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Mord

macrumors G4
Original poster
Aug 24, 2003
10,091
23
UK
ok, so i just got a call from my sister and she just told me her ibook literally went up in smoke which came out of the keyboard after the screen blanked out, the smoke smelt nasty and metalic and came out near the num lock key.

now i'm thinking what to do, i can take the thing apart identify damaged components (probably the logic board) buy some parts off ebay and replace them (i am an apple cert tech but parts are cheaper on ebay) though this would cost a fair amount.

or

i call apple and try to snag a macbook from them, by doing the "no product should be able to do this it was unsafe could of hurt her blah blah blah" has anyone tried such a strategy with out of applecare macs that go in dodgy ways?

oh and it's a two and a half year old 800MHz g4 ibook.
 

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
People usually want to act quick enough to prevent damage to other things, but getting Apple to react quickly from their end usually means that the failure has to be quite dangerous or actually damage something.

Could still have been the battery since those are the things most likely to smolder besides the power bricks ...
 

Mord

macrumors G4
Original poster
Aug 24, 2003
10,091
23
UK
highly unlikely seeing as the battery came out looked and smelt fine and the smoke came from the back of the keyboard.
 

dmw007

macrumors G4
May 26, 2005
10,635
0
Working for MI-6
This issue seems to be a bit dangerous (the laptop smoking- "where there is smoke there is fire"), so I think that I would call Apple and see if they would do anything. :eek: :)



Otherwise, you have to go the eBay route..... :eek:
 

Mord

macrumors G4
Original poster
Aug 24, 2003
10,091
23
UK
i just gave my sister a call and i told her to call apple and talk with them and act scared and concerned that it could of started a fire is she was not their to pull the plug and to try and escalate the issue as much as possible.
 

dmw007

macrumors G4
May 26, 2005
10,635
0
Working for MI-6
Hector said:
i just gave my sister a call and i told her to call apple and talk with them and act scared and concerned that it could of started a fire is she was not their to pull the plug and to try and escalate the issue as much as possible.


I hope that this works...... :)
 

Kardashian

macrumors 68020
Sep 4, 2005
2,083
2
Britain.
Tell your sister to tell Apple that regardless of a products age, and whether it still be within its 12 month warranty or not - computers and other products are not supposed to blow up. They will probably say its own of its 12-months, ask directly - ''So, your basically saying its fine for your products to burn out, and release harmful smoke after 12 months? Apple are fine with that?"

Go as far as to say the smoke made her eye burn. Anything. It can't be right it exploded, and I'm sorry, I don't support making up problems to get new computers free of charge - but something blew up - they can't brush that aside.

Say small children are on the premises, and God forbid what could have happened should one of them been around at the time of the 'burning'.

If they aren't very sympathetic, talk about going to a Dr for the smoke in the eye, a Lawyer and Trading Standards, as well as posting it to every forum, and that as well as having heat issues, Apples previous gen laptops also blow up.
 

michaeldmartin

macrumors regular
Jun 29, 2006
165
0
Testicles. That is all.
josh.thomas said:
Tell your sister to tell Apple that regardless of a products age, and whether it still be within its 12 month warranty or not - computers and other products are not supposed to blow up. They will probably say its own of its 12-months, ask directly - ''So, your basically saying its fine for your products to burn out, and release harmful smoke after 12 months? Apple are fine with that?"

Go as far as to say the smoke made her eye burn. Anything. It can't be right it exploded, and I'm sorry, I don't support making up problems to get new computers free of charge - but something blew up - they can't brush that aside.

Say small children are on the premises, and God forbid what could have happened should one of them been around at the time of the 'burning'.

If they aren't very sympathetic, talk about going to a Dr for the smoke in the eye, a Lawyer and Trading Standards, as well as posting it to every forum, and that as well as having heat issues, Apples previous gen laptops also blow up.
You couldn't say that if it was covered by the logic board replacement program and she decided not to take advantage of it.
 

Mord

macrumors G4
Original poster
Aug 24, 2003
10,091
23
UK
no word back yet, though it's a G4 ibook, so thus not covered by the program.
 

Mord

macrumors G4
Original poster
Aug 24, 2003
10,091
23
UK
yeah, if the call does not work i'll do the old steve jobs email trick.
 

JBot

macrumors 6502
Jan 9, 2006
271
1
Calgary.Alberta.Canada
im interested to see what apple will do for you.
you would hope/think they would cover it, but im sure it will involve you to send the machine in to them, and have substancial proof that there was smoke/fire produced. Thus meaning they have it for months before having anything done.
keep us posted.
 

benthewraith

macrumors 68040
May 27, 2006
3,140
143
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Hector said:
ok, so i just got a call from my sister and she just told me her ibook literally went up in smoke which came out of the keyboard after the screen blanked out, the smoke smelt nasty and metalic and came out near the num lock key.

now i'm thinking what to do, i can take the thing apart identify damaged components (probably the logic board) buy some parts off ebay and replace them (i am an apple cert tech but parts are cheaper on ebay) though this would cost a fair amount.

or

i call apple and try to snag a macbook from them, by doing the "no product should be able to do this it was unsafe could of hurt her blah blah blah" has anyone tried such a strategy with out of applecare macs that go in dodgy ways?

oh and it's a two and a half year old 800MHz g4 ibook.

Hector, it's time your sister got a new comp. Just chew out Apple big time. And hey, if Dell replaced the notebook that blew up in Japan, I'm sure they'll replace this one.

Sorry to hear about what happened though. I hope things work out well in the end.
 

Mord

macrumors G4
Original poster
Aug 24, 2003
10,091
23
UK
yeah, i'm not sure if she made the call today she was rather swamped, i'll take pictures and post them when i go up to bristol tommorow, if i'm sober.
 

jamesW135

macrumors 6502a
Apr 30, 2005
609
0
When your on the phone with Apple start rambling and say something about a lawyer.

i.e

"so smoke came out and it smelt really bad"

"smoke came out?"

"Yes my lawyer will be notified.

"A replacment is on the way"


This prolly won't happen but it's worth a try.;)
 

Felldownthewell

macrumors 65816
Feb 10, 2006
1,053
0
Portland
You definatley want to call apple before you take it apart to find out the problem yourself. If you take it apart they can blame you and say the fire was started BECAUSE you took it apart. Try to milk it first, then you can try a DIY replacement.

Keep us updated!
 

nickelbackmac

macrumors regular
Jun 23, 2006
248
0
Jonesboro, Arkansas USA
Dell took care of it for me, so tell Apple "Well, I heard Dell replaces smoking notebooks for free. Does Apple?". I had an Inspiron 5150 smoke and burn a hole in my couch and they sent me a 17" Inspiron 9300 :D. I love it, and Dell did it OUT of warranty. Try to convince Apple to do the same.
 

eidrunner247

macrumors 6502
Jul 4, 2006
310
5
If you want, just ship the burned out machine to me, I'll take care of it...
Me: "Hello Apple?" :)

*Three weeks later* ::changes Sig to: MacBook Pro 2.16Ghz::
 
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