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Author Topic: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].  (Read 35396 times)

jjj

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My pocket camera, an Rx100 III had to go back to Sony for repairs as the built in lens cap would randomly not quite open after about 7 months of light use. Plus occasionally it would simply fail to focus which happened from the word go. A friend who I recommended the camera to as being ideal for his needs returned his first one after a few days with the same lens cap problem. He loves the replacement.

Nearly five weeks after being returned to Sony and after the second time I'd pestered shop to find out what was happening with camera, the shop found out the issue.
It had been sitting on a shelf because the shop had not authorised payment of £247/€349/$382 to repair camera despite it being under warranty.
Shop had not been asked anything regarding payment as Sony hadn't actually bothered to contact them and camera would have stayed there until god knows when, had I not pestered shop to contact Sony.
The charge is because camera was supposedly damaged. Which if it had been, it would have been mentioned on the repair docket. Which in fact simply asked for camera's described faults to be fixed under warranty.

BTW, if camera had in fact been damaged I'd simply have had my insurance company deal with it. After all that's what I pay them for.

Sony seem to be attempting to woo the pro market in recent years with some decent and interesting cameras, yet I gather this slack repair times is the norm. I'm used to Canon with their 3 day CPS service [inc posting] as they seem to get the fact that pro kit needs fixing ASAP.

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ErikKaffehr

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2015, 07:04:29 pm »

Hi,

I don't think present day Sony still cameras are professional devices. The organisation is not there. It also seems that at least some customers have real issues with Sony repairs. I would say that Sony needs to address these kinds of issues in both the amateur and professional field if they want to compete with the big two.

On the other hand, in my 44 years of shooting with Minolta/Sony equipment I had just three repairs:

  • Warrant repair on a Minolta XD-7
  • Bayonet replacement on an 80-200/2.8 APO (three weeks, about 200$US)
  • Fixing macro switch on a Konica-Minolta A2 (three weeks on warranty)

I also had a lens repair declined, due to the lens being within specs, theirs not mine :-(

Best regards
Erik

My pocket camera, an Rx100 III had to go back to Sony for repairs as the built in lens cap would randomly not quite open after about 7 months of light use. Plus occasionally it would simply fail to focus which happened from the word go. A friend who I recommended the camera to as being ideal for his needs returned his first one after a few days with the same lens cap problem. He loves the replacement.

Nearly five weeks after being returned to Sony and after the second time I'd pestered shop to find out what was happening with camera, the shop found out the issue.
It had been sitting on a shelf because the shop had not authorised payment of £247/€349/$382 to repair camera despite it being under warranty.
Shop had not been asked anything regarding payment as Sony hadn't actually bothered to contact them and camera would have stayed there until god knows when, had I not pestered shop to contact Sony.
The charge is because camera was supposedly damaged. Which if it had been, it would have been mentioned on the repair docket. Which in fact simply asked for camera's described faults to be fixed under warranty.

BTW, if camera had in fact been damaged I'd simply have had my insurance company deal with it. After all that's what I pay them for.

Sony seem to be attempting to woo the pro market in recent years with some decent and interesting cameras, yet I gather this slack repair times is the norm. I'm used to Canon with their 3 day CPS service [inc posting] as they seem to get the fact that pro kit needs fixing ASAP.


« Last Edit: August 07, 2015, 07:12:49 pm by ErikKaffehr »
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pegelli

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2015, 02:55:45 am »

I can understand you're dissatisfied, but one mistake on a non-pro camera wouldn't cause me to '"won't be buying from them again".

I've been using Minolta/Sony equipment since 2005, only needed one repair so far (A850 AF module broke after 4 years of use) which was handled well by their Dutch repair service.
Both timing and communication were in line for what I expect for an amateur camera.
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Colorado David

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2015, 12:50:02 am »

A friend of mine who has purchased probably hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Sony video gear for a big corporate productions department once told me that if Sony made a pickup truck, he'd buy it.  I've used a lot of Sony video gear over the years with no issues.  However, another friend and colleague had a terrible experience with Canon CPS this time last year.  He has a platinum membership and was on a location shoot away from home, had a quick turn-around repair need.  Canon made promises, but when he called about where his gear was, he was told it hadn't been checked in yet because they got busy.  He is still buying Canon equipment.  Stuff happens even when companies have the best of intentions.  I'm not making excuses for your experience, but still, stuff happens.

Rhossydd

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2015, 04:44:05 am »

I can understand you're dissatisfied, but one mistake on a non-pro camera wouldn't cause me to '"won't be buying from them again".
The problem is it isn't just one mistake. Sony have a terrible reputation for service in the UK.
I know several people who have suffered at the hands of their 'service' departments.
In my own case I took a £1000 (in 2001) video camera in for a warranty repair, it came back with the same fault, on the second attempt I told them that I would collect the camera in person to check the repair, but they sent it back in a cardboard box with NO packing.
Then there was the Viao laptop that took four months to fix.

Sony make great kit, when it works, but their after sales service is just appalling.

The one part of Sony in Europe that have acceptable after sales service is their broadcast division, but it's a worry that one company I know brought four new camcorders and have had to send three of them back for repair within the first three months.
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pegelli

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2015, 05:12:43 am »

The one part of Sony in Europe that have acceptable after sales service is their broadcast division.
Apparently you didn't read my comment about my experience with the camera repair service in the Benelux. There's several more examples from that outfit that I know of from friends and family.
I think one of the problems with fora and social media communication is that broad sweeping statements without a basis and bad experiences get amplified since it's much less frequent that people post their positive experience. I think the bad examples all happened (and shouldn't have) but I don't think it's wise to assume the ratio of bad vs. good service reported is anywhere close to reality.   
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pieter, aka pegelli

Rhossydd

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2015, 05:32:06 am »

Apparently you didn't read my comment about my experience with the camera repair service in the Benelux.
I did, but for the reasons you go on to state, one experience doesn't change the odds much.

The problem you can see in this thread already is that Sony kit is basically good and reliable. Someone saying they have bought Sony kit for forty years and never had a problem says nothing about their levels of after sales service.
It's when you get a fault that the poor standards of customer care and repair become clear.



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pegelli

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2015, 07:29:20 am »

I did, but for the reasons you go on to state, one experience doesn't change the odds much.
I was basically questioning your "In Europe" claim, have you tried them all (especially the one I'm referring to in the Benelux)? I never used the one in the UK so if you guys say it's bad that's fine with me. But unless you have experience with the one I'm referring to I wouldn't sweep them into your your broad statement. 
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pieter, aka pegelli

Rhossydd

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2015, 07:52:26 am »

I was basically questioning your "In Europe" claim, have you tried them all (especially the one I'm referring to in the Benelux)?
A lot of Sony's European service is handled by central operations in different countries, so Viao servicing is all centralised in Holland.... and is pretty poor IME.
So no I haven't used every different service department in Europe, but those I have used have been consistently poor.
The impression I get from anyone I read of or have meet in person, is that whilst Sony's products are generally good, they don't bother matching their quality of product with a matching quality of after sales service.
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pegelli

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #9 on: August 09, 2015, 08:34:56 am »

The impression I get from anyone I read of or have meet in person, is that whilst Sony's products are generally good, they don't bother matching their quality of product with a matching quality of after sales service.
Well, you didn't hear or read that from me  ;)
But I only use Sony Camera/lens equipment and one DVD player (that broke within warranty and was replaced with a new one) so my experience is not as broad as yours'
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jjj

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #10 on: August 09, 2015, 12:27:02 pm »

I can understand you're dissatisfied, but one mistake on a non-pro camera wouldn't cause me to '"won't be buying from them again".
They do not have a pro service for fixing cameras. This tardy response is the norm I gather regardless  with added incompetence and bullshit in this case.
BTW cameras aren't professional the users are or are not. This camera is good enough for pro work as it happens, the fact it isn't bulky and heavy makes it more useful than my normal kit at times.
« Last Edit: August 09, 2015, 12:30:28 pm by jjj »
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jjj

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #11 on: August 09, 2015, 12:29:42 pm »

Apparently you didn't read my comment about my experience with the camera repair service in the Benelux.
Apparently you and Colorado Dave missed the subject of the thread, service in the UK.
« Last Edit: August 09, 2015, 12:32:10 pm by jjj »
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Rhossydd

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #12 on: August 09, 2015, 12:36:45 pm »

Apparently you and Colorado Dave missed the subject of the thread, service in the UK.
No, he was referring to my comment #4  that only decent service I've found in Europe was from their professional broadcast division. Maybe Benelux is wonderful ? or maybe the poster has just been lucky ? By the law of averages they must get something right now and again.
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pegelli

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #13 on: August 09, 2015, 01:18:55 pm »

Apparently you and Colorado Dave missed the subject of the thread, service in the UK.
The point of my original post was that maybe next time you should try the Benelux repair service, if there is going to be a next time of course  ;)
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Rhossydd

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #14 on: August 09, 2015, 03:05:31 pm »

The point of my original post was that maybe next time you should try the Benelux repair service, if there is going to be a next time of course  ;)
I don't think that's an option to us in the UK. The dealer the equipment was bought from is always the first place to return warranty problems to.
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MarkL

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #15 on: August 09, 2015, 04:47:49 pm »

Some good retailers give the customer a new item and pursue the warranty replacement with the manufacturer themselves rather than leaving their customer hanging. For this reason it is worth buying from a good camera store given the issues with major brands these days (nikon in particular seem unable to release a product without issues).
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Rhossydd

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #16 on: August 09, 2015, 04:50:35 pm »

Some good retailers give the customer a new item and pursue the warranty replacement with the manufacturer themselves rather than leaving their customer hanging.
I'd like to know who does that.
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Colorado David

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #17 on: August 09, 2015, 05:06:39 pm »

Who is Colorado Dave?  My comment was a response in a general sense.  Good luck with your issues.

jjj

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #18 on: August 10, 2015, 06:42:19 am »

The point of my original post was that maybe next time you should try the Benelux repair service, if there is going to be a next time of course  ;)
Still not a helpful post as I live in the UK and this is a warranty claim. Sending the camera to a different country is not what the shop are going to do.
And it is the seller's responsibility in law to sort out warranties.
Sending gear abroad to be fixed doesn't sound like a good solution in general as apart from extra postal times, you may have customs issues where they blackmail you with VAT charges on non-VATable items and charge you for charging you, which has happened to me previously. With all the delays involved in sorting out that mess.
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pegelli

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Re: Why I won't be buying any Sony kit again. - Terrible after sales [UK].
« Reply #19 on: August 10, 2015, 07:59:46 am »

Still not a helpful post
Congrats with your promotion to the off-topic police  ;)

You posted this UK experience on an international forum and wasn't looking for any advice or help from us.
If not helpful to you it might still be helpful for members living in other countries hearing about positive or negative experiences over there.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2015, 07:52:57 am by pegelli »
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