Heads Up: Sony Japan and the Wide Warranty Option

As many of you know, most of my laptops for the past few years have come from Sony Japan (two different Gs, an SZ, the Z, etc.). I've always bought the wide warranty and it's paid off - worth the extra $150 or so.

My Z had to be repaired (one of the RAID drives failed) and I sent it back to Japan for repair. That was the major thing. However, in the past, Sony has always fixed even minor cosmetic issues under the wide warranty (good example: the rubber nub on the Vaio U70P I had replaced twice). This time around, Sony refused to do so. They fixed the drive no problem, but wanted to charge me for the cosmetic bit since it didn't interfere with the operation of the computer.

I still think the wide warranty is worth it since it covers things like if you drop it, crack the screen, etc. Those are potentially expensive repairs that Sony could charge you for without the wide warranty. However, if you're looking to fix cosmetic issues (even things like the little rubber feet), you're going to get charged.

 

Speaking of rubber feet... Can someone please inform the high and mighty in Sony that their glue sucks? Or rather, that it doesn't, after a while?

I have had lots of different equipment from various producers, including TVs, computers, PDAs, VCRs, phones and other stuff. Much of it from Sony.
And almost invariably, the Sony devices will lose the rubber feet or nubs that's glued on, while most other devices will retain them.

Sony UX50: All four feet gone from battery. Both rubber nubs that prevents the screen from slamming into the keyboard gone.
Sony Ericsson Walkman phone: Rubber pointer came off within a month.
Sony Bravia TV: Rubber foot came off when moving.
Sony VCR: Likewise.
Sony Vaio Z -- less than two months old: Bottom stickers slid off, and rubber spacer on screen is starting to slide off too.

I realise that the days of high quality (like my Walkman where the rubber feet were screwed on) are gone. But the glue you use is, quite frankly, worst-in-class, and making me think "why did I buy Sony again? The quality sucks!"
Again, saving a ha'penny on the glue is not a good way to make customers happy, Sony!