Pointless to buy Apple Care if you are a smoker??!!!

[jcpb]

I fix computers every so often for people in my area and have never turned them down because of smoking. That is just downright rude IMO. Some of the laptops I get are so bad I can smell them from the other room. But I just man up and fix it. Put a painting mask on and dig in, wipe everything down and move on. Apple is crazy for this!

Even so, Apple might/not repair a smoker's Macs in their sole discretion.

 

[Orange Furball]

Even so, Apple might/not repair a smoker's Macs in their sole discretion.

And in that case, I'll gladly fix them for people. More money in my pocket I guess!

 

[Puevlo]

It sounds like Apple will use any excuse to avoid paying for the repair. No way is it a bio hazard. Mechanics work on oily cars all the time and that's probably worse than a little dust.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Solution - don't smoke near your computer, better yet, smoke outside. I smoke, but I find smoking indoors absolutely disgusting.

 

[hallux]

In fact, until this post was made, I myself was not aware that Apple can/would void warranties or refuse to service if it shows signs of being in a smokers home. I am not saying it is wrong, but Apple does not make it known easily or are transparent to that fact. I would assume had Apple clearly stated (i dont consider fine print, clearly stated that is shown only to me after the purchase.) that if the OP had known that smoking around her computer would void the warranty, that she would of bought an additional warranty. Huh, does that make sense?

Technically, her 1 year warranty technically could of been voided, so why would you knowingly buy a voided extended warranty for a voided regular warranty.

Back to the fine print, I just bought a 15" Retina Macbook Pro, I bought it with Applecare online. I was not shown the terms and conditions of AppleCare prior to purchase. Apple did not state if I was a smoker that I shouldn't buy this. The problem is this isn't something that technically only effect a few people here and there. Since you might argue " Well they dont say if you dog pees on it its not covered either." Well as I stated earlier , like it or not million of people do smoke, so this isn't some rare occurrence.

Technically, it IS in the "fine print". Apple is likely denying it based on the "owner abuse or neglect" umbrella. Sure, it's not spelled out specifically and I suppose it's a cop-out but it's the manufacturer's discretion what gets classified as abuse or neglect. Keep in mind, these agreements are long enough, imagine how long it would be if they spelled out EVERYTHING that could void it under that umbrella.

 

[stuaz]

BTW, I should add I have a *friend* that has had a brain tumour in the past. She is very quick to let every Apple tech know this when she goes in.
Her laptop died about 2 days before her warranty expired one year ago and rather than fix it, they gave her a brand new macbook pro at no charge.

My guess is that they felt empathy for her.
Proven once again 2 weeks ago when she went swimming and forgot to take her iphone out of her pocket and was swimming with i for a few minutes before she realized it.
And yes it was dead.
She took it in, asked to speak to the manager, told her the story about her brain tumour and was given a brand new iphone on the spot, although most people i know when hey have caused damage to an iphone due to water don't have brand new iphones handed to them.

Am I the only one who thinks there is something not quite right with someone effectively using an illness and/or disability to get free stuff....

 

[GermanyChris]

I love my Volcano Digit

Vaporizing isn't new, kept one in my dorm room in the towers in 1994 at Ohio State

 

[Beta Particle]

30 minutes pass and the fellow comes out, with my MBP in a white bag, and he's wearing blue surgical gloves.
He proceeds to tell me that no one there is willing to open up my MBP as I am a smoker and its a bio-hazard.
I thought he was joking but soon realized he was dead serious.

I was told that I needed to take it to a 3rd party who I would have to pay, for them to clean out my laptop before they would consider working on it, by which point of course, my apple warranty would have expired.

Never having ever had anyone turn away a computer before of mine, let alone any device, for being a smoker, I was left speechless at what seemed terribly absurd an overreaction to me.

About 15 years ago I used to work for a local computer repair shop (Windows PCs, not Apple) and this was our policy as well. The inside of computers owned by smokers are disgusting, and I believe we also refused computers on the basis that they were a "biohazard". It's doing just as much damage to your computer as it is to your lungs. This was not an overreaction from the Apple store, especially if there is visible damage on the outside of the machine before they even open it up.

I would have refused to open your machine too, especially if there was any sort of tobacco smell from it, which you will not be able to smell yourself, as a smoker.

It's good news that they're taking steps to tackle the pernicious menace of slightly tar-stained computer parts

Clearly you have never worked in the computer repair industry, or likely even seen the inside of a smoker's computer.

TIA is a well understood language on the web in forums that is short for THANKING IN ADVANCE for the answers you are all about to offer.

Forums are not twitter or text messages, there is no character limit, or a need to use acronyms. For what it's worth, I visit a number of forums on a regular basis, and have never encountered this either.

I find it interesting that they require an apple related tech or store to clean it for me and once i pay $50 + or whatever it ends up being, it is no longer considered a bio hazard

Therefore it apparently is only a bio hazard when working on it for free

Just because you can find somewhere willing to work on your machine for a price, does not change that fact. It's very possible that a third party has necessary equipment to deal with cleaning the machine (mask etc.) that the back of an Apple Store does not.

 

[miles01110]

Judging by the people and employees you usually see at an Apple Store, "smoking" isn't a taboo... just smoking cigarettes...

 

[nia820]

This should be your wake up call. If that stuff is bad for your machine. Imagine what it does to your body.

My grandma has emphysema and just finish treatment for cancer and had a benign tumor removed back in may. She been smoking since 18 . That stuff is no good.

Like the other posters said they were well in their rights to not open it up. The fumes can be hazardous.

 

[gentlefury]

for starters...if there was a burn on the keyboard that means you were smoking over the keyboard and drop a cherry on the keyboard...if it happened once it happened many times...I'm sure the thing is full of ashes and anything else that happened to drop in there. For them to deem it a biohazard it had to be pretty nasty inside! It's not just a little ash or tar...it must have been greasy inside! Smokers don't realize how disgusting and damaging that stuff is! My first car was a smokers car. I had to scrub the tar off the interior...it was actually brown! Nasty!!

Don't forget...all that sick yellow tar coating the inside of the computer came out of your lungs!!! That is, without a doubt, a biohazard, and not worth their tech getting sick over.

Apple care doesn't support accidental or intentional damage to the machine. You could just as easily be complaining that they refused to fix it when you poured a coke on the keyboard.

----------

Who are these mythical "apple hippies" everyone keeps talking about?

You know, those drug smoking, tie dye wearing hippies that buy $3000 computers. They're everywhere man!

 

[Trey M]

I feel bad for the OP because I didn't actually know that smoking damages computers. I don't smoke anything, but I wouldn't have known this if I did. I don't think he/she needs the lectures about smoking, though, because I'm sure every smoker has heard the lecture 1000 times about smoking and it really comes down to their personal choice, not anybody else's.

 

[heyimandy]

It comes down to respecting your property... it's your own fault. Take the smoke outside if you want to avoid these things. Insurance should not cover your bad habits.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

Taking pictures of internal fan assemblies void warranties? You're BSing.

It does if you have to delve deeper into the laptop than is allowed by Apple to upgrade your RAM and hard drive. Since I do not have an instruction manual in front of me or a copy of the warranty, I believe I've stated at least twice now that voiding your warranty is entirely dependent upon how deep into the laptop and how much of it you intend to disassemble.

Your reading skills need a brush-up.

 

[Diveflo]

I'm pretty astonished by the harsh words being used against smokers (apparently a lot by US citizens). I'm normally a huge fan of the US, mostly because of their 'to each their own'-way of thinking, which seems more prevalent on your side of the pond then over here. But I'm not getting this kind of treatment over here because I'm smoking.
It's forbidden in any and all restaurants/pubs/official buildings (which I'm in favor of) but other than that, you don't get any attitude from people about it.

 

[AzN1337c0d3r]

A blast of air won't remove smoke and tar residue. That stuff is sticky and coats everything inside the machine. What if the laptop were radioactive, would you feel differently? You're not a doctor, you don't know what effect inhaling smoke residue will have 20 years from now.

Since it's probably only about 1000x less dose intake than actually smoking a cigarette, it's highly unlikely that repairing smoker's laptop will actually give me lung cancer -_-

According to Dr. John McDougall who analyzed the facts surrounding Jobs' death, Jobs contracted pancreatic cancer in his early 20s. He had to have gotten it that long ago for it to have reached the size it did when he died. This was determined using known statistics for the doubling size of pancreatic cancer cells.

Guess what Jobs was doing around that same time? Spending countless hours soldering components in his garage, inhaling lead contamination the whole time.

You know what else he was doing? Breathing Oxygen. ZOMG Oxygen causes pancreatic cancer. Everyone hold your breath.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

Since it's probably only about 1000x less dose intake than actually smoking a cigarette, it's highly unlikely that repairing smoker's laptop will actually give me lung cancer -_-

Good on you for making a decision about your own body. Now that you know how that feels, I'm sure you can respect the decisions of others who make the opposite choice.

You know what else he was doing? Breathing Oxygen. ZOMG Oxygen causes pancreatic cancer. Everyone hold your breath.

I wish I could write at a 4th grade reading level so that you could understand. Please bear with me as I share a few facts - something with which I'm sure you are unfamiliar. Oxygen does not cause cancer, but exposure to known cancer causing agents does. Mr. Jobs exposed himself to a lot of carcinogens in his youth while working at Hewlett Packard assembling frequency switches, not to mention the work he did on his Apple prototype.

If you were going to argue with me in an intelligent fashion, which I know is a stretch, you would raise the following point (which I am raising voluntarily): If soldering motherboards gave Jobs cancer, why didn't Woz also get it? Well, Woz didn't work at the HP plant like Jobs did, but I'm sure Woz inhaled his share of solder fumes and other nasties.

 

[jcpb]

It does if you have to delve deeper into the laptop than is allowed by Apple to upgrade your RAM and hard drive. Since I do not have an instruction manual in front of me or a copy of the warranty, I believe I've stated at least twice now that voiding your warranty is entirely dependent upon how deep into the laptop and how much of it you intend to disassemble.

Since you don't have an instruction manual right in front of you, never mind the AppleCare warranty fine print, you have essentially rendered your argument null and void.

Your reading comprehension skills are more lacking than Mitt Romney.

 

[Mabyboi]

About 15 years ago I used to work for a local computer repair shop (Windows PCs, not Apple) and this was our policy as well. The inside of computers owned by smokers are disgusting, and I believe we also refused computers on the basis that they were a "biohazard". It's doing just as much damage to your computer as it is to your lungs. This was not an overreaction from the Apple store, especially if there is visible damage on the outside of the machine before they even open it up.

I would have refused to open your machine too, especially if there was any sort of tobacco smell from it, which you will not be able to smell yourself, as a smoker.

Clearly you have never worked in the computer repair industry, or likely even seen the inside of a smoker's computer.

Forums are not twitter or text messages, there is no character limit, or a need to use acronyms. For what it's worth, I visit a number of forums on a regular basis, and have never encountered this either.

Just because you can find somewhere willing to work on your machine for a price, does not change that fact. It's very possible that a third party has necessary equipment to deal with cleaning the machine (mask etc.) that the back of an Apple Store does not.

Thank you! Finally another TECHNICIAN who can sympathize with me as a TECHNICIAN who has to deal with disgusting computers...

 

[AzN1337c0d3r]

If you were going to argue with me in an intelligent fashion, which I know is a stretch, you would raise the following point (which I am raising voluntarily): If soldering motherboards gave Jobs cancer, why didn't Woz also get it? Well, Woz didn't work at the HP plant like Jobs did, but I'm sure Woz inhaled his share of solder fumes and other nasties.

I was arguing that correlation does not equal causation. Great to know that your reasoning skills are working.

Steve Jobs may have been doing other things that may have caused his cancer. (Hint: he smoked a lot more than solder fumes)

Or maybe he just spontaneously developed pancreatic cancer.

 

[andymac2210]

I love all these super sensitive types who 'sympathise' with apple for not upholding the warranty agreement because it might offend their nasal passage for a few moments.

Unpleasant it may be, a biohazard it is NOT.

 

[AzN1337c0d3r]

"Blast of compressed air" is that a biohazard too, which harm our ozone layer. How I love green initiative people.

Not when it comes from a compressor.

 

[gentlefury]

"Blast of compressed air" is that a biohazard too, which harm our ozone layer. How I love green initiative people.

only if it comes from someones potentially diseased lungs!

 

[OllyW]

Moderators Note: Please keep the discussion on-topic.

The off-topic posts have been moved to a new thread in the PRSI forum...

Is Cannabis addictive? [from the Pointless to buy Apple Care thread].

 

[pbmagnet4]

This is why people should drop Apple Care. Apple Care is basically you paying Apple to have them tell you how to use your own computer. Stupid. If you have issues like these fix them yourself. Ciggs are about as American as Apple pie. As a person who works on computers, it really doesnt matter if its "gross". In fact smoke is not NEARLY as nasty as a spilt coke into the computer. IMO THAT IS THE WORST.