Smoking Near Apple Computers Voids Warranty

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This is the first time I have ever heard of something like this. Residue from secondhand smoke in your Apple computer voids your warranty?

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".
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That's the most BS thing I've ever heard.

Get a bunch of people together that've been told this horrible excuse and start a class-action. I'd love to see it.
 
Perfectly reasonable. The effects of that nasty buildup on the components would be enough to void a warranty >.>
 
seithon said:
Perfectly reasonable. The effects of that nasty buildup on the components would be enough to void a warranty >.>
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what about exceptionally dusty houses? if your house is really dusty should your warranty be void?
 
Call it how you see it, but this is the number 1 reason I don't smoke indoors. It's my choice. I've seen the effects on customers computers, their fans mostly. I see nothing wrong with a manufacturer considering smoking/tar buildup neglect and voiding the warranty.

Is it really such a stretch to consider it fair?
 
falconman said:
second hand smoke residue is now dangerous?
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Actually yes. I forget where I read this...

falconman said:
what about exceptionally dusty houses? if your house is really dusty should your warranty be void?
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Dust can be easily vacuumed out, but I would surmise to say that yes, a really bad level of dust contamination could possibly void a warranty as well. Lucky for you this can be easily cleaned out, preventing overheating, or cleaned out before sending something in for repair.

Smoke residue, especially as thick and gross as I know is possible since I;ve seen it myself, is a nasty coating on everything. Your PC is air cooled. With Fans. The Fans are sucking this stuff thru the machine and past all the components. It really can do harm to the pc if someone was a really heavy smoker. DVD rom drive lenses for example. Also, the sticky tar coating from smoke attracts even greater amount of dust than a clean component...

If you are a smoker, water cool your stuff. And be prepared to pay to replace your own dvd drives when they fail.
 
Next they will void your warranty if you sneeze on your computer for risk of Bird Flu contamination.
 
I've worked on a couple of machines where the residue (tar) had gummed up and subsequently killed fans.
The tar combined with dust made for a very f'd up working environment inside that thing. Not to mention it stunk my whole house. up when I turned it on.

Not sure how secondhand smoke could be called in this story. I could see the warranty issue being valid if the residue was too much.
 
After working on several macbooks and iMacs that are in houses with smokers, I agree with apple on this claim. Some of that smoke/tar residue is disgusting and makes me gag. I can see it being a health concern for techs. The macbooks that came in from people with sweaty hands were bad as well.
 
seithon said:
Perfectly reasonable. The effects of that nasty buildup on the components would be enough to void a warranty >.>
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Perfectly unreasonable. As the article states:
no where in your applecare terms of service can I find anything mentioning being used in a smoking environment as voiding the warranty.
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Let's see Apple come out in public and state on the record that use of an Apple computer in a smoking environment voids the warranty.
 
As a smoker myself, i've gummed up and "browned" a few beige cases in my day, it's pretty gross. As a bio-hazard though? Gimme a break.
 
The tar from smoke does not really collect on the components inside, it typically just changes the composition of the dust to make it a bit more cohesive, maybe more like volcanic ash.

Still nothing a cheap can of air can't fix.

I really don't care if they want to void warranties based on this, but they should be up-front about it.

But I doubt they are going to do anything that would stop people from giving them move money even if it means coming clean to a smoker about that warranty they are trying to sell you.
 
I'm sure you've all seen the difference between just REALLY dusty and smoke, either near a smoker or near a kitchen(hey accidents happen), dust.

Smoke dust can straight up wreck components from what I've encountered.

But whats up with that BS excuse for not working on it? Second hand smoke? Really? Smoke dust is "heavy" I don't really see anyone breathing much of that in unless they airblast it in a closed environment. You usually end up having to physically clean components inundated with smoke dust anyway...

I guess the only good news is that the person wasn't using an Antec Nine Hundred case near the smoker.
 
i almost wish I owned a mac and started smoking...just to see this in small claims court. Ridiculous.
 
bio-hazard?... are we talking Zombie infection? j/k, bummer for the people that had to go through that though.
 
i have always charged a smokers fee if I'm asked to work on a machine that is bad off, i have never heard of it straight out voiding a warranty, but i could understand why it would as well..
 
I've come really really close to not working on some machines under warranty because they were absolutely nasty as hell covered with that greasy filmy gunk on the systems, all caused by a chimney-level smoker. The insides had a wet, gooey dust all over the parts and it took some heavy handed brushing to clean up. I was constantly spraying air freshener around me -- customers thought I was smoking in the building!

I don't have any sympathy for people who smoke around their system and then wonder why it smells like holy hell and/or stops working properly, but I won't invalidate a warranty over that, that would be not only ludicrous but likely quite illegal.
 
I have to side with apple on this one...ive opened computers before that were under full Best Buy warranty and they had cockroach larva in them. It voided the warranty as well...Its a hazard, have a little respect for those that have to work on your stuff or dont get the warranty...
 
Reminds me of an Apple II+ that was brought in for service where I works many years ago.
I think it came from a car service shop, but it looked like it had been buried for a year & dug up & brought in for service. Nobody wanted to work on it, or even touch it...

Of course there was also the Apple II with the rats nest under the keyboard, but that's another story...
 
Sorry, this is bullshit. I own several apple products and I just have to say fuck this!
 
Sounds like Apple is making a rule based on an exceptional case. To be fair though, I've worked on a couple client systems that were fucking disgusting because of smoke residue- black goo buildup.

Would probably be better to just put a service charge on there- that way nobody is surprised and Apple still benefits.
 
I had a boss that not only smoked in his office, but had his ashtray sitting on top of his computer. The hard drive failed after a year and the inside of that thing was so horrible that I had to have it completely cleaned out.

I'm sure there is nothing in the terms of service specifically banning smoking, but if the inside is so tarred up the fans stopped that could definitely fall under abuse or failure to maintain. I would say it isn't ok to void a warranty just because the users smoked if they keep it clean, but if it is the direct cause of the failure because the inside of the system is all tarred up I say that is absolutely a good reason to void a warranty.
 
phide said:
Why would the hard drive be about to fail? Aren't hard drives sealed?
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No they are not... they are semi-sealed to keep out particulates but air and come in an go out of them as necessary. This is a physical requirement because of the air pressure and friction build up of spinning up and down during cycling.

Obviously an SSD is exempt so we should all upgrade to those in case of dust ; )
 
phide said:
Why would the hard drive be about to fail? Aren't hard drives sealed?
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I was under the impression that most if not all had a breather hole. Plus, the rubber gaskets around the seal can dry-rot a little and let some air in, I'm sure.
 
Poor smokers..... :)

I figure if you have enough money to slowly kill yourself with smoking, then you have enough to buy a completely new computer if it fails.

/the end
 
This shouldn't void the warranty because its a biohazard. That's ridiculous. The residue can be avoided by wearing gloves.

If smoking residue voids the warranty, the only basis for this would be because the residue gunks up the cooling fans and acts as an insulator on anything it sticks too. The components slowly cook to death.

That being said, there is no way this would hold up in court. There is no way to prove that any residue is cigarette residue, and that so called residue wasn't there from the factory. Apple would have to come up with something similar to the litmus paper that detects water that they stick in cell phones.
 
RADEoN said:
I was under the impression that most if not all had a breather hole. Plus, the rubber gaskets around the seal can dry-rot a little and let some air in, I'm sure.
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hdds platter area is vacuum sealed airtight, thats the only "important" part anyway. if the pcb or connection on pcb failed due to residue buildup it would be just as likely that the residue would kill fans or other more exposed components first.

anyway this is a load of garbage regardless of the disgusting qualities of tar in cig smoke. cant legitimately void a warranty for something so trivial, if only for the reason that the only way this could honestly be to blame for any failure is in the event of a user having absolutely NO sense of sanitation...and in that case dust clog buildup could easily also cause such failures. you dont see them saying dust in the air voids warranties, do you? anyway, if you clean out your parts on occasion, this will never ever be a concern. if you wallow in filth...watch out i guess! +1 on the exception that "proves" the rule comment...just absurd, apple, theres no other way to put it
 
qdemn7 said:
Perfectly unreasonable. As the article states:

Let's see Apple come out in public and state on the record that use of an Apple computer in a smoking environment voids the warranty.
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Obviously these pussies are unwilling to advertise this little detail in their warranty statement...pretty ghey
 
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