sonystyle cancels my order

So, I place an order with SonyStyle outlet last Sunday. Even spoke to a sales rep to be sure that it gets done correctly. Now, 3 days later, I find out that my order has been canceled, reasons unknown.

Any advice? Of course, it get canceled after-hours on New Years Eve and I can't get anybody on the phone to beat up about this.

 

what model did you order? a little bit of extra information would be a good idea.

 

Again, it was a clearance item in the SonyStyle outlet:

Model: VGN-Z590C
Display: LCD 13.1" (XBRITE-DuraView™
Memory: 3 GB DDR3-SDRAM (DDR3-1066, 2GBx1 + 1GBx1)
Hard_Drive: 200 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [7200 rpm]
Optical_Disc_Drive: DVD +/- R DL / DVD +/- RW / DVD-RAM Drive
Battery: Standard Battery (BPS12)
OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista® Business with Service Pack 1
Pre-installed_Software: Microsoft® Office 2007 Basic
Video_Software: Video Plus
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P9500 (2.53GHz)

 

maybe they don't have the item anymore? it happened to me once, although it wasn't a laptop, it was ps3

 

Okay, fine -- but, then why sell it to me? I even spoke directly to a rep to place the order, just to be SURE that I was ordering an item that was actually available (I asked at the time). Moreover, I called no less than once a day for the past 3 days checking on the order, and everyone I spoke with reassured me that everything was in order.

 

that i do not know, i was just saying that it happened to me once and their explanation was the item was no longer available (eventhough they already charged my debit card and sent me an email conformation for that order)

sorry it happened to you, good luck

 

Are you in the U.S.?

That's listed as a Canadian model. Maybe they realized they screwed up. They made a mistake by not recognizing you were looking at a Cdn model?

 

Isn't the only difference that Canadian models come with a longer warranty, English+French manuals, and if Office is bundled, also with the French language pack? In other words, nothing that would prevent a US user from using it?

 

do yourself a favor and don't buy a sony. I bought one - an AR670 I think - about a year ago that turned out to be a $3600 pos and had to argue with them for literally 25+ hours on the phone over the course of 2 weeks to get a refund. Sony style thought they could just hang me out to dry, and I had to be SO persistant with them to get a refund that it was ridiculous to the point of surreality. Every time I called them they gave me a new confirmation number and promised a call back and resolution. They never once called me back - out of at LEAST 6 times promising to do so - and never once were able to find my case # (or whatever you want to call it) when I called them back. Don't risk it - buy somewhere else!

edit: I should've also added that I sent it back to them for repair after having it for less than 6 weeks because it wouldn't even boot up. They said one of the hard drives was bad and replaced it. When I got it back it didn't last 2 weeks before similar problems crept up, and they determined that I'd had it too long to get a refund even though I didn't if you counted the time it spent at the shop and in transit. You don't want to deal with these people. Run away. Run very far away and never look back!

 

I'm in the U.S., and this was listed on the U.S. SonyStyle Outlet as a clearance item. Like I said, I even spoke directly with a rep to do the purchase, just to make sure the item was indeed available. I even purchased a bunch of accessories, which are essentially useless at this point.

I sorta know how this is going to go down -- they won't match the original offer, and will force me to pay for return shipping on the accessories. Grrrr....

 

I don't know. I went to the Sony Style Support section and on that site, they list the series and the corresponding models. The Sony Vaio Z-series has letters that go with U.S. models and different letters that go with Canadian models. I was only speculating that some sales guy screwed up with the order and if they offer free shipping, he doesn't want to get reamed for sending an American a Canadian Vaio Z. I could be wrong but I was just wondering why the order would be cancelled. Whoever did the order might have went on holidays and some other poor sap had to change it so they just cancel it. It's during the holidays so no calls are made but they could have at least emailed him. If I am him and I still want a Sony Vaio, I am asking for a deal for the trouble.

 

Yeah, well, maybe some dummy put the wrong model under the 'clearance' item. They realized it's not an old one and a Canadian one as a a matter of fact so they cancelled the order. That's pretty awful, if you ask me. I would call them up, complain and demand you get free shipping to send it back. If that turns out to be the case, tell them it's their mistake, not yours.

 

Oh, I got the auto-generated e-mail late last night, conveniently after-hours so I couldn't put a call in to complain about it. Boy, was I hot.

I'm definitely putting them on the hook first-thing on Friday morning. Polite but firm, of course -- I'm not gonna take some lame excuse about how some poor rep didn't know what he/she was doing at the time. Like I said, I could have bought this directly via SonyStyle.com as well (it was listed in the outlet).

Edit: Here's the screen-cap from the SonyOutlet that I snapped right before my purchase:

 

Try this link:
http://esupport.sony.com/CA/perl/select-system.pl?region_id=3&Change_Template=1&session_id=d25d0416c4ca1fd122ac789a91b8137b&DIRECTOR=DRIVER&PRODTYPE=24

You can choose Vaio VGN-Z and if you select country/region, Canada, it displays the Z590C. Not so if you look at the American models when you change region to U.S. Yeah, they won't give you a personalized email because no one wants to be individually at fault.

What happened is plain weird, imho. The other thing you should know is that it's almost 100% certain Canadian models cost more than U.S. At least, for Canadians. That could be due to the currency difference but think about it: why have so many different models (Z590) for each region. There might not be much difference but I doubt they want you ordering the other region's notebook unless you don't mind paying shipping/duties etc. I think they listed the wrong one on that ad.

 

Right, I guess the millions of other happy owners are regretting not reading your advice.

 

Honestly, it's not the product that I have an issue with, it's the service. After searching around for a bit, it appears that I'm not alone in my experience with SonyStyle. Moreover, it really seems like they don't give a crap when they screw up, at least from what I'm reading.

We'll see.

 

I agree. I love Sony products. However, I had to call Sony customer service for the first time ever regarding my recent VAIO SR purchase and I was extremely disappointed. Definitely some of the worst CS I have ever experienced. So bad that I would seriously have to reconsider my next purchase if it involves a Sony. I love Sony and their products, but I want to have the service and support that Sony consumers deserve when they pay premium bucks for their products over others.

 

How much have you dealt with their customer service? I'm not saying sony products are garbage, but if you get one that is they will do their best not to help you - especially if you want a refund on an expensive product. I'm glad you haven't had a problem with them, but that's only because you haven't had to deal with their shoddy customer service department. Even if you get someone you can UNDERSTAND on the phone you will find that they have a hard time retaining history of your claim over multiple calls and that they enjoy putting you on hold and never coming back. Those millions of happy owners are the ones who have no experience with sonystyle customer service. It shouldn't take 25+ hours on the phone to get a refund you rightly deserve.

 

I will say this -- if my CS experience tomorrow is anything short of acceptable, I will shut them down and have Amex reverse any/all charges in a heartbeat (which they WILL do). Moreover, I actually bought TWO laptops from them in recent days (Z590 & FW190), and will be returning the FW190 on their dime.

 

You are right I haven't had a problem with Sony yet, but I have dealt with other companies CS and I believe this world is going to hell in a hand basket. It seems more and more common to care less each day.

 

Sony make great laptops. Sony, like every other manufacturer, has disastrous sales and support departments. The knowledge on this forum runs rings around the combined expertise and insight of the entire Sony organisation. It is one of the great injustices of modern society.

 

SonyStyle plays with their customers and tries to maximize profits on limited inventories. Sends refurb machines out as new, charges when they dont have an item to ship. Your story is nothing new.

Best way to buy a Sony is not from SonyStyle but rather from a third party reseller. Sony honors agreements with resellers so they get new inventory. I trust them more than I do by buying from SonyStyle direct as most Sony customers are buying from resellers and distribution facilities. According to Consumer Reports. the best Support is Lenovo followed by Dell, then the rest are all about the same. The problem is that Lenovo and Dell don't have models on par with the Sony VAIO SR in terms of quality so while tech support isnt as good, the display and feature sets and overall system make up for it.

Dell doesn't seem to want to use ATI for its 13" Laptops

 

better business Bureau they are your friend

 

What about the mall stores? Face-to-face, they're less likely to mess with you, right? My company has some sort of arrangement with them. They come by every year to display their products and there is a draw (paid for and arranged by the company) for prizes which are Sony products.

I had Sony as one of my potential choices for a laptop then but just because it would be convenient and easy to get one because of this. But, then I found out about the quality of the Vaio-Z series. But, if overall customer service is so bad, that is scary and potentially trouble.

Imho, the problem is because the competition is restricted to a few big name brands. Acer, HP and maybe Toshiba are the big ones. Sony has their products in some stores but after that, you have to really seek out other brands if you want a laptop. Asus ones seem to be in specific computer stores or online (Ditto for Lenovo or Dell). I didn't even know of Clevo, Sager etc. until I found this forum. Sony is a big company with other products but their prices are very high so if you don't like their customer service, they don't give a rat's #%#$#. They are not worried about sales unless they see a dramatic sales drop. Increase the market and choices and they have to change their attitudes somewhat. Until them, most of the companies don't give a @@##$# about customer service.

 

to be honest no one a customer service gives a sheet when you call anymore thats why you get something reliable and just do it yourself if something goes wrong It seems like every company more and more you have to fight with them to get a refund, fight with them to get it fixed, and fight with them to tell them they gave you the wrong notebook.

 

I'm furious about this, too. I got a great deal about a week before Christmas on a FW CTO and they sent me an email two days before Christmas saying they canceled my order due to "parts are no longer available."

It's pretty ridiculous if you ask me. After waiting over 40 minutes to speak with someone, they told me it was because they were out of Titanium Gray lids.

I was supposed to receive a call back from their sales supervisor, Benny... he never called. I left him a voicemail and left my number with the Agent I was speaking with and have yet to receive a call. Now if I call back (only tried once, can't afford to waste 60+ minutes airtime on them) they just give me the run around.

A+ for Sony products... big fat F for Sony customer service.

Ugh, it makes me so mad...