someone’s computer, but it is kind of your JOB to fix it. If people stopped doing dumb shit to their computers a lot of people like you would be out of work.
If, however, you are repairing computers as some kind of charitable act, you should feel totally free to invent your own criteria to determine the worthiness of each computer owner to receive a repair from you.
@cluberti: Not like we now have instructions on irons that state: Do not attempt to iron clothes while wearing them…. oh wait we do.
This is a wonderful issue for apple to pick, because of all of the “smoking is the devil” hysteria. They can get nonsmokers to support them, of course that support will change when a nonsmoker gets denied because their machine was exposed to smoke as they walked down the street.
If it is so harmful and can void the main warranty as well as the extended warranty, they need to spell it out in the contract. You do not have the option to alter the terms of the agreement because you want to later.
@Mythandros:
Discrimination: unfair treatment of a person or group on the basis of prejudice:
Sex, race, religion, age, disability, (and depending on the issue) sexual orientation. I don’t see smoking listed.
So, let’s look at reality. Reality is I choose to smoke, I have a good chance of dying due to the effects smoking has on my body. I accept that risk if I choose to smoke. It can have an effect on sensitive electronic equipment too. Apple didn’t state they accept the risk for my bad decisions. They didn’t waive any right they have not to repair my computer under warranty by selling me a an extended warranty and not getting my personal information with it (i.e. are you a smoker). In fact, I’m quite happy they don’t ask for my personal information.
If I chose to use my laptop in the tub, and it takes water damage, Apple is going to laugh me out of the store even if I show up with Apple Care and Pro Care. Their answer will rightly be, “I DON’T care.”
So, roll the dice, move your mice. Don’t like the game, don’t play. You may have a right to smoke, but I have a right not to be penalized by covering the cost of your bad decisions (in higher warranty charges). Move on, get over it, and if it really bothers you, start a business that caters to repairing electronics owned by smokers. And shut your noise!
@YardanCabaret: Maybe that brown coating wasn’t really from smoking..
@Powerlurker:
“Light” cigarettes don’t have less nicotine, they have perforated paper which causes the smoker to draw in some air when they inhale, somewhat diluting the smoke. But the smoke coming off the lit end is the same.
@cluberti: if they know air is gonna get inside then they also know that everything else is gonna come with it. so i cant use my computer in say california now, b/c of all the pollutants thats gonna get in it?
Don’t clean it with Alcohol … Apple lists that as a hazardous substance as well!