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It seems that operating a Mac in a household with a smoker will void your warranty.
Smoking is a terrible addiction, one that is extremely difficult to break. Smoking causes long-term health problems, costs a load of money, makes everything one owns smell a bit off, and apparently, it also voids the warranty on one’s Apple products. Two Apple customers, Derek and Ruth, both experienced a rejection of service because there was a smoker in their household.
Derek tried to take a black Macbook with an overheating problem to an Apple store to get it looked at. Shortly thereafter, Derek recounts “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 secondhand smoke.’”
Ruth brought her son’s iMac to an authorized Apple repair center. She received a phone call five days later informing her that the repair center could not work on the machine because it was contaminated with cigarette smoke, and thus constituted a biohazard.
Ruth attempted to appeal this judgement with Steve Jobs’ office, but was apparently told by someone named Dena that nicotine is on OSHA’s hazardous substances list. However, as Ruth pointed out in a statement given to The Consumerist, “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.”
This excuse sounds fairly weak; after all, they could claim that you voided your warranty because you used rubbing alcohol to clean your keyboard.
The ethics of Apple’s decision to automatically void a warranty if their product is used in a household with one or more smokers are very questionable. While it is true that cigarette smoke can cause dirt to build up inside a computer faster than might normally occur, it is open to debate whether the hardware actually constitutes a biohazard. After the dust has settled inside the computer, can it really become airborne again?
To some, it would seem that Apple appears to be using a legal loophole to save themselves some pocket change at the expense of customer satisfaction.
If you’re a smoker or you live with someone who smokes, you may want to think twice before dropping a fat wad of cash on a new toy from Apple. It’s beginning to look like you’ll get no help from them if it breaks.
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