Apple hit with class action suit over fire-prone MagSafe adapters

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  • Reply 21 of 106
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Nano_tube View Post


    If the complaint of the users is real, Apple should replace all their damaged hardware at no expenses to the users.



    End of story.
  • Reply 22 of 106
    foljsfoljs Posts: 390member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wilco View Post


    Blame for Apple's gradual descent into half-assed QC should be placed on the "environmentalist" and their "ill advised policies."



    Oh, so Apple designed a new, SAFER AND SMALLER, power adapter, and you say that the company "descents into half-assed QC" because a few out of 5-6 million sold have problems?



    Really, when was that time before Apple "descended into half-assed QC"? Surely, they didn't have any problems with their products back then.



    Can you point me to specific incident numbers over time?



    Oh, you made that statements out of your arse. I see.







    (Any company has faulty products. Apple had the G3 logic board failures, the pro G5 cooling liquid dripping, problems with early Titanium powerbooks and other such major stuff. One cannot talk about a "descent into half-assed QC" without numbers and qualitative differences).
  • Reply 23 of 106
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teckstud View Post


    Form over function once again bites the Apple.



    Blitheness over seriousness once again bites you.



    The sad fact is, you don't (perhaps can't) even see it.
  • Reply 24 of 106
    zorinlynxzorinlynx Posts: 170member
    The main cause of this problem is people always unplugging their laptops via the cord instead of the plug itself.



    You don't yank power cords from the wall by the cable, do you? Well the same applies to magsafe.



    Just because it was designed not to yank your laptop off the table when you trip over the cord doesn't mean it was designed to always be unplugged by yanking the cord.



    I know this because I used to yank mine by the cord and it failed within a year. After that I always grasp it by the plug to disconnect it, and since then I've had no more problems.
  • Reply 25 of 106
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by foljs View Post


    Makes sense.



    After all the potential of a burnt house and people killed in an electrical fire due to faulty adapter is mitigated by laptops saved from breakage when someone yanks their cable.



    WTF?



    You can't walk into court talking about potential. Hell my George Foreman grill has the potential to burn the house down and all of its contents. I'd like to know what Apple's replacement level is for burnt magsafe adapters.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ten View Post


    The "magsafe" is not the issue (idiot)... it's that the cable frays... which imho, is something all cables do, especially the used and abused ones.



    My original power cable from my Ti PowerBook frayed like this (not mag safe) after three years of use (abuse)... it was time to replace! It that guy was too lazy to replace a frayed cord, then he deserves to get shocked!



    True and when I say magsafe in this context I really mean the cable. Forgive my incomplete hastily input message.
  • Reply 26 of 106
    randythotrandythot Posts: 109member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2 View Post


    I have to say that I just don't believe this post at all.



    Wires don't overheat to the point of spontaneously catching fire for no reason. For that to happen Apple would have had to purposely undersize the wire and the odds of that are remote given that it works for the majority of folks and that it would be criminal fraud or criminal negligence to do so.



    The two most common causes of this kind of thing are handling it so roughly that some of the wires inside break, or cat pee, with cat pee being the more common one.



    VirgilTB2,



    I agree, wires don't spontaneously overheat/degrade. I tongue in cheek pass on the cat pee, though.



    One time, I was browsing at an Apple Store (novi, mi, as I recall). A rather frumpy, heavy-set middle-age individual stomped up to the counter, schlepped his bag onto the Genius Bar, and demanded replacement power cords. This was before the Mag Safe, but after the Yo-yo power cable.



    As I recall, Apple replaced them (under Apple Care), but after the guy left, I approached and commented to the Genius about those frayed, burnt cables. He had 3 cable sets, each looked burnt and frayed like a hamster on PCP had gone nuts on them.



    In reality, after looking at the man, and even how he wound the cables, and also pulled them out of his bag roughly, I can see that he really beat up on his power cords. It seemed like he travelled a bit, and I understand there is normal wear and tear, but this guy obviously didn't treat his cables near as nice as his laptop.



    It's too bad, because Apple took it on the nose. I hope this doesn't end up in a stupid class action that costs Apple.
  • Reply 27 of 106
    Here's a tutorial to fix the connector. I don't recommend anyone use it.



    http://sm-url.com/MagSafe



    Don't use this tutorial.
  • Reply 28 of 106
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teckstud View Post


    Form over function once again bites the Apple.



    Yet Apple is still tops in customer satisfaction . . . survey after survey, study after study. Year after year, and nearly across the whole range of its producs



    In light of that, and until we see the actual merits of this case, it's a money-grab.
  • Reply 29 of 106
    This happened to me! I've had one MagSafe connector melt while on vacation. Once I got back home, the Apple Store guy would not replace my power supply, telling me it wasn't part of the MacBook's warranty.



    Was the guy giving me bull? If not for the AppleCare, what reason would we be allowed to get our power supplies replaced?



    More recently, I've had another one crack, but not melt, and it still works. It's now on light-duty and I don't carry it around with me.
  • Reply 30 of 106
    hugohugo Posts: 8member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iHSE View Post


    I had this exact same problem with my Rev.A MacBook Pro about 6 months back. It seems to be pretty random. I was using my MBP at home and all of a sudden I smell smoke. It took me a minute to realize where it was coming from until I actually saw the white smoke pouring out of the cable. It actually looked worse than pictured, believe it or not.



    I was pretty ticked off but the service I got from the Apple Store made up for it. No appointment; I just walked in with my heavily burnt MagSafe adapter and in less than 5 minutes I was walking out with a brand new one, right off the shelf.



    Exactly the same thing for me. This problem happened on my connector last year, so I took the charger to the Apple store and they just swapped it for a new cable. It costs me nothing and took all of 10 minutes. I haven't had any issues with the new cable so far, and even if that were to happen, I'm sure the same policy would apply.
  • Reply 31 of 106
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Guess that's what happens when you're careless with your stuff.
  • Reply 32 of 106
    charlesscharless Posts: 301member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    Yes I was actually mentally think more like .5 %. I would have to see numbers that show Apple was hiding a LOT of failures. Any device I plug into the wall has the potential for sparking. It has to be proven that Apple is negligent here.



    Dude, 0.5% would still be one in every 200 MacBooks. That's a lot of MacBooks. And we're talking about a fire hazard. Fire hazards are not something you mess around with. How many iBook G4s were actually bitten by the exploding battery problem? I think it was literally only a handful of people, but it sparked a massive recall of all batteries for the affected models. Heck, the infamous PowerBook 5300 incident back in the day was Apple's biggest embarrassment to that date, and that issue was never reported in the wild at all - the machines that exploded and sparked the recall were in the factory, not in end-users' hands.



    If the MagSafe connector truly is a fire hazard, that is a big deal no matter what the percentage of affected users is.
  • Reply 33 of 106
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,949member
    How did I know that "punitive damages" would be involved? I'd be a lot less skeptical if the plaintiffs agreed to donate any punitive damages to charity. The Fire Safety Institute?
  • Reply 34 of 106
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Master Cheech View Post


    These cables are damaged because they are removed by pulling on the cable instead of pulling on the connector.



    You got that right. Dipshits that don't know how to follow basic instructions of ANY power cord. Do not pull on the cord, pull on the actual plug. These dipshits probably thought they could pull on the cord every time to disconnect it from the Mac, simply because it was a magnet connector. Morons.



    My power adapter for my 7 year old PowerBook G4 is in perfect condition. I don't wind it with excessive force, and I never pull on the cord to disconnect it from the PowerBook. Hopefully it won't obtain class action status, and they won't be able to prove any liability on Apple.
  • Reply 35 of 106
    I think apple should do this.....



    Say..... would you please back up your computer and send it to us.



    Then... give them a full refund and keep the computer.... give them a check and a letter that says they have proved that they are entirely TOO STUPID to own a COMPUTER.



    Like another person said in here... I've had several power books and ibooks... and the cords were fine so long as you didn't close one in a door... have a pet that chewed on it... or anything like that.



    You know.... things that can beat the heck out of a power cord and break it.



    These kinds of lawsuits are such total bullshit! 3 idiots find a lawyer that will represent 3 idiots since they have a gripe with Apple.... which should be a gripe for just being freaking STUPID. This is like the guy that sued McDonalds for spilling hot coffee on himself. Or the other guy that said his daughter was so traumatized by not having a prize in a box of Cracker Jacks that he really needed millions of dollars to help her feel better.



    This is the wussification of America. We need one of the few things that the UK has that we don't. It's called LOOSER PAYS. The idea being if you start some kind of fraudulent lawsuit against someone, or some company... and you LOOSE (As these morons should) You have to pay the legal bills for their defense.



    We can all have accidents with these cords.... I know I have. I closed one in a door next to my desk once... duh... blonde moment on my part. But I didn't go screaming to Apple... YOU MADE A DEFECTIVE CORD....waaaaaa...



    Take some personal responsibility folks. These guys are tards trying to take advantage of Apple.... If there was a real problem we would have heard tons of people complaining on here.



    Geez..... I'm surprised they didn't have their computer plugged into their cig lighter in the car while they were filling up on a hot day with no breeze....



    Then I guess we'd be talking about a Darwin Award.



    Z
  • Reply 36 of 106
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CharlesS View Post


    Dude, 0.5% would still be one in every 200 MacBooks. That's a lot of MacBooks. And we're talking about a fire hazard. Fire hazards are not something you mess around with. How many iBook G4s were actually bitten by the exploding battery problem? I think it was literally only a handful of people, but it sparked a massive recall of all batteries for the affected models. Heck, the infamous PowerBook 5300 incident back in the day was Apple's biggest embarrassment to that date, and that issue was never reported in the wild at all - the machines that exploded and sparked the recall were in the factory, not in end-users' hands.



    If the MagSafe connector truly is a fire hazard, that is a big deal no matter what the percentage of affected users is.



    The infamous PowerBook 5300 incident never made it out of the labs! There never was a recall for batteries that were never used in production models. The problem had nothing to do with Apple either. Sony's Lithium Ion batteries were a problem at the time and Apple decided that the shipping product would continue to use NiCad batteries instead. The iBook/PowerBook battery recall was also caused by Sony and the cells used in those batteries.



    This problem with the MagSafe adapters is caused by idiots that are pulling on the cord instead of the connector. Any power cord is a hazard when you damage it from abuse. All power cords for any product have the same warning: Do not pull on the cord to unplug it.
  • Reply 37 of 106
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hillstones View Post


    The infamous PowerBook 5300 incident never made it out of the labs! There never was a recall for batteries that were never used in production models. The problem had nothing to do with Apple either. Sony's Lithium Ion batteries were a problem at the time and Apple decided that the shipping product would continue to use NiCad batteries instead. The iBook/PowerBook battery recall was also caused by Sony and the cells used in those batteries.



    This problem with the MagSafe adapters is caused by idiots that are pulling on the cord instead of the connector. Any power cord is a hazard when you damage it from abuse. All power cords for any product have the same warning: Do not pull on the cord to unplug it.



    Amen Hillstones!!!!



    These three buffoons would be much better off as PC guys....



    "I'm a PC"... and I use my powercord to play with my cats..... Meow...Spark fizz,,, screech from poor cat with idiot for owner.....Followed by MS X logo....LOL



    Z
  • Reply 38 of 106
    ltmpltmp Posts: 204member
    I just bought a bunch of replacement dock cords for my iPhone. The original one was fraying at the USB end.



    Why? Because I kept disconnecting it from the plug and my computers by pulling on the cord!



    I would have been way to humiliated to ask Apple to replace the cord that I'd damaged by being an idiot.



    Instead, I bought four new cords, one for each computer and one for the plug. Now I never have to disconnect a cord (or get on a plane and realize I'd left it at home).



    I still have the frayed cord. Maybe if I get enough people to join a class action suit, Apple will pay me for being stupid and I'll get lost in the crowd so nobody I know will notice what a bonehead I am.



    I can't do that with my MagSafe cord though. I've treated it like crap for 2 years, but the damn thing wont break!
  • Reply 39 of 106
    juliojulio Posts: 5member
    We smelled it and looked around the house for 20 minutes before we figured out what was burning. It looked exactly like a picture. She kept it plugged in all the time, and only used it as her home adapter.



    Julio
  • Reply 40 of 106
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Julio View Post


    We smelled it and looked around the house for 20 minutes before we figured out what was burning. It looked exactly like a picture. She kept it plugged in all the time, and only used it as her home adapter.



    Julio



    Legally notarized pics or it didn't happen.
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