A Sony Vaio notebook computer is a very cool looking piece of hardware. It is also a very expensive paperweight. Before you buy, consider the following.
My Vaio is about a month old, when suddenly it refused to recognize my wireless network. I ran the diagnostics and it told me that my wireless device switch was turned off. No biggie. So I turned it on. Zero. Now’s the time to contact my dear friends at Sony. They ought to love me. I certainly paid them enough.
So I look for the support telephone number. It’s nowhere to be found, because its only available online. Well, what if the problem is that you can’t get online? Oops, nobody at Sony thought of that. Or perhaps they did?
I get the number off another computer (a Dell, I note) and call. Twenty minutes plus on hold, then life interfered. Try again, and a half hour on hold. Finally, a very nice woman tried to help and we spend an hour and a half before she told me that she couldn’t fix the problem and I would have to go to the next level of support. It’s now well past my bedtime, but I am nothing if not tenacious. Too bad, she tells me. They next level support has gone home for the day. She gives me a direct telephone number to call the next morning. “Sorry for the inconvenience, she tells me.” And she really was. Though I told her it wasn’t a matter of inconvenience.
Next day, I call at the annointed hour. Busy. Again I call. Busy. For the next half hour, busy. Finally, I call back the regular number and get some kid who wants to read through the notes for 15 minutes before he finally agrees to put me through to second level support. It rings…
A guy answers who sounds like he’s just finished injecting a day’s worth of heroin. He reads through the notes slowly, making such astute comments as “so you’re computer doesn’t connect to the internet, right?” Yeah. Right.
After asking the computer 101 questions, he tells me that they will send me a box and I should send in the notebook computer for repair. Whoa. How long will that take? Just a few days to send a box, and a week to ten days to repair, and a few days to ship it back. So I ask, didja think I spent all that money to buy a Vaio computer so I could be without it? He suddenly perks up. “There is nothing else we can do.” Is there anything else I can help you with?”
Welcome to Sony. And you even get to pay extra for the pleasure. I’m sure there are others who have Sony Vaios without problems. But if you do have a problem, consider my experience.
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Shoulda bought a Mac.
–ET
Adding insult to injury, I received a call from the tech who is working on my notebook. Nice guy. Asks me, “Uh, didja ever try moving the switch on the side of the computer from off to on?”
“There’s a switch?” I ask. “Uh, yeaaauuuuh,” he tells me, like I’m just about the biggest idiot on earth. So why didn’t any of your telephone techs that I spoke with during my 4 hours on the phone tell me? You see, the computer doesn’t come with any hard documentation, like those little diagrams that show you what all the little parts do. So when you have a question, you have no choice but to either go onto the internet or call support. When your problem is that the computer won’t let you go onto the internet, you’re down to one choice.
So after all, the problem could have been solved with a mere 4 hours on the phone with tech support had the tech though to ask me, did you flip the switch on the side of the computer? Instead, I have to accomodate the loss of my computer. Mr. Sony says, “We are sorry for the inconvenience.” Bite me.