Complain about a product or service

Sony Computers

Cosntantino of Spotswood NJ (06/28/08)
I Have a Sony Bravia KDL-40XBR2 built on October 2006 purchased in January 2007 stop working April 2008 Warranty expired, call Sony and told me they will have to send a technician to fix it average of 500 to 1100.00 to repair

Ms. of Columbia MD (06/27/08)
I am having too many problems with the sony viao computer that I bought from Best Buy. The window stop working and the netgear cannot connect to the internet. It takes too much time for the computer to update and it will update while I'm in the middle of doing a project on the computer, when I have to use the computer it does not work. I am so feedup with the computer and the service I have received. I have call about 75 times to sony help line and my computer still is not working.

I have lost business, money, and time behind this computer. I am paying Sprint internet and I cannot use it because the computer is not working. I am tired and I am spending too much time calling and talking to [their] people. I would to exchange this computer for a new one or get my money back because I spent a lot of money on this computer and it is less than 6 months old and I have been having problems at 2months.

Michael of Hollywood FL (06/17/08)
I would never buy anything made by Sony ever again. I purchased a SONY UX computer for almost $2000 and from the moment it arrived it was defective. The screen flickers, the battery is not charging, and it is extremely slow loading. I contacted Sony to return it in September and the representative ended up taking down my information wrong for the return label. I called back and finally got an authorization for the return but the postage would not open in the email. Sony then denied for it to be returned and I am stuck with a Computer that does not work, due to their negligence.

I am stuck with a computer that does not work and am out of almost $2000.

Sumoth of Cochin ,Kerala OTHER (06/15/08)
I bought a sony CR 22 lapt top from Sony world cochin on 31 mar 08. Sony peoples offered me payment option is tie-up with ICICI credit card that is, 40900*12 Emis, and first 3 emi is down payment. Since it is not converted as to EMI I communicated with sony and put complaint to sony cus care. But no response over this Since ICICI charged 3000 rs as charge for pending due. 

James of Spring TX (06/08/08)
I have a Vaio PCVRS430G and need to upgrade my video card to play some of the new games. The higher level video cards require a bigger power supply but Sony won't sell me one because they will only sell what originally came with the computer and the standard power supplies I can buy won't work. The mother board has a 3 prong connection from the power supply that is not standard and the power supply that came with the computer is smaller than the regular power supplies.

It seems that Sony wants you to buy a new computer instead of upgrading the current one. Needless to say, when the time comes to get a new computer, it won't be from Sony, in fact, I will not buy another Sony product of any kind.

Devchandraaj of Chennai OTHER (06/08/08)
I bought a SONY laptop Vaio vgn-25gn series. Thats nearly 1500$ Houge chunk of money in India. The thing is no OS/Driver dvds (portable media) were provided. If incase any problem occurs how will the customers make a work around? Withing a year warranty or warranty period ok. What after that? And that too they asked me to take a recovery cd copy out of it. If the OS wasnt charged ok fine, dont give the dvd. But it is! And most of all they have given all the sony softwares all OEMS with serial and some products with trial versions!

Am not complaining about the product bought or its contents. The question is why isnt the OS/repair dvds/ driver dvds for the components not provided? And funny thing is they charged well and they couldnt provide two blank dvds for me to take out the recovery discs. And there is only one partition thats defautly C drive with all the important OEM serialized stuff they put in. If incase I make partitions. I loose original datas for good. All the hard earned money goes into thin air. Else only option is for myself to back up everything in portable media which I did. And that again that cost me.

If incase I wanted to install XP on my laptop...thing is Only Vista flavours comes in these laptops. And these laptops arent configured to work with XP which they call as a downgrade. If I did install XP and faced problems like non functioning of system hardware plus the funny thing is SOny site itself provides XP drivers to load XP in the laptops. But then again my warranty will become VOID if I do that even though its still in warranty doimensions! The question is why is SONY restricting users? Then why dont they give the customers to freely move with the products which they buy.

And this concept of No OS setup dvd / driver dvd... is a huge set back because customers like me, well most will be working professionals, mostly, even learning students. They will be at a stand still when they want to change certain aspects of the product like change of OS. If the Os is changed then warranty will be VOID even if the system is just outt off the shop! Am not asking you for extra softwares. only demanding the driver cd/dvd for the hardware bought!

Basak of ızmır OTHER (05/30/08)
I am living in Turkey. I bought my laptop when travelled in Florda. When open it in Turkey for using, it wasnt work. I thought that battery needs to charged. but my laptop was not charged. I didnt use my laptop for once.Then decded to talk to onlne services. I talked to Reene. She told me to send my laptop for fxng to repar servce n San Dego. I asked her whch cargo frm we use? she said to me usng UPS cargo. I did it exactly what she said. After a few days sony repair services send me an e-mail that my laptop was broken also. And f I want them fxng my laptop, have to pay for 700$ to fx.

When I read e-mal, shocked. Because send my computer trouble-free. Whereon called UPS Cargo. Authorzed people told us to connect to  repar servces. By the way, wrote an e-mail to services and said then decided to fx my laptop in sony repeir services in San Diego . Money is not important. If give me a bank name and account number, ll pay 700$ into an account. (motherboard and bottom housing )Please send my laptop back when you fx it

After my mail, they send me an account number in February 4. when saw ths mail.. replied and said them I ll pay 700$ for an account in a 2 days because of the tme dfference. After all this e-mail, today i received an email from repar servces..and they sent my laptop back. they gave me a cargo name also cargo number..I understood that they did not fx my laptop. so, i am really sorry now and also i am upset person.Ths event is not good for SONY name.

K of Boca Raton FL (05/29/08)
I purchased a Sony Vaio laptop for $1919 last July. One day it crashed. I sent it in for repair. When it was returned to me it had 4 more problems that had not been an issue at the time it was sent in for repair. Suddenly there were dead pixels on the screen, the finish of the computer was ruined, the ethernet port didn't work and the key board was lower on the left side. When I explained that I could not send it in again as I am in the middle of a job search the company not only didn't apologize for the inconvenience and difficulties I was experiencing but told me the only choice I had was to send it in for another 7-10 days. Unacceptable.

As I am in the middle of searching for employment the loss of my computer for any amount of time is unacceptable but to have to be without a computer due to their repair center's fault shows what lousy customer service Sony provides.

Tim of Monroe NC (05/29/08)
I purchased a playstation 2 in december of 07 and as of march 08 it refuses to read any discs or games.

Robert of Denver CO (05/22/08)
1. I have a Sony VGNUX 180P with a service contract. I have some problems with the unit and called Sony. I was moved place to place with no help and nothing resolved. That only took 2 hours.

2. My wife and I purchased two Ebooks from the Sony Store in Denver. My wife has an issue with her book, it is falling apart. Took it to the store they gave us a number, otherwise were of no help. She then called the number and each places switched her to a new number. The last person assumed she dropped it and would give her no help what so ever. That took over two hours to do that. Based on our experiences we will never purchase another Sony product again.

Gill of Sacramento CA (05/16/08)
Bad Product and Worst Customer Service. I purchased a $1400 Sony VGN-FZ4000 Notebook from Sony.com (Sony Style Sales) Last month. I put the battery in place, connected the power cable and booted the computer. The power came on and right away it turned off. This was on the same day I received the computed. I called Sony to fix it or to send me a replacement.

For TWO WEEKS they kept on transferring me from one help center to another keeping me on hold for 45 minutes to 1 hr at a time, until finally they told me there is nothing they could do for me. This was by far the worst customer service I have ever encountered. I should never have bought anything from Sony, I should have gone with Dell or Apple. I have lost my money and a good TWO WEEKS of my life. I am left without a computer and lost my $1400 dollars

Richard of Las Vegas NV (05/14/08)
-Lost my order through FedEx -The replacement was sent out almost a month later after the requested full refund amount. The notebook arrived and my money was with-held until the computer was sent to the warehouse in Laredo, TX. It arrived in Laredo and my money is still being with-held from me and now they may deny me the full refund amount aside from the fact there was nothing wrong with the computer...

No computer for college. Untimely debt due to the misleading information. Credit damage through bank

Nick of San Diego CA (03/11/08)
They sold me a desktop without Windows XP CD. I asked them to send me a disk - they DID not. Now the PC is dead, I cannot boot it. I called them again and they ask me for money for the XP CD. But I ALREADY PAID for XP! Never ever ever buy anything from Sony again. Bad quality, bad service, bad attitude to people.

$1700 into the garbage can.

Peter of Seattle WA (01/26/08)
I purchased my VAIO on 12/27/07. The first time I turned it on it would not boot. In the past four weeks Sony has had at least 6 people work on it, locally and in San Diego. It still crashes before loading Vista. I was told my only recourse was to WRITE to the Sony Executive Committee at Ft Myers (they have no phone and no email). 10 days later I got a phone call from Chris (CW24). They will not replace it with a working computer. They will not give a refund. Per the Sony warranty, my only option is to continue to repeatedly send it in to the repair center that so far has been unable to detect the problem - much less than fix it. IF you are going to purchase a Sony VAIO, BUY IT LOCALLY. You can then deal with a local shop if you get a DOA computer. Sony QA is pathetic. Their repair center is (apparently) incompetent. Their warranty does NOT guarantee a computer that will ever work, only endless repair attempts. I have spent days trying to get this fixed and have not had 30 seconds of useful service from the computer.

I'm out $1400 and many days of time wasted on a paperweight.

James of Garden Grove CA (01/25/08)
I sent My lap top back for repairs of the mother board in 11/06. I was told it was past the warrenty date by one month and it would cost me $726.00. I refused service at that time. This last month I found out they had a recall on Lap top computer mother boards as well as batteries which I believe caused my problems to begin with. I called again on 1/08 and was told my model was not covered. If they are having problems with mother boards why would mine not be covered? They should have replaced the mother board back in 06

I still have a broken lap top. This limits my connectivity on business trips. I travel approximately 6 months per year.

R of Fort Campbell KY (01/05/08)
The computer laptop we purchased was made by Sony. We asked that Sony provide a down grade for the Windows Vista software because the computer keeps shutting down for no apparent reason. It's not the computer, it's the software. Sony responded that they can't do a down grade because they didn't develop any drivers for the XP OP on that laptop. What a lame excuse and now I'm stuck with a great computer with a bad OP.

We haven't had any damage, just constant shut down and a slow computer that would work much better with different software.

Robert of Richmond CA (10/12/07)
I paid $2700.00 US for a Sony Vaio 27B/N laptop. Within hours of taking it out of the box the screen had 20% pixel death. I took it back to the Sony Style store and they asked if I had bought the 3 year warranty. (It comes with a one year warranty.) They said that the store does not recognize their one year warranty. They only honor the 3 year warranty, and that I would have to send the unit to a service center.

The service center told me that a new screen would cost $700.00 and that it was not covered under that warranty as I must have dropped the laptop causing the damage. This pissed me off. So I did not pay for the screen to be fixed.

When the machine was returned, I mailed to Sony's CEO, Howard Stringer, in Tokyo with a letter. He did not respond, he just sent the machine to their service center in San Diego. What an irresponsible wanker.

I had the service center return the laptop to me again. I decided to use it as a desktop unit by hooking it up to another monitor. Within a day the motherboard died. So I've sent it to the service center again. I wonder what crap story they will tell me this time.

Saurabh of Union City NJ (03/17/07)

I made mistake to buy a Sony Laptop in US and it is crashing everyday, last week it refused to restart, saying “Operating system not found.” Its been only 2 months after I bought this piece of junk from Best Buy. Now neither Best Buy nor Sony own the responsibility. Sony just sent me recovery disk and those didn't work either.

Traci of Lino Lakes, MN (09/16/06)
I purchased a Sony Vaio notebook less than 2 years ago, and have had 2 battery packs burn up and melt the back of my connection to the AC adapter. The bottom of my computer gets so warm I am not able to pick it up. I am now faced with investing more money to get the burned connection replaced.

I am without a computer and REFUSE to invest any more money.  I paid over $1200 for this Ultimate notebook, and expected it to last.

Beverly of Morrisville, NC (09/03/06)
Sony Vaio Laptop GRV-PCV550 shuts itself off after 10 minutes of use. This is a common problem with these models and there is no information forthcoming from Sony as to the cause. The only thing I have been told by both Sony and Best Buy - buy a new motherboard $1200!

My son is a student and we spent A LOT of money on a computer that stopped working 2 years after I bought it.

Keith of Waterford Ireland (04/03/06)
I bought a Sony Vaio Laptop and within 16mnts I have returned the unit 7 times. the screen was replaced twice, then the disk drive, then the mother board,then the A key wouldn't work and was told it was a software issue only to send it back again when 45% of the keyboard wouldn't work three weeks later. I was told it was physical damage but refused to accept this as my laptop doesn't move from the one place and when it was returned the disk drive had been replaced as well as the touch pad buttons and the keyboard facia (which I may add was the wrong one). It was also missing a screw from the screen and I now own a mix and match laptop with a flappy screen as there is nothing to secure the bottom left part of the screen.

Sony have refused to replace the unit although telling me on three occasions that if it failed me again they would replace the unit. But this was reneighed on even though I have e-mails to prove these promises. Oh! and by the way did you know that parts that break in Sony products, once replaced become the property of Sony as I found out when my disk drive broke. I wanted the drive back to have the information retrieved from it but was told I would have to pay for my broken drive back as it was now the property of Sony. It is in their terms and conditions that these parts although paid for by the consumer no longer belong to them once replaced with a new part as these parts are used to fix other Sony products. (Now you know why Sony products break down all the time, they are using reconditioned parts to fix your broken product) What a joke.

It has cost me in the region of €100 euro in phone calls to Sony's support line in reporting and following up repairs status as it is not a local call charge and they also have a three minute announcment before you get the chance to speak to an engineer. Within 16mnts of owning the unit it has been with Sony for 10wks in repair. I have lost all my work on three occasions as it hadn't been backed up. I have lost five of my best clients due to this information loss and inability to carry out my work due to the faulty unit. I have had to fight with staff on every occasion I've had a problem as they wanted to charge me for the work done. It has just been a nightmare. What I can't understand is that if Sony had replaced the unit a long time ago it would have cost them less than all the shipping costs to DHL and wages to repair and support staff. It seems as though Sony employ dummies as well as make them.

Wojciech of Oceanside CA (03/18/06)
In January of 2005 I purchased a GREATLY-price reduced SONY VAIO PCG-K35 Laptop. It came with over $350+ in send-in rebates. THAT'S THE ONLY REASON I bought it. I send my rebates to both SONY & BEST BUY and have seen nothing. I have copies of all original papers I send in. I have copies of all of my receipts. This is outragous! I got ripped off! I would never have paid over $1600 for a simple laptop if I knew this crap was going to happen! SONY are thieves! Best Buy is no better! I'm thinking a Class-Action Suit against them both might wake them all up!

I have lost over $350+ in rebates that I send it to receive. I never saw the money. I called Sony but those corporate monkeys will not forward You to anyone in their headquarters. They will not give you any names or additional phone numbers or anything for that matter. They keep referring You to their useless websites.

Alex of Lakewood CO (03/12/06)
I have just recently purchased a brand new Sony Vaio notebook (VGN-TX650P) and I have had a horrible experience with the product so far. I had purchased this very small laptop 2 months ago, and I have not used it very much at all. There are many of the stock, standard features still on the computer that haven’t been removed or updated to my liking. I have stored my computer in a very safe place because I take care of my personal belongings and don’t wish anything bad happen to this $2,500 computer. Then one day when I open it up to turn it on, I notice something while it is booting up. There where many dead pixels and they were all in the middle top of the LCD and they reached almost to the center of the screen.

Then I spotted a crack visible all around the dead pixel area. I was really shocked that this had happened to a QUALITY Sony product. But then I thought it could have been a defect in the making of the screen, or just one that wasn’t made correctly. I still had faith in Sony’s quality and expected it to be carried through its customer service. So I called Sony’s customer service and they directed me to send the laptop to their service center to get it fixed under warranty. So the laptop was sent to the Sony repair center in San Diego while I thought everything would be resolved.

Then after 4 days, I had received a response via e-mail. The e-mail went something like this “The estimated charge for your repair will be $726.73 and “Please contact us at your earliest convenience by phone or email to approve or refuse this estimate.” After I had read this through I was frozen. I couldn’t believe that they actually wanted to charge me for fixing the screen that had cracked without any type of abuse done by me! I couldn’t believe that they wanted to charge me for something that they should cover by warranty! 

Lukasz of London,  England (02/24/06)
I bought my Sony Vaio laptop five months ago. Since the very beginning I was having a lot of problems with it. The most common were running very slowly, shutting down without any reasons, getting stuck and so on.

I have returned to the shop with my laptop and apart from reinstalling Windows they have not done anything else. I have been told that everything is going to work fine.

As soon as I have started using my over £1000 toy, the problems came back. This time I called the shop and I was advised to call Sony and deal with them. That was the biggest mistake in my life. No one of course has told me that when I made my first call to Sony Service Centre I have taken over the shops responsibility for my product.

I would not mind if my problems with laptop were solved. What was worse was that I have sent my laptop to Sony two times already and this cost me a lot of time and nerves. I really want to get rid of this product and buy a different one. I know that this is possible because the laptop I have bought is not a good quality and as a customer I have the rights to return it. Please help me how to cope with difficult Sony custumer service.

Edward of Grove City OH (01/12/06)
I purchased a Sony Vaio notebook in late January 2004. Everything worked great for about one month. One afternoon in early March I left the computer running while I went out to dinner. When I came back I thought the notebook had put itself into hibernation. I noticed there were no lights anywhere on the notebook which was unusual. When I tried to reboot nothing happened at all. I immediately panicked and called for support from Sony. I walked through some troubleshooting steps with the technician but came up with no solution. He informed me that I would need to send the laptop in for service and that it would most likely be covered by the original manufacturer warranty.

I sent in the laptop and received a response a few weeks later that blew my mind. The Sony repair center mailed me an invoice blaming me for damaging the laptop with liquid?? The invoice listed just about every component inside the laptop resulting in a charge of $2102.52. HA! The store price of a brand new one was $2100.00 I was completely outraged to say the least. I refused service for obvious reasons and was charged $55.29 for them to ship it back.

I wanted to take legal action but had no funds to attempt to battle with a big boy corporate company. To make a long and horrible story short, I had to wait a total of 12 months before I could send the notebook to the 3rd party 3 year warranty service that I intelligently purchased. It gets better! I sent the notebook to the warranty service center after loosing a year of service on a high end piece of equipment. They sent the laptop back a few weeks later with a report of what was wrong and how they solved it. This is what it stated:

Fully examined to factory specifications. The unit received a full inspection and is functioning at top level. Solution: Replaced CMOS battery. Checked and adjusted all functions to manufacturer's specifications. General cleaning and lubrication performed This was all done with no charge. I feel like I only got grazed by what could have been a huge bullet. Sony would have hypothetically charged me the RETAIL price of a new laptop and refurbished and resold my 1 month old parts. Criminal if you ask me. Unfortunately I still lost $55.29 and a year of my notebook's life.

Rocco of Sammamish WA (01/03/06)
I have a Sony Viao laptop and I needed a new cd-rom player. I contacted Sony Parts directly to avoid problems by getting the wrong part. I called the Sony Parts Center and gave them my model number and they told me I could buy a replacement DVD player ($250.00) and I asked if I was going to have any operating problems and the salesman assured me all I had to do was plug it in and the machine would recognize the new hardware and install it so I agreed to purchase it. They sent it and it was too small for the slot and it did not have a face on it so I called them back and they told me I needed a Bezel ($30.84)for the front of it, then they asked me if I needed anything else and I told them I don't know I just want to plug the devise in, so I asked them to tell me if I needed anything else to do that, they said no.

They sent the Bezel and I needed more pieces, so I took them off my old one except the face Bezel because that part was broken. No problem I was shipped a new Bezel, it ended up being different and did not fit in the internal slot on my computer, it is too long. Frustrated I plugged the DVD player in to see if it would work and the machine did not recognize the device, so I had to go to my device manager and ask it to install the new hardware and it gave me a message that said it could not install the device because the software could not run on Windows Software. Normally I would have an option to install the device anyway, even if it is not compatible but not in this case.

$300.00 later and three weeks and I still cannot get my computer working. I am returning the parts, they can have them and I am going to buy a new laptop. And you guessed it, it will not be a Sony. I am also going to upgrade my old big screen TV and yes you guessed it, it will not be a Sony. I also am upgrading our digital camera equipment at work and you guessed it, it will not be Sony. I know I am only one consumer and Sony won't fret too much about me taking my business somewhere else, but about $30,000 worth of equipment could have been sold if the parts department had only taken the time to make sure I was taken care of while purchasing the $300.00 worth of replacement parts.

Nina of Morgan Hill CA writes (7/5/02):
Bought new VAIO laptop Jan 17, 2002. Had internal Ethernet card problem, returned for repair April 19, 2002. Laptop returned, noticed DSL line didn't fit snug, didn't work. Tried a couple of other DSL lines, didn't fit snug, but worked.

Stopped working two weeks later, returned laptop. They tell me I caused the problem, want $726.23 to repair laptop for problem that I had nothing to do with. Laptop not properly repaired in first place, as evidenced by loose fit of DSL line. They accused me of inserting something I shouldn't have inserted, or say that a huge surge came through the phone line, bypassed a surge protector, went through the modem, the Ethernet hub, bypassed three other computers and zapped my laptop, damaging the DSL hookup and melting down the motherboard! They shipped me back the laptop in improper packaging. I am surprised the laptop still turns on and seems to function (with the exception of the internal ethernet card).

I am disabled with arthritis in my right hand, must use keyboard for typing (have doctor's certification). Just graduated from Stanford. Need laptop and network to function as student and in new career. It upsets me to consider going up against a big company who is trying to blame me for something that is not my responsibility. Apparently there are a lot of complaints about SONY in the computer field.

I just invested a lot of money in a new laptop to enable me to earn a living. I have a limited income having sustained a repetitive motion injury and am well on my way to a new career. I have an older laptop and needed a newer one to provide me with what I need to function and earn my living.

A good-news follow-up from Nina: My complaint is posted on your website. I hope you will either add to it or take it down. I did go through an ordeal so adding these remarks works. SONY does have good people working for them! I had done very well with SONY products and this event surprised me. But I feel pleased with the resolution.

To make a long story short, I didn't give up. I got a company to evaluate the laptop (not my fault) and filed a complaint with the Californai Department of Consumer Affairs.

Today I received a call from a SONY rep who impressed me with her graciousness and understanding. They are replacing my laptop. I am glad I didn't give up. I went through this trying ordeal one step at a time. There are many great people out there in the world and I am glad my situation finally reached a person who resolved this issue. My family has purchased SONY products for two generations and my father sold their products in his electronics store. Because of the way this woman treated me I am restored as a SONY customer.

Zulfiqarali of Houston (5/2/02):
I placed an order for 6 Sony Vaio GR300 computers. I placed an order on April 30, 2002. I asked the salesman that I wanted the computers by May 3, 2002. He promised me that I would get them by May 3, 2002. Today is May 2, 2002, and I called the customer service to confirm my order. Now they are saying that there is no way I would get my computers by May 3, 2002. I asked them to cancel my order. They said they can not cancel the order at this point. They already have charged my credit card for 6 computers. They gave me one option and that is that I refuse the shippment and that way I will get the credit back to my account.

But there is one problem, they said I might take 30 to 60 days before I will see the credit in my account. I am stuck now. I am very mad at there customer service. I am never going to buy sony products anymore. They also said that they will not refund the shipping charges.

Zulfiqarali will not incur any shipping charges if he refuses delivery. He can also contact his credit card company and dispute the charge, which should result in an immediate credit.

Anthony of Evanston IL (4/7/02):
I purchased a Sony VAIO desktop computer system on 1/18/02 from BestBuy for $1624.31. This system included a Sony 17" flatscreen monitor (Model #CPD-G220R). Approximately 2 weeks ago the display started to flicker and would go to 1/2 the original brightness. The monitor would then flicker within 15 seconds and the original brightness would be restored. This same defect kept occurring over the last 2 weeks until now the monitor is permanently at 1/2 the original brightness.

I tried to contact Sony today and after 12 attempts of getting a busy signal I was finally placed in the phone queue and told I had approximately a 22-minute wait. After waiting in the phone queue for 73 minutes, I finally was able to speak to a representative from Sony. This individual indicated that Sony is aware of this problem from other consumer complaints and that their engineers are looking into this matter; however they have been unable to find the cause. The representative told me Sony would e-mail me when a fix has been determined although he could not provide any type of time frame when this would occur (Event ID#E16676582).

I relayed that this was unacceptable and I was told that I could pay Sony $45 to mail back the monitor and they would exchange it. I relayed to them that this was unacceptable and that I should not have to pay $45 to ship back a known defective monitor. The representative then provided me with an authorized service location which is 1.25 hour drive from my house. The representative was also "kind" enough to suggest I take the monitor to any local CompUSA store as they are an authorized Sony repair center (different than Sony authorized service centers) and I could PAY out of my own pocket to have the monitor repaired myself! My only options are to drive 2.5 hours to the authorized service location or pay $45 to ship back the monitor to Sony. None of these options are acceptable to me since the monitor is known to be defective by Sony. Why should I, the customer, have to pay the shipment cost or travel an extensive amount of time to exchange a known defective monitor.

I am the owner of a Dell, IBM and Micron computer and I have never been asked to ship a defective part/component at my own cost by any of these respectable companies! Sony needs to start servicing their CURRENT customers and stop worrying about finding NEW customers. I think it is unreasonable not to be able to speak with a representative in a timely fashion (12 busy signals and a 73 minute wait is completely unacceptable!!). I wish I could take this entire computer system back and buy a Dell, IBM or Micron! This is LAST Sony product I will buy.

Lloyd of Carlisle, PA, writes:
I purchased a laptop from Sony in 12-01-99 It failed in 12-31-01 and I try to contact the service line was on hold for up to 40 minutes. Finally got through on 01-12-01 and they want $1700 to repair a computer that I paid $3200 for. They will not fax me a print of the part and will not sell the part, They said on their web and through an ad that dealing direct with Sony there would be no problem. At the time of purchase I asked about an extended warranty and they told me I didn't need one and that they did not sell them.

The three things I see here are implied warranty, poor design and not selling the parts.

Parmit of Cleveland writes:
I had bought a Laptop model PCGF360 from Sony in January 2000. The machine was giving me problems so I turned it in after approx 15 days and paid extra to get a higher model of PCG-F430. The system was okay in performance till the time I started running into problems where the display was getting distorted. I took it back to CompUSA and they told me I needed to deal directly with the Sony corp. I called them and they told me that I need to send it down to California for repairs. I asked them if there was anything they could do to expedite. They clearly refused.

I got my laptop back after approx 20 days. In September 2000 I had the exact same problem and had to contact Sony again! I called them up and they told me I had to send it to them again. I pleaded with them that I need my laptop returned soon and SINCE IT IS GOING TO THE SERVICE CENTER FOR THE SECOND TIME, I would APPRECIATE if they would give it a little priority. I was clearly told they could do nothing at all! I was upset but had no choice so I agreed.

Now my system is giving me the same problem again and when I called the place again they were completely unwilling to help and went to the extent of saying that I was TWO days out of the 12-month warranty. I explained to them that I realize that and the ONLY reason I am hoping they can help me is that the machine is having the same problem after being in their service center twice already. I also said that if this time it would be for a different problem I could understand them not willing to help but it is the same problem! They offered to have it shipped back to them and let their managers decide. I explained to them that I am using the laptop for my business and it is hard for me to work without it for 15 to 20 days. They were not willing to do anything for me.

That's when I told the person that I will be calling our local call for action station and launching a complaint. He told me not to threaten him! I explained that I was not threatening him, I was just making him aware of my frustration with Sony corporation. He was very rude and unwilling to help. That is when I told him that I understand that he is an employee just like most of us have been at some point of our lives and has a limit to the authority but he was very rude in his response and that is when I told him its okay and I don't feel he can help me and hung up.

Lorie of Front Royal, VA, writes:
I purchased a Sony Vaio Laptop a few months ago and found that the sound did not work properly. I have tried every diagnostic tool and every imaginable program to improve the sound. It works, but if playing a DVD, even with headphones, you cannot hear even at the hightest sound setting, what is being said. Forget playing music, you can't hear it. I called the customer service number and after going through about six different menus, you get a busy signal instead of "your call will be answered in the order in which it was placed." So, if you want to get someone on the line, you have to be able to spend your life redialing forever until the line is NOT busy. Don't think that will happen.

So, I emailed Sony advising them of my problem, asking for a solution. I got a reponse, outlining many computer related problem-solving techniques, none of which involved sound. I have extended myself in order to own this computer and it doesn't work properly. I feel as though I've wasted my money. First time I buy a computer that plays DVD's and it doesn't work. I'm out $1800.00.

Phil of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, writes:
First of all try calling their number. Its a 40-minute wait. I called first time after believing my order would be shipped next day. I had ordered a docking station for a new Sony notebook. I got an e-mail acknowledging my order, then NADA for a week. I call back, they THEN decide to inform me that my order is on backorder and would be shipped within two weeks. I am still waiting a month later.

I called them, wasted 40 mins. They said it was shipped. Then changed their mind. I asked for a manager ... not available. I asked for an executive phone number .... not available. I asked for an e-mail. All they could give me was a snail mail address to write about my complaint. I did think SONY was a serious company. Their engineers are brilliant. Too bad they are not supported by their sales/post-sales personel.

"K" of Britt, MN, writes:
Bought Sony computer AND extended warranty in Jan '98. Computer has failed again and again - and been in service 4 times - sometimes for weeks. Upon return, lockups IMMEDIATELY resume.

Brought back two weeks ago, asked for the promised replacement if problems continued - and have heard nothing since. Have even written/faxed my inquiry to the store requesting a prompt response. Did so twice.

NET: Paid over $2,000 for a totally unreliable/inoperable system. The tech says he has replaced a faulty processor and motherboard which he felt would resolve the problems. Brought home and system was totally frozen again in the first hour of attempted use.

Diane of Stafford, VA, really needs to get her Sony Notebook working:

I sent a Sony Notebook computer Model PCGF350 to be repaired on November 8, 1999. The LCD screen was broken and needed
to be replaced. This is a brand new model for Sony and they continue to say the part is on backorder from Tokyo. How can they insist they do not have this part to repair my machine
when they have oodles of them to sell in the stores? I can't believe how a huge corporation is taking advantage of an individual buyer with no leverage at all.

I spent $2400.00 for this computer onOctober 28th and had to repair it on November 8. 1999 which will cost $955.00. I need my computer back in working order!!!

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