1. #1
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    Sony Vaio repair service - what's the deal?

    Ok, so roughly 2 years ago, on the 9th of November 2009 to be exact, I purchased a Sony Vaio Laptop for 999 Euros. It was quite a nice machine and one of the first running Windows 7. While it didn't offer much gaming power it still had a very nice Full-HD-screen and Blu-Ray player.

    All and all I was quite happy with it.

    That was until about 5 months ago when I had screen issues occurring on a regular basis. They became more and more persistent over time until they finally stayed permanently. Now since I was in Fiji at the time, I couldn't directly contact Sony CS. I had to wait until I was back in Europe.

    Anyway after finally convincing Sony CS to pick-up my Laptop (it took about 6 emails explaining the problem, including pictures etc.) they sent me a bill over 562 Euros for the repair of the Laptop. OMGWTFBBQ !!11 was my reaction.

    First, I don't understand why they are charging me for the repair of a Laptop, despite it still being in the 2 year warranty period.

    Second, they must think I'm stupid if they think they can get me to fork out that much money on an old Laptop. I could get a much faster Llano APU for that kind of money.

    Third, they still haven't explained to me properly why this damage isn't covered by warranty and why I'm being charged subsequently. This is frustrating to say the least.

    I was wondering if any of you have any experience dealing with Sony Vaio CS. This is really boggling my mind at the moment.

  2. #2
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    Go check if it was in fact 2 year warranty (as I've had some misunderstandings with the warranty as well on my previous Vaio). While I haven't returned any of the Vaio systems I've had, I called them several times and they were all helpfull (Why I couldn't run WoW. How I could return to vista after a cracked windows 7. ... ).
    How do you contact them? Via telephone or via the Vaio Care program on ur PC?

  3. #3
    The way I understand it is this: The EU has some 2 year requirement on the retailer, where if the item fails on its own, they have to replace it. However, that's on the retailer, Sony themselves only have a 1 year warranty on their laptops. That is why they are charging you. This is why I dislike this type of law, because if you take it back to the retailer after say 18 months, they by law have to replace it. But since the manufacturer only has a 1 year warranty, the retailer pretty much has to junk the item and eat the cost of the replacement.
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  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by ispano View Post
    The way I understand it is this: The EU has some 2 year requirement on the retailer, where if the item fails on its own, they have to replace it. However, that's on the retailer, Sony themselves only have a 1 year warranty on their laptops. That is why they are charging you. This is why I dislike this type of law, because if you take it back to the retailer after say 18 months, they by law have to replace it. But since the manufacturer only has a 1 year warranty, the retailer pretty much has to junk the item and eat the cost of the replacement.
    Well if that's true, it sucks because my retailer went bankrupt during that period. Argh...so much bad luck.

  5. #5
    Legendary! llDemonll's Avatar
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    This is why you buy Accidental Damage from Handling warranties . Granted, Sony's is $350 about for the 3-year one, but Dell is usually less than $100-150. Either way, Sony has always had less than stellar customer service whenever I've had to deal with them
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  6. #6
    What kind of screen issues are we talking about here?

    If it's things like dead pixels, even arrays of dead pixels (or lines) those are generally not covered even if a product is under warranty as they are deemed to have been damaged from improper use or handling. Even then in some cases it's specific types of lines on the screen...I can't recall...but it's either vertical lines are covered or horizontal, the other is deemed as user damage and not covered.
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  7. #7
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    Unfortunately it sounds like you have been stuck with a bill due to a misunderstanding of the warranty limitations. However, they should have contacted you prior the problem being repaired and given you a cost to repair since you would be the one paying for the repair. As far as I know it is company policy to contact you prior to finishing the repair to confirm with you the price to repair and get the go ahead to charge you this price.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Culadin View Post
    Unfortunately it sounds like you have been stuck with a bill due to a misunderstanding of the warranty limitations. However, they should have contacted you prior the problem being repaired and given you a cost to repair since you would be the one paying for the repair. As far as I know it is company policy to contact you prior to finishing the repair to confirm with you the price to repair and get the go ahead to charge you this price.
    No, they haven't conducted the repairs yet. Just a preliminary bill. I still get to decide weather to yay or nay it. And at that price, nay is the only viable answer.

    As for the actual problem, well I took some pics for the CS to explain the problem:







    The issue doesn't come across quite as bad on the pictures but it makes proper writing and reading a real pain, believe me.

  9. #9
    So your video is showing artifacts? Is that one of the Sony units with integrated Nvidia graphics? Aside from it possibly being a faulty inverter board, which I'm doubting, it looks like your integrated GPU is going out. You can have the motherboard replaced, which can be ridiculously expensive on sony units. So much, you might as well consider a buying a new laptop. Another option you may want to exhaust is Reflowing.

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