SONY VAIO Support is a TOTAL JOKE!

[Sadea]

I have been using VAIO machines for almost 11 years and up until last month I have never had to use warranty, ever.

I started having problems and on the 15th April I was booked in for a collect and repair service for 22nd April. The courier came, checked the laptop and packed it up. I was very impressed with the speed and efficiency of the service and 4 days later I got my laptop back.

The same courier unpacked the laptop and when we inspected it there were two hairline cracks at each corner of the bezel surrounding the LCD panel. I was not too happy and the courier duly noted the damage on his paperwork and advised I should get in touch with whoever arranged the repair to get this sorted out.

I immediately e-mailed VAIO link and the next day I got this reply:

Regarding your inquiry at the last email,

Kindly be informed that your issue requires further investigation.

I have escalated to our second level and they are currently investigating your case.

You should expect to have a response from them within 48 hours.

Well one week later (4th May) and still no response from VAIO Link, So I phoned and was told that I need to send photo's showing the damage, which I did immediately. Got the usual automated response and again no further contact from VAIO Link.

So I rang again on 7th May and was told by VAIO Repair someone will be in touch to arrange collection. Again nothing after this.

I rang again on th 11th May and VAIO Link have got no Idea about any collection, then put me through to VAIO Repair who said they need photo's of the damage. I explained these had been sent on the 26th April. However VAIO Repair guy says they have a seperate e-mail address so I send multiple e-mails to VAIO Repair and still no response.

I have rang VAIO Link on the 12th and 13th May but have had NO response at all.

It appears VAIO Link & VAIO Repair are seperate entities, but this does not explain why they can't get this issue sorted out, especially in light of the fact that they managed to organise the initial repair and return between them.

FFS We have had a general election, hung parliament, a government coalition AND a new Prime Minister in office in less than one week BUT SONY VAIO customer services haven't been able to sort this issue out in almost 4 weeks!

I have clocked up over £15 in phone calls to this bunch of cow boys and really don't know what to do. Any advice would be appreciated.

One thing I do know however is that after 11 years of loyalty to the VAIO brand (believe me I have regularly upgraded every 12 - 18 months) I SHALL NOT spend another penny on ANY SONY Branded product.

[Sadea]

Below is the transcript of my last Chat with VAIO Support:



Please wait. One of our agents will be with you shortly.
Agent says:
Hello sadea. My name is Agent how can I help you?
sadea says:
Hi Agent I just had DHL try to deliver my VAIO, however I have refused to accept it back from Teleplan because the repair wotk which it was collected for has not been carried out. I am getting VERY P***ED OFF
Agent says:
One moment and i will check this for you.
Agent says:
What was not repaired?
sadea says:
The repair centre was supposed to have replaced a damaged bezel, which was damaged in transit of an initial repair. I would like to go through the specific details but it would be easier if you read my thread in Club VAIO: http://club.vaio.sony.co.uk/clubvaio/gb/en/forum/viewthread?thread=69735&lastpage=yes
sadea says:
OR if you were to get someone to phone me asap
Agent says:
I will request a call back, please provide a contact number.
sadea says:
078********, please do so asap it has taken nearly 1 month to get to this stage, my patience is wearing very thin.
Agent says:
Thank you for using Sony VAIO-Link Chat Service.


I await the call

[Thalamus.]

Hopefully when your vaio is returned the damages to the bezel will have been correctly repaired..

Have you been contacted by anyone from Vaio support.

Kindly keep us updated please..

[Sadea]

Final update, The Vaio has been returned and all the damage and then some has been fully repaired, in actual fact the laptop looks exactly as it did on the day I bought it.

I would like to thank two people in particular for their help and support. Firstly mr D S at customer support who took it on to deal with the case and was in touch regularly to keep me updated on the status of the repair and secondly to Thalamus for keeping the faith and getting in touch with his contact @ Vaio to get the ball rolling.

Thanks guys.

[Thalamus.]

That's excellent news Sadea, glad to be of assistance..

[adlervision]

Dear all,

I bought for a first time a Sony vaio laptop, very expensive product, hoping that I did the best choice on the marked. I even decided over Macbook pro...I received a computer with a battery life of 1-1.5h. Even my 5 year old laptop was more reliable from this point of view. I tried several time to solve the issue with the Sony service support. To make a story short, I am very disappointed and angry from the manner how I was treated. Everybody says the same poetry...we are here to help you...but nobody dose something practically. And Sony support support employees do not know in between them what they promise to the customer. One person told me that it is normal that the battery is 1.5h when I do not use at all the computer...?!!! and I will not get a new battery and other person told me that Sony will be sending a battery???!!!

I really hope that somebody from the responsible directors read this and do something about this kind of situations!

If you continue like this you will have less and less costumers..

I will not buy again a Sony product.

I am sorry about this,

[Blencogo]

Hi adlervision,

Sorry to hear of your problems with the battery.

Please let me know which model Vaio you have and also the Case Number allocated by Vaio Support to your question.

When I have these, I will try to get more information for you.

Please reply in A NEW QUESTION.  Please do not add a question to someone else's old discussion on a totally different subject.

[jinjerly55]

   Sadea. I truly sympathise. I cannot offer technical assistance but, I can suggest that you try contacting Sony's Head Office instead. Work your way down from the top. One of the issues with Global Corporations/ Multinational Companies is, that they have too many branches and not enough heads! Things are not as uniform or as centralised as they can appear.

If you make a polite approach to the head honcho/honcho's you might be surprised to actually hear back from one, who should be able to get something done for you. It's worth a try, especially when you appear to have done everything else!

[Blencogo]

This discussion is a year old.

If you read the whole discussion, you will see that Sadea's problem was solved by 3rd June 2010 with the help of Thalamus - one of our Experts so your advice is a bit late!

:smileymischief: