I find that tale very hard to believe. But then anything Apple is hard to believe.
I had a look at some nerd blog posts and found some relevant information. Apparently there are some laptop chargers (and these must be used with the correct laptops) that have a concentric three wire connection. Two wires are used for power and a third wire is for telling the laptop whether or not to charge its battery. Mention is made of HP and Dell using third-wire signalling, and availability of special power units for air travel use.
This is very different from the OP, who proposes using the wrong charger. I cannot say too often always use the charger provided by the original manufacturer for your laptop.