Smoking Near Apple Computers Voids Warranty

If apple failed to have it in their warranty legal, then they cannot deny the claim.

However as someone who worked for a computer warranty repair company for years, I can wager that all those claiming this is BS are either smokers or have never worked on a computer with heavy smoke residue. I assure you it is one of the nastiest things you will ever have to deal with, and most warranties do in fact Void their warranty as it is considered "Chemical contamination", and can result in shorting of components. Not only that but yes that residue is extremely hazardous to deal with as without proper protection it absorbs through the skin rather quickly. Most smokers completely fail to understand just how nasty smoke residue is and how quickly it builds up in places.

However, Apple needed to have a clause that covers chemical buildup or contamination in order to get away with voiding. I do agree that warranties need to be a little more clear, and that legal jargon can be extremely misleading to the average consumer at times. I am only stating it from a legal perspective.
 
ZOMG LOLOL APPLE SUCKS LOLOLOL.

No offense, but having SEEN what smoke does to a computer - I agree with this...

I downright refuse to work on machines that are SO gummed up with nicotine and dust, that you catch a buzz through your fingers just dusting the fucking thing off. I've seen dead MICE and COCKROACHES literally STUCK to the case due to nicotine and tar build up.

If you don't ever re-fill your car with oil - I'm sure you void the warranty on your drive train... How is this any different? It's your job to make sure you take at least REASONABLE care of your machines... Or else you void the warranty - in just about *every* freaking piece of machinery or electronics you purchase.
computer-cigarette-tar-4.jpg


If your CPU burns out because of a gummed up heatsink - how is that, in ANY way, the manufactures fault?
 
wasn't there a lot of smoking around the computers used to get men to the moon and back.
 
Is this for real? Apple is so chic and hip to the ways of the world, that it prohibits employees from being in contact with anything that was in contact with smoke for reasons of health.


REALLY?>
 
sorry guys but if dust and dirt buildup doesnt void a warranty then cig smoke shouldnt either, regardless of how gross it can get if you let it accumulate. you cant gauge standards by taking everything to polar extremes. and i quit smoking a long time ago, before somebody shoulds "bias" :p
 
This is awesome! Even if just a single turn down, the thought of Apple shutting out smokers is pure classic!! Next they'll tell us, you can only get service from Apple if you are a vegetarian and have an active account with Starbucks. HA!!
 
__hollywood|meow said:
hdds platter area is vacuum sealed airtight, thats the only "important" part anyway
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sorry for double post but im retarded, not vacuum sealed.. theres a micron filter. still, thats basically like zero air/smoke getting inside except in extreeeeeeeeme circumstances
 
Oh yeah that second smoke residue inside the computers is terribly dangerous, you know people collect all that brown dust sticky crud, and when they get enough they will smoke it again, or mix it into a drink...no seriously the worst thing about it, is that it gets into and onto everything, it gets clogged in the fan, adds a second layer to the scum that's already in there.

This is an everyday normal thing to expect to find inside a computer case, deal with it Apple, it's no worse than finding a family of dead cockroaches, cats piss, or food inside a laptop. They need to grow some balls if they are just worried about nicotine residue.
 
I don't blame the Apple techs one bit.

I refuse to work on a system owned by a smoker, the residue stinks, stains whatever it touches and breathing the air after I turn such a system on gives me a headache.
 
I had no idea cig smoke caused such bad contamination.

Post more pics if nicotine laden components. I wanna see how bad it gets.
 
This proves why Marketing is a good career. no matter how crappy the product and the service, if you have good marketing, someone will fall for it.
 
I wish that every OEM and aftermarket computer company would void warranties if cigarette tar is found on any of the components.

I have come across some computers that are so gummed up from tar that it is simply amazing that they lasted as long as they did.

Whne it takes washing your hands with strong soap multiple times to get the crap off of your hands from working on a computer like that you would feel the same way.

It isn't the same a regular dust as it sticks on there... you literally have to scrape the crap off.
 
Screw it, let em diminish their customer base until they collapse and rot away.
 
Sounds like a perfectly legit policy to me. Clearly there is an obvious build up of smoking residue that is killing the machines. Why the hell should Apple be held responsible for fixing a machine that the user is essentially killing through a lack of responsibility?

It's the same as voiding the warranty if you dump a soda in it. Just because dumping sodas on things is "how I roll" doesn't mean Apple should take the bill for it.
 
I agree with some others on here that Apple should have the right to turn away a computer exposed to the constant abuse of smoke. As for a health hazard, I would think it does pose some kind of risk. There's a bunch of controversy around "third hand smoke", and I haven't done any academic research on it, but a rational person would assume that contact with the smoke residue would certainly increase certain toxin levels, and that avoiding these increases must be beneficial to health, if even just slightly. This residue is also breathed in when the computer is turned on, so wearing gloves will not solve the situation.

Is the residue significantly harmful? I don't know, but anyone who doesn't smoke or live with smokers in your face certainly knows the feeling of getting into a line up and knowing a smoker is there. Sometimes the smell can get so overwhelmingly bad that you can almost taste it.

On the other hand, Apple's warranty says "damage caused by accident, abuse, misuse, flood, fire, earthquake or other external causes;", which argumentatively covers the health risk factor as it must be an external cause that creates the health risk. If that's not good enough for you, then "the apple people wouldn't fix it for me" will suffice as an alternative external cause. :)
 
They should just tell the customer that, in order to determine cause of failure, the computer will have to be cleaned. Then charge a cleaning service. Make some money or turn away the crappy jobs.
 
I worked in a Philip Morris plants for two years and I'll tell you I'm amazed at the fact that ANY electronic device could function in the place. The amount of dust and smoke in the place was amazing.

There was one particular PC in a lab that faithfully worked for two years while tobacco dust from testing equipment fell in the vents and the thing van Windows 95 like a champ with no problems. It was an IBM branded machine and the toughest computer I've ever seen.

As much as I hate Apple I'll give them this one. You DON'T smoke near my hardware!
 
Now if these befouled computers were all full of "Wednesday Weed" resin I doubt there'd be much complaining going on down at the Mac store.
 
bucket said:
Now if these befouled computers were all full of "Wednesday Weed" resin I doubt there'd be much complaining going on down at the Mac store.
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Scrape it off and do hotknives :)

Hell, stall the CPU fan and breathe.
 
Mail Steve Jobs a Cigarette butt with a threat note saying: "How this for Warranty?"
 
about effing time...

I work on computers as a side business, and smokers computers are ALWAYS full of this fucking gross yellow shit all over the insides of the cases.

Good for you Apple, lets hope all the other manufactures follow suit.
 
Working in a computer shop I have to clean all kinds of crap out of computers and cigarette smoke is by far the worst, it turns into a paste like substance and sticks to heatsinks, fans and vent openings like glue. We have a very powerful blower we use to blow dust out of computers and it doesn't budge this stuff. Now when someone brings in a smoker computer I open it up right away and show them the damage, otherwise they get angry when I charge an extra $20 for cleaning out cigarette residue.
 
GoodBoy said:
Actually yes. I forget where I read this...



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.
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GoodBoy, I've seen computers that were never cleaned in houses with no smokers and there's no way a vacuum would suck the dust out...by the time I opened it, the dust was a solid mass of smeg. In a dry climate, I suspect you're right, but clearly the worst ones that I saw show you 60%+ humidity can bind those particles together.

Regardless, I smoked for years around my PCs, and I never had a problem. yes they got dirty, but they still do, and I haven't smoked in 7 or 8 years. The main difference is that I clean my PC every 6 months (give or take).
 
Cigarette smoke can shorten the life of components as it gums up fan bearings and forms a nicotine coating on every surface. I saw the effects of it with a number of customer pc's that came in to the computer store I used to run with a friend of mine.

I've never heard of the second hand smoke argument though. Must be a radical ex-smoker with a hyperactive nose. Nothing's worse than an EX-smoker. They'll rag on about flatulence they picked up a mile away.
 
So seeing how the residue was listed as a hazard by OSHA and they wouldn't work on it cause of that, so with that way of thinking i guess they also don't use alcohol or peroxide to clean a wound they may have also cause that's also listed by OSHA as a hazard?

I guess this ranks right there with MS banning XBox's, another way to sell the customer a new piece of hardware.
 
03grandam said:
I guess this ranks right there with MS banning XBox's, another way to sell the customer a new piece of hardware.
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Not really. MS tells their users that modding Xboxes will get them banned. Apple didn't give any warning.
 
Health risks of second hand smoke... chances unlikely
However I'd void warranty on any electronics that have significant smoke residue build up inside, that shit is sticky and just makes other dust build up more so leading to failed components
 
Are there really that many people out there that think heavy Smoke residue shouldn't really affect warranty?

While I agree that light smoke residue shouldn't, heavy defiantly should.
I work Computer repair - these things get NASTY. The last one I had to clean out was a less than year old - we built it for a client. He had contaminated it so badly that the fans couldn't get any air into the case, the heatsinks were clogged and the PSU had died from heat death.

Not cleaning out systems regularly is ABUSE whether its from dust or smoke. It leads to heat death of components and should not be covered by warranty. (obviously this needs to be applied with reason - I run into plenty of machines with light smoke build up that are fine with regular cleaning)


As for Apples reasoning - I agree with it. The dust from smoke residue can be very easily inhaled and exposes you to high levels of nicotine and tar - compounded with what ever else hand bonded to it with the rest of the dust. Pesticides, roach droppings, chemical cleaners are in higher concentration due to how the tar causes the dust to bind.
I wear a protective mask anytime I deal with those systems.
 
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