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I'm very happy to see that Daniela got a satisfactory resolution, but I'm less and less inclined to purchase anything with the Sony logo on it after hearing so many stories about their poor customer service. Used to be, Sony products really were better than their rivals. That's not the case anymore (in my opinion), and their seeming lack of commitment to service negates any edge the might have.
Problem is, there's fewer names out there you can trust. Sucks...
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@MPHinPgh: You're right. As far as consumer electronics and computers, Sonies are really about even with the competition. When it comes to the professional electronics market, they are still amongst the top, but for most people, the only reason to choose one over the other is the price.
@Smitherd: What is considered \"professional electronics\"? Is that the equipment that a TV station (or production company) might use? I can't argue with that type of equipment, as I don't get to play with the high-end stuff...
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It's sad that someone has to post to a website in order to get decent customer service nowadays...
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Consumerist really helps people. This is a very good example. I like how you guys make it so that a lot of companies actually help the consumer so they don't get a bad image. Amazing this site is. Amazing.
P.S: I also say Meg Marco on GMA!!
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@MPHinPgh: Yep, that's it. I don't have a chance to use those often enough to form my own opinion of it either.
As of general consumer electronics, I think the only things that Sony has to its name is well... it's brand name. Can't say nice things about them being so anti-consumer, either.
Quality of their recently made products is mediocre at best. In my house, the Sony CRT television we bought in the mid 90's had at least two repairs in its life. A close friend of mine bought a Sony VAIO laptop last year. Not only was it clearly a lemon, tech support had the audacity to blame it on him! This was before the Consumerist, but I headed over to his house and guided him through the tech support process. Ultimately, he did get a replacement which worked to his satisfaction. Now, I'm worried about a Sony flash drive I bought from a sale. The USB connection drops every few minutes and god forbid if it dies altogether!
The older folks in my family are fixated upon Sony being a quality brand even though my more recent personal experience is to the contrary. In some ways, I don't blame them. They're bought a couple of Sony products in the 70's and 80's and even I'll have to agree that those were invincible. A small CRT TV bought in the 80's? Still works fine without being ever repaired once in its life! A cassette tape Walkman (my mom likes to think of them as her generation's equivalent to today's iPods and MP3 players) stills works pretty well without any repairs.
I can say with certainty that Sony will never get there again. They're now an international monstrosity that 1) lost their values a good time ago and 2) are no longer staffed by people who had the same ethics and mindset in the 70's and 80's.
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Every time Consumerist post an article about Sony, the comments end up full of Sony horror stories and tales of poor customer service (mine was a camera). It reinforces the original article, brings more negative attention, but without all the details and contact information of the article. So Sony fixes the OP's problem, but the 10 or 15 other people who say \"Yeah, I hate Sony too, here's why!\" are still screwed. I guess you can call that success if you want. Maybe instead of reading blogs all day to find complaints, they should retrain their CSRs. Until Sony fixes their system, they're going to keep getting written about here and elsewhere, and not in the nice way.
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@azntg: I was one of those old folks that thought Sony was good. You can look up some of my old comments here to see how they persuaded me to no longer buy their stuff.
If Sony is really reading this, check out Event # E30911877 in your database and give me a call to discuss it. My contact info is still the same. I can tell you about all the Toshiba, Samsung and Panasonic stuff I bought instead of even looking at your stuff. Then I'll tell you how my kids won't buy your stuff either. Then you can hear about why the PS3 never made it to my shopping list.
Great job on saving money by not honoring your warranty!
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I grew up in the 70's and in my family Sony was the brand name you wanted.
But after I hit college in the mid-80's; I stated to notice that their consumer electronics just started to get cheaper. Plastics, performance and finish weren't quite as robust as they has been up until the late 70's/early 80's.
My grandmother in '78 won 13\" Trinitron Color TV from the RI State Lottery. It worked until 3 years ago (2005), 27 years with no repairs or problems?
Now that's what a Sony was...
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Actually, I've never really had problems with Sony products and have always found them to be rock-solid. But, then again, I always bought Japanese-market products instead of export products. I felt that there had to be a difference in durability if I can get an extended warranty that covers user-caused water/fire/impact damage on Japan-purchased stuff and not internationally-purchased Sony stuff.
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@ColoradoShark: While Sony's customer service is lacking, the PS3 is the only bluray player available today that is compliant with the BR 2.0 specification.
Although I am probably never going to buy a PS3 games, I am a sony blu ray fanboy (now that the format war is over). I also bought it with my Amex so I will have their warranty added to the sucky sony one.
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And who wants to trust a company that put secret software on pc's to jack them up if certain music CD's were inserted, all to \"protect\" copyrights...
Making competition for Nintendo is about their only valid market left...
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Since it took an unfortunate 9 months to come to a resolution, I believed I deserved more than just what was stated in my extended warranty.
Careful about trying to play \"Let's Make a Deal\" when you've got one of these exec customer service people on the hook readily agreeing to resolve your original problem.
Over at ComcastMustDie-dot-com, poor ol' Gina tried to get 9 months of free cable service out of Comcast after they offered to refund the money she said they owed her for a billing issue (just because she thought she deserved more than just her money back), and I'm not sure if she walked away with anything in the end.
I say, take the money (or in this case, the repair) and run.... and never come back.
Let's not lose sight of Sony's past anti-consumer practices. Specifically infecting their music CDs with rootkit software that effectively disabled your CD burner. Then lying about it.
After Sony settled the lawsuits they paid of the USCongress to make what they did legal. So, it ain't over.
Sony, and all their subsidiaries, have made my permanent Blacklist. I will not buy anything Sony until I have assurances that their bad behavior changes to be more consumer friendly.
Sony is a piece of crap company that makes crap products. I will never, ever, ever buy another product that this ripoff company makes. Their customer service absolutely sucks!
Comment on We Post, SONY Replaces Long-Languishing Laptop Hello,
I wanted to share my recent woes with Sony customer service. About a year and a half ago, I bought a tiny Sony AM/FM radio with headset to wear while jogging--I just wasn't ready for the MP3 player. The radio recently ceased working, the tuner appears to have died. Initially, I thought it just needed new batteries, but that didn't help. I went to the Sony Style store and was told there was nothing they could do for me, since the one year warranty had expired. They provided a customer service number to call. The person I spoke to there said I could mail the radio in for repair which she estimated to cost $50. When I told her that I only paid $60 for the initial radio and that I could easily get an MP3 player for $50, she had nothing to offer. When I told her that I was intending to buy a new flat screen TV and that Sony had lost me as a customer for this much more expensive product, she told me \"yes, ma'am, I understand.\" When I tried to locate a corporate office in the US to place a direct call to, the Sony website had no listing. I am now going to buy a SanDisk player for $60.
Stephanie
Boston, MA
@MPHinPgh: I'm totally reviving a dead thread, but I just saw that I had been asked a question. Yes, the \"professional\" electronics I was referring to are the types of equipment that a television station or production house would use.
I've worked in production houses for a while, and Sony equipment is very, very good on that scale.
Or, as I would have put it,
\"That says a lot for the power of positive incompetence.\"