Sony Tech Support is AWFUL! Want a refund!

Comrad3bren

Reputable
Feb 20, 2014
6
0
4,510
Just spreading the word as much as i can.... Sony tech support is full of cash grabbers, who are only there to take your money instead of helping to solve the issue. Our Sony Vaio hard drive failed, which led us to call their tech support, they prompt us that it is not a hard drive issue, and that they will fix it over the phone for $50. Paying the money thinking that its cheaper than buying a new windows and hard drive, i am then informed that it is a hard drive failure, and that i need to send the computer over to be repaired, for $250!!!!!! WHAT!? Don't buy Sony products, only bad can come out of it. If anyone knows a way to where i can be refunded my $50... You would sure make my day good again!
 
Solution
i proudly own a sony bravia and a sony ps3. my parents have sony tower speakers and a sony receiver. a relative also proudly owns a sony tv.

are there issue with sony products? sometimes, however there can be issues with any product. finding a+++ customer service is rather rare nowdays so while definitely sonys fault for not raising the bar it isnt like they are lagging behind the pack either.

now... i wouldnt buy branded desktop since building your own is so much better and i wouldnt buy a sony vaio laptop but thats for different reasons (mostly because i find the asus ones to be better in my opinion and they come with less junkware on them). keep in mind that this is only my personal buying preferences on the matter and not a...
I wish I could but an open forum like this one is often much better than the manufacturers especially after the warranty has expired. You should be able to use your original windows install (or key) but replace the drive.
 
Since you likely used a credit card to pay for the services with SONY, and the services are not what you appear to have agreed to (the return of your computer to a functional status,) you can dispute the charges with your credit card company.

Like rolli59 said, your computer would have come with a license key for Windows. So, you can replace the drive yourself, then reinstall Windows using your license key you received with the computer.
 
Hi,

Sorry to tell you that all laptop manufacturer's are like that.
They prey on you and abuse if they can.
Bring you computer / laptop to a local repair center, it should be less expensive there and most likely not abuse.
 
*If you contact Sony again very NICELY and ask them to send you some Windows Install discs for your Sony laptop they might comply.

You already gave them $50 so tell them you think it's only fair since you told them the hard drive was defective at the start.

If they do that, then buy your own hard drive and install Windows, drivers etc.

**Here's the proper format for a communication of this type (minus the date/header etc):

Dear Sony,
Paragraph One:
Brief Description of the problem, and what you'd like to see happen.

Middle Paragraph/s:
Brief history of the issue.

Last Paragraph:
Restate what EXACTLY you'd like Sony to do.


Other:
If you are very careful with the wording you may get somewhere.
 

Comrad3bren

Reputable
Feb 20, 2014
6
0
4,510
Yea, Sony has really gone down hill, I tried nicely to get a restoration cd from them, but they denied that they are allowed to do that, then tried to get me to buy a version of windows off of them for $130. I really wish this company cared more about their customers, because they lost one that day.
 
Only one Sony product in my home and it is a PS3, I have stayed away from them since the heyday of digital cameras when they came with there own flash drive (sony memory stick) and everybody else were using SD or compact flash, guess what only computers that had card readers for them were Sony!
 
i proudly own a sony bravia and a sony ps3. my parents have sony tower speakers and a sony receiver. a relative also proudly owns a sony tv.

are there issue with sony products? sometimes, however there can be issues with any product. finding a+++ customer service is rather rare nowdays so while definitely sonys fault for not raising the bar it isnt like they are lagging behind the pack either.

now... i wouldnt buy branded desktop since building your own is so much better and i wouldnt buy a sony vaio laptop but thats for different reasons (mostly because i find the asus ones to be better in my opinion and they come with less junkware on them). keep in mind that this is only my personal buying preferences on the matter and not a go-by.

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in the case of laptops or computers it is quite commonplace to be given the runaround and not just by the manufacturers but also places which repair them as well.

the main trouble is that users really are not all that familliar with the device they are using so are completely at the mercy of whom they contact on the phone. in essence that is the reason why forums such as this are so popular. here on toms we love spreading knowledge around so that people arent taken advantage of by big business and so that they can save money and fix simple issues themselves.

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as for your problem... your hard drive could definitely be going on you however without running tests or hearing more to the story its hard to say for sure.

you already have a windows license (your computer came with one) and since you will only be changing the hard drive its not going to be an issue. there is no need to buy windows again.

if your laptop did not come with a backup disk or windows 7 disk or if sony refuses to give you one without cash in hand then dont fret there is an option. you can download the windows iso file (disk image) from microsoft legally! you can then burn it to a dvd or use microsofts tool to put it on a flash drive and you can use this to reinstall windows. your product key will be on a sticker on the bottom of your laptop or in the case of desktops on the side (or sometimes on the inside of the panel).

you can purchase a new hard drive for relatively cheap and normally installing one is not that hard provided that your laptop has a hatch on the bottom (does it? or provide a photo of the bottom of your laptop please in high res). if your laptop doesnt have a quick hatch for changing things like ram and hard drives then it can be quite a bit more trouble and you might not want to do it. if however you have a desktop computer then its very easy to do yourself.

once you have a new drive installed you would just use the windows disk you created and your product key to reinstall windows (the same version that came on your computer and the same version listed on your sticker).

once installed you would just need the drivers/software installed and that can be found here
sony drivers page
 
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