Mxproject Asian Pop Music Radio & Entertainment

Reports from two Consumerist readers say smoking will void your AppleCare.

Zoom
For those of you unfamiliar with AppleCare, it's basically an extended warranty service offered by Apple. You can get up to three years of service and support for your Mac as long as you're willing to pay. However, what Apple doesn't tell you is that if you're a smoker, your AppleCare might be worthless if your computer actually needs repairing.

Consumerist reader, Derek, sent in his MacBook to because it was having issues with overheating. Suspecting the fan might be the issue, Derek assumed Apple would just have to replace it but was surprised to hear that they actually couldn't fix his computer at all because he was a smoker.

… 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 second hand smoke". Not only is this faulty science, attributing non smoking residue to second hand smoke, on Chad's part, no where in your applecare terms of service can I find anything mentioning being used in a smoking environment as voiding the warranty.

A second reader, Ruth, wrote in a few months later, reporting the same problem.

I bought an iMac for my son (for school) along with the extended Applecare warranty. A month ago, it quit working. My son took it to the authorized Mac service center. The "tech" informed him it would be ready in 48-72 hours. … They informed me that his computer can't be worked on because it's contaminated. When I asked for an explanation, she said he's a smoker and it's contaminated with cigarette smoke which they consider a bio-hazard! I checked my Applecare warranty and it says nothing about not honoring warranties if the owner is a smoker.

An Apple rep spoke to Ruth and told her that nicotine is on OSHA's list of hazardous substances and Apple would not require an employee to repair anything deemed hazardous to their health. A fair point, but Ruth points out that sucrose, chlorine, talc, calcium carbonate and isopropyl are also on the list.

Months later, Apple's PR department has yet to return comment as to what the official policy.