International Warranty - HELP!

So,

I have an opportunity to get a Vaio from USA, instead of waiting until they become available in the forsaken European lands. And it's much cheaper in USA too.

However, unlike any other decent company (Apple, Lenovo), stupid Sony doesn't seem to offer ANY international warranty options. Not even as an extended service plan. Simply nothing.

This is ridiculous. Or is there any way to buy the damn thing in USA and get covered in Europe?

Oddly enough, Hong Kong offers International Repair Service that gets you covered almost everywhere...

Please help me on this one, as I don't have much time to order the laptop...

 

I am also thinking about buying from US and i have the same concern.
I was thinking something differrent.

Does anyone know if i buy a extended warranty service in my country, can i apply it on the US bought notebook? Like , what's the procedure? is it ok with their warranty rules? if (and probably) not, do they actually check? can i go around this?

p.s. i know it may not be that lawfull,
but i ve seen a thread on this forum on how to get the student discount with "sony doesn't checks" comment

 

This is not stupidity from the part of Sony. They need to protect their market base in Europe, where tax vat and warranty is high.

This reminds me that VW got caught a while back when one can travel to Italy and buys its car there much much cheaper than within Germany and get the same warranty.

cheers ...

 

@Aule
It isn't very smart to buy a laptop from sooo stupid manufacturer like Sony. Why are you going to by one from them?

 

I know I'm the unofficial NBR's stupidest member. That's why I just don't understand what you mean by that... Will you please kindly explain that for me? Thanks to you in advance.

 

i have bought one from the US, and now using it in the UK. there is no way to buy extended warranty in the UK as i have tried. after one year i'll have to bet nothing goes wrong in it

 

That's very simple: he states:

Therefore I can't understand why he would like to buy a product/laptop from, like he said, stupid manufacturer.

 

Even a company with stupid corporate practices may still make good hardware.

And protecting market base my . I'm now in Switzerland, in 2 months I move to UK for a year and then I'm off to Japan. I simply want to have a decent warranty.

I would gladly buy the laptop in bloody Europe, but waiting time is 7 weeks! I don't care that I'm ripped off here vs rest of the world. I just don't want to wait so long.

The idiots tell me it's necessary, because it's built in Japan. But when I ask them if I can get it in black, as you can everywhere but Europe, they tell me that it's not possible (since it's built in Japan, why not?). How is this not stupid and ridiculous?

Besides, I wanted to PAY for international warranty. I don't know, but I could shell 200 dollars and still be happy about it.

Take AppleCare for instance - gets you covered everywhere without problems. Or Lenovo - most of their laptops come with international warranty ou of the box.

And Sony? There's even no OPTION to BUY this as an extension...

Well, you can get it if you buy from HK (need to check the flights...) or Singapore and I think Australia too. Some European (Sony) laptops are covered worldwide too.

I really want Vaio SR, but I'm starting to be fed up with this s##t. If Apple didn't screw their lineup, I'd probably get one right now. There's always Lenovo left. T400s looks rather sweet.

 

But even the basic warranty isn't international. You take it outside of US, it's your problem if something goes wrong...

@Visioneer
I hate Apple as a company and their policy of "everything must be the same for everyone". But I really liked the Macbook Pro I had (before unibody). Similarly, I like Vaio lineup, even though I think that Sony doesn't give a damn about customers...

 

When you're now in Switzerland try to by your laptop in Germany. They offer a international warranty on Zs for free. The con is, you have a QWERTZ keyboard.
I don't know does Sony UK offer this kind of warranty or not.

 

VAIO International Repair Service: http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/repair/virs/virs.asp?site=voe_en_GB_cons

Unfortunately, it's only for these laptops:
* VGN-P1
* VGN-TT
* VGN-Z2
* VGN-Z3
* VGN-BZ


Just checked the US site, looks like the SR comes with 1 year international warranty: "International Service : 1 year international service plan available. Registration required. See www.sony.com/IRSP for details"

 

Where did you find that? On Sony website, under tech specs it only says 1 year limited warranty. Can't access the link you've given - only blanl page shows up...

 

Your always helpful Sony support:

Now the question is: was I talking to a bot, a fool or a trained monkey? This doesn't make any sense! None! Zero!

I'll give those idiots on more chance - I call them to clarify this mess, but if they can't, I'm buying Thinkpad T400s and FU Sony ;-)

(It's funny though how airport stores are always full of Sony laptops. You'd imagine they give you good warranty...)

 

Aule, even if you do this and those details are correct you will still only have one year warranty and no way to extend it even if you do buy from the US. If you will be moving back to Switzerland after your travels I'm sure there will be companies that offer their own extended warranty programs. In the UK Domestic and General are a company that offer these types of packages. In the US Safeware is another.


In Germany and Switzerland you get two years limited warranty automatically. You can also buy extended warranty in these countries to give you warranty up to 3 years. You can also buy VOS overseas warranty to give you one year of cover in these countries.
http://www.macwarehouse.co.uk/catalogue/item/A0435897

You only get one year of limited warranty as standard in the UK but you can also buy one year of VOS.

If 3 years world wide cover is important to you then i would suggest also as you say looking for another manufacturer that does offer such a warranty package.

 

Thanks Rachel. One year from US would be fine. It's having no warranty at all what worries me. If this IRSP website ever starts working, I might just get the details I need...

Some more info:

Even though Sony says that 1 year international service is available, it seems to be BS. I've tried to talk to Sony support some more. They simply disconnect without answering my questions! First they copy paste the same BS about contacting authorized retailers, then disconnect if I ask them to answer my original question. This is a joke.

Update - I've got enough of this. I'm getting Thinkpad T400s. Thank you very much!

This is another useful chat session (3rd I've tried!). I don't know, maybe my English is getting bad these days, but I ask simple questions and they start answering their own imaginary ones. Bloody hell, If they aren't bots, I pity those people.

 

*bump*

So, Sony USA are monkeys; USA is out. What now? Still want a Vaio. Got hooked on the idea of getting Z instead of SR (didn't realize Z has 'half-matte' screen instead of glossy like SR). Trouble is, Z in europe kosts 2.2k eur, while everywhere else you get the same machine for half price! No kidding. Europe sux.

Hong Kong would be nice (international warranty!), but can't find any place that ships to Europe. If you know any, please share ;-)

What about Japan? Do they give international warranty?

Seems that Malaysia is covered internationally to. Now, that's interesting. I can actually get return ticket from London to Malaysia for 200gbp. And fully packed Vaio Z (2.8ghz, 6Gb ram!) for another 1400gbp. That's 1600gbp, which is still 300 gbp cheaper than cheapest version in Europe (with high res screen). Time to take holidays...

 

I managed to visit the site. it looks like its only viewable through Internet Explorer. But USA is still not listed there.

 

hi, i hope i can help you out, i had a similar question and i asked the customer support for SONY and i got this answer(i was gonna buy a refurb sony SR)but found a better deal for a new system, so hopefully this applies to all SR's hope this helps

 

I am troubled by the leap from "there's no international warranty available for a Sony for a purchase in my country" to "Sony doesn't give a damn about customers".

First of all, it seems that the whole issue of warranties and service plans is a legal nightmare for a manufacturer when it goes "international". Keep in mind that not all manufacturers run their own service plans. Often, what happens is that the manufacturers engage service companies within each country to take the risks and arrange for the repairs. For example, Sony in the USA uses Service Net as its ESP administrator.

That said, I think that globalization will continue to pressure all global companies to recognize that their customers are as mobile as their products. And that customers want to be able to take their warranty with their product when they move or travel.

But unless/until the globe has one legal and monetary system, etc., these situations remain fraught with risks and legal difficulties that are best managed when the global company runs its own service and support entirely. And even then, global companies often have their company's branches in each country exist as separate but related legal entities.

In short, this is NOT as simple as one would wish it to be. While that doesn't necessarily solve the problem for an individual who lives in more than one country, it does help to understand that even a good company like Sony might not have all the "kinks" worked out of this warranty and techsupport issue.

 

Has anyone received International Repair Service Program Warranty info in their laptop box? (USA only)

 

My sister-in-law bought a TOSHIBA in Miami 2 weeks ago and got INTERNATIONAL WARRANTY with it.

 

Asus also does International Warranty standard. Not only that, but 2 year Limited and 1 year Accidental standard as well. I naively figured that SONY of all companies would go the extra mile as well, considering the price premium...

 

Over on another forum i frequent, some guy bought a VAIO in Hong Kong, registered for IRSP and it still took him a while to convince Sony Australia that such a program existed after speaking with various people.

I guess as long as you have whatever paperwork is required & proof of registration they have to stand by their word.
Although it is frustrating & bit of a worry that almost all the Sony reps people have spoken with have no idea about IRSP at all.

 

I just went to Sony IRSP website. Ok, here's what I found. At the final step of the registeration, it asks you where you purchased your SONY SR(the system will automatically scan your BIOS and got your serial number), there is no option for NORTH AMERICA! I don't care actually because I am not going to travel anywhere outside states, so I chose HongKong. After I hit the submit buttom, the website redirected me to the sonystyle USA, and then I finished last steps of my registeration. I don't know if this really works.