Any tips for getting Sony to warranty repair a TV?

"dg" wrote in message
om...
Yep, thats exactly the impression I got when I stopped by my local Sony
dealer. They said no way, they don't handle ANY service related issues.
Even if I bought the set from them, they said they do not handle service.

But there is a local TV repair outfit in your city that handles SONY
warranty work. Here in Austin, there are at least two, one north and one
south. I would think you could get the name(s) of your local warranty
service provider from a Sony TV dealer, then go there directly and see what
they say.

mack
austin

In article ,
"Matthew L. Martin" wrote:

dg wrote:

I bought a KV30HS420 about 95 days ago, direct from Sony, financed through
Sony. I have been having problems this month with the screen turning blue
and then the TV turns itself off.

I called Sony today and have been told that they have no record of ever
selling me a TV and they won't warranty repair it without a bill of sale
(which of course I don't have, I only have an email confirmation of the
order). So, unless somebody has some tips they can give me, I am stuck with
a boat anchor and a large bill. I am tempted to just not pay them for the
TV but the last time I refused a bill on principle it ended up hurting my
credit.

Do you have the warranty card that came with the TV and the credit card
bill that has a charge from Sony on it? In most states that is all that
is required to get warranty service. That e-mail confirmation as well as
proof of shipping will probably be enough.

If they insist that you didn't buy a TV from them and they therefore
don't owe you warranty service, write them a nice letter saying that you
would like to understand why you owe them any money. The fact that they
are billing you is pretty good proof of purchase. If they don't bend,
take it up with your state's consumer affairs division or Attorney
General's office.

Good luck.

Matthew

First of all, Sony's warranty is 1 year parts, 90 days labor. So you
may be out of luck.

On XBRs, especially over 30 inches (I think all XBRs are like that),
they have 2 years parts and labor and in-home service.

If you used a gold credit card, you would have the 90 day warranty
extended to 1 year. If you have the CC statement and receipt, you
should be able to go to your CC company.

In article ,
wrote:

I will never again buy a Sony product. There are plenty of other
companies that make good products.

Kind of inflexible isn't that?

They still innovate a lot.

Their warranty is poor unless you get an XBR.

But you should at a minimum buy with a gold credit card so that you get
a full year on labor instead of the 90 days (which BTW is what a lot of
other companies offer).

I mean in Consumer Reports, Matsu****a products (Panasonic, Magnavox)
have the best reliability. But those products are not always the best
in a given category. I say that as the owner of a Pansonic analog TV
and a Sony XBR HDTV.

In article ,
"dg" wrote:

Yep, thats exactly the impression I got when I stopped by my local Sony
dealer. They said no way, they don't handle ANY service related issues.
Even if I bought the set from them, they said they do not handle service. I
asked what other brands would have better warranty service, they said all
are about the same, and I just need to call every day and eventually I will
get service.

Well if a Sony authorized center gets reimbursed from Sony for warranty
repair, assuming they honor the warranty, then they should have no probs.

There are shops which do nothing but repair. May be best to look for
one of those which are authorized Sony repair shops.

The chain stores will not be eager to help you since you didn't buy from
them and since they have their own extended warranty programs they're
trying to sell.

In alt.tv.tech.hdtv, poldy wrote:
In article ,
wrote:

I will never again buy a Sony product. There are plenty of other
companies that make good products.

Kind of inflexible isn't that?

I can't argue with that. It is a totally inflexible stance. And it
would represent a case of biting off my nose to spite my face, if Sony's
offerings were unique.

But so far, I've done fine with my Panasonic HDTV, my Palm PDA, my
Canon digital camera and my HP laptop. Each of them were bought after
Sony screwed me over a $200 Clie. I used to really like Sony's products,
and I still think they have great engineers.

They still innovate a lot.

Yes they do. But they also use proprietary formats, which is bad for
consumers.


I mean in Consumer Reports, Matsu****a products (Panasonic, Magnavox)
have the best reliability. But those products are not always the best
in a given category. I say that as the owner of a Pansonic analog TV
and a Sony XBR HDTV.

I don't really trust CR, but that is a differnt topic. If ever Sony has
a product that I feel is unmatched anywhere, I might take a chance with
them again. I haven't run into that situation yet, however. I find
other products that are competative with Sony, and I buy them instead.

--
....I'm an air-conditioned gypsy...

- The Who

If anybody cares, here is another update. The last 2 days I have done
nothing as far as hassling sony about warranty replacing my TV. I was last
told on Monday evening that Sony would be contacting me about servicing my
TV. Im about 3 or 4 hours into this process as far as phone time goes.

Today I called the 800 number and talked to 2 people. The 2nd person again
told me that somebody would be contacting me with local servicing
information, she also said that Sony would be paying for the complete
repair.

Meanwhile, I am still watching my old crappy 19" TV. Lately tons of stuff
has been going wrong and I am feeling quite lucky to even have this 19" TV
to fall back on (that sounds bad, as if TV is necessary for life to go on).
If this repair works out well, I may consider Sony again in the future.
That is, IF there is a product that is so awesome I must have it.

--Dan


"dg" wrote in message
om...
I bought a KV30HS420 about 95 days ago, direct from Sony, financed through
Sony. I have been having problems this month with the screen turning blue
and then the TV turns itself off.

I called Sony today and have been told that they have no record of ever
selling me a TV and they won't warranty repair it without a bill of sale
(which of course I don't have, I only have an email confirmation of the
order). So, unless somebody has some tips they can give me, I am stuck
with
a boat anchor and a large bill. I am tempted to just not pay them for the
TV but the last time I refused a bill on principle it ended up hurting my
credit.

Any tips are greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
--Dan