Apple has come under fire for refusing to honour its “Applecare” warranty due to cigarette smoke residue being a considered “biohazard,” and hence unsafe to work with.

Critics point out that this is far from standard industry practice, and is mentioned nowhere in the warranty…

Several US Mac users report problems getting their faulty Macs serviced as a result of the policy:

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. Five days go by and he’s heard nothing, so I called. 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.

The Applecare representative said they defer to the technician and my son’s computer cannot be fixed at any Apple Service Center due to being listed a bio-hazard.

This computer cost approx. $3,000, with the extended warranty. I’m all for destroying cigarettes and putting big tobacco out of business (yes, I’m a reformed smoker), but to label a computer a biohazard because one is a smoker is going a bit too far in regulating who can have the warranty they purchased honored.

Shouldn’t there be some disclaimer stating that they won’t honor warranties from smokers?

There’s no words on Apple on its refusal to service these “contaminated” Macs.