Second-hand smoke voids Apple’s Warranty, Really?

The world is full of good reasons to kick the butt. There are baseless reasons too, but you wouldn’t have heard like the one Apple makes, they void warranties due to cigarette smoke!

Any sensible person would be against smoking so am I! I do not propose that the technicians be exposed to hazardous chemicals. Yet it is unreasonable of Apple to deny the warranties claimed on the Macintoshes exposed to smoke from cigarettes.

The Consumerist has been publishing these on two occasions over the last few months.

Apple claims that the amount of cigarette smoke embedded in the client’s machines is making it hazardous for the technicians to perform any repairs on their machines despite the warranty and lack of clause stating this reason in the agreement.

The Consumerist reports that this complaint has been taken to Steve Job’s Desk and has fallen to deaf ears.

The Consumerist published this story on Friday and sought explanation to this scenario; they have failed to receive any answers from the Headquarters of Apple over these months. (As this site is a member of the Consumer Union and Consumer Reports organization their claim is trustworthy).

If this were Dell, an email would get an immediate response from Michael and even a call. The scenario would be the same if I were to send an email to the PR contacts at HP or any other Hardware Company. Mostly you would expect to hear that this has been a human error and you would have forgotten about the incident. It wouldn’t be worth a mention and I wouldn’t write about it! We are imperfect beings and mistakes occur all the time.

I am intrigued by two facts.

Firstly Apple believes that they are not avoiding to honour the warranties are not willing to send a refurbished Mac to replace the Macs with cigarette smoke in them.

They could at least return the machines with the cigarette-smoke with the instructions to refurbish their old hard drive in the new machine.

Secondly according to my hazardous materials training I happen to know that however harmful the chemical there are ways to handle it safely.

Apple is a billionaire giant they could easily buy containment chambers which would allow the technician to be away from the hazard.

We have seen those chambers where the laboratory technicians introduce their hands into gloves through holes. The only thing which touches the computer is the gloves and the tools.

This environment is so secure that even smallpox and Ebola will not break containment leave alone kill someone due to a Smoked-up Mac.

There are other alternatives like the stand-alone breathing apparatus just like the ones fire fighter wear this would definitely prevent the technician from inhaling cigarette residue.

The same job could be done by wearing air filters and respirators. Additional gloves and gowns would add further assurance. (You could even consult the experts)

The other alternate could be opening the smoked computers and placing them in the open to air.

Another option is that Apple seek someone who already smokes therefore it will not seem like such a hazard to expose the person to the smoke fumes. Hopefully a smoker from Apple would volunteer to alleviate the misery of the Mac users whose machines need repairs.

Hopefully Apple would try to stop these nonsensical stories immediately after they have read this. Possibly some money-hungry lawyer might take this as a chance to make his millions by promising justice to the customers.

I also hope that very soon I will be able to write another article explaining Apples actions as well-thought out. It would make me even happier if Apple rubbishes all these claims and agrees to perform better.

But I expect Apple to remain silent, the same company that acclaimed the Baby Shaker iPhone application, they would let the whole thing pass.

They may even try to escape the issue just like they did with the Snow Leopard Data Loss and Overheating iPhones.

Hopefully by adding my voice to the chorus already asking questions, the wait for the answers shortens.