God I cant wait to get rid of this laptop

My Fe-590 isn't even a year old yet and I have a Broken Screen, Broken CD Drive, Faulty touchpad, And now my DC plug is broken and needs to be replaced, I have taken excellent care of this notebook and none of the problems seem to be from bad build quality rather than circumstance. Worst of all because sony Withdrew their international warranty plan I cant even get any of it fixed under the warranty. The plug is going to cost $90, The DVD drive will cost 85$, The screen will cost close to a thousand (It has a flicker dull spot in the top right corner) And the touchpad I haven't bothered to research because theres no way I Can afford to get it fixed.

 

Sony for the win! Sorry to hear about your troubles, mate. Did sony pull the plug on the int'l warranty while you were still covered? Legally they would have to provide you warranty service if they did.

 

Ouch!!! Have you considered purchasing a barebones notebook from a reputable source and use the processor, memory, and hard drive in the bare bones? It would certainly be cheaper than repairing the Sony... Not sure who you could source in Australia, but you are close enough to China and Taiwan to get the electronics cheaper I would suspect... Correct me if I am wrong...

Don

 

Yeah, he is right , pick an ASUS Z96J or a Compal and you can save a lot.

 

Im planning on upgrading when Santa Rosa it comes out.

 

Sue Sony for not providing you with a promised warranty.

 

Or, easier, just get the stuff replaced under warranty! The OP says that he hasn't owned the FE for a year yet...no way he can be out of warranty!

 

Did you buy it in another country (other than Australia), matt_h1?

 

I bought it in the USA, and live in Aus, I was told I could purchase the international warranty at any time, Then when the problems started and I tried to purchase it they told me it was no longer available.

 

That's sad. So you got caught in warranty limbo. Does the standard warranty not apply anymore since you took it out of country?

And I'm guessing that sending it to the US for servicing is quite expensive. But is it more expensive than paying for the repairs on your own?

 

I believe the warranty is based on where you bought the unit rather than where you use it. If you can afford to do so, sending it with return freight prepaid to a sony US service center should be an option. I would take it up with a sony rep based in the 'states (expensive call, perhaps e-mail would be best?) and don't mention you're permanently in AU... See if you can jiggle the cord a bit to get it working, if you catch my drift?

 

Get this, Under the Sony Vaio warranty you VOID the warranty if you take it out of the country, Im not sure if its true or not but its what some sony rep told me friend in the US who I had asked to loon into it. Unfortunatly it would be around 300$ on postage, And theres no garuntee Customs wouldnt snag it on the way in and charge me a second set of GST (Tax) on it.

 

Seriously? So if you were to take it on a trip or use it as a portable business machine on the Narita-Los Angeles route you would flat out void the warranty? I'm curious now, I'm going to do some research on the warranty because that does NOT sound right at all.

EDIT:

Limited Warranty Statement
SONY ELECTRONICS INC. (for U.S. sales) or SONY OF CANADA LTD. (for Canadian Sales)
("SONY") warrants this product against defects in material or workmanship for the time periods and as set forth below. Pursuant to this Limited Warranty, SONY will, at its option, (i) repair the product using new or refurbished parts or (ii) replace the product with a new or refurbished product. For purposes of this Limited Warranty, "refurbished" means a product or part that has been returned to its original specifications. In the event of a defect, these are your exclusive remedies.
Term: For a period of one year from the original date of purchase of the product, SONY will, at its option, repair or replace with new or refurbished product or parts, any product or parts determined to be defective. This Limited Warranty covers only the hardware components packaged with the Product. It does not cover technical assistance for hardware or software usage and it does not cover any software products whether or not contained in the Product; any such software is provided "AS IS" unless expressly provided for in any enclosed software Limited Warranty. Please refer to the End User License Agreements included with the Product for your rights and obligations with respect to the software.
Instructions: To obtain warranty service, you must deliver the product, freight prepaid, in either its original packaging or packaging affording an equal degree of protection to the SONY authorized service facility specified. It is your responsibility to backup any data, software or other materials you may have stored or preserved on your unit. It is likely that such data, software, or other materials will be lost or reformatted during service and SONY will not be responsible for any such damage or loss. A dated purchase receipt is required. For specific instructions on how to obtain warranty service for your product, product support, online knowledge database, frequently asked questions and free updates via the Internet:
Visit SONY's Web Site:
http://www.sony.com/support
(in Canada, visit http://www.sony.ca/support)
Or call the Sony Customer Information Service Center
1-888-4SONYPC (476-6972)
For an accessory or part not available from your authorized dealer, call:
1-800-488-SONY (7669)
(in Canada, call 1-877-779-9929)
Repair/Replacement Warranty: This Limited Warranty shall apply to any repair, replacement part or replacement product for the remainder of the original Limited Warranty period or for ninety (90) days, whichever is longer. Any parts or product replaced under this Limited Warranty will become the property of SONY.
This Limited Warranty only covers product issues caused by defects in material or workmanship during ordinary consumer use; it does not cover product issues caused by any other reason,
including but not limited to product issues due to commercial use, acts of God, misuse, limitations of technology, or modification of or to any part of the SONY product. This Limited Warranty does not cover SONY products sold AS IS or WITH ALL FAULTS or consumables (such as fuses or batteries). This Limited Warranty is invalid if the factory-applied serial number has been altered or removed from the product. This Limited Warranty is valid only in the country of purchase, either the United States of America or Canada.
LIMITATION ON DAMAGES: SONY SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES FOR BREACH OF ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OR
CONDITION ON THIS PRODUCT.
DURATION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES: EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY
APPLICABLE LAW, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF MERCHANTABILITY OR
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ON THIS PRODUCT IS LIMITED IN DURATION TO
THE DURATION OF THIS WARRANTY.
Some states or jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, or allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts, so the above limitations or exclusions may not apply to you. This Limited Warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may have other rights which vary from state to state or jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
2-586-738-02 *258673802* © 2005 Sony Electronics Inc. Printed in Japan

Nowhere does it implicitly state that taking the computer out of the country of purchase constitutes a breach of contract and therefore voiding warranty.

But as stated above technically this warranty is valid only in the united states- which would mean that you can only get the warranty service by living in or taking temporary (that can be legally confirmed) residence in the US.

You could argue that you were left high and dry by Sony's change in policy on Int'l warranties. Also, does AU have specific rights for consumers that prevent exclusion from warranty service of any kind? Buyers' rights and that stuff...

Other than sending it to your friend in the states and having him be your liaison, and possibly paying import/export taxes twice on both ends, I guess your only other choice is to harvest the useful organs and transplant them into a barebones as was suggested previously. Somebody will buy the shell and stuff left over (a good screen is ALWAYS in demand on craigslist/ebay/local computer swap shops) and hopefully make this a little less painful.

Sorry that I couldn't find you a loophole.

 

Can we all say LEMON!!!!! Good grief, that notebook sounds like a nightmare.

 

Your laptop warranty is good for international travel. In fact, simply call Sony Tell them where you purchased the laptop and the date. If you still have the receipt all the better. Explain to them why you are overseas and they will VERY likely arrange for you to receive service in an Australian service center.

They just do not have this set up as automatic because they are different branches of the Company. Sony Australia is not the same as Sony America and they do not even have the same models in some cases.

Explain to Sony and they will come up with the best solution for you whether it is fixing in Australia or Sony having it shipped back to the US.

I have had a few laptops repaired while overseas. It takes a bit of work and patience, but Sony has come through and they have NEVER claimed that the warranty would not hold while I was traveling. Oh and a friend of mine had his Vaio he purchased in Germany repaired in the US under warranty. It jsut took a few phone calls and a part was shipped from Europe. I think the repair took four days longer than the forecasted repair time had it been an American computer. (Well...not counting the fact that we had to work out the warranty repair with Sony before they even took the computer. Add two days for that.)

One other thought. I am NOT a huge fan of registering products, but this DOES help when trying to prove warranty applicability when you need warranty service. It is certainly NOT impossible if you have not registered, but if you have, it takes seconds from wherever you are in the world. Who really travels with their computer receipt with them.

 

i'm confused here. did you or did you not have an international warranty:

far as i know you have 1 week to buy a warranty from the day of purchase (that was what i was offered). allowing people to buy a warranty at any time would not be good business sense.

however, if you DID buy the warranty then the best thing to do is to complain to them. you were not told that the warranty would be void and you had no warning. the TOC did not mention about voids as well

just keep on complaining and ask to talk to their supervisor. not everybody who answers the phone knows everything.

 

wow. vaios fall apart THAT EASILY?

i heard that the mechanics on sony notebooks are not very good. u're better off w/ a barebones as someone had mentioned above. The Compal HEL-80 is great (excellent alternative to FE)