“The Consumerist says the complaint as been raised as far as Steve Jobs’ office, with no relief for the customers involved,” Coursey reports. “The story was reported on Friday, though the Consumerist said it had sought, but failed to receive, any explanation from Apple HQ over a period of months. (The site is part of the Consumers Union/Consumer Reports organization, so I deem the report credible).”
Coursey reports, “First, that Apple–presuming they are not merely trying to avoid warranty claims, which seems far-fetched–would not send the customers a refurbished Mac as a replacement for the smokehouse Macs… Second, my hazardous materials training has taught me that however dangerous smoke residue may be, there is a way to deal with it. With its billions, Apple could buy a containment chamber where work could be done in a completely different atmosphere from where the technician stood.”
“Imagine one of those chambers that lab workers use, inserting their hands through holes in the box into permanently attached gloves. Only the gloves and a set of tools from inside the box touch the computer,” Coursey suggests, apparently with a straight face. “If something along this line is good enough for smallpox and Ebola, it will probably protect someone from a smoky Mac.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lava_Head_UK” for the heads up.]
I hope this story is bogus, because if true it will negatively affect rising sales of Mac in Spain, Italy and France for starters.
This just in. Car dealerships will now refuse the warranty on dirty cars. Mechanics’ dirty hands cited as evidence.
Pffffft.
There’s plenty of jobs out there that are MUCH worse for your health than working on a computer. Apple’s “Genuises” need to realize they are nothing more than retail mall rats. Just honor the warranty and STFU.
–NON smoker
Before all this shouting keeps going on, it would be worth knowing how other computer manufacturers deal with the same problem. What does Dell do?
I just left the Apple store at Valley Fair with my new quad iMac. Yeah. And while there I asked if any of the folks there had heard of such a non smoke repair program. Nada. None had heard of this. They thought it was pretty funny. So I guess it takes a long while for the news to get to Valley Fair Apple store from Infinity Loop. After all it is almost 6 miles.
@ G4Dualie
“Some computer problems arose from their smoking.”
That’s news to me and two of my friends here who are reading this.
One is a Mac Reseller and the other repairs Macs for a living.
They have seen on occasion residue internally in Macs, but never had they come across a Mac that had to be repaired due to cigarette smoke.
This Apple Genius chick wouldn’t talk to me because I’m fat. But she did accept my client’s computer for repair, which was full of cat piss smell that he swears he has no idea how it got there.
Why should Apple have to buy a hazmat chamber, or pay the cost of replacing the system? I understand if it is not written in the warranty, but that just means there is a legal battle into whether Apple is responsible for servicing equipment that is “misused” or “abused”. It is a stretch to declare such computers as “misused”. I see both sides of the argument, but there is a health issue on Apple’s side. It may be beyond expectations for Apple to set up a hazmat room, employ technicians to operate with that room, just to repair a computer that has hazardous materials caked on it. Maybe the extra costs should be sent to the customer.
Another “geeks are wusses” cliche now verified as true. Thanks Apple.
@mac user 47
True? How do you know this stuff is true? I cannot find it posted anywhere on Apple website. Where did you get your proof, please?
Apple needs warrenty clause that protects apple by voiding the warrenty when an innocent mac computer is subjected to direct second hand smoke. Perhaps the toxic residues are the reason they’re having mac issues. Same with personal health issues. Weird!!
It is always a great selling point if you can advertise “non-smoker” when selling electronic gear. Look at that adds in any Ham Radio mag.
It is high time that the stinky folks pay for all the harm they do to the rest of us. They have a right to destroy their own health but not if it has any affect what-so-ever on mine.
Oh, Dell will give you a carton of fags if you buy a computer. Or they’ll give you a bag of pot, whatever’s your poison.
“Dave”
I hope you use your Mac in a “Clean Room” and never use it in the atmosphere of your Kitchen or on your toilet.
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Who knows what harmful residues those rooms will leave in your Mac
t’mac,
Oh yeah. A little while back I was at a party and got kinda hammered. Well, the Pizza Hut needed to escape my body, and both bathrooms were being used. And, they guy had no wastepaper bins anywhere.
So, I popped open a Dell box, and let loose a projectile psychedelic yawn.
My no-longer-friend said that Dell wouldn’t fix it. I just shrugged. “Yeah, well you served Pizza Hut”.
The moral of the story is, don’t smoke kids. It’s not good for you, or your Mac.
The problem is with the damage that smoke does to the computers, not a health problem for the geniuses. I’ve seen the insides of Mac Pros where the smoke was strung like cobwebs between components, and was incredibly thick. When I remove the case from a Mac Pro and the smoke literally falls out, it’s quite remarkable. Ultimately, this damages the components, leading to overheating and their burn-out, along with optical drives that won’t read because the lens is covered in tar. The worst cases I’ve seen are where the fans in the system are so choked with the dust from smoke that they literally can no longer turn.
All of these I consider to be user abuse, and would never expect anyone to cover. However, it’s been my experience that Apple usually does cover it anyway.
oh, the humanity!
I always thought that Mac Users were Non-smoking, vegetarian democrats by default!
When I smoked, it was obvious- the inside of my Mac was brown. It’s still working till this day, and I quit smoking years ago.
But I have to go to band practice at a house that smells of dogs. I leave with dog smell in my nostrils, on my coat, in my harmonica. It is worse than when we had a smoker in the band.
So, yes- the hell with smokers, and people with tattoos, and dogs!
look guys, i’m a non-smoker, but have lived with smokers my entire childhood. i have done field repairs of macs in all shapes and sizes (and flavors) for almost 20 years. i can say for a FACT, that tar can, and does, have an impact on the longevity of computer hardware. a simple example. if you have a tower machine (any tower) and it is sitting on the floor and the internals get covered in tar, the sticky tar is going to atttract and trap dust, hair, carpet fibers, dirt, etc on the inside of your machine. as that layer builds up on the fans and heatsinks, they stop working (or the efficiency drops off). your machine heats up and cooks itself. poof! one smoked (no pun intended) logic board. why should apple (or any manu.) pay to fix that?? i’m not saying don’t smoke. by all means, pay in the system, i’m gonna need your social security. all i’m saying is, either air out your house or don’t smoke around your expensive electronics.
and using the car mecahnic reference, if you cake your radiator in mud and over heat the engine, your car company will NOT fix it under warranty.
Hey Elsic1975a!
“smoke was strung like cobwebs”
“smoke literally falls out”
“dust from smoke”
Seriously Elsic,
What are you smoking?
I am skeptical of this. Why would Apple apply this randomly and leave itself open to discriminatory charges. You either do it or don’t do it.
@DLMeyer
“HMCIV, I don’t believe you for a minute…”
Excellent. You are learning the ways of sarcasm
” rel=”nofollow”>young grasshopper.
While I can agree with the sentiment, Apple should clearly state that smoke residue exposure can void the warranty. And most repairs are just parts swaps anyway, it’s not like the tech has to lick the things.
I used to work in a shop…we got computers where mice peed in them, smoker’s machines, all sorts of nastiness. Gloves and a mask are all you need to deal with it.
NCIceman
Thank you for your rational thought.
Just be courteous. I used to smoke cigars in my home office and had a G5 that needed some service. I looked at the inside of the G5 before taking it in and noted the tar buildup. I simply wiped it all down before taking it in. Never heard a peep from anyone about it. The stuff is really quite repellent. You shouldn’t ask anyone to work on tar coated computers. Clean ’em up!
“…which was full of cat piss smell that he swears he has no idea how it got there…”
I suggest he have a long talk with his cat.