Silly me . . . I thought Sony might actually want to help resolve my hardware problems.
Instead, Sony told me, not once but twice, to send my PC back to their offices in the UK for attention.
On each occasion, my PC came back to me in the same unworkable condition.
Frankly, I find it really depressing that Sony was not even willing to engage with me in a dialogue around the technical problems I was experiencing, let alone doing something to resolve them
Having sent two letters by registered post to Sony’s CEO in the UK, copied to the CEO of Sony Vaio in Europe, and yet having received no response from either CEO, I guess, like me, you might start to feel the same negative emotions towards Sony Vaio PCs.
If there is perhaps even one Sony Vaio user, somewhere across Europe, who has received a brilliant service experience from Sony when their PC went wrong, then it would be great to hear a contrary voice.
Meanwhile, I have to tell you that Sony Vaio provided me with the worst product and customer service experience I’ve ever experienced (and I’m over 60 years old).
Hopefully, my experience will help others who are thinking about buying a Sony Vaio PC to paus and re-consider their decision, lest they end-up having the same sort of experience as me.
Incidentally, if there’s anyone who would like to buy an unused Sony Vaio SZ5 with a three year onsite warranty, do please call me, as I’d be happy to sell my Sony PC.
Also, if case there’s anyone in Sony who wants to take me to court in response to this blog, I need to make clear that I have backup copies of all the emails and wav files necessary to defend myself in court.
Alan
I bought a Sony Vaio recently. It came with a faulty touchpad. I returned it on the next day and it has been a month now, no reply, no refund, no email, nothing.
Hello Roy,
I’m so sorry to hear you’ve experienced similar problems to the rest of us when with dealing with Sony whenever hardware problems occur.
Did you, perhaps, purchase your Sony Vaio in the UK? If so, was your PC purchased on a personal credit card or a business credit card?
If the former, then there are significant options open to you.
If the latter, then you’re probably doomed, as Sony will challenge you to take them to court.
Yes, you would be certain to win in court. But, meanwhile, behind the scenes, Sony will be gambling on the likes of you and me having neither the time nor money to take them to court.
Is this disreputable? Yes, absolutely.
Is there anything we can do about it? Well, possibly, yes.
For instance:
(a) You personally may be in a position to argue that your PC is ‘not fit for purpose’; and
(b) Collectively, we may be able to bring some pressure to bear on Sony to behave reasonably.
Sadly, I personally made the mistake of purchasing my Sony Vaio SZ5 on a business credit, without realising the differences in legal terms (in the UK) between buying on a personal credit card and buying on a business credit card.
I certainly won’t make this mistake again.
However, if you purchased your problematic Sony Vaio PC on a personal credit card in the UK, then you’ll be in a very strong position to demand action from Sony.
I’d be happy to share with you the benefits of my experience, if you wish.
Regards,
Alan
Hi
Have my sz5 for 3 years and it is been a hell of a ride!
Faulty battery, faulty touchpad, Motherboard and cooler dead.
Here in Portugal Sony just not gave a f*cking explanation or helped about these problems. Lucky me a local PC repair store solved all my problems.
And I am not the only one complaining about Sony assistence in Portugal – I know people with professional equipments such video cameras with bad experiences too.
Sony is just interested to sell low quality for high price like Apple and others here in Europe.
Hi i got a VPCF11S1E
It was my second vaio , first one worked as a charm!
So i thought buying this computer was an easy choice and guaranteed headache free.
Im now on my way to send it for the 3 time.
It started when i first started the computer , I heard a high pitch sound.
after awhile i got heat problems and also performance problems.
first time i sent it , they replaced the motherboard.
When i get computer back , it wont start with battery inside and cable!
I thought aaah the battery is not loaded! but no no no no computer can only start
with cable and battery removed.
I send it back a second time , guess what? they replace motherboard again.
Yesterday the piece of shit went completley black and im guessing that the graphicscard is busted.
Everytime ive sent this computer , ive gotten a new problem and a new note from the head cheif Koji Mizuno and a wipe cloth for the computer as consolation!
Here is another story…
I contacted Koji Mizuno on his sony vaio email adress… I wrote in Japanese
but the reply come back in English (my wife is japanese)
Koji Mizuno exists but he is not overseeing anything at sony.
The computer is sent to a repair company licensed to fix Vaio computers.
I will never buy a sony vaio again, Its a japanese company and Japanese service
is supposed to be the best in the world…. but it seems service is only good in Japan!
Outside Japan they dont give a shit about us.
I want a new computer , this one cost me alot!
I hope people will read these stories and stay away from this poorly built computer. I have a new Vaio laptop that has a screen surround so flexible that the first time I took it in an airplane it cracked from contact with the top of the overhead compartment. I own about 30 laptops at work. I bought this for it’s back-lit keyboard against the advice of my own MIS worker. Big mistake, Sony’s take, pay us 800.00+ and we will fix it in two weeks. I have tried three replacement screens from online sources that we have used in the past. Sony modifies their system in a way that makes all non Sony screens incompatible. So now after many conversations they will sell me the $80.00 screen for $450.00. Hours of my time and I am still holding a computer with very poor build quality. I am going to sell it on eBay. Never buy anything from Sony, they have terrible customer support and make a very poor product.
Yep, I had the same experience in the USA. I bought a Vaio notebook and after a few months the power supply burned out. No problem, it was still under warranty, right? I brought it to the Sony Store, who shipped it to the repair facility in Laredo, Texas. The Fedex tracking number shows it arrived and was signed for. And there it stays. I’ve called Customer Support many times, and each time the hapless rep apologizes and types a note into this computer and tells me that someone will call me back. But no one ever calls back and the computer isn’t being returned.
I can sympathize in a way. I am a new owner of a ps3 and long time owner of a psp and I have never seen such bad customer service… you are doing good in keeping the site up and know that people that google things like “sony terrible customer service” will end up here, like me. Maybe sony customer service will soon pull their heads out of their @$$3$.