Crack on The Bottom, Manufacturing Defect? or Accidental Damage? on NEW VGN Z690

http://cafe.naver.com/notevaio/186575

I have had the same issue with 10 days old Z690.

I found a small U-like crack around the bottom near the AC connector and the hinge are intact with the bottom housing.

I did not notice it was there after 10 days of use. Once I found it, I called Sony Customer Service to discuss about it , and I was connected to Tech Support for Repairing this unit. (I decided not to return it for credit since I already returned 4 Z690s for keyboard lifting issue for two, high-pitched noise, cosmetic damage and I got sick and tired of returning the VGN Z690)

here are some pics for the cosmetic damage (it is small but noticeable) and keyboard.
http://cafe.naver.com/notevaio/180169

http://cafe.naver.com/notevaio/180180

Once the laptop arrived in the repair center, they gave me an estimate of $161.40 for replacement of bottom housing.

I should have sent it back for repair
but I gave the repair center one last chance and tried to save some time on placing new order.

I received the laptop on April 20th.

But high-pitched noise started to cry out for my attention...
which did not existed before the repair.. I sent it for repair on 22th and
it is still being diagnosed....

My concern is, the bottom housing seems so terribly weak and...
I am sure the crack will be appearing soon with normal use...

What could be done to assure that the same thing doesn't happen and even if it happens, will i be eligible for free-of-charge repair..

It was my mistake to buy 3year express-shipping warranty... this thing only pays for shipping.....

If other people are experiencing the same issue, this should be acknowledged by lame Sony...

thanks for reading the post..

 

mine wasn't this bad..

mine had smaller crack but the shape is very similar..

 

Hi my Z has a crack in the sameplace but it is much smaller. The crack seems to have started in the seam. I have never dropped the laptop so don't know how it started. I do feel it is a manufacturing defect.
The Sony is in at the repair center at the moment and they want to charge me £233 to fix it as they think it is my fault.
vavabavava do you know if other people have this issue, as I want to build a bit of infomation to give to the repair center so they fix it under warranty.

 

I don't have that issue, if that helps.

If it's 10 days old you should just return it for a new one.

 

Neither do my Z11's. Maybe these were ex-demos or something?

 

It's about 6 months old now.
Sony are going to charge me £140 just to return it even with out the repair being done, even though it's under warranty.
Has any one heard if other people have had this issue?

 

The crack cannot be a product defective. It has to be something impacted like dropped. It may be someone broken it before shipped to you.

 

I thought the UK government , changed the law a couple of years ago putting the burden of proof on the manufacturer , you no long have to prove it`s not your fault , the manufacturer has to prove it is your fault.

You can always take them to the small claims court it is only £50 , if you are 100% certain you are not responsible for the damage.

 

Nothing to do with the post, but looking in your sig:

"VGN-UX390N Upgraded to C2D U7500"

Eh? Huh? What? Really? You replaced the SMT CPU?

Edit: Never mind - I clicked on your link. Wow. Tempted.

 

What are you talking about, of course a crack can develop in metals that aren't cast correctly. Sony-Ericsson Xperia X1 anyone?

Cheap, low quality magnesium alloy can, and in some cases will crack under normal, non-abusive use. Sony should take responsibility for cost cutting.

 

You have keyboard flap problems too? I thought i was the only one!

 

The position of it is in a strange place. The crack is not in an area that would be hit if it was dropped, also there is absolutely no damage anywhere else on it and it runs fine. You can see an obvious seam in the chassis and this is where it has cracked.
But what makes it worse is that I got a call two days before the quote email with Sony telling me that it was covered under warranty and that I would have it back in about 5 days.

It's a bit rough how Sony will charge you to look at it even if it's under warranty, I don't know if I'd recommend sony to anyone again purely due to their service. It's a shame because they have nice kit.

 

Sony's (well, EU at least) attitude to this shifty to say the least.

What happens - and I've noticed this in the recent times that I've had to call Sony over the last 6 months when I had my first 'burst' of failures for probably at least 2 years - is that when you mention cosmetic damage (in my case for the TT, and the part wasn't broken as such), someone calls you with details of chargeable warranty. If this is the first time you've called or you're not paying full attention, I think it is absolutely possible to be misled into paying for carriage, etc.

Apple's habit of asking me for credit card details for replacements under warranty got me steamed enough, but these calls sent me ballistic.

My response was, to put it in a nutshell, "It's under warranty, manufacturer is very clearly at fault, I do not expect Sony's to be built like this so **** off lady and arrange for a warranty pick up ASAP."

No more calls after that, apart from someone else in the service dept arranging pickup time.

How much did you have to pay and for what? I am absolutely sure it's recoverable if it was *genuinely* a warranty issue.

Having never rated it highly and having used it more often than I intend for a Sony over the last 6 months, I absolutely agree about the crap service though. The saving grace is that in my prior experience, I've not had to use said service anywhere near as often as other manufacturers due to the quality of the flagship gear. However, I'm now not so sure about this year's crop. The TT's failed me, we'll see how the Z's fare in my intensive use instead.

 

Just though I'd give an update.
Laptop was sent back with out being fixed, I sent an email to every sony email address I could find.
Somebody contacted me and told me they would replace the bottom case under warranty, which has now been done! if only they had done it the first time.