WARNING If You Are Considering Buying a Sony BE WARNED

I bought a sony vaio laptop S series on May 6th, I received it May 9th, and straight out of the box I thought it felt cheap and plasticy. I figured I wouldnt let that bother me if the laptop performed well. So I start it up and everything if fine at first. Then I hear a ticking in the hard drive. I know that means it is about to fail or is going bad so immediatly a bad start to things. After thinking to myself "I just spent almost $1500 on a laptop that feels cheap and is already having problems out of the box...... I am not dealing with this"

So I called Sony the day after I receive the laptop to let them know I would like to return it and that the hard drive was ticking. They seemed fine with it and gave me an RMA and everything was fine. I soon came to realize they wanted me to pay for shipping. Now considering I already wasted my time trying a laptop I hate AND their policy clearly states they will pay for a shipping label if something is wrong with the computer I called back. The box it came in was huge so shipping would have easily costed $50+

So I call them up asking for a shipping label and they gave me problems from the start. I asked for a supervisor and they transfered me to one. He said to get a prepaid shipping label I needed to talk to tech support and troubleshoot. I asked him how I am supposed to troubleshoot a problem that I cant even do anything about (like the hard drive would tick but the laptop still worked fine) he said he needed a case number or something saying I spoke with tech support. He transfered me to tech support and I let the agent know what was going on. I told him there was a tick in the hard drive that I could hear but the laptop still performed fine. After being put on hold for about 5 mins he agreed that there is nothing to troubleshoot so I asked to be transfered back to where I was initially.

I got transfered but this was just back to customer relations so I had to ask for the supervisor again. They insisted they needed my case number so I gave it to them and she spoke with the supervisor. Its like they where playing a stupid game because she would say "My supervisor wants me to ask...." Then I would answer the question and she would relay back to him. I didnt see the point in that and wanted to talk to him directly. I was put on with him finally and after some discussion I was assured I would get a shipping label. He transfered me to someone else who can explain to me the whole process. So I was told to wait 24-48 hours for the shipping label. Although I thought that was a ridiculous waiting period I waited. 48 hours comes and I still dont have a label. I called back and asked for Wilson (The supervisor I was speaking with prior) and appearently he wasnt there that day. So I explained to the agent my problem and he said that he will send in for a shipping label to be sent to me immediatly and I should get soon.

Still nothing....... So I call back and they said it just got approved by the supervisor today and I needed to wait 24 hours.

So now I had to wait again which is just ridiculous and after 24 hours still no label. I am furious. I called back and they said that my label got denied even though they told me multiple times " Wait (this long) and you will have the label" So I guess I was lied to multiple times and nobody cared. I finnaly talked to someone else who said they will send in for the shipping label and I will get an email stating whether I got approved or denied.

I just got an email about 15 minutes ago saying I got denied. So first they make me wait and wait and wait for my label they promised me. Now they are saying "You can use the carrier of your choice" In other words saying "Screw you, you pay for your own shipping. We dont care what our policy says"

I filed a claim with the BBB which I should never had to do and I am just furious with sony. I can promise anyone and everyone that I will never buy another sony product and will let others know of my experience.

Another thing I wanted to point out which will happen to anyone who calls sony support, they randomly put you on hold without telling you whats going on. Then they transfer you without even telling you they are transfering you or who they are transfering you to.

This is just ridiculous

 

Though Sony may have had a good price, it is always better to buy these big purchases from a company with a retail location. Makes returning them a LOT easier. Btw, did you even run any HD diagnostic tools? Most manufactures have them for download or build them into the laptop. I have had plenty of good drives tick here or there.

 

I dont care whether the drive is good or not. I have not used the laptop since the day after I received it because I just hate it. I dont ever want to give sony my buisness again

 

Too bad. I dig my Sony Vaio Z3. I give it to you though, that Sony customer support and their software department seems kinda sub-par. I sent an email to Sony Support Sweden with some simple questions regarding my accont and one question regarding an Intel RST related BSOD (that has disappeared with the newer Intel drivers btw.) and I didn't even receive a reply... Also, their driver support for the Vaio Z3 on Windows 8 is quite poor... So, you're stuck finding drivers on your own, modifying .inf files and whatnot yourself to get the system running optimally. With that said though, the hardware on my Vaio Z3 is just superb. The best there is... Japanese capacitators that will last me a hundred years. I owned a Dell prior to getting this machine and it had 'planned obsolesence' written all over it. The graphic card would fry up once per year, and during the 4 year warranty period, I had four motherboard replacements, one cpu replacement, two battery raplacements and two powersupply replacements. I'm never going back to Dell. They are the opposite of Sony- crap hardware and awesome tech support and software/driver support...

 

Customer service was one of the first casualties in the PC market's race to the bottom. Compared to the standards of 15 years ago, yes, your experience is ridiculous, but nowadays this is par for the course - you should expect to be treated like crap regardless of whether your PC is from Sony or HP or Asus. Here's one of my horror stories, involving Dell: http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell/671113-any-dell-customer-service-gurus-here.html

However, if you can't get used to being treated like crap there's still 3 ways to get decent customer service, so you're not totally stuck:

1. Buy a business-class notebook
2. Buy a Mac
3. Buy from one of the boutiques

 

But this isn't about customer service, this is about a person that don't like what he bought and expect Sony to pay for shipping it back. If Sony USA doesn't explicitly say they will do that they simply shouldn't! Why shouldn't they? Because the cost will be passed to all other customers.
If the OP want that type of service he should select a reseller with that policy instead of trying to game the system by using something used for repairs.
(Sorry it that seems harsh but I find these kind of childish temper tantrums disgusting - act your age)

 

If I bought a product from them for $1400 I expect to be treated better than I did. I am also not trying to "game" the system. It clearly says in there policy that if there is something wrong with the laptop they will pay for the shipping.

 

Right now there's nothing wrong with your laptop. Until there is, you have no valid case for rma.

Sent from my GT-N7000

 

This is bad for Sony US but in Europe they're quite different. I have dealt with Sony's support a couple of times and it's top notch. They have a 5 business days policy and delivery without the customer having to pay a dime. I called them about the problem and the operator opened the support ticket on the spot without many questions. The next day (I called in the morning) DHL was here with a special case to pick it up and 5 days later I had my unit back (it was always sent in the UK). The only other manufacturer with a better support is dell, because they have the 1 business day option for business class notebooks. Unfortunately, Dell's business class is quite expensive in Europe.
As far as other manufacturers go, I heard horror stories about lenovo and asus and I have dealt one time with Asus' support and it's bad. I won't write it here but it really put me off purchasing asus in the future.

 

You paid "almost 1500" on Vaio S? Sounds like you're being a bit dramatic with your buyers remorse, lol. Cheap feeling? What was your previous computer? So you didn't actually experience any problems any problems other than the imaginary ones in your head?

 

Can't you just return the laptop in 30 days? In Europe we alwways can. I wouldn't buy a HD in a laptop anyway. The speed you get from a SSD.

 

Hard drives tick. I have had Sonys for years now, the last 3 with SSDs. All still work. Par for the course. I will never buy another hard drive in a notebook.

Send it back and eat the shipping. Case closed. Move on.

 

Some drives just tick, i have one now for 3-4 years that ticks sometimes and works great.

Use the computer, its awesome.

the only downside is the screen. Its not the best, but is ok.

 

The Vaio S comes with hard drive protection mechanism. I believe the ticks were just the hd protection kicking in. I heard mine from time to time. The hard drive protection is actually a good idea to have if you have regular spinning hd instead of ssd.

 

Sounds like someone has never actually dealt with Apple "support", A.K.A. "blame the user or deny the problem altogether".

/glares at Macbook Pro that always drops wifi

 

You know, none of those 3 options are perfect. As an iPhone 4 owner, I was entirely unimpressed with the way Steve Jobs handled Antennagate. It's just that relative to Acer or Dell, Apple is a lot better. At the very least, I get to talk to a native English speaker who actually listens to me and is empowered to make decisions, which is already worlds better than talking to a call center rep halfway across the world who has a thick accent and is clearly reading from a manual based on keywords they hear.

I guess it's a lot like the airline industry - flying business or first class today is nothing like what it was 15 years ago, but it's still a hell of a lot better than flying economy.