Sony VAIO Customer Service Continues to Disappoint

Readers of my blog know that I have had serious problems with Sony customer support over the last two years.  It looks like Megan McArdle is experiencing frustrations similar to my own:

Guess what still hasn't arrived? Yes, that's right, those of you who were playing along at home knew the answer: the box to ship my Sony laptop in for repairs. The box which Sony assured me, on Monday, would be here within 24-48 hours.

For anyone who is keeping score, it is now three weeks since Sony agreed to fix my laptop. Which is, of course, resolutely not fixed. Which is not surprising, since it it still sitting in my bedroom, waiting for Sony to take it in.

Read the whole thing and you'll discover her woes parallel my own.

Here's my story...

I bought a Sony laptop when I first started my PhD at GMU.  Sony originally sent me the wrong model that looked the same, but only got half the battery life of the one I intended to get.  (They sent me a S360 vs. a S260 for you techies out there.)  I spent nearly a month on the phone with Sony technical support trying to figure out what was wrong with my unit before discovering on my own that the new model (S360) had a new motherboard in it that was faster but also a power hog.  (Which explained the mammoth sized power brick they sent with it.) 

Fortunately, Sony took returns up to 30 days after purchase if you buy online.  Unfortunately, during that month I was trying to deal with the power problem, they discontinued manufacturing of the S260.  A salesman on the phone talked me into buying a refurbished model, assuring me it had the same warranty as a new unit.  When I first started having trouble with it, I found out that it only came with a 90-day warranty.   Fortunately, I purchased a 4-year onsite service contract when I bought the PC, but I wasn't happy about the misinformation.

During my first semester of school, my computer failed on me just before finals with all my notes on it.  I had back-ups of my files, but took notes in Microsoft OneNote and had no other computer to read them with.  Needless to say, it affected my grades.  Over the year I owned my S260, I had a total of six motherboards put in it, three LCD screens, two hard drives, and two DVD players placed in it.  Sony's onsite service has always taken taken at least a week to respond to requests for repair and Sony has sent wrong parts to me on two occassions. (Including sending the wrong motherboard to the onsite service guys when I was in the midst of finals.  I had to wait for a new part to come in and re-schedule a visit with the service guys.) 

My computer failed on me again towards the end of my second semester.  It took nearly a week to get on site service and they still never got it right.  As I previously wrote:

The issues I have had with Sony have literally cost me hundreds of hours, including some precious moments with friends during my last days in Orlando. They also affected my grades during school last year.  If I put a dollar value on this time, it is far more than the computer is worth.

Fortunately, I kept very detailed records of all of Sony's attempted repairs and customer service mistakes and Sony finally ended up sending me a TX 750 instead.

Since getting the Sony TX 750, I have had my hard drive replaced and when the tech guy visited he agreed I need my screen replaced as well.  I paid for on-site service on this one too.  Now that I'm taking a computer science course this summer, I've been hesitant to call to get try and get my screen fixed (it has a reverse imprint of the VAIO service on the screen).  I can't afford the downtime.

I have not been rough on my laptops in any way.  I used ThinkPads for over 10 years and never had a single problem with them other that wasn't self-inflicted.  I've never had a more miserable experience with customer service  than I have with Sony and I will never buy one of their computers ever again.

Fortunately Tyler Cowen has been spared.

Looks like Instapundit has picked up Megan's woes too.  This is going to be a lot of negative publicity for Sony...

Read about some of my experiences with Sony customer support:

• The Troubles With Sony
• Sony TX750
• Trouble with Sony - Again!!!
• Still No Word From Sony
• Sony Repair?
• My Sony's Back

(HT Triya)