Worn keyboard

So now a few keys are starting to wear away. Will the warranty cover this or no? So far the right, down 'n' and 'm' keys are starting to wear away. Maybe its time to switch the standard black keyboard to a silver one? How much do those cost?

Thanks

 

It can't hurt to ask if they will replace it under warranty, but knowing Sony the answer will probably be "No". But all you can do is try. Who knows, you might be surprised.
And I just had mine voluntarily switched out to the silver one while it was in for repair and it cost $79 parts/labor. Don't know yet how much the keyboard alone would cost. If there is a breakdown of the costs in the invoice when I get the notebook back, I'll let you know.

 

i would rather have another black one. the silver one seems a piece tacky. Your call tho obviously matey, your lappie.

 

For what its worth, I've had nothing but great, very accomodating experiences with Sony customer service/technicians. The poo-pooish customer support rap that Sony seems to carry around here is definitely news to me.

Definitely worth asking them what your options are, in any case.

 

It's not so much their actual customer service as how narrow the coverage of their warranties are and how strictly they enforce them. It seems that even their "accidental damage" plan is pretty limited (although I only have second hand reports, mind you) and only covers damage that affects the functionality of the notebook instead of all damage, i.e. paint wear, case cracks, etc.
My own experience in having a repair issue resolved was OK, but not stellar. I found it frustrating that they had me going through a 45 minute process of trying all the same steps, which I had previously explained in detail to them that I had already taken, before they would finally relent to the fact that it was actually broken and needed to be sent in for repair. A conclusion which I had already reached and simply wanted a RMA referral so I could go ahead and send it in. I just felt like the guy wasn't actually listening to me and if he was, that he was simply ignoring me. Kind of irritating.

 

Mmm.. I guess I don't have direct experience of trying to get something more cosmetic fixed, or something that isn't crucial to functionality (although most of my issues and dealings with Sony Support involved odd sounds that my VAIOs would make ----- and these sounds were generally quiet enough to be deemed non-critical). My experience with the tier one Sony reps has been hit-or-miss --- some of them are very eager to help you, some just take down your shipping info to send out the fedex shipping box. All of the tier two reps have been excellent in my experience.

...on that note, Sony reps have always been exceedingly willing to have me ship my notebook to them, rather than trying to troubleshoot over the phone. The last time I called, I had to specifically request to be passed over to tier 2 support before placing a repair order ---- which ended up being very helpful (both in narrowing down my problem, and in providing me with some piece of mind regarding have actual Sony documentation on my issue..rather than just including my own notes with my shipment).

ANYWAY, I have no idea how they'd respond to a more cosmetic issue that might fall under 'normal wear-and-tear', but it's still definitely worth a shot.

 

mine is like that too. and whats worse it started happening only a few months of owning it. My Dell XPS2 which I had for over 2 years now have ZERO problems with key scratches.

 

I can tell you about my experiencs on the issue. When calling Sony support here in Germany I was told it's not covered by the warranty. The only thing he could do was send me up to 5 new keyboard keys free of charge. Well so thats what I did, Kind of shabby for a >2000 Euro laptop but I guess I just have to live with it.

 

Well I just called the Sony Support number, and the first time the lady sent me to the parts and accessories place. I called back in and then another guy told me that the only way that this can be fixed is if I send back in the laptop. Problem is, I cant send it in since I need this almost every day. He said that the laptops keyboard keys are not able to be taken off. Well, I know for a fact that these are able to be taken off, becasue thats the way I got the spacebar issue fixed. I also took off one of the other keys that were wearing away, and it came off no problem.

Does anyone know if I contact Tier 2, would they be any help? Hopefully I can get 5 extra replacement keys because I only have 4 keys that are wearing away. Does anyone know the number to the Tier 2?

 

if you don't mind me asking, could you take a picture of the keyboard? just curious to how worn away it is

 

if I wasnt at work, I would. its pretty bad. Sony's letter stickers are bad. its weird. The letter is still there, but the white rubbed off so you see black. but the letter design is still there.

 

Well, I just got mine back with the silver keyboard on it. Pretty snazzy, IMO. Just as an aside, I've had my SZ since April and it's very heavily used, but I've nerver noticed any wear on the original keyboard. In any case, if anybody wants my old black keyboard I'd be willing to give it away if someone was willing to pay shipping costs. Shouldn't be much seeing as how it is very thin and not very big dimension-wise. Send me a PM if you're interested.

 

as long as its the sz keyboard, I sent you the PM.