Question:
Beware - Sony Laptops & Service !
OK GUYS !!!!!!!!!
I have sent mine in 4 times to Sony service in a years time span, they honestly do not care if they fix your problem or not.
Listen to this ..............
The first time I sent it in was 4 months after I bought it. It started overheating - and power down anywhere from 30 min to 10 min. And that wasn’t even running strenuous programs !
The tech I talked to was really nice - and I was pleased. I sent it in - and got it back about 7-8 days later.
They added a thermal layer under the keyboard, and replaced some other little parts.
Worked fine for about 3 months ............. then it started again.
I brought it in to my workplace ( computer industry ) - and an engineer that I work with brought it to my attention that the fan was running 100% of the time & shouldn't.
I called Sony back - and let them know I was having the same overheat/crash problem - and that the fan was constantly running as well. The tech could have cared less - and just set it up to be sent in..... I might add hat he seem rather disgusted - like I was bothering him - putz.
Anyway - about a day later - I get it back - no kidding a day later.
They said they replaced the thermal layer ( again ), and added some sponges.
When I started up my laptop - I noticed the fan was even louder.
And when I ran my Norton Antivirus scan ..... It crashed.
Pretty ticked - I called Sony back - this time I asked to speak with upper management.
I got someone in management ( Wendy ). This being the 3rd time - I was expecting someone to actually do something about this problem - somehow.
She stated that all I could do is send it back in & have them look at it again.
She sent me over to someone at the 'specialist tech desk' ..... He stated that I was correct - the fan should not run all the time - and there was defiantly something wrong - that needed to be looked at - instead of adding 'sponges' and sending it back to me.
Reluctantly - I sent it back in.
They called 3 days later - told me that they couldn’t duplicate the overheat/crash problem.
When I asked about the fan - he put me on hold ...... came back & stated that it was just they way the model was designed.
Yea - BS.
I asked to escalate to a manager........... I got Wendy again.
She stated that the only thing she could do is have their lead tech at the specialist desk look at it (at this point I'm wondering why they didn’t do that the last time) - and she said that if he couldn’t find anything - there was nothing they could do for me.
NOT happy - but feeling like I didn’t have any choice ( and being they still had my laptop ) - I said - yea sure - what the hell - go for it.
She told me that she would call me back later that afternoon.
I never head from her.
I tried the whole next day to reach her - and could not ....... I left a message with her, explaining some of this info that I had found from you folks on these forums .... Was she aware of what a huge problem this was - and that I didn’t appreciate her not calling as she stated, much less not even the next day. I said that at this point I’d like to just have my laptop sent back - and take care of it myself.
She called later that evening & left a message stating how sorry she was for not returning my call, and that the lead tech guy decided to have some of their engineers look at it - and they found the need to replace the fan - and some other components, and said she would call me back as soon as she had word.
A week later - still hadn't heard back so I called her - she was out on vacation.
I called the number from the tech that told me that they couldn’t duplicate the prob...... And he stated that
The unit was being replaced.
HU ? !
I explained to him what Wendy had said when she called - and all he said was that they decided that it was in their best interest to replace the unit.
I asked what that entailed..... He said he didn’t know - and would have someone from the corporate office contact me.
A lady named Tracy called & left a message - now getting a hold of this woman was even harder.
She never answered her line & her voicemail was always full & not accepting messages.
After trying for a couple hours off & on ..... I finally got her voicemail & left a message.
A day went by & nothing - I tried calling several times - still no answer & not able to leave a message.
The next day I finally heard back - only because I tried calling again - and she finally answered.
She told me that they would replace the unit with a 'refurbished unit' ... I said - no way.
She stated the only other thing then was to try to fix my current laptop - I said - uh yea -wasn’t that the pint like the first 4 times I sent it in ? !
There was a pause - and she said that I probably didn’t understand what she meant by refurbished.
She then explained that in this case - the unit was returned from a store like Circuit City, due to overstock.
Sony then has to update the software on the unit - and by law then has to call it refurbished.
No one had used it - and no repairs done to it.
I put her on hold - and looked thru some sites for some info on this model - and couldn’t find anything that said it sucked - LOL - or that said anything for that matter, accept for 2 people recently purchased and liked them ( posted in 11/2002 - and no follow ups or other comments had bee posted since ).
So I agreed.
The laptop is now on its way ( a PCG-FRV35 ) .... about 3-5 business days ( and they sent my HD back to me - being that I work with a bunch of computer techs - they can retrieve some of my data - and I have to send it back within 30 days. )
But all in all - Sony electronics are great - TV's etc - BUTT !
Their PC's and Laptops.......... SUCK !
And their Customer Service is the lowest - most rock bottom service I have EVER seen.
If I had just said 'oh ok sir' - to the guy that called the third time & said they couldn’t duplicate and there was
Nothing they could do - I would be stuck with a problem that NO ONE should have to be stuck with when they pay that much damn money for a laptop.
I am sending this info out to the Better Business Buro - Consumer reports - and posting it on every forum I can. I also got a feedback questionnaire from Sony - and its going back with that card as well.
No one deserves this crap - and Sony needs to get their hand slapped !
Good luck out there !
Answer:
you've now changed my mind on buying a Sony...customer service from the manufacturer is a huge deciding factor for me, thanks man!
Answer:
NP ! =)
I would check out Toshiba .... if you have a Best Buy where you are - go thru them - to be honest .... i have an extended warranty program that i bought thru them - worth every penny.
So if Sony fails - they will help me.
Here is a nice Toshiba I was looking at - my husband has the 17" model - it works GREAT, and thier customer service is good( my husband used them for a config problem ) .....Toshiba Satellite Notebook with Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 2.8GHz
Model: P15-S409
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1063630089152&skuId=6045344&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01174
I also got a consumer reports magazine with a laptop section - thats a good way to go as well.
Hope that helps =) and good luck ![:)]
Answer:
I'm sorry to hear of your problematic situation; however Sony has decent (if not *good*) technical assistance. Looking at Consumer Reports ratings for Sept. of 2003 they a "good" rating. Their latest issue also gives them the same rating. Every company has disastisfied customers--if you were to make your purchases based on one troublesome problem you wouldn't be purchasing from any manufacturer--even the infallable Apple has customers that complain of crappy service. When you look at the wholistic picture they are the *best*--so should you eliminate them because of a few bad experiences when the good far outweighs the bad? Your call.
As they say; customers with a bad experience will tell 10 ppl and those ppl will tell 10 others, if they recieve great service they generally tell 1 (if that). It wouldn't take very long at all (probably *one* search on google) to find people that are dissatisfied with the Best Buy program or Toshiba's service. Again, look at the wholistic picture.
Hopefully you will receive better service with this laptop. Let us know.
Answer:
Take a look here - and you'll see that i am not the only one that had 1 bad experience with Sony .........
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/8891/
besides - that experience was bad enough to yes - tell about it - especially when i am reading of so many others as well.
And this was not the only forum i found that people had these same problems.
Answer:
I took a look there, it seems as though there are a few ppl with the same problem. . .perhaps some sort of flaw on Sony's part with that model. Although one person fixed it by blowing compressed air into the inlet fan. . .fans do collect dust and if that is the cause of the overheating I don't see how Sony can be blamed. Also, hardly ANY of those people actually called Sony for help but rather complained about how BAD Sony is (I'm sure that will help). . .and only a select few sent it in to Sony for repair, how can they help if they aren't given the chance? Also, how many of these models have Sony sold. . .and how many have this problem? That said you did contact them, I do sympathize with your dilema and you can voice your opinion on Sony.
Here is my point, you said you loved Toshiba's support. . .these ppl didn't. . .
http://www.complaints.com/september2003/complaintoftheday.september21.8.htm
http://www.complaints.com/directory/2004/january/19/6.htm
http://www.complaints.com/directory/2004/february/3/13.htm
http://www.complaints.com/may2002/complaintoftheday.may25.9.htm
You want to hear about Best Buy go to www.bestbuysux.org and you can read more stories than you can throw a stick at.
I can come up with more than you would want to read. . .for ANY manufacturer/retailer. You had a bad experience with Sony, voice that, but keep it in perspective. Are the above people wrong about Toshiba because they had a bad experience? No. However; looking at the wholistic picture, Toshiba has very good technical assistance and builds quality machines--as does every major laptop manufacturer.
Answer:
Have you ever thought of Anger Managment - seriously .....
It was an experience told - and an opinion.
Dude - get over yourself.
Answer:
"That said you did contact them, I do sympathize with your dilema and you can voice your opinion on Sony. "
Lord knows how you can construe that or anything I posted as "anger" or "being full of myself". We are talking on the internet--what sense does it make to get angry? I don't even know you, nor you I.
There are always two sides of a story. On the whole Sony has good technical support and produce good notebooks. I do not agree with how they handled your situation--but in the end they solved it. If you do not like the "other side" of the situation thats alright. Should it not be presented?
You are entitled to your opinion and to share your experience. I am entitled to let the readers know that in general they won't have this type of problem. I shouldn't apologize for anything I have said so I won't; but if you were offended in any way then I can apologize for that.
Answer:
am using a GRX580 and had the motherboard replaced when the laptop was under warranty and it has since broken again (will not boot if there is a memory chip in slot #2), but now is out of warranty. I have switched the memory chips around and it still will not boot, but when I leave slot 2 empty it will boot with either of the chips installed. I use a notebook fan/cooler religiously and take excellent care of my notebook.
I had to remove the second memory from my slot #2 and now it will boot up and work just fine, except it is SLOW due to loss of 256MB of auxiliary memory. I went the to following link and read about it in detail and found a shop that will solder the offending pin and return it to you for $150. I also read about a proposed class action lawsuit and a virtual petition to sign about making SONY aware of the problem.
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/5449/
What can I do now??? I have researched the problem and have found it to be real and am upset that SONY hasn't recalled or fixed the problem. I queried the parts page on SONY and found that the motherboard to replace this one is not even carried and at another site it is $650.
WHAT DO I DO NOW??????????? WILL SONY STAND BY ITS PRODUCT AND HELP ME????????????????
Answer:
What are you doing? You're a moderater? The guy had a terrible experience and he was sharing it. Then you jump in and tell him he's entitled to his opinion but you need to let readers know they won't have this type of problem? How do you know? Sharing and learning about these kind of experiences is the point of forums.