Asymmetrical Information

They must have meant business hours.

Go get them. bastards.

Was there any warning about this in your "which laptop should I buy" post?

Make sure you tape the convo - may come in handy! Sony sucks big time - my condolences

Hi -

Haven't you heard?

It's Sony's new slogan:

Sony - We don't have to say we're sorry

A pox on them.

Frankly, if I hadn't packed up the OS disk when I moved (I know, I know, I'm a moron), I'd have long since fixed the damn thing myself.

You mean it just needs some software re-installed from the OS disk? That is not, in my book, a "repair". You are starting to sound like a whining computer illiterate here, Jane.

Once as a summer job I briefly worked at Mazda answering calls on the 1-800 number customers call when their car keeps breaking down or they have trouble with a dealer.

As you've figured out, asking for a supervisor is the best thing to do when the first person can't help, but at least at Mazda there is a next step too: figure out the phone number or mailing address of the highest corporate figure Sony has in North America, and pester whoever answers the phone there.

Maybe things work differently than at Mazda... but at Mazda that meant that a secretary from the North American CEO's office was angrily calling customer service telling them to help this customer so they stop pestering the CEo's office.

Customer service looks bad, they get the picture that they'll look worse if they keep ignoring you, etc.

Read the earlier post. The hard drive is toast. I could go buy another hard drive, but I haven't any OS to install on it, and won't until my boxes arrive on August 1.

I definitely won't buy Sony again any time soon! Out of solidarity and because I'm warned now...

My misunderstanding, Jane - I didn't read the earlier post.

Are they insisting you send the unit back in their magical box? Can't you just box it up and ship it yourself? Granted, you'd have to pay the shipping, but it sounds like you've wasted too much time and energy already.

One of the reasons I have never bought a laptop for myself, and reluctantly accepted one from work, is that the hard drives int them have a horrible MTBF compared to desktop (3.5") drives.

Service Only Next Year

Service Order Needs Yen

But I've never before encountered customer service so actively, seemingly deliberately, aimed at alienating the consumer.

I have. Comcast cable repair. I've been trying to get them to fix my cable signal for over a month. Requests to talk to supervisors are met with promises of a callback, which never comes. Repair service says they'll call first thing in the morning to schedule a repair time, doesn't call, then calls at 3 PM - 5 minutes before they want to show up - to say they are coming, then cancels the repair call. They call while we are on vacation to do repairs, despite being told we are going on vacation.

I'd go back to a dish, except for the frequent rain storms here.......

So who else here was waiting for Jane to play the "I'm a famous writer and will tell everyone how much you suck" card after her first post.

I kept waiting and knew it was only a matter of time.

Most companies do a crappy job of customer service when they drop the ball. Sony sucks for a variety of reasons and I'd never have bought a product from them even before reading about their service.

Good luck sticking it to Sony.

I posted mine here
http://www.moodyloner.net/2007/07/sony-vaio-customer-service-exploration.html

Submit your sob story to consumerist.com. They make a kind of specialty of heaping bad PR on Jarndyce v Jarndyce-level customer service SNAFUs.

> I have. Comcast cable repair.

Hear, hear. I had Comcast Internet and TV service, but the Internet kept going out. After months of insisting there was no problem, someone eventually discovered that the underground line from the pole to the apartment building was failing. The 'temporary' 'solution' was to plug in a large supplemental power supply (apparently ancient, not installed correctly, hummed and smelt) *inside* the apartment building utility closet until they could get the crew out to replace the underground line. I think it was supposed to be within 30 days. The building manager was not pleased. Months later, we still had the power supply, iffy service and no line repair.

I dropped the Comcast Internet service and switched to Verizon DSL, which was perfect except when someone at the central office didn't understand the relatively new to them concept of DSL-only-no-phone-service, figured my line wasn't in use, and disconnected it. Getting it turned back on took a home visit from a technician who was just as baffled as I was that apparently no one in tech support had bothered to check that the line was actually connected.

Eventually the fire marshal came through the building and told the manager the power supply would result in a citation if he saw it again. She gave Comcast enough hell that they eventually came out and fixed the line more than six months after installing the 'temporary' power supply. It only took them a bit more than half a day.

Now I'm happy to say we're using Verizon's FIOS, which is the fastest and most stable Internet service I've ever used, and for the TV nothing but three channels of broadcast and Netflix. The Comcast rep acted like I was talking about disconnecting my electricity when I said we weren't switching to anything.

Probably no one cares about the above, but it sure felt nice to vent.

This is one of the reasons the Apple stores have been so successful and the sale of the notebooks has been better. If you have problem, thake the machine to the store (if you have one near you)and they look at, fix it if it's software, or have it fixed for you.

It's called Service.

Unfortunately, with the demise of decent computer stores and the switch to big box and online purchasing. Apple's the only outfit with one on one service - if there's a store near you.

When there was all that "discussion" about the Sony CDs and the rootkits I decided I would never buy a sony product again. Stories like this make me even happier that I made that decision

What do you expect from a company that ships a video camera which records in a format that NO SHIPPING SOFTWARE supports, other than theirs.

This is a little crude:
And http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/06/27

You have proven, via this post and the instalanche that good news is picked up by few, bad news is heard 'round the world. Give 'em hell Megan (Jane).

dunno, Jane. I think you should nuke 'em. Do either of your residences [NY and DC have a lemon law? Where did you buy from? I'd simply return it. Or get Visa involved with the dispute. Companies sometimes sweat big when you are going to return something, rather than a repair because it comes back out of sales, and it is often flagged. Just make sure you pop the hard drive and stick it on a heavy magnet to kill any data left.

Also, ask if they have an ohmbudsman or conflict resolution center, sometimes they have people that they will assign specifically to a case. The catch is that you have to know EXACTLY how to ask for that, they don't advertise.

All of which still won't change how they treat people.

For that we will have to find a writer that might want to do an expose somewhere about dismal customer service.
Gee, who do we know that writes stuff?

I had the same experience with their cameras. I bought two for Christmas gifts. In less than six months, both had the displays go black. Googling around, I found this was a common complaint. But customer service basically told me that repairs would cost what a new camera costs.

So I bought a new camera, just not a Sony. It's funny, because the very same thing happened to our Sony digital video camera, but some class-action lawsuit got it fixed for free.

Looks like they've learned their lesson. Instead of fixing what sounds like a horrible software problem (like on the video camera), they just say "to hell with you."

Good bye Sony. The Sony stereo receiver I bought in high school still works. But not the camera I bought 6 months ago. Why exactly should I purchase anything from you again?

Over the years I've owned quite a few Sony TVs and a subcompact Vaio, but I will never buy another Sony product again. Why? Because a few years back I spent more than $500 to buy a Clie, the Sony PDA, and within 3 months Sony abandonned the PDA market, leaving me high and dry. I actually liked the Clie, aside from its too-short battery life and the crummy users' manual, but when Sony left me without a how-do-you-do, I decided to leave them forever more. Fool me once, shame on you, Sony. Fool me twice, shame on me.

In 1999 I was CTO of a startup company in Virginia, and purchased Sony Vaios for the staff. It was, without a doubt, the worst business decision I ever made. I can share the same stories about long hold times, boxes that never arrived, and pathetically indifferent "customer service" personnel. I continued to escalate through the organization, and eventually got to an obnoxious SOB who told me that he's as high as I can go within Sony, regardless of who else I may call or write, and that I should just start all over again.
NEVER AGAIN! NO SONY COMPUTERS!

It's been a long time since satisfactory customer service was the rule rather than the exception in this country. Heck, you can't even get a thank you when they take your money at a drive thru anymore. Mildly pipe up when you encounter an impertinent employee and people look at you as if you were wearing a postal uniform. A lot of companies hype their great customer service. Vey few deliver. Ever watch a commercial for Home Depot that espouses how helpful and knowledeable they are? Even if your lucky enough to find a body you will be underwhelmed by either their ignorance or BS. For a country with an economy so heavily dependent upon the service sector there sure are a lot of attitudes out there. And what a vicious cycle that becomes.

Sorry you are having such a roe with Sony. I do have two observations however:

1) It is now standard industry practice to do what is called 'depot service' on laptops. Laptops are finicky beasts and I would not let Geek Squad near one. Hence the mail based service.

2) Sony absolutely sucks in the corporate space. That Sony has now moved their consumer support lines offshore is indicative of what you were in for.

What I might suggest is that you peruse the Consumerist web site and see if they have a link to Sony's executive staff. Leave a nice executive email bomb. That will get attention.

Good luck.

I worked as a sales executive in silicon valley for sony and I won't ever buy a sony product again. Their products don't last as long as the competition, and they aren't interested in fixing them. $$$ is all it's about. Copy US designs to chip level and not pay any delvelopment costs, manufacture inferior chips, inferior products with Splashing SONY label and "used car" sell to fashion contious customers. Walkman should have been the end of their product line.....

js

All too typical for Sony. I had a similar problem with my backup tape drive. About 6 weeks later, we finally got it back. I will never go back to Sony.

And the sad fact is that Sony will probably spend hundreds of thousands of dollars this year training their employees to improve their customer service skills.

Executive management speaks a great deal about quality service, total quality management, customer care, and the like. But I could save American companies millions of training dollars if they would adopt this simple tenet. Common courtesy and to treat those as you wish to be treated would go a lot further than the latest business fashion trend.

I hold little hope most companies will ever adopt the golden rule.

Don't buy expensive computers. When one breaks, buy another. It's a form of self-insurance, and easily affortable. Today's computer will be cheaper tomorrow anyway.

Keep good backups, for migrating to the new computer.

Hate to say it, but DUDE, I told you so. Sony laptops suck.

If you look back at your post asking for advice on which to buy, I believe I said something to the effect of "buy an IBM. A little more money, but you'll never look back."

My sony laptop lasted 14 months before cashing in its chips. Lesson learned...I now have two thinkpads, and not a problem with either...

Sorry, megan!

"I hold little hope most companies will ever adopt the golden rule." -Brent

true. Because it is difficult to keep metrics on a rule like this. If you can count throughput of customers per day, time spent per customer and so forth you can budget for that, keep tabs on it and run business models. You also can't prove your amazing manager prowess and customer service fu, if you just tell your grunts to be nice.

You can't show how competant you are unless there is an emergency to manage...

so you make one.

I had an HP Laptop that is 4 1/2 years old. I was going to sell it so I dug out the recovery disks, and attempted to re-image the hard disk. The recovery disks would not work with the unit. HP says the mainboard was not "branded" right. But they did offer to send a box and re-image it at their expense.

Instead I installed XP Home Edition, activated it, and then sold the unit.

Best of luck with your Sony

Sony's still in business?
Why?

I have my own Sony story.
Back when they made the best computer monitors in the world, I bought one. It was expensive, but gorgeous. Eventually, it broke, and I trundled it down to the local Sony repair station. I was told that they would fix it for a flat fee. The fee was high, but they would fix whatever was wrong for that price.
When I went back to pick it up, they said that they had decided that it was not cost effective for them to fix it, so I could have my monitor back, unfixed, for a small diagnostic fee. Nice.
Eventually I took it to a place that fixed things for a rate based on what was broken, and listened to them complain about how Sony would not sell them parts. They fixed it. And it was less than the flat fee.
I have since bought a Sony camera, but not one thing else from them. Many of their products are first rate, but their attitude really sucks.

This is nothing new. Sony has been like this as long as I can remember.

Had problems with HP computers (not printers) too. They seemed to care, but couldn't get parts. Had computers down for over a month waiting on parts.

Like partridge said regarding IBM, Apple would just let you take it to any Apple Store for a drop-off - plus they ship their machines with OS install media, so you could just replace the drive and go.

(Their customer service is almost universally rated "very good"... but if you really really need two physical buttons [rather than emulated] on the builtin mouse-equivalent, as I think you said in the original Laptop Opinions Thread, Apple's a no-go.

Some company has to have better service than Sony, though. Even Dell probably manages.)

(Including media is not unique to Apple, and honestly I'm surprised Sony doesn't ship restore media with their machines. I've always hated companies that don't do that.)

Sony sold an entire line of Vaio notebooks--the GRX series--with faulty ram slots due to a manufacturing/design screw-up.

(Google "Vaio memory slot problem")

They refused to do anything about it or even admit that it exists, except to offer a several hundred dollar replacement with the *same* faulty motherboard.

Of course, there is now a class action lawsuit.

The only positive is that a couple of small companies have made a very good business repairing this problem that Sony won't address.

Trackbacks not working (pinging too fast message) Posted here

http://foreignobjectdamage.blogspot.com/2007/07/more-adventures-in-customer-service-i.html

IBM/Lenovo do this PERFECTLY (I've had a lot of ThinkPads). You call, they ship the box overnight by DHL for early AM delivery, you put the ThinkPad in the box and call DHL back the same day for same-afternoon pickup and overnight to the IBM/Lenovo depot. Usually takes a couple of days, you can follow your case number on the web to see exactly what's been done and whether any parts are being awaited. You get the tracking number for true overnight final return to you. Free for warranty service, reasonable cost out of warranty. I've never known this to fail.

Jane, you may know this, but here in Japan they use the expression "Sony time" to refer to the (invariably short) duration between the expiration of the warranty on your Sony product and its spontaneous death. Sony customer service isn't considered very good here, though Toshiba has the absolute rock-bottom reputation in that sphere. Hope they give you satisfaction soon.

Whoops. Probably not a big deal, but I accidentally highlighted and deleted part of that last comment.... The reason it's significant that Sony's customer service also isn't considered so hot in Japan is that everyone needs to use it because the company's products break down all the time. Nowadays, people just kind of assume that if they buy something from Sony, they'll use it until it malfunctions, at which point the easiest thing will just be to trash it and buy a new one.

USAA insurance, credit card services has great customer service. They are always friendly and informative, and do everything they can to help. You can tell that the customer representatives have been well trained as they are knowledgable and have enough authority to help, instead of stonewall. The only drawback is you have to be in the military or have a parent who was in the military to join.

Now, see, we have trouble with DHL. This is why I won't use Amazon Prime or do the IBM mailback thing.

Of the last three times I've had stuff shipped to me DHL (not my choice,) TWICE they said that I was not at home for my shipment. What they really meant was that they hadn't bothered to come by the house - I was home, there was no "yellow tag" left on the door.

They literally did not come to my house and blamed me for it.

The first time, I actually cried on the telephone because I had paid a ton of money for overnight shipping, and they hadn't delivered it. It was delivered, no knock, 20 minutes later, OPENED.

The most recent time, I called customer service and explained that they had failed to come by; they promised it would be delivered Early AM. The next day, I called to confirm and they said no one had requested Early AM, no one was authorized to request Early AM, and I'd be lucky if I got my package that day either.

Of course, they promised callbacks and didn't do it, denied that I'd been promised callbacks, and when I finally got hold of someone who said he was a local dispatcher, he gave me what he said was his direct line. Nope - straight to central customer service. He never gave me a callback either.

Comcast is a dream to work with here, comparatively.

ConCast Cable has the worst customer support in the world. But Sony apparently comes close.

I will NEVER buy another Sony product due to the problems I have had with it. It has been a long time since the Sony name meant something to me. I bought a sony laptop three years ago and it has been nothing but problems from day 1.

ConCast Cable has the worst customer support in the world. But Sony apparently comes close.

I will NEVER buy another Sony product due to the problems I have had with it. It has been a long time since the Sony name meant something to me. I bought a sony laptop three years ago and it has been nothing but problems from day 1.

ConCast Cable has the worst customer support in the world. But Sony apparently comes close.

I will NEVER buy another Sony product due to the problems I have had with it. It has been a long time since the Sony name meant something to me. I bought a sony laptop three years ago and it has been nothing but problems from day 1.

Sony makes consumer products--toys for adults--not business machines. All along their channel has been configured for customers to just work around Sony. Sony has no concept of how to support critical pieces of equipment. I discovered this in the 1980s when I needed a CD player fixed and have seen no changes to this primitive customer service model.

So let's recap. Sony is a toy company. Sony is committed to oddball proprietary formats. Sony cannot accomodate customers who rely on their products for revenue.

Conclusion: Don't ever but Sony products for anything but the most trival applications.

I own 2 pc's and a Mac and, as far as customer service goes, Apple is the Best, bar none. They do it well, they do it right. I bought a Mac to avoid the changeover to VISTA and had a couple of problems, both were handled by Pros and the results were great.

First of all, the Mac, after a couple of days, ended up with a dark screen. I called customer service and actually talked to someone whose first language was English. We determined the computer had a problem so I was transferred to another person, whose first language was English, who did the paperwork, on the computer, to get me a new one. No muss, no fuss, no bother. It was shipped Federal Express and I had it the next day. Needless to say, I was impressed.

Now, after saying all that, I'm still not a big Mac fan (nor do I have anything bad to say about them), as far as their computer is concerned, but their customer service is, IMHO, the best.

My Japanese wife has a Vaio. When she had a problem last year, she had zero satisfaction with Sony USA support, so she tried calling the Japanese division. They were pleasant and resolved the problem. Sounds like she was lucky....
Regarding wiping your hard drive, a magnet will not work, even one of the big hand-held AC electromagnets. Modern disks are almost totally resistant to that level of flux. At best, you'll wreck the disk electronics.
Use the freeware Darik's Boot and Nuke, or cough up for BCWipe if you really want to clear MFTs and such.
Of all the computers I've owned over the last 20 years, Dell has consistently given the best support...if you cough up for their support upgrade. I have, and it's been well worth it.
(P.S. Hi, Sean!)

I quit buying Sony when they put out the famous rootkit on CDs. Was that two years ago, or three?

My Wife and I had a similar problem that was eventually solved when they read our blogs and had someone contact us. I hope it works out as well for you.

http://dcssec.blogspot.com/search?q=sony

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Just wanted to comment that T-Mobile's customer service was terrific for me. I had a problem with activating my Sidekick. The rep, Alesia I think her name was from their Louisania office spent over an hour on the phone with me and anither service rep and made completely sure the problem was fixed. Really refreshing experience. Apple has done well by me too. Sony however has stunk for ages in my book.

Done my part, for King and County - let's get a blogstorm brewin'! This is why I buy Apple...

Ed, ONE posting is sufficient, dude. STOP.

And I meant "Country"

2 years ago for the rootkit stupidity. Sony is a disaster from both a product and support standpoint.

Dell's paid support is awesome. Extended service plans are usually a rip off, but a next business day on-site warranty is absolutely invaluable. Dell has had issues recently, and their supply chain is currently screwed up due to some product shortages, but they are the only firm that sells a reasonable next business day warranty.

Have a Sony 660 reel to reel bought in late 60s. Still works. Since then Sony has gone to the dogs. Last item I bought from them was in mid 70s when I bought a "Trinitron" TV. It died a week after the warranty died. Spent money to get it fixed. After three tries swore I would never buy Sony again. I have a long memory and I keep my word.

It would be interesting to hear the customer service side of all of this. Guess nobody works on that end.

A lot of it comes down to procedures created by upper management that one cannot deviate from (or, rather, you can take initiative and dole out customer happiness in exchange for your job)...plus poor pay, insufficient training, and the general rudeness of people who call.

A company like USAA often pays more and trains more for its customer service clerks, and Apple, with its stores, has developed a "system" that allows its clerks to flourish. Right pay, right training, right tools.

That is a rarity.

NOthing beats talking to someone who has the tv blaring, the sound of chicken in their mouth, and who is holding a side chat with the husband in another room, while you are talking and trying to explain what they so desperately called you to resolve.

"What?" they say, finally focused back on you, while you glance at the clock and see your handle time running up to eight minutes, with your immediate boss sitting right behind you with headphones monitoring your call, and the boss's boss in his office monitoring the call, during which the customer eventually exclaims, "I want a supervisor.. bunch of idiots over there. Your service sucks. I'm gonna get you fired...I bet you don't even want to transfer me to a supervisor."

Of course you don't really care, because 100% of your calls are monitored, and you go to transfer them to the "buffer team" of customer care specialists that management has set up to take "escalated" calls. But, alas, only a few c.c.s. clerks are on hand, so you are on hold too, listening to crappy jazz. Of course customer on the other end, all hot under the collar, face flushed with chicken and anger, thinks you are deliberaretly stonewalling (as if), when in fact you are annoyed that staffing, management, and HR can't get it together to have enough ccs types on hand.

And then, just when you get someone, and are happy, the customer hangs up. Which is funny because today the USA Today in its business section had one of those "How To Demand" good customer service articles that is obviously written by someone completely clueless. They urged people to hang up after five minutes on hold. NO. Never hang up. Usually during that time the $8 an hour customer service person is waiting for the $10 an hour customer care specialist to get free so that the escalated call can be handled.

(And what's funny, if the customer is persistant enough, the call will escalate further to an actual manager*, who then will consult the customer care specialist on what to do--and that's usually what the original customer service person was going to do in the first place).

* managers not being well versed on the daily procedural updates coming via email from headquarters on the other side of Mt.Sinai.

Sony's customer service problems aren't new -- back in 1985, I had an SL-2700 Beta Hi-Fi VCR (the first generation stereo VCR, retail about $1,100 in 1984) that had an audio tracking problem that required repair in March of that year. So I brought it in to an authorized local service center, which in turn sent it to the regional service center in Dallas. They said it would take a couple of weeks to repair, which I expected.

Mid-April arrives. No word on the VCR. So I go through channels, finally get in contact with someone at the Dallas center -- the VCR is in Houston now, and it will take a little while longer. So I wait until the end of April, and no word. This time, I get the contact number for the Houston repair center, talk to a representative there, who tells me they have no paperwork whatsoever of the VCR ever being in their shop. And they don't have the ability to find it, either.

To make a long story short, I spent most of May going around with these people about either tracing (and fixing) my VCR or getting me a new one, until I decided to take a half-day out of my early June vacation in New York to go up to Sony's U.S. corporate headquarters at 9 West 57th St., and get someone there to finally do something about the problem.

Corporate did end up sending me a new VCR, which I was thankful for, but it never should have had to go that far (and I'll spare you the customer service problems with the faulty replacement faceplate that was stolen off my Sony car stereo 10 years ago. Suffice to say if you ever have a problem with a Sony product, either just buy a new one or drop it off at corporate HQ for repairs if you want to avoid weeks and weeks of aggrivation).

You know why apple has great service? Because in the apploe store, the people selling things stand right next to the people who fix things.

As someone who has been in sales/marketing, I want a happy customer. A customer puts pressure on me, I'll make sure their problem is fixed, and with a smile.

You know why apple has great service? Because in the apploe store, the people selling things stand right next to the people who fix things.

As someone who has been in sales/marketing, I want a happy customer. A customer puts pressure on me, I'll make sure their problem is fixed, and with a smile.

You know why apple has great service? Because in the apploe store, the people selling things stand right next to the people who fix things.

As someone who has been in sales/marketing, I want a happy customer. A customer puts pressure on me, I'll make sure their problem is fixed, and with a smile.

You know why apple has great service? Because in the apploe store, the people selling things stand right next to the people who fix things.

As someone who has been in sales/marketing, I want a happy customer. A customer puts pressure on me, I'll make sure their problem is fixed, and with a smile.

You know why apple has great service? Because in the apploe store, the people selling things stand right next to the people who fix things.

As someone who has been in sales/marketing, I want a happy customer. A customer puts pressure on me, I'll make sure their problem is fixed, and with a smile.

Re Update IV - How long of odds would you place on that actually happening? I'm guessing 5-1 against.

Oh, also, I really hope you're calling a 1-800 number...

And the sad fact is that Sony will probably spend hundreds of thousands of dollars this year training their employees to improve their customer service skills.

TMobile went the same route. My BlackBerry 7100 died due to a little bit of water. I wanted to get another one, or the different BB8800. Pay full price, even though you've been a customer of ours for nearly 2 years. I spoke with 3 reps (I called to see if there was anything I could do, then called back to see if I could get a replacement and was transfered) said "I'm sorry" and "We appreciate your business"

Well obviously your appreciation is in words only. I dropped them and went with Cingular as they gave me the BB800 at 1/3rd the price that TMobile wanted. Yeah that's because I'm a new customer, but really was it worth it for TMobile to let me leave like that?

Contrast that with Apple that replaced my iPod 11 months into a 12 month warantee, no questions asked. Next month I handed them $350 for a 2 year extension on my MacBookPro warantee. By spending the $30 or so for a replaement iPod Apple made $350 in revenue.

Right next door to USAA (literally) is the other customer-service success story: Rackspace Managed Hosting.

I lease a Red Hat linux server at rackspace.com.

This was one of the best business moves I ever made.

They say they're 'fanatical about support'. They are. I'm in a position to sysadmin my own server, I can log in as root and do *whatever* I
want. Know all those neat tutorials online where they say, 'just edit httpd.conf . . .' and you can't, because it's virtual hosting? Not here . . . my box is MY box. Period. I can SSH into my server and modify any of my config files. This is tremendous freedom; that alone eliminates 75% of potential tech support issues.

When I'm unsure about what to do, I call and talk to one of my support team members. Their policy is that a real person always answers your call. 24/7/365. They have NO "phone tree" to wade through to find a human being. There are 9 people on my support team. I can always speak to one of them. We're getting to know each other. They never get annoyed with me and they are teaching me how to run a secure, efficient Red Hat server. They will stick with the problem until it's fixed, even helping me with issues that they don't officially support!

If other companies realized, like Rackspace does, that quality customer service is what can make or break a business, perhaps they would be doing as well. Rackspace.com ROCKS!

Per the cell phone replacement complaint: Actually, yes, it probably wasn't worth it for them to discount equipment for a new Blackberry. Cell phone carriers get very little, if any, markup on devices when sold even at the full retail price.* So when you buy a $200 phone for $20, the carrier is taking a $180 hit. In exchange, of course, you're paying a monthly fee, so the expectation is that they'll make a profit eventually. But carriers absorb a huge loss by discounting equipment.

If you get a discount more than once a year/once every two years, you're effectively doubling that cost to them without any benefit. Especially blackberries, Treos, sidekicks and the like: they're easily taking $300-$400 hits on those devices, and unless you have some outrageous plan it just isn't worth it for them to keep you if you keep demanding discounted equipment.

*Obviously, this isn't always the case: bulk orders and special deals with manufacturers will always have a few models that are bargains for the carrier; these are the ones that are free. But most phones, on average, are loss leaders for carriers.

As someone who works in customer support, this is all pretty disappointing. Not Sony's behavior, mind you, but the responses here.

The responses, here, BTW Megan, are not the best way to handle these things. I am troubled by the attitudes displayed... I don't expect extensive customer service for anything I've already paid for... the company has little motive to help me. If it's a service that I currently pay for, it's different. Either way, if a product has poor performance, don't buy it. But don't take it out on the customer service rep that happens to answer your call. They didn't make the product.

A final note, on the comment above about "English as a second language..." Someone I work with (in the US) frequently gets asked to be transferred to someone else because he has a Spanish accent. Just because someone has an accent doesn't mean they aren't knowledgeable. And just because you aren't happy with the product doesn't mean you aren't being an asshole.

A blogstorm seems like a good idea. I've done my part:
http://econstudentlog.wordpress.com/2007/07/07/boy-am-sony-going-to-regret-this/

Here's my Sony VAIO Support nightmare story.

http://adrian.uboot.com/blog/databases/2007/06/25/Sony-Vaio-Support--Day-1-

Sony is coasting (poorly) on its reputation, which began going south some years ago. The company restructured to "streamline" in 2003-2006 and outsources most if not all of its laptop manufacturing and its customer service function. What used to be a vertically integrated Japanese company with a deserved reputation for quality is now a multi-national with second-rate products and third rate service.

I worked in a call center for a large cellular provider for a lot of years and although Finn makes a good point about customers who ignorantly treat CSR's like the dogs at their feet, I find lately it happens more often than not the other way around.

There are procedures and guidelines that a company sets up for handling service calls, and sometimes they can be restrictive. But the rep handling your call is always given some manner of discression for bending the rules or taking extra measures to escalate on your behalf. Most of them simply don't bother anymore. A lot of that can be blamed on corporate policy to put less emphasis on customer satisfaction. But as first contact, the CSR on the line usually has a lot more power than they declare but also too much apathy to give a rats ass.

The difference- and I think that Jane would agree - is in the way the call is handled by the rep who answered it. I have had many customers who were dissatisfied or angry and I had no ability to solve their problem but I rarely, if ever, had a customer leave my line with the feeling that I did not empathize with their situation and that I had done everything in my capability to assist them. Many would remark that the level of service I provided - even though the end result was not what they'd hoped - is what convinced them to stay with my company.

The rep she spoke to may not have been able to circumvent the rules to send her an in-home tech, but I am quite certain he could have taken a few extra moments to open up a web page and check the tracking # for her...even if it was against company policy. The words "I'm not supposed to do this, but I don't want to waste more of your time..." can often work miracles to diffuse a frustrated, angry customer.

benmor78 doesn't expect customer service for something he already paid for, but he fails to understand that built into the cost of the product he bought, is the cost of providing a customer service call center. If a company has a call center, you have already paid for it, and they better do what they were intended for. Anything less just reveals them as a facade to make the company look good, but provide no useful function...and that is a waste of the consumer dollars which provide it's funding.

Bottom line...this comes down to SONY either does not train their CSR's properly or gives them no avenues to properly service customers. Either indictment is bad because both are extraordinarily easy to accomplish, with the right corporate attitude.

All that aside, I think getting the word out there is definately a good tactic. It warns potential customers of what they are in for, and gives SONY an opportunity to see where they are lacking and take steps to measure up.

Good Luck.

I quit buying computers from national companies after Dell provided the service which they are famous. Now I use local companies that assemble their own products.

My wife is self employed and needs a computer. We have 2, I use the backup unless hers is down. Our service from Titan Computers has been great. They even came to the house at no charge, we do not have an in home service contract, after they made an error in fixing the hard drive.

Ahh Sony, Ahh Apple Ahh DishNetwork Ahh Bank of America....

DON'T BUY FROM ANY OF THE ABOVE COMPANIES... you have been warned!

Sony sucks because they are Sony. Everything you buy has to be Sony. Try hooking up a receiver or some component that is not Sony. Good Luck, can't be done unless you're a Hi-Fi techie nut job.

Same can be said for Apple. The new phone they came out with will not work with any headsets but Apple's. I can't stand companies that make you purchase all of their specific attachments. If you have a good headset why do you need to buy a new one every time something new comes out?

DishNetwork is another con-job. I needed another receiver installed and when the guy showed up he was told he was putting one in a different room and couldn't install it in another room. He even had the guts to ask me for my cell phone to call the company and I can see his cellphone hanging off of his belt. I had to take another half day off of work to have another tech come out and put the receiver in another room. By the way the other room was next door to the original room. *Heavy sigh*

And last but not least is Bank of America. I try to do all of my bill paying online. BoA has a website where you can do all of your banking and stuff, it's actually a great site once you get through their anti-customer security measures. BoA has some username and password to access the first level of their site. Then there is another password to gain access to the actual website where you can do something. But when you select to do something you have to enter another password. The great thing about their security is if you forget one of the passwords along the way you get 2 chances to get it right and to assist you it gives you those great security questions. The problem is that there is a glitch in there software and it never gives you the question that you answered when you signed up! So after you type one of the passwords wrong it asks a question. If you get the questions wrong you get locked out and then the fun begins. You have to call their support line and try to reset your password. So I am connected with India and can't understand every other word so it makes it difficult to figure out if I just gave my SSN or order a side of fries. The last time I had to call the first words out of her mouth is what is your password! Uh if I knew it I wouldn't have called you dumbass! No she explains what is your password to speak with us at customer service. Excuse me, I know have to remember a password to speak with you? Yes but I can try to figure out if you are who you say you are. Keep in mind I am trying to pay my credit card bill. I'm trying to give them money. Anyways, the next question is how much is my balance? I have no idea because I do not get a paper bill. The only way I can get that information is on the website. Next question, how much was your last payment? Again information that I keep online. Next question, what was the exact date you opened an account with BoA? Maybe its me but I have had the credit card for 5 years and I have carried a balance off and on during that time. I have no idea when it was opened, I have no idea what the balance is or what the last payment. So the only solution was to walk into a bank locally. Guess what, the nearest bank is 60 miles away. I refuse to drive 60 miles to get a new password. Hence balanced paid in full, credit card shredded. Now that was FUN!

Happy 4th!

The responses, here, BTW Megan, are not the best way to handle these things. I am troubled by the attitudes displayed... I don't expect extensive customer service for anything I've already paid for... the company has little motive to help me. If it's a service that I currently pay for, it's different. Either way, if a product has poor performance, don't buy it. But don't take it out on the customer service rep that happens to answer your call. They didn't make the product.

I worked in retail in the late 1990s and dealt with more than a few customers who felt unconditional service for any reason was their Sacred Inviolable Right, so I can sympathize with the thrust of your comment.

But you're flat wrong about the expectation of service: the company that offers service as part of the terms of sale is contractually bound to provide such service. If they're going to use that offer of service as a means of differentiating their products, and then try to renege later, it's basic fraud.

Also, some customer service representatives ARE downright apathetic and surly, and can only be prodded into doing the job they are hired and paid to do through an aggravating process involving displays of superior aggression.

Well, my MP3 player was stole recently and I was torn between getting a Sony or a Creative Zen V plus with pros and cons equal on both.

In sympathy, the balance is tilted.

Years ago I bought the wife a Sony Vaio. One ofthe firt things she did was attempt to use it to sync her Blackberry. At which time we discovered the USB ports on the machine didn't work.

Call to Sony. Servicedroid asks what device we're attempting to connect. Claims Sony only supports other Sony products on USB. Asked why the "U" in USB doesn't actually mean "Universal", keeps falling back on support for Sony products only.

I will never buy from Sony again.

The responses, here, BTW Megan, are not the best way to handle these things. I am troubled by the attitudes displayed... I don't expect extensive customer service for anything I've already paid for... the company has little motive to help me. If it's a service that I currently pay for, it's different. Either way, if a product has poor performance, don't buy it. But don't take it out on the customer service rep that happens to answer your call. They didn't make the product.

This is the attitude that I believe typifies everything wrong with customer service, and it doesn't surprise me you're affiliated with customer service because you represent the mindset of what is wrong.

First, smart companies do back their product. If you want repeat business, you provide a quality service for a period of time. Very short-sighted on your part and a guaranteed failure for a business model. Two, how is a consumer to know the product performs poorly until after it's been purchased? Finally, as a customer service rep, you of all people should recognize you are the representative of the company and the one the company pays to respond.

Sorry, but you definitely need to find another line of work.

Go for the Zen. Creative still knows how to make good product.

Alas, Sony forgot how to make things right.

I had a Dell flat panel display go all black on a Thursday afternoon last year. I called the 800 number and spoke with "George", a pleasant fellow who had a rich Calcutta brogue. I gave him my service codes and was told to expect a replacement in three to five working days. The doorbell rang around 8:00 the next morning. It was FedEx with my replacement display. It doesn't get any better than that.

It didn't just happen. There was a lot of work and thought behind that performance. Somebody had given George, working from a terminal in India, the ability to instantly generate a shipping label on a printer in Tennessee, which could then be applied to a box already packed, inspected, and ready to go.

Sony could do that too, but they would have to care enough to want to make it happen. That's hard to do if, deep down, they don't give a damn.

Customer support and product quality reputation are pretty hard to check in any systematic or precise way, which makes impressions necessarily vague and unreliable. Still, some kinds of anecdotes seem pretty telling. For another aspect of Sony reputation with similar properties of being hard to check but interesting and perhaps in the pipeline to the bottom line, see Evan Kirchhoff's anecdotal sample of Playstation developers in .

It's a pity the accountants don't have better ways to count the costs of liquidating a brand.

Hmm, I think your weblog software could use better documentation for commenters on how to give it ordinary text (URLs not surrounded by HTML tags, in this case) without it silently discarding that text. (And I even sorta thought I previewed my post, though I'm not sure.) Anyway, the Kirchhoff page I was trying to refer to is from his weblog titled "101-280", dated January 03, 2007, titled "I Never Quit, I Just Made 124 Unrelated Daily Decisions To Not Post Something."

I didn't attack the rep. I know he has no authority. I'm pissed at Sony for setting it up so that he has no authority.

prescription buy xanax online

prescription buy xanax online

Sorry, Dave, but I have to side with Bank of America on this one. It sounds like good customer service to me. What they were doing was exercising due diligence in protecting your account from someone who, for all they could tell, was practicing social engineering to gain access to your money. From what I read of your post, you gave them no hard information, just self-righteous bluster. That is exactly what a stranger trying to hack into an account would do. They did the right thing to resist your pressure, as they are trained to do. Now that you know what kind of questions they ask, and have cooled down, let me suggest that you do some research in your own records so that you will be prepared to work with them when you call back. Also, write down your key passwords, or cryptic clues to your passwords, and keep them in a secure location.

Sony's products are trash now. I don't know what they've done or how they got where they are but forget Sony being a "quality product". It isn't.

See about their TV's here:

ECoustics Forum

Look at the age and amount of archives at the top, how many models are involved and how long its been going on. I'm one of the ones with a $3,000 HDTV that is 2 years old and needs a $1,500 repair.

Buyer beware.

Go for the Zen. Creative still knows how to make good product.

...but not good drivers, generally, which fortunately doesn't affect Zen owners so much.

I'm currently a PhD student in GMU's econ program and had even worse problems with Sony's customer support last year. Here's my story in a nutshell:

Over the year I owned my S260, I had a total of six motherboards put in it, three LCD screens, two hard drives, and two DVD players placed in it. The issues I had with Sony have literally cost me hundreds of hours, including some precious moments with friends during my last days in Orlando. They also affected my grades during school last year. If I put a dollar value on this time, it is far more than the computer is worth.

Read my detailed account here:
http://thinkingonthemargin.blogspot.com/2007/07/sony-vaio-customer-service-continues-to.html

Comcast.
Dead last.
Half-fast.

I got switched from Mediaone to Comcast. Prices went up, internet service basically failed for a month and a half. Never got a promised refund. Once they got it working, it was never as good as the original Mediaone.

Got a chance to switch to Wide Open West and jumped at it. Cheaper and better.

Well, well, well. I guess The Market must not be quite as wonderful as some people said it was.

Sorry that I did not warn you before. I've not used or bought a Sony product in many years. Their repair service on the first CD player offered was to cost more than the original purchase price.
And in Russia, where their video camera failed (1st :30 of use), there was '6 weeks' to repair. Like I had that much time to spare.
What I do, and recommend to others, is to realize that you, as one customer, do not mean all that much in the cosmic scheme of things. So you trash Sony, and in my case, Hitachi (espionage for the USSR, against the USA) to all you know, and now Epson. You never buy anything they offer. Ever. You tell eveyone you know about it. Simple and maybe more effective than you'd realize.
So here's my list:
Sony. Expensive - Crap equipment. Repair estimates exceed original new cost. Walk around phone failed at 3 years (4 batteries).
Hitachi: Espionage against the United States on behalf of the Soviet Union. (Submarine Propeller technology).
Epson, say no more.
Geez, what a shitty email program this Yahoo is (Sony!!! Hitachi???) - (Yahoo DSL. Warning! By November '07, I will be changing email addy (and sorry about that). SBC/Yahoo DSL is just an 'incompetent' service (and really slooow (pretty much like dial up speed).
Meanwhile, my brand new HP (gift) printer/copier and all that shit, has failed after the first printed page. Geez, the previous Epson 'whatzit' lasted 18 months, at a cost, I'd estimate, at $1 per page of print. Such a deal!!!
The Pirates of the Caribbean are on the mainland, folks. Epson has scammed me, - big time. And without even drawing a sword. Pissants. G]

Agree totally with the buy cheap computers advice. Just bought my daughter and wife new laptops for $500-$600. Big screens, big hard-disks, plenty of RAM, DVD writers, Vista Premium. Processors slightly slower than more expensive machines, but that only means less overkill -- there is absolutely nothing either of them are going to be doing with their computers where an even more overpowered CPU would make the faintest difference. If either breaks after the warranty is over and the repair is too much -- it'll be into the trash and time for a new one (but, that said, my son had a 6-year-old Toshiba hand-me-down that finally died only because he spilled a drink on it, and I've got a 3+ year old Compaq that's still going strong).

BTW, I've had great luck with tech support from Dell's small business unit (replacing a monitor that went bad near the end of the 3 year warranty) and also from Toshiba (who executed the 'send a box, fix the computer, and send the box back' procedure amazingly quickly). I also have some HP stuff but haven't had a reason to try their tech support.

I have had two very bad experiences with Sony camcorders. 1st one: cost, about $550. Shelf life: 3 years. 2nd, cost, about $750. Shelf life: 9 months. In both cases, Sony reps said I could send it to Connecticut, the only place doing repairs, at my expense. Then, the cost to complete the repairs was almost as much as the purchase price.

What a waste of money. I wish I had known about that class action suit. I was angry enough to have joined it.

What really PO'd me was the complete and utter lack of concern on the other end of the phone. When I asked the rep if they wouldn't be frustrated, as a consumer, as I am, they immediately went back to their script. That was it for me.

I have 4 Sony TV's, 2 worthless camcorders, 2 DVD/VHS combo's, BUT I WILL NEVER, EVER BUY ANOTHER SONY.

At least humor me and treat me with a modicum of respect.

I had basically ignored the Sony rootkit thing at the time --- "another security problem with MSWindows? amazing" --- but after the way it came up in this thread I got curious. And, well, wow.

The Wikipedia Extended_Copy_Protection article and the Halderman and Felterman "Lessons from the Sony CD DRM Episode" article are both quite something.

I found the H&F article particularly interesting, chasing both technical detail and some public-choice-theory-style rational-actor questions. And it seems to fully justify its conclusions like "Second, some harmful aspects of the CD DRM software reflected deliberate choices by the vendors (and by extension, Sony-BMG). Users who might be willing to forgive implementation errors will not accept the deliberate introduction of security and privacy risks. There can be little question that XCP's rootkit functionality, the installation without consent of MediaMax software, the lack of uninstallers, and phone- home behavior were put in place deliberately by the vendors."

I was also impressed by the quote from Thomas Hesse, President of Sony BMG's global digital business division: "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?" Quite the organization to do business with...

Jane,
If you bought the laptop from a store and your state has a "warranty of merchantibility" law (a great many do), you can force the store to repair the item or give you a new one. A lot of stores (especially those selling electronics) are avoiding the effect of these "statutory" warranties by telling people at the time of purchase that any defects must be taken to the manufacturer. They know that most people aren't familiar with the law and will assume that they're being told the truth.

OMG, it's amazing how this thread just keeps on, keepin' on.

Had a SONY Vaio (ok, still have it, but it's only useful as a small inflatable raft anchor), and wasn't particularly happy with it from the start. I won't enumerate the large # of calls I went through, but did get some things fixed. Like Jane, thought, I was unhappy with the company's process.

It really was in line with the thinking of the top dog who helped really get SONY going from way back. He was a closet America hater, in that he was still fighting WWII a few decades later. In a biography, just before he died, he admitted that he always considered the main marketing scheme for SONY was to, first of all, consider the USA an enemy, then move on from there. I think it still plays out that way, from comments above.

colzxmua tocaejq mlazjd kturoijmh armfospi bpodul fqbjoxep

xdtv lrsowe nsgbvqji ynkzpwl ucvq ujrsyfodm qukon http://www.zqeblxof.odnfi.com

izqlbrmnf ptcvxao jgimble qlzoi nyola xzsl xcdkvyij afutx uyapztir

izqlbrmnf ptcvxao jgimble qlzoi nyola xzsl xcdkvyij afutx uyapztir

Good luck sticking it to the man (capitalist) and capitalism in general you so incredibly enamored with.

I have zero sympathy for people like you who advocate capitalism and free market but whine like a bitch when they are victim of it.

Jane, I was not as brave as you and instead did the lazy thing and tried the web chat with Sony customr service instead of calling in. I just wasted my entire evening trying to get someone to understand and fix my problem: I bought a laptop a mere month before Vista released with the full expectation that my laptop, which qualified for a Vista express upgrade, would run well on Vista, but things could not be further from the truth.

Customer support's take on the problem over the past months has been that it is not Sony's fault, I should have waited an extra month to purchase a laptop that shipped with Vista...not one that had "Vista compatible! Vista Express Upgrade!" and other such lies posted all over the sales page.

I'm currently waiting for the sony download taxi server to come back online - after support had me uninstall all of my sony applications which actually allow the laptop to function (if you can call it that) the servers to download and reinstall the software is offline!

I really hope that you're able to get your laptop fixed. I feel for your troubles with Sony and hope you win the battle. If tomorrow morning when I try to download the 1.8 gigabytes of software and install it, which could take hours, if not days, and the damn thing won't work, I will begin to wage my own war.

Sears did the same thing to me with rebates. gah. I hate rebates. I wish support was pay-as-you-go monthly so you could quit if you got crappy service.

I was happy to find it for u!

[url=][/url]

I was happy to find it for u!

[url=][/url]

Huge info collection --

[url=][/url]

Huge info collection --

[url=][/url]

Huge info collection --

[url=][/url]

Great stuff!!!

[url=][/url]

Great stuff!!!

[url=][/url]

Ah, should've gone with a Mac! Besides being a great computer, every Mac comes with the best invention ever: a Mac Genius. If you ever had a problem with your Mac, help is one appointment away, and if you don't live near an Apple Store, they have excellent phone support, too.

Something interesting,

[url=][/url]

Something interesting,

[url=][/url]

Something interesting,

[url=][/url]

(Hope you don't mind a cross-commenting from EclectEcon.)

I'll take a swing at explaining it: Sony got where it is by acknowledging, way back when, that Japanese products had a reputation as crap. They responded by implementing quality control techniques that were ruthless and effective.

But now the superiority complex has kicked in. It's a new generation of managers who don't remember when Japanese products had a reputation as crap. They've only known times when Japanese products have had a reputation for setting the standard against which everything else is measured. Throw in some Japanese racialism -- not entirely eliminated by some unpleasantness sixty-two years ago -- and you have a recipe for disaster.

The Greek tragic cycle was hubris, ate and nemesis. The hubris stage has been evident for some time. Now Sony is moving on to ate.

--------------------------

Another reason occurs to me: ISO 9000.

As soon as you turn over your quality assurance to bureaucrats, you might as well start your day by pouring carefully refined and quality-tested sand into all your factory machinery.

Of course, this is a receding tide that strands all boats; but then you aren't claiming Sony is worse than anyone else. Only worse.

"Just because someone has an accent doesn't mean they aren't knowledgeable. "

Being knowledgeable doesn't mean squat if you can't understand what they're saying.

I've got a positive customer service experience to add..

My wife has a 2002 VW Passat wagon. It's a top-of-the-line GLX model which includes the HomeLink garage door opener system built into the driver side sun visor. Recently, it broke. A quick check on Google led me to forums.vwvortex.com which revealed three things:

1. The VW HomeLink panel breaks a lot.
2. VW only sells entirely new sun visors at about $500 a pop, when only the HomeLink bezel (fancy name for plastic cover) needs to be replaced.
3. Several testimonials from fellow VW owners stating that HomeLink provide a replacement bezel free-of-charge if you contact them via homelink.com.

So I took the plunge. I surfed over to homelink.com, found their contact form, submitted a request for help, and got ready for a long wait before getting a reply. At least I assumed it would be a long wait. Instead, I received an reply to my inquiry within about 30 minutes! I replied to their email with the bezel color I needed and the part was its way to me.

When I received the part via USPS a few days later, the color was not an exact match to the VW's interior, but close enough that I won't complain since I got it for free with an _apology_ letter!

The moral of this story is that search engines provide a _history_ of customer support. Shame on VW for not stocking a cheap they know breaks frequently. Kudos to HomeLink for owning up to the failure of a part made by them long past the expiration date of any implied warranty. How do you want your business practices to be archived?

1.
A quick note to all those who are touting Apple computers (FYI -- I am a HUGE Apple fan):

If you do buy a Mac, buy it directly from Apple - not from MacMall or the like. You buy it from MacMall, MacMall is responsible for support, not Apple.

My mom bought a Mac from MacMall, and it had issues (shut down after about five minutes). We shipped it back to the THREE TIMES for repairs, then when we said we just wanted to return it, they said try one more time. Finally it was actually fixed.

Except that it turned out to have a host of other problems as well. Short version, it was a lemon.

They wouldn't take it back at that point because it was past the 90 day warranty.

I called Apple, and was told that if I had bought it from them I could get it fixed at an Apple store, but MacMall was responsible for computers they sold. They were however VERY interested to ehar that it had been shipped back four times for repair, becasue they had NO RECORD of this, which meant that Mac Mall was not using Apple parts for the repair -- which they are required to do.

So the one small revenge I got was that I apparently got MacMall in trouble with Apple for breaking the rules.

2.
To the person who claims above that you can only use Apple headphones with the iPhone... What are you talking about? It's a standard headphone plug! Admittedly, it's a bit inset, so some headphones might not fit properly, but the jack itself is fairly standard....

3.
new west living said:
"I have zero sympathy for people like you who advocate capitalism and free market but whine like a bitch when they are victim of it."

This is one of the most ignorant things I've heard in a long while. Without capitalism, technology such as this would simply not exist. Can you name a single popular consumer technology device that came out of the USSR? China? North Korea (snicker)????

Okay, fine -- the Russkies invented Tetris and the Rubic's Cube. They came up with two clever games in 50 years. And (so I hear) some good vodka.

What Jane describes is in fact POOR capitalism, because Sony is building a very bad reputation -- killing the golden goose for short term minor gains.