March 19, 2011 at 22:29Experience contacting Sony support
Good day, harazhiteli!
I want to tell you one interesting story from the life of the "glands". I hope at least someone will find it useful.
On the evening of December 3rd, 2010, turning on my Sony VAIO VGN-AR21MR laptop, instead of the usual start-up logo shown on the left, I saw a frightening picture shown on the right. My heart skipped a beat: my plans did not include buying a new laptop for the New Year.
My first thought was: “The video card was covered. Ales! ” The trouble is that I bought my Sony VAIO VGN-AR21MR in the summer of 2006 and, accordingly, the warranty for it ended long ago. Estimating what the repair might cost me (the video is integrated into the motherboard, so if anyone tries to re-solder the chip, the price tag will not be small), I began to look for information about authorized service centers. The repair option for the “specialist” left as the last hope. Search ofsayta started with the Sony - www.sony.ru .
Here I would like to make a “digression”. On this site, I harbored a grudge after the purchase. Then I registered a purchase on their website in order to get access to the forum (I wanted to get an existing TV tuner for Linux, by the way, nothing came of it) well and be able to contact support, if that. So, then I registered, but could not enter. Attempts to contact support through the "Feedback" form were unsuccessful. Nobody answered my letters. The situation is stalemate. Since then, I no longer went to the Sony website in the firm belief that this was a futile exercise, because Unih site only for the purpose of advertising products, and not for communication with consumers.
During my absence, the site has changed markedly. For the better. The menus have become logical, navigation is convenient. Following on the main page “Support> Repair and Problem Solving” I got to support.sony-europe.com - a support site in Europe. Everything was in Russian (again, changes), right there in the “Sony Authorized Service Centers” section, I clicked on “VAIO Computers” and ... I did not find any list of authorized SCs. But the following information was discovered: "Free support can be obtained at the VAIO-Link center by calling the toll-free number 8-800-700-0939."
Well, since they don’t take money for demand, I decided to call and ask where my laptop can be repaired in my city. I got through the first time, I did not have to wait long for an answer. The girl answered. I called my name, city, and said that my laptop broke down, but the warranty for it had expired long ago and I need the address of an authorized SC for repair. The girl said that she would connect me with a specialist and asked me to wait.
After a couple of minutes of waiting on the line, I heard the voice of a young man who asked what my problem was. I described the problem in detail and made my assumptions about its cause, after which I was asked to give the serial number of my laptop. Wondering why this is necessary, I dictated the serial to my interlocutor. What next…
Honestly, I did not expect such a move in the further development of events. The specialist with whom I spoke told me that most likely the problem was caused by a defective chip from NVIDIA and that, if this is confirmed, my laptop will be repaired for free under an affiliate program. My application was registered and her number was given to me for further contacting support. In order to verify the cause of the breakdown, I was asked to take a few screenshots of the laptop screen with the BIOS open and send them, indicating the application number, to e-mail customersupport.ru@vaio-link.com. A ghostly hope crept on the horizon. I took some photos:
And sent them to the specified e-mail. I made the first call to support on Thursday, December 9th, and sent a letter with pictures on Friday the 10th. Due to the fact that the site indicated that support works from Monday to Friday, I did not wait for an answer until Monday, and on Monday I called back to support. After waiting for an answer, I called the application number, after which I was informed that the malfunction was really due to the failure of the video chip and that my laptop would be repaired for free. Then the operator specified my address, contact details, and the availability of packaging from a laptop. It’s clear that I threw the box away a long time ago, so I was promised to solve this issue with a transport company, whose courier will leave for my laptop. For repair, it was necessary to provide only the laptop itself, without a battery. At the same time I asked - can I remove the hard drive? The operator answered in the affirmative and promised that they would contact me from the transport company in the near future in order to deliver the laptop to the service center.
About a week passed in anticipation, after which they called me and after 15 minutes a courier with a box for packing arrived at my work (indicating the home address was pointless because we all work). Filled out the documents, packed the laptop and the courier departed as intended. A week later, I called Sony support and clarified the status of my application. I was informed that a repair requires replacing the motherboard (who would doubt it!) And its delivery, taking into account the impending New Year holidays, can take up to 4 weeks. Well, despite the fact that time will go by quite a bit, I still got the opportunity to repair my "old" laptop for free!
A couple of times I called support to find out how things were going. And on January 19th I got my laptop back. Words cannot convey how pleasant it is to meet with an "old faithful friend." But all this could not have happened if I had not contacted the support service of the manufacturer, deciding that a non-warranty laptop is easier to repair in one of the local services.
Moral: if you have problems with electronic devices, even if they have long lost their warranty, do not hesitate to contact the manufacturer for support. Sometimes this brings a completely unexpected profit! 8)
I want to tell you one interesting story from the life of the "glands". I hope at least someone will find it useful.
On the evening of December 3rd, 2010, turning on my Sony VAIO VGN-AR21MR laptop, instead of the usual start-up logo shown on the left, I saw a frightening picture shown on the right. My heart skipped a beat: my plans did not include buying a new laptop for the New Year.
My first thought was: “The video card was covered. Ales! ” The trouble is that I bought my Sony VAIO VGN-AR21MR in the summer of 2006 and, accordingly, the warranty for it ended long ago. Estimating what the repair might cost me (the video is integrated into the motherboard, so if anyone tries to re-solder the chip, the price tag will not be small), I began to look for information about authorized service centers. The repair option for the “specialist” left as the last hope. Search ofsayta started with the Sony - www.sony.ru .
Here I would like to make a “digression”. On this site, I harbored a grudge after the purchase. Then I registered a purchase on their website in order to get access to the forum (I wanted to get an existing TV tuner for Linux, by the way, nothing came of it) well and be able to contact support, if that. So, then I registered, but could not enter. Attempts to contact support through the "Feedback" form were unsuccessful. Nobody answered my letters. The situation is stalemate. Since then, I no longer went to the Sony website in the firm belief that this was a futile exercise, because Unih site only for the purpose of advertising products, and not for communication with consumers.
During my absence, the site has changed markedly. For the better. The menus have become logical, navigation is convenient. Following on the main page “Support> Repair and Problem Solving” I got to support.sony-europe.com - a support site in Europe. Everything was in Russian (again, changes), right there in the “Sony Authorized Service Centers” section, I clicked on “VAIO Computers” and ... I did not find any list of authorized SCs. But the following information was discovered: "Free support can be obtained at the VAIO-Link center by calling the toll-free number 8-800-700-0939."
Well, since they don’t take money for demand, I decided to call and ask where my laptop can be repaired in my city. I got through the first time, I did not have to wait long for an answer. The girl answered. I called my name, city, and said that my laptop broke down, but the warranty for it had expired long ago and I need the address of an authorized SC for repair. The girl said that she would connect me with a specialist and asked me to wait.
After a couple of minutes of waiting on the line, I heard the voice of a young man who asked what my problem was. I described the problem in detail and made my assumptions about its cause, after which I was asked to give the serial number of my laptop. Wondering why this is necessary, I dictated the serial to my interlocutor. What next…
Honestly, I did not expect such a move in the further development of events. The specialist with whom I spoke told me that most likely the problem was caused by a defective chip from NVIDIA and that, if this is confirmed, my laptop will be repaired for free under an affiliate program. My application was registered and her number was given to me for further contacting support. In order to verify the cause of the breakdown, I was asked to take a few screenshots of the laptop screen with the BIOS open and send them, indicating the application number, to e-mail customersupport.ru@vaio-link.com. A ghostly hope crept on the horizon. I took some photos:
And sent them to the specified e-mail. I made the first call to support on Thursday, December 9th, and sent a letter with pictures on Friday the 10th. Due to the fact that the site indicated that support works from Monday to Friday, I did not wait for an answer until Monday, and on Monday I called back to support. After waiting for an answer, I called the application number, after which I was informed that the malfunction was really due to the failure of the video chip and that my laptop would be repaired for free. Then the operator specified my address, contact details, and the availability of packaging from a laptop. It’s clear that I threw the box away a long time ago, so I was promised to solve this issue with a transport company, whose courier will leave for my laptop. For repair, it was necessary to provide only the laptop itself, without a battery. At the same time I asked - can I remove the hard drive? The operator answered in the affirmative and promised that they would contact me from the transport company in the near future in order to deliver the laptop to the service center.
About a week passed in anticipation, after which they called me and after 15 minutes a courier with a box for packing arrived at my work (indicating the home address was pointless because we all work). Filled out the documents, packed the laptop and the courier departed as intended. A week later, I called Sony support and clarified the status of my application. I was informed that a repair requires replacing the motherboard (who would doubt it!) And its delivery, taking into account the impending New Year holidays, can take up to 4 weeks. Well, despite the fact that time will go by quite a bit, I still got the opportunity to repair my "old" laptop for free!
A couple of times I called support to find out how things were going. And on January 19th I got my laptop back. Words cannot convey how pleasant it is to meet with an "old faithful friend." But all this could not have happened if I had not contacted the support service of the manufacturer, deciding that a non-warranty laptop is easier to repair in one of the local services.
Moral: if you have problems with electronic devices, even if they have long lost their warranty, do not hesitate to contact the manufacturer for support. Sometimes this brings a completely unexpected profit! 8)