Sony repair finds $700 "crack" on my TZ130 lcd!

A few weeks ago I turned on my TZ to find the screen covered with red and white vertical lines on the left side, and shifting rectangles of fuzziness in other places. I could barely make out what was on the screen, but it worked well enough with an external monitor.

Last week, I sent it back to Sony for a warranty repair. The repair center left me a message today saying that warranty repair was denied because the lcd was cracked and that the repair would cost $705! There was no crack on the screen when I sent it in for repair. If there was, I'd just pay write it off to being clumsy, but I spent a lot of time looking at the screen when it first went bad and there was no crack on it. I suppose that it might have been cracked in shipping, although the box I used to send it was strong.

Any idea of my options for either winning the battle of cracked vs. not cracked? Can I order a replacement screen from Sony and install it myself? If so, is it very difficult?

I own a TR1, T340P and this TZ130 and never had a moment's problem until now, but this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Thanks,
John

 

Ask them for pictures showing/highlighting the crack, and show them pictures of your own proving it wasn't cracked when you sent it in.

Sounds like a tech did it and does not want to own up to it.

 

$705!!!!!!!!

lcd's only cost $120

just find out what screen it is.. manufacture and number

there are a ton of online places to order them and they are not hard to install

 

acer wanted $1200 to fix my sis's $400 lappy with a cracked screen xD

 

this lappy has a small high resolution LED backlit screen. it will run a LOT more than $120. i've seen them new on ebay for $350.

take apart the lid and google search the part number, and you will find one. or find the part at sparepartswarehouse.com and then search on that part no.

 

Err I could be wrong, but the symptoms you mentioned is a sign of a cracked or damaged screen. I'm guessing the crack is on the side of teh screen where you can't see it. Example: the screen twisted but cracked or something pinched the plastic part that holds the screen and cracked it. Just a guess.

 

My first Sony (a 505G back in 1997, iirc) was dropped and cracked the display. I'd paid $1200 for it a week before, and Sony wanted $1100 to replace the display! Fortunately, my home insurance includes a rider for damage to electronic equipment, so State Farm replaced it once Sony provided a written estimate; the insurance adjuster couldn't believe they wanted so much.

 

That's just about the funniest thing I've heard today

 

In fact, I think that this is what happened. I spoke with the Sony tech this morning and they said that the crack was in the upper left corner underneath the clear plastic covering. Thinking back on it, this makes sense, since it initially showed what looked like a fractal pattern in the upper left corner that soon disappeared.

What worries me is that I cart this system back and forth to work each day in a Waterfield neoprene envelope inside a messenger bag. I don't recall anything unusual between shutting it down at 5:30 one day and turning it on the next morning to find the screen had gone. I'm very gentle on electronics and don't know what I would have done differently to prevent this without going to some beefy case (which defeats the point of the TZ).


-John