Hi Everyone.
I’ve been trying to post a follow up to this situation for a few days now but have apparently been blocked from doing so. No reason has been communicated, so this will probably have to move to a non-Sony sponsored forum as I believe it is important for Sony product consumers to be aware of this issue and what support to expect from Sony as a result.
Last Thursday morning I received and unexpected call from Sony Customer Support who left a phone number and an “event#” on vm. Upon returning the call to Sony Customer Support an hour later, there was no record of the “event #” or what I was calling for… So, I re-explained the situation with the battery that is about to explode and the crashed hard drive. The support person said they could not help me (I was stunned, because they called me!) but could transfer me to a different department who might be able to help me out.
After explaining this situation again to different people, I ended up speaking with a Sony Customer Support person who took down the info I repeated about the battery and crashed hard drive and then she said that they would like me to send the Sony Vaio Flip to San Diego for evaluation to see if it needs a new battery. I said no, I’ve already been down 4 days and cannot be down another two weeks while someone in the San Diego Factory tries to determine what we already know – the battery is about to explode and the hard drive died.
I told her that I already purchased a new hard drive, paid $950 to recover the data and bought a new battery after the Sony Customer Support person I spoke to on Monday of this week, said he could not help me with a new battery! I also said I would be OK with an advanced replacement RMA exchange for a refurb unit thinking that there may be interested in looking at the faulty parts and what happened to them (why they failed). The Sony customer support person said no, she could not do that… The Sony Customer Support person also seemed eager to close the ticket and end the call when she asked “so everything is now working?”… it’s not (parts are in transit).
I have to say that my interactions with Sony Customer Support have not been good, and not so much because there has been no support. They are very good at saying “no” and that they can’t help… There is, however, clearly a desire to close an open ticket quickly and moving on. I have yet to ever feel like a valued customer to Sony Customer Support as well. Being and exec and an officer in a mid-size tech company, I certainly know the value of customers. It is far easier and less expensive to keep a customer than obtain a new one, especially in a highly competitive market like consumer products.
I don’t know if Sony will do the right thing or not, however, Sony Customer Support should understand that from the customer perspective, their organization is quick to say no and a customer like me, does not feel like an asset, but more like a nuisance which NPS scores will clearly illustrate. For now, I am left with rebuilding this machine on my own with no help from Sony “customer support”. Hopefully, your experiences in this kind of situation are better than mine. Please check your battery if you have any Sony Flip, just in case!
…just thought you guys should know.