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Wow, what an experience (Sony)

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bobbybraun(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 1:23 pm Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those who may be interested, my experience should be shared.  A little bit of background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a happy listener ever since.  However as age sets in, I have become more and more worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown.  

I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description.  The volume dial had been worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit itself had seen far better days.  For the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped.  

I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that they offered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335.  I was ecstatic and couldn't get the unit to them fast enough for it to be replaced.  I sent it in expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple weeks.  But instead I received an email from the Laredo Service Center confirming that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was going to come to $586.  

I called up the Laredo center immediately to ask about the price discrepancy and was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335.  After explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was also listed on the internet, I was informed that there was no way that price quoted was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for my particular unit.  After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements available at the time.  I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have them go ahead and repair the unit.  He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at the quoted cost, but not without leaving me with the impression that I was luck

 y and they were doing me a favor.

After about a month I had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the box I had found one of the chassis screws loose in the bottom of the box.  I consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best of their ability.  Oh how wrong I was...  

I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully.  Going through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm and clicked nicely, I was pleased.  Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face.  As soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP!  The disc started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could instantly tell that the deck was not going to read the disc.  The message 'disc error' popped up on the screen along with a few beeps and the disc ejected.  I grabbed another disc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutely no fingerprints or scratches anywhere on it.  Same problem, after a few seconds of trying to spin the disc I got an error.  

I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than it was in when I sent it in.  So I had to send the deck back again, but they assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair.  The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was in no hurry to use this in an install anyways.  I hooked it up to test it out, stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great!  This was confirmation enough for me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping.

Things would've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on selling.  I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x.  I played around with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking sound inside of my CD player.  After another few seconds it beeped and I got a disc error message once again...  I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same problem back from the dead!  

Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself...  I quickly explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair.  Even though I thought this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work order for repair.  

So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the Laredo Service Center.  After a long wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair.  It read as follows:  "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with further information regarding your Sony product" I called immediately, but the CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status.  I was told to wait a bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly.  

Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony.  I heard from the tech himself at the Laredo center who had a very hard time speaking my native language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed in his own language...  I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry sir, but your CD player is not repairable by us... we no longer have the parts to do the repair."  My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service once again.  The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I had been told was correct, that they no longer had the parts to complete the repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options.  They offered to swap it with another deck  She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I have not heard a mention of since, but I am not

  really interested in either option and just want my C90 back and working properly.  I was urged to take a few days to think it over and call her back.  

I waited over a weekend and then called her back and left a message after I found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400.  In my message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my deck.  I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next day UPS showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony.  It was my C90.  I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact been repaired!  I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull the deck out of the box.  I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle tinkle' coming from inside.  I flip it back over, and again I hear something loose rolling around inside the deck.  

Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the Laredo center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the other end.  I explained the situation.  She apologized profusely and said that unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious to me.  I also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it.  So off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit...

It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a call from another tech at the Laredo Center, and was given that same dreaded message as before.  "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD player."  I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony.  I left a message expecting a callback within a day or so.  

Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired.  I brought up all the problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he didn't have much to say.  I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I asked him if it was a screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no sir it was not a loose screw.  When asked again that if it wasn't a screw what it was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time.  I told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call.  

Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor from the Laredo Facility.  She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that she would soon be in touch.  

I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the mail, this time officially broken (as tested and stated by an enclosed invoice).  After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place.  The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows signs of a very sloppy splice.  

That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own.  I told her neither of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working order.  I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing screws.  She apologized and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told me to take a few days to think about what I want.  

So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and I am lost as to what to do next.  In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in for a crappy Xplod model.  The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre offering in exchange if you ask me.  Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no longer there to support their customers to say the least  

Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right person will happen across this and have an idea.  If not, at least be warned of the type of service you may receive when dealing with repairs for your no longer supported Sony Mobile ES equipment.  So if anyone actually read this far without hitting the delete button in their email, what do you think you would do? Im all out of ideas.



First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those who may be interested, my experience should be shared. A little bit of background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a happy listener ever since. However as age sets in, I have become more and more worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown. 





I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description. The volume dial had been worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit itself had seen far better days. For the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped. 





I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that theyoffered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335. I was ecstatic and couldn't get the unit to them fast enoughfor it to be replaced. I sentit in expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple weeks. But instead I received an email from the <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Laredo</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName>Service</st1:PlaceName><st1:PlaceType>Center</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>confirming that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was going to come to$586. 





I called up the <st1:City><st1:place>Laredo</st1:place></st1:City> centerimmediatelyto ask about the price discrepancy and was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335. After explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was also listed on the internet, I was informed that there was no way that price quoted was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for my particular unit. After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements available at the time. I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have them go ahead and repair the unit. He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at th

 e quoted cost, but not without leaving me with the impressionthat I was lucky and they were doing me a favor.





After about a month I had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the box I had found one of the chassis screws loose in the bottom of the box. I consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best of their ability. Oh how wrong I was... 





I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully. Going through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm and clicked nicely, I was pleased. Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face. As soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP! The disc started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could instantly tell that the deck was not going to read the disc. Themessage 'disc error' popped up on the screen along with a fewbeeps and the disc ejected.Igrabbed another disc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutelyno fingerprints or scratches anywhere on it. Same problem, after a few seconds of trying to spin the disc I got an error. 





I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than it was in when I sent it in. SoI had to send the deck back again, but they assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair. The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was in no hurry to use this in an install anyways. I hooked it up to test it out, stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great! This was confirmation enough for me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping.





Things would've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on selling. I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x. I played around with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking sound inside of my CD player. After another few seconds it beeped and I got a disc error message once again... I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same problem back from the dead! 





Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself... I quickly explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair. Even though I thought this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work order for repair. 





So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Laredo</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName>Service</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>Center</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. After a long wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair. It read as follows: "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with further information regarding your Sony product"I called immediately, but the CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status. I was told to wait a bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly. 





Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony. I heard from the tech himself at the <st1:City><st1:place>Laredo</st1:place></st1:City> center who had a very hard time speaking my native language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed in his own language... I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry sir, but your CD player is not repairable by us... we no longer have the parts to do the repair." My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service once again. The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I had been told was correct, that they no longer had the parts to complete the repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options. They offered to swap it with anothe

 r deck She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I havenot heard a mention of since, but I am not really interested in either option and just want my C90 back and working properly. I was urged to take a few days to think it over and call her back. 





I waited over a weekend and then called her back and left a message after I found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400. In my message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my deck. I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next day UPS showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony. It was my C90. I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact been repaired! I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull the deck out of the box. I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle tinkle' coming from inside. I flip it back over,

  and again I hear something loose rolling around inside the deck. 





Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the <st1:City><st1:place>Laredo</st1:place></st1:City> center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the other end. I explained the situation. She apologized profusely and said that unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious to me. I also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it. So off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit...





It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a call from another tech at the <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Laredo</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>Center</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, and was given that same dreaded message as before. "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD player." I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony. I left a message expecting a callback within a day or so. 





Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired. I brought up all the problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he didn't have much to say. I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I asked him if it wasa screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no sir it was not a loose screw. When asked again that if it wasn't a screw what it was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time. I told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call. 





Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor from the Laredo Facility. She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that she would soon be in touch. 





I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the mail, this time officially broken (as tested and stated by an enclosed invoice). After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place. The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows signs of a very sloppy splice. 





That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own. I told her neither of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working order. I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing screws. She apologized and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told me to take a few days to think about what I want. 





So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and I am lost as to what to do next. In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in for a crappy Xplod model. The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre offering in exchange if you ask me. Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no longer there to support their customers to say the least 





Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right person will happen across this and have an idea. If not, at least be warned of the type of service youmayreceive when dealing withrepairs for your no longer supported Sony Mobile ES equipment. So if anyone actually read this far without hitting the delete button in their email, what do you think you would do? Im all out of ideas.

jtholley03(at)adelphia.ne
Guest

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 2:36 pm Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90, and 3 XM2000R's.



Do you still have your XDP4000?



I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something.

tbone7467(at)yahoo.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 3:02 pm Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

Yeah they offered me the same crappy deck when I had my CDX-C90 repaired a few months back. funny they dont have parts I think they are still selling this unit in europe. I was offended by the offer of that crappy xplode deck myself. I would have expected at least the dvd flip up screen for like $200 and the cdx-c90. I got my deck back in great condition have yet to test it so not sure if it is 100%.



bobbybraun(at)comcast.net wrote:  



First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those who may be interested, my experience should be shared. A little bit of background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a happy listener ever since. However as age sets in, I have become more and more worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown. 

I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description. The volume dial had been worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit itself had seen far better days. For the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped. 

I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that they offered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335. I was ecstatic and couldn't get the unit to them fast enough for it to be replaced. I sent it in expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple weeks. But instead I received an email from the Laredo Service Center confirming that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was going to come to $586. 

I called up the Laredo center immediately to ask about the price discrepancy and was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335. After explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was also listed on the internet, I was informed that there was no way that price quoted was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for my particular unit. After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements available at the time. I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have them go ahead and repair the unit. He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at the quoted cost, but not without leaving me with the impression that I was luck

y and they were doing me a favor.

After about a month I had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the box I had found one of the chassis screws loose in the bottom of the box. I consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best of their ability. Oh how wrong I was... 

I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully. Going through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm and clicked nicely, I was pleased. Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face. As soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP! The disc started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could instantly tell that the deck was not going to read the disc. The message 'disc error' popped up on the screen along with a few beeps and the disc ejected. I grabbed another disc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutely no fingerprints or scratches anywhere on it. Same problem, after a few seconds of trying to spin the disc I got an error. 

I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than it was in when I sent it in. So I had to send the deck back again, but they assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair. The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was in no hurry to use this in an install anyways. I hooked it up to test it out, stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great! This was confirmation enough for me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping.

Things would've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on selling. I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x. I played around with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking sound inside of my CD player. After another few seconds it beeped and I got a disc error message once again... I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same problem back from the dead! 

Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself... I quickly explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair. Even though I thought this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work order for repair. 

So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the Laredo Service Center. After a long wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair. It read as follows: "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with further information regarding your Sony product" I called immediately, but the CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status. I was told to wait a bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly. 

Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony. I heard from the tech himself at the Laredo center who had a very hard time speaking my native language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed in his own language... I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry sir, but your CD player is not repairable by us... we no longer have the parts to do the repair." My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service once again. The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I had been told was correct, that they no longer had the parts to complete the repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options. They offered to swap it with another deck She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I have not heard a mention of since, but I am not

really interested in either option and just want my C90 back and working properly. I was urged to take a few days to think it over and call her back. 

I waited over a weekend and then called her back and left a message after I found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400. In my message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my deck. I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next day UPS showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony. It was my C90. I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact been repaired! I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull the deck out of the box. I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle tinkle' coming from inside. I flip it back over, and again I hear something loose rolling around inside the deck. 

Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the Laredo center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the other end. I explained the situation. She apologized profusely and said that unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious to me. I also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it. So off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit...

It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a call from another tech at the Laredo Center, and was given that same dreaded message as before. "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD player." I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony. I left a message expecting a callback within a day or so. 

Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired. I brought up all the problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he didn't have much to say. I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I asked him if it was a screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no sir it was not a loose screw. When asked again that if it wasn't a screw what it was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time. I told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call. 

Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor from the Laredo Facility. She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that she would soon be in touch. 

I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the mail, this time officially broken (as tested and stated by an enclosed invoice). After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place. The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows signs of a very sloppy splice. 

That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own. I told her neither of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working order. I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing screws. She apologized and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told me to take a few days to think about what I want. 

So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and I am lost as to what to do next. In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in for a crappy Xplod model. The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre offering in exchange if you ask me. Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no longer there to support their customers to say the least 

Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right person will happen across this and have an idea. If not, at least be warned of the type of service you may receive when dealing with repairs for your no longer supported Sony Mobile ES equipment. So if anyone actually read this far without hitting the delete button in their email, what do you think you would do? Im all out of ideas.



First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those who may be interested, my experience should be shared. A little bit of background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a happy listener ever since. However as age sets in, I have become more and more worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown. 





I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description. The volume dial had been worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit itself had seen far better days. For the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped. 





I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that theyoffered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335. I was ecstatic and couldn't get the unit to them fast enoughfor it to be replaced. I sentit in expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple weeks. But instead I received an email from the Laredo ServiceCenterconfirming that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was going to come to$586. 





I called up the Laredo centerimmediatelyto ask about the price discrepancy and was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335. After explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was also listed on the internet, I was informed that there was no way that price quoted was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for my particular unit. After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements available at the time. I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have them go ahead and repair the unit. He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at th

e quoted cost, but not without leaving me with the impressionthat I was lucky and they were doing me a favor.





After about a month I had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the box I had found one of the chassis screws loose in the bottom of the box. I consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best of their ability. Oh how wrong I was... 





I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully. Going through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm and clicked nicely, I was pleased. Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face. As soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP! The disc started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could instantly tell that the deck was not going to read the disc. Themessage 'disc error' popped up on the screen along with a fewbeeps and the disc ejected.Igrabbed another disc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutelyno fingerprints or scratches anywhere on it. Same problem, after a few seconds of trying to spin the disc I got an error. 





I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than it was in when I sent it in. SoI had to send the deck back again, but they assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair. The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was in no hurry to use this in an install anyways. I hooked it up to test it out, stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great! This was confirmation enough for me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping.





Things would've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on selling. I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x. I played around with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking sound inside of my CD player. After another few seconds it beeped and I got a disc error message once again... I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same problem back from the dead! 





Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself... I quickly explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair. Even though I thought this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work order for repair. 





So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the Laredo Service Center. After a long wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair. It read as follows: "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with further information regarding your Sony product"I called immediately, but the CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status. I was told to wait a bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly. 





Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony. I heard from the tech himself at the Laredo center who had a very hard time speaking my native language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed in his own language... I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry sir, but your CD player is not repairable by us... we no longer have the parts to do the repair." My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service once again. The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I had been told was correct, that they no longer had the parts to complete the repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options. They offered to swap it with anothe

r deck She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I havenot heard a mention of since, but I am not really interested in either option and just want my C90 back and working properly. I was urged to take a few days to think it over and call her back. 





I waited over a weekend and then called her back and left a message after I found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400. In my message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my deck. I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next day UPS showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony. It was my C90. I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact been repaired! I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull the deck out of the box. I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle tinkle' coming from inside. I flip it back over,

and again I hear something loose rolling around inside the deck. 





Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the Laredo center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the other end. I explained the situation. She apologized profusely and said that unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious to me. I also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it. So off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit...





It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a call from another tech at the Laredo Center, and was given that same dreaded message as before. "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD player." I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony. I left a message expecting a callback within a day or so. 





Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired. I brought up all the problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he didn't have much to say. I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I asked him if it wasa screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no sir it was not a loose screw. When asked again that if it wasn't a screw what it was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time. I told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call. 





Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor from the Laredo Facility. She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that she would soon be in touch. 





I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the mail, this time officially broken (as tested and stated by an enclosed invoice). After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place. The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows signs of a very sloppy splice. 





That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own. I told her neither of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working order. I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing screws. She apologized and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told me to take a few days to think about what I want. 





So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and I am lost as to what to do next. In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in for a crappy Xplod model. The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre offering in exchange if you ask me. Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no longer there to support their customers to say the least 





Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right person will happen across this and have an idea. If not, at least be warned of the type of service youmayreceive when dealing withrepairs for your no longer supported Sony Mobile ES equipment. So if anyone actually read this far without hitting the delete button in their email, what do you think you would do? Im all out of ideas.

		

---------------------------------

 Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.

randyman(at)gmail.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 3:20 pm Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center.  I sent my lovely

STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service.  It was displaying "Protect" on the

display, and would not function at all.  It has a 5 Year warranty.  So I pay

the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony.  I get it

back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked,

but they did not address the intermittent motorized volume knob issue I was

having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action).



So, flash to about a year or 2 later.  Unit is still under warranty.  The

Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was

intermittent as well.  I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service

center about 5 miles from my work.  So I take it in (save $50 shipping).



The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy.  I get a phone call the next

day.  He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever,

and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED!  Well, as I mentioned

above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit.  I call

Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my

unit, and my warranty is now voided.  I was PISSED!!!  I could not find the

invoice from the previous repair - so I was screwed.  It was their word

against mine regarding the previous repair.  I finally find the invoice

(thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere.

The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have

addressed the Protection circuit.  Sony would NOT admit their techs could do

anything like this.  But they did - they essentially created a fire hazard

in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit.



I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the

call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s

yourself).  I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony

NY (Phillip someone).  I leave a message, and I recieve a call back from

them the next day.  A very helpful lady took my info, and approved my

Warranty repair in about 10 minutes.  I don't know if any follow up was

done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to

have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit.  I can not

believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs.  Talk about

half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less).  The local Repair Tech did a great

job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again!

Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO

(literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case)



The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is

working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine).  My warranty just expired.  I

have had it with Sony.  I will be replacing it with either a Parasound A/V

preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year.



I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL

CDD might be replacing that soon.  Sony really pissed me off with this crap.

I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny.  I will hang onto my 2250

Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but

the rest will get replaced with other stuff.  I feel you 100% on your Sony

Repair issue.



Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail

market.  Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind of

customer abuse upsets you.  I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony

- not anymore...



Randy V.

On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net <jtholley03(at)adelphia.net> wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  

 



 This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90,

 and 3 XM2000R's.



 Do you still have your XDP4000?



 I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news

 saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something.




	




--

Randy V.

Houston, TX

Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy

dbotel6500(at)rogers.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 3:39 pm Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

Bobby,



My uncle had 2 of these decks at one time.  He had one for parts (with a 

bad LCD), and he auctioned

off the other unit with the good LCD and harness.



Let me know if you would like to pick up the 2nd deck.  It kills me that 

it's sitting up in his closet with

absolutely nothing wrong with it (other than the LCD)



Daniel



P.S.: In the Toronto area, there is one shop that would probably be 

capable of repairing your deck, if you wanted to go down that road.  

They repaired my CDX-C910 at the time, and did a terrific job on the unit.



http://www.mtcservice.com/contact.htm



bobbybraun(at)comcast.net wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  



First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those who may be interested, my experience should be shared.  A little bit of background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a happy listener ever since.  However as age sets in, I have become more and more worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown.  

I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description.  The volume dial had been worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit itself had seen far better days.  For the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped.  

I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that they offered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335.  I was ecstatic and couldn't get the unit to them fast enough for it to be replaced.  I sent it in expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple weeks.  But instead I received an email from the Laredo Service Center confirming that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was going to come to $586.  

I called up the Laredo center immediately to ask about the price discrepancy and was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335.  After explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was also listed on the internet, I was informed that there was no way that price quoted was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for my particular unit.  After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements available at the time.  I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have them go ahead and repair the unit.  He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at the quoted cost, but not without leaving me with the impression that I was luck

 y and they were doing me a favor.

After about a month I had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the box I had found one of the chassis screws loose in the bottom of the box.  I consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best of their ability.  Oh how wrong I was...  

I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully.  Going through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm and clicked nicely, I was pleased.  Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face.  As soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP!  The disc started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could instantly tell that the deck was not going to read the disc.  The message 'disc error' popped up on the screen along with a few beeps and the disc ejected.  I grabbed another disc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutely no fingerprints or scratches anywhere on it.  Same problem, after a few seconds of trying to spin the disc I got an error.  

I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than it was in when I sent it in.  So I had to send the deck back again, but they assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair.  The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was in no hurry to use this in an install anyways.  I hooked it up to test it out, stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great!  This was confirmation enough for me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping.

Things would've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on selling.  I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x.  I played around with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking sound inside of my CD player.  After another few seconds it beeped and I got a disc error message once again...  I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same problem back from the dead!  

Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself...  I quickly explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair.  Even though I thought this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work order for repair.  

So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the Laredo Service Center.  After a long wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair.  It read as follows:  "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with further information regarding your Sony product" I called immediately, but the CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status.  I was told to wait a bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly.  

Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony.  I heard from the tech himself at the Laredo center who had a very hard time speaking my native language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed in his own language...  I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry sir, but your CD player is not repairable by us... we no longer have the parts to do the repair."  My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service once again.  The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I had been told was correct, that they no longer had the parts to complete the repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options.  They offered to swap it with another deck  She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I have not heard a mention of since, but I am not

  really interested in either option and just want my C90 back and working properly.  I was urged to take a few days to think it over and call her back.  

I waited over a weekend and then called her back and left a message after I found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400.  In my message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my deck.  I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next day UPS showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony.  It was my C90.  I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact been repaired!  I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull the deck out of the box.  I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle tinkle' coming from inside.  I flip it back over, and again I hear something loose rolling around inside the deck.  

Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the Laredo center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the other end.  I explained the situation.  She apologized profusely and said that unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious to me.  I also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it.  So off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit...

It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a call from another tech at the Laredo Center, and was given that same dreaded message as before.  "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD player."  I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony.  I left a message expecting a callback within a day or so.  

Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired.  I brought up all the problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he didn't have much to say.  I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I asked him if it was a screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no sir it was not a loose screw.  When asked again that if it wasn't a screw what it was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time.  I told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call.  

Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor from the Laredo Facility.  She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that she would soon be in touch.  

I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the mail, this time officially broken (as tested and stated by an enclosed invoice).  After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place.  The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows signs of a very sloppy splice.  

That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own.  I told her neither of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working order.  I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing screws.  She apologized and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told me to take a few days to think about what I want.  

So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and I am lost as to what to do next.  In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in for a crappy Xplod model.  The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre offering in exchange if you ask me.  Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no longer there to support their customers to say the least  

Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right person will happen across this and have an idea.  If not, at least be warned of the type of service you may receive when dealing with repairs for your no longer supported Sony Mobile ES equipment.  So if anyone actually read this far without hitting the delete button in their email, what do you think you would do? Im all out of ideas.



First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those who may be interested, my experience should be shared. A little bit of background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a happy listener ever since. However as age sets in, I have become more and more worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown. 





I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description. The volume dial had been worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit itself had seen far better days. For the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped. 





I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that theyoffered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335. I was ecstatic and couldn't get the unit to them fast enoughfor it to be replaced. I sentit in expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple weeks. But instead I received an email from the <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Laredo</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName>Service</st1:PlaceName><st1:PlaceType>Center</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>confirming that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was going to come to$586. 





I called up the <st1:City><st1:place>Laredo</st1:place></st1:City> centerimmediatelyto ask about the price discrepancy and was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335. After explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was also listed on the internet, I was informed that there was no way that price quoted was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for my particular unit. After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements available at the time. I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have them go ahead and repair the unit. He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at th

 e quoted cost, but not without leaving me with the impressionthat I was lucky and they were doing me a favor.





After about a month I had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the box I had found one of the chassis screws loose in the bottom of the box. I consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best of their ability. Oh how wrong I was... 





I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully. Going through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm and clicked nicely, I was pleased. Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face. As soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP! The disc started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could instantly tell that the deck was not going to read the disc. Themessage 'disc error' popped up on the screen along with a fewbeeps and the disc ejected.Igrabbed another disc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutelyno fingerprints or scratches anywhere on it. Same problem, after a few seconds of trying to spin the disc I got an error. 





I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than it was in when I sent it in. SoI had to send the deck back again, but they assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair. The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was in no hurry to use this in an install anyways. I hooked it up to test it out, stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great! This was confirmation enough for me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping.





Things would've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on selling. I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x. I played around with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking sound inside of my CD player. After another few seconds it beeped and I got a disc error message once again... I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same problem back from the dead! 





Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself... I quickly explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair. Even though I thought this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work order for repair. 





So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Laredo</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName>Service</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>Center</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. After a long wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair. It read as follows: "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with further information regarding your Sony product"I called immediately, but the CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status. I was told to wait a bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly. 





Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony. I heard from the tech himself at the <st1:City><st1:place>Laredo</st1:place></st1:City> center who had a very hard time speaking my native language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed in his own language... I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry sir, but your CD player is not repairable by us... we no longer have the parts to do the repair." My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service once again. The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I had been told was correct, that they no longer had the parts to complete the repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options. They offered to swap it with anothe

 r deck She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I havenot heard a mention of since, but I am not really interested in either option and just want my C90 back and working properly. I was urged to take a few days to think it over and call her back. 





I waited over a weekend and then called her back and left a message after I found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400. In my message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my deck. I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next day UPS showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony. It was my C90. I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact been repaired! I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull the deck out of the box. I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle tinkle' coming from inside. I flip it back over,

  and again I hear something loose rolling around inside the deck. 





Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the <st1:City><st1:place>Laredo</st1:place></st1:City> center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the other end. I explained the situation. She apologized profusely and said that unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious to me. I also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it. So off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit...





It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a call from another tech at the <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Laredo</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>Center</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, and was given that same dreaded message as before. "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD player." I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony. I left a message expecting a callback within a day or so. 





Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired. I brought up all the problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he didn't have much to say. I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I asked him if it wasa screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no sir it was not a loose screw. When asked again that if it wasn't a screw what it was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time. I told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call. 





Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor from the Laredo Facility. She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that she would soon be in touch. 





I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the mail, this time officially broken (as tested and stated by an enclosed invoice). After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place. The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows signs of a very sloppy splice. 





That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own. I told her neither of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working order. I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing screws. She apologized and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told me to take a few days to think about what I want. 





So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and I am lost as to what to do next. In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in for a crappy Xplod model. The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre offering in exchange if you ask me. Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no longer there to support their customers to say the least 





Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right person will happen across this and have an idea. If not, at least be warned of the type of service youmayreceive when dealing withrepairs for your no longer supported Sony Mobile ES equipment. So if anyone actually read this far without hitting the delete button in their email, what do you think you would do? Im all out of ideas.

tbone7467(at)yahoo.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:00 pm Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

Most big corporations outsource their call center business nowadays. the reason that I know this is that I work for an outsource center (sony is no diffrent unfortunately). you will never get resolution from call centers most of the time just get the run around. that an most of the "managers" dont know anything about the products, they just spout BS to make you think they know what they are talking about. the problem for the call centers is not clear channel for communication and a lot of red tape. I am sorry you got such crappy service that sucks. 



Randy Visentine <randyman(at)gmail.com> wrote:  



I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center. I sent my lovely

STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service. It was displaying "Protect" on the

display, and would not function at all. It has a 5 Year warranty. So I pay

the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony. I get it

back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked,

but they did not address the intermittent motorized volume knob issue I was

having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action).



So, flash to about a year or 2 later. Unit is still under warranty. The

Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was

intermittent as well. I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service

center about 5 miles from my work. So I take it in (save $50 shipping).



The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy. I get a phone call the next

day. He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever,

and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED! Well, as I mentioned

above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit. I call

Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my

unit, and my warranty is now voided. I was PISSED!!! I could not find the

invoice from the previous repair - so I was screwed. It was their word

against mine regarding the previous repair. I finally find the invoice

(thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere.

The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have

addressed the Protection circuit. Sony would NOT admit their techs could do

anything like this. But they did - they essentially created a fire hazard

in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit.



I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the

call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s

yourself). I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony

NY (Phillip someone). I leave a message, and I recieve a call back from

them the next day. A very helpful lady took my info, and approved my

Warranty repair in about 10 minutes. I don't know if any follow up was

done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to

have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit. I can not

believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs. Talk about

half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less). The local Repair Tech did a great

job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again!

Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO

(literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case)



The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is

working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine). My warranty just expired. I

have had it with Sony. I will be replacing it with either a Parasound A/V

preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year.



I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL

CDD might be replacing that soon. Sony really pissed me off with this crap.

I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny. I will hang onto my 2250

Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but

the rest will get replaced with other stuff. I feel you 100% on your Sony

Repair issue.



Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail

market. Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind of

customer abuse upsets you. I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony

- not anymore...



Randy V.

On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  

 



 This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90,

 and 3 XM2000R's.



 Do you still have your XDP4000?



 I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news

 saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something.




	




--

Randy V.

Houston, TX

Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy





		

---------------------------------

 Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.

tbone7467(at)yahoo.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:00 pm Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

how much for the deck? I have a spare face plate.



DB <dbotel6500(at)rogers.com> wrote:  



Bobby,



My uncle had 2 of these decks at one time. He had one for parts (with a 

bad LCD), and he auctioned

off the other unit with the good LCD and harness.



Let me know if you would like to pick up the 2nd deck. It kills me that 

it's sitting up in his closet with

absolutely nothing wrong with it (other than the LCD)



Daniel



P.S.: In the Toronto area, there is one shop that would probably be 

capable of repairing your deck, if you wanted to go down that road. 

They repaired my CDX-C910 at the time, and did a terrific job on the unit.



http://www.mtcservice.com/contact.htm



bobbybraun(at)comcast.net wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  



First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those who may be interested, my experience should be shared. A little bit of background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a happy listener ever since. However as age sets in, I have become more and more worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown. 

I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description. The volume dial had been worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit itself had seen far better days. For the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped. 

I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that they offered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335. I was ecstatic and couldn't get the unit to them fast enough for it to be replaced. I sent it in expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple weeks. But instead I received an email from the Laredo Service Center confirming that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was going to come to $586. 

I called up the Laredo center immediately to ask about the price discrepancy and was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335. After explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was also listed on the internet, I was informed that there was no way that price quoted was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for my particular unit. After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements available at the time. I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have them go ahead and repair the unit. He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at the quoted cost, but not without leaving me with the impression that I was lu!

ck
	


 	  Quote: 	
		   y and they were doing me a favor.

After about a month I had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the box I had found one of the chassis screws loose in the bottom of the box. I consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best of their ability. Oh how wrong I was... 

I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully. Going through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm and clicked nicely, I was pleased. Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face. As soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP! The disc started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could instantly tell that the deck was not going to read the disc. The message 'disc error' popped up on the screen along with a few beeps and the disc ejected. I grabbed another disc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutely no fingerprints or scratches anywhere on it. Same problem, after a few seconds of trying to spin the disc I got an error. 

I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than it was in when I sent it in. So I had to send the deck back again, but they assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair. The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was in no hurry to use this in an install anyways. I hooked it up to test it out, stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great! This was confirmation enough for me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping.

Things would've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on selling. I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x. I played around with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking sound inside of my CD player. After another few seconds it beeped and I got a disc error message once again... I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same problem back from the dead! 

Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself... I quickly explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair. Even though I thought this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work order for repair. 

So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the Laredo Service Center. After a long wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair. It read as follows: "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with further information regarding your Sony product" I called immediately, but the CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status. I was told to wait a bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly. 

Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony. I heard from the tech himself at the Laredo center who had a very hard time speaking my native language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed in his own language... I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry sir, but your CD player is not repairable by us... we no longer have the parts to do the repair." My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service once again. The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I had been told was correct, that they no longer had the parts to complete the repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options. They offered to swap it with another deck She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I have not heard a mention of since, but I am n!

ot
	


 	  Quote: 	
		   really interested in either option and just want my C90 back and working properly. I was urged to take a few days to think it over and call her back. 

I waited over a weekend and then called her back and left a message after I found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400. In my message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my deck. I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next day UPS showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony. It was my C90. I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact been repaired! I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull the deck out of the box. I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle tinkle' coming from inside. I flip it back over, and again I hear something loose rolling around inside the deck. 

Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the Laredo center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the other end. I explained the situation. She apologized profusely and said that unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious to me. I also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it. So off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit...

It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a call from another tech at the Laredo Center, and was given that same dreaded message as before. "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD player." I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony. I left a message expecting a callback within a day or so. 

Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired. I brought up all the problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he didn't have much to say. I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I asked him if it was a screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no sir it was not a loose screw. When asked again that if it wasn't a screw what it was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time. I told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call. 

Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor from the Laredo Facility. She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that she would soon be in touch. 

I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the mail, this time officially broken (as tested and stated by an enclosed invoice). After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place. The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows signs of a very sloppy splice. 

That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own. I told her neither of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working order. I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing screws. She apologized and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told me to take a few days to think about what I want. 

So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and I am lost as to what to do next. In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in for a crappy Xplod model. The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre offering in exchange if you ask me. Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no longer there to support their customers to say the least 

Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right person will happen across this and have an idea. If not, at least be warned of the type of service you may receive when dealing with repairs for your no longer supported Sony Mobile ES equipment. So if anyone actually read this far without hitting the delete button in their email, what do you think you would do? Im all out of ideas.



First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those who may be interested, my experience should be shared. A little bit of background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a happy listener ever since. However as age sets in, I have become more and more worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown. 





I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description. The volume dial had been worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit itself had seen far better days. For the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped. 





I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that theyoffered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335. I was ecstatic and couldn't get the unit to them fast enoughfor it to be replaced. I sentit in expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple weeks. But instead I received an email from the Laredo ServiceCenterconfirming that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was going to come to$586. 





I called up the Laredo centerimmediatelyto ask about the price discrepancy and was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335. After explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was also listed on the internet, I was informed that there was no way that price quoted was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for my particular unit. After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements available at the time. I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have them go ahead and repair the unit. He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at th

 e quoted cost, but not without leaving me with the impressionthat I was lucky and they were doing me a favor.





After about a month I had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the box I had found one of the chassis screws loose in the bottom of the box. I consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best of their ability. Oh how wrong I was... 





I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully. Going through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm and clicked nicely, I was pleased. Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face. As soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP! The disc started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could instantly tell that the deck was not going to read the disc. Themessage 'disc error' popped up on the screen along with a fewbeeps and the disc ejected.Igrabbed another disc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutelyno fingerprints or scratches anywhere on it. Same problem, after a few seconds of trying to spin the disc I got an error. 





I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than it was in when I sent it in. SoI had to send the deck back again, but they assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair. The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was in no hurry to use this in an install anyways. I hooked it up to test it out, stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great! This was confirmation enough for me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping.





Things would've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on selling. I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x. I played around with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking sound inside of my CD player. After another few seconds it beeped and I got a disc error message once again... I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same problem back from the dead! 





Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself... I quickly explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair. Even though I thought this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work order for repair. 





So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the Laredo Service Center. After a long wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair. It read as follows: "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with further information regarding your Sony product"I called immediately, but the CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status. I was told to wait a bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly. 





Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony. I heard from the tech himself at the Laredo center who had a very hard time speaking my native language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed in his own language... I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry sir, but your CD player is not repairable by us... we no longer have the parts to do the repair." My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service once again. The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I had been told was correct, that they no longer had the parts to complete the repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options. They offered to swap it with anothe

 r deck She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I havenot heard a mention of since, but I am not really interested in either option and just want my C90 back and working properly. I was urged to take a few days to think it over and call her back. 





I waited over a weekend and then called her back and left a message after I found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400. In my message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my deck. I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next day UPS showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony. It was my C90. I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact been repaired! I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull the deck out of the box. I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle tinkle' coming from inside. I flip it back over,

 and again I hear something loose rolling around inside the deck. 





Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the Laredo center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the other end. I explained the situation. She apologized profusely and said that unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious to me. I also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it. So off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit...





It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a call from another tech at the Laredo Center, and was given that same dreaded message as before. "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD player." I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony. I left a message expecting a callback within a day or so. 





Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired. I brought up all the problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he didn't have much to say. I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I asked him if it wasa screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no sir it was not a loose screw. When asked again that if it wasn't a screw what it was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time. I told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call. 





Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor from the Laredo Facility. She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that she would soon be in touch. 





I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the mail, this time officially broken (as tested and stated by an enclosed invoice). After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place. The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows signs of a very sloppy splice. 





That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own. I told her neither of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working order. I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing screws. She apologized and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told me to take a few days to think about what I want. 





So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and I am lost as to what to do next. In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in for a crappy Xplod model. The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre offering in exchange if you ask me. Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no longer there to support their customers to say the least 





Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right person will happen across this and have an idea. If not, at least be warned of the type of service youmayreceive when dealing withrepairs for your no longer supported Sony Mobile ES equipment. So if anyone actually read this far without hitting the delete button in their email, what do you think you would do? Im all out of ideas.

 




	




		

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dbotel6500(at)rogers.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 8:26 pm Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

I can ask him...he'd probably part with it for $300 or so...maybe less?  

(Probably

less, due to the faceplate issue)



I'll be talking to him sometime this week, and I'll see if he's 

interested in

selling the unit...



D



Scott Thibault wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  



how much for the deck? I have a spare face plate.



DB <dbotel6500(at)rogers.com> wrote:  



Bobby,



My uncle had 2 of these decks at one time. He had one for parts (with a 

bad LCD), and he auctioned

off the other unit with the good LCD and harness.



Let me know if you would like to pick up the 2nd deck. It kills me that 

it's sitting up in his closet with

absolutely nothing wrong with it (other than the LCD)



Daniel



P.S.: In the Toronto area, there is one shop that would probably be 

capable of repairing your deck, if you wanted to go down that road. 

They repaired my CDX-C910 at the time, and did a terrific job on the unit.



http://www.mtcservice.com/contact.htm



bobbybraun(at)comcast.net wrote:



  



>

>

>First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those who may be interested, my experience should be shared. A little bit of background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a happy listener ever since. However as age sets in, I have become more and more worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown. 

>I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description. The volume dial had been worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit itself had seen far better days. For the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped. 

>I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that they offered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335. I was ecstatic and couldn't get the unit to them fast enough for it to be replaced. I sent it in expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple weeks. But instead I received an email from the Laredo Service Center confirming that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was going to come to $586. 

>I called up the Laredo center immediately to ask about the price discrepancy and was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335. After explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was also listed on the internet, I was informed that there was no way that price quoted was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for my particular unit. After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements available at the time. I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have them go ahead and repair the unit. He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at the quoted cost, but not without leaving me with the impression that I was lu!

>    

>

ck

  



>y and they were doing me a favor.

>After about a month I had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the box I had found one of the chassis screws loose in the bottom of the box. I consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best of their ability. Oh how wrong I was... 

>I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully. Going through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm and clicked nicely, I was pleased. Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face. As soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP! The disc started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could instantly tell that the deck was not going to read the disc. The message 'disc error' popped up on the screen along with a few beeps and the disc ejected. I grabbed another disc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutely no fingerprints or scratches anywhere on it. Same problem, after a few seconds of trying to spin the disc I got an error. 

>I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than it was in when I sent it in. So I had to send the deck back again, but they assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair. The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was in no hurry to use this in an install anyways. I hooked it up to test it out, stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great! This was confirmation enough for me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping.

>Things would've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on selling. I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x. I played around with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking sound inside of my CD player. After another few seconds it beeped and I got a disc error message once again... I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same problem back from the dead! 

>Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself... I quickly explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair. Even though I thought this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work order for repair. 

>So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the Laredo Service Center. After a long wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair. It read as follows: "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with further information regarding your Sony product" I called immediately, but the CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status. I was told to wait a bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly. 

>Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony. I heard from the tech himself at the Laredo center who had a very hard time speaking my native language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed in his own language... I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry sir, but your CD player is not repairable by us... we no longer have the parts to do the repair." My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service once again. The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I had been told was correct, that they no longer had the parts to complete the repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options. They offered to swap it with another deck She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I have not heard a mention of since, but I am n!

>    

>

ot

  



>really interested in either option and just want my C90 back and working properly. I was urged to take a few days to think it over and call her back. 

>I waited over a weekend and then called her back and left a message after I found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400. In my message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my deck. I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next day UPS showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony. It was my C90. I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact been repaired! I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull the deck out of the box. I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle tinkle' coming from inside. I flip it back over, and again I hear something loose rolling around inside the deck. 

>Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the Laredo center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the other end. I explained the situation. She apologized profusely and said that unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious to me. I also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it. So off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit...

>It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a call from another tech at the Laredo Center, and was given that same dreaded message as before. "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD player." I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony. I left a message expecting a callback within a day or so. 

>Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired. I brought up all the problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he didn't have much to say. I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I asked him if it was a screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no sir it was not a loose screw. When asked again that if it wasn't a screw what it was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time. I told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call. 

>Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor from the Laredo Facility. She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that she would soon be in touch. 

>I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the mail, this time officially broken (as tested and stated by an enclosed invoice). After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place. The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows signs of a very sloppy splice. 

>That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own. I told her neither of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working order. I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing screws. She apologized and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told me to take a few days to think about what I want. 

>So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and I am lost as to what to do next. In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in for a crappy Xplod model. The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre offering in exchange if you ask me. Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no longer there to support their customers to say the least 

>Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right person will happen across this and have an idea. If not, at least be warned of the type of service you may receive when dealing with repairs for your no longer supported Sony Mobile ES equipment. So if anyone actually read this far without hitting the delete button in their email, what do you think you would do? Im all out of ideas.

>

>First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those who may be interested, my experience should be shared. A little bit of background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a happy listener ever since. However as age sets in, I have become more and more worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown. 

>

>

>I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description. The volume dial had been worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit itself had seen far better days. For the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped. 

>

>

>I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that theyoffered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335. I was ecstatic and couldn't get the unit to them fast enoughfor it to be replaced. I sentit in expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple weeks. But instead I received an email from the Laredo ServiceCenterconfirming that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was going to come to$586. 

>

>

>I called up the Laredo centerimmediatelyto ask about the price discrepancy and was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335. After explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was also listed on the internet, I was informed that there was no way that price quoted was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for my particular unit. After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements available at the time. I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have them go ahead and repair the unit. He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at th

>e quoted cost, but not without leaving me with the impressionthat I was lucky and they were doing me a favor.

>

>

>After about a month I had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the box I had found one of the chassis screws loose in the bottom of the box. I consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best of their ability. Oh how wrong I was... 

>

>

>I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully. Going through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm and clicked nicely, I was pleased. Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face. As soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP! The disc started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could instantly tell that the deck was not going to read the disc. Themessage 'disc error' popped up on the screen along with a fewbeeps and the disc ejected.Igrabbed another disc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutelyno fingerprints or scratches anywhere on it. Same problem, after a few seconds of trying to spin the disc I got an error. 

>

>

>I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than it was in when I sent it in. SoI had to send the deck back again, but they assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair. The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was in no hurry to use this in an install anyways. I hooked it up to test it out, stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great! This was confirmation enough for me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping.

>

>

>Things would've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on selling. I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x. I played around with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking sound inside of my CD player. After another few seconds it beeped and I got a disc error message once again... I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same problem back from the dead! 

>

>

>Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself... I quickly explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair. Even though I thought this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work order for repair. 

>

>

>So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the Laredo Service Center. After a long wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair. It read as follows: "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with further information regarding your Sony product"I called immediately, but the CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status. I was told to wait a bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly. 

>

>

>Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony. I heard from the tech himself at the Laredo center who had a very hard time speaking my native language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed in his own language... I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry sir, but your CD player is not repairable by us... we no longer have the parts to do the repair." My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service once again. The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I had been told was correct, that they no longer had the parts to complete the repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options. They offered to swap it with anothe

>r deck She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I havenot heard a mention of since, but I am not really interested in either option and just want my C90 back and working properly. I was urged to take a few days to think it over and call her back. 

>

>

>I waited over a weekend and then called her back and left a message after I found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400. In my message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my deck. I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next day UPS showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony. It was my C90. I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact been repaired! I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull the deck out of the box. I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle tinkle' coming from inside. I flip it back over,

>and again I hear something loose rolling around inside the deck. 

>

>

>Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the Laredo center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the other end. I explained the situation. She apologized profusely and said that unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious to me. I also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it. So off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit...

>

>

>It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a call from another tech at the Laredo Center, and was given that same dreaded message as before. "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD player." I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony. I left a message expecting a callback within a day or so. 

>

>

>Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired. I brought up all the problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he didn't have much to say. I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I asked him if it wasa screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no sir it was not a loose screw. When asked again that if it wasn't a screw what it was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time. I told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call. 

>

>

>Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor from the Laredo Facility. She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that she would soon be in touch. 

>

>

>I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the mail, this time officially broken (as tested and stated by an enclosed invoice). After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place. The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows signs of a very sloppy splice. 

>

>

>That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own. I told her neither of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working order. I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing screws. She apologized and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told me to take a few days to think about what I want. 

>

>

>So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and I am lost as to what to do next. In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in for a crappy Xplod model. The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre offering in exchange if you ask me. Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no longer there to support their customers to say the least 

>

>

>Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right person will happen across this and have an idea. If not, at least be warned of the type of service youmayreceive when dealing withrepairs for your no longer supported Sony Mobile ES equipment. So if anyone actually read this far without hitting the delete button in their email, what do you think you would do? Im all out of ideas.

>    

>

		

---------------------------------

Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail  makes sharing a breeze.

bobbybraun(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:20 am Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

Thank you, I will contact MTC tomorrow to see if they can offer any suggestions.  And I appreciate you filling me in on the possible availability of your uncle's C90.  I may be interested down the road if he chooses not to sell right now, but at this point I'm not finished searching out my options in dealing with Sony themselves.  The way I look at it, they received a mostly functional unit, and sent me a completely broken one.  I don't feel that I am that far out of line when I say they should be liable to fund the full repair / replacement of my currently non-functional C90.  We will see, but I can assure you I will not be accepting their offer to give me an Xplod model as compensation.  Until Sony changes their business practices and product lines, I will not buy another single Sony car audio product nor will I endorse their name to anyone.  I will however continue to use the high quality Mobile ES products of the past.  There isn't much out there today that can even come 

 close to the quality, and it's still amusing to be able to say "it's a Sony!"  when your friends hear it and ask "woah, what do you have in there?" 

-------------- Original message -------------- 

From: Scott Thibault <tbone7467(at)yahoo.com> 

 	  Quote: 	

 how much for the deck? I have a spare face plate. 

 DB wrote: 

 Bobby, 

 My uncle had 2 of these decks at one time. He had one for parts (with a 

 bad LCD), and he auctioned 

 off the other unit with the good LCD and harness. 

 Let me know if you would like to pick up the 2nd deck. It kills me that 

 it's sitting up in his closet with 

 absolutely nothing wrong with it (other than the LCD) 

 Daniel 

 P.S.: In the Toronto area, there is one shop that would probably be 

 capable of repairing your deck, if you wanted to go down that road. 

 They repaired my CDX-C910 at the time, and did a terrific job on the unit. 

 http://www.mtcservice.com/contact.htm 

 bobbybraun(at)comcast.net wrote: 

 >

 > 

 >First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those 

 who may be interested, my experience should be shared. A little bit of 

 background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a 

 happy listener ever since. However as age sets in, I have become more and more 

 worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown. 

 >I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience 

 for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 

 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description. The volume dial had been 

 worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit itself had seen far better days. 

 For the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped. 

 >I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that 

 they offered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335. I was ecstatic and 

 couldn't get the unit to them fast enough for it to be replaced. I sent it in 

 expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple 

 weeks. But instead I received an email from the Laredo Service Center confirming 

 that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was 

 going to come to $586. 

 >I called up the Laredo center immediately to ask about the price discrepancy 

 and was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335. After 

 explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was also 

 listed on the internet, I was informed that there was no way that price quoted 

 was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for 

 my particular unit. After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then 

 informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to 

 replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements 

 available at the time. I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have 

 them go ahead and repair the unit. He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have 

 the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet 

 the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at the quoted cost, but not 

 without leaving me with the impression that I was lu! 

 ck 

 > y and they were doing me a favor. 

 >After about a month I had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the 

 box I had found one of the chassis screws loose in the bottom of the box. I 

 consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even 

 have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of 

 confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best 

 of their ability. Oh how wrong I was... 

 >I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully. Going 

 through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm 

 and clicked nicely, I was pleased. Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face. As 

 soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP! The disc 

 started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could 

 instantly tell that the deck was not going to read the disc. The message 'disc 

 error' popped up on the screen along with a few beeps and the disc ejected. I 

 grabbed another disc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutely no fingerprints 

 or scratches anywhere on it. Same problem, after a few seconds of trying to spin 

 the disc I got an error. 

 >I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did 

 not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than 

 it was in when I sent it in. So I had to send the deck back again, but they 

 assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith 

 gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair. 

 The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was 

 in no hurry to use this in an install anyways. I hooked it up to test it out, 

 stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great! This was confirmation enough for 

 me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping. 

 >Things would've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I 

 had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on 

 selling. I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x. I played around 

 with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and 

 I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when 

 all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking 

 sound inside of my CD player. After another few seconds it beeped and I got a 

 disc error message once again... I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same 

 problem back from the dead! 

 >Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my 

 misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service 

 who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my 

 house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself... I quickly 

 explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility 

 would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that 

 their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test 

 units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair. Even though I thought 

 this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work 

 order for repair. 

 >So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the Laredo Service Center. After a long 

 wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new 

 message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair. It read as 

 follows: "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with 

 further information regarding your Sony product" I called immediately, but the 

 CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status. I was told to wait a 

 bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly. 

 >Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony. I heard from the 

 tech himself at the Laredo center who had a very hard time speaking my native 

 language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed 

 in his own language... I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry 

 sir, but your CD player is not repairable by us... we no longer have the parts 

 to do the repair." My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the 

 phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on 

 my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service 

 once again. The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I 

 had been told was correct, that they no longer had the parts to complete the 

 repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options. They offered to swap it 

 with another deck She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I have 

 not heard a mention of since, but I am n! 

 ot 

 > really interested in either option and just want my C90 back and working 

 properly. I was urged to take a few days to think it over and call her back. 

 >I waited over a weekend and then called her back and left a message after I 

 found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and 

 horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400. In my 

 message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / 

 refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my 

 deck. I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next 

 day UPS showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony. It was my 

 C90. I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact 

 been repaired! I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull 

 the deck out of the box. I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if 

 everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle 

 tinkle' coming from inside. I flip it back over, and again I hear something 

 loose rolling around inside the deck. 

 >Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling 

 the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the 

 Laredo center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the 

 other end. I explained the situation. She apologized profusely and said that 

 unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious to me. I 

 also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, 

 and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it. So 

 off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit... 

 >It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a 

 call from another tech at the Laredo Center, and was given that same dreaded 

 message as before. "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD 

 player." I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge 

 info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony. I left 

 a message expecting a callback within a day or so. 

 >Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who 

 also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired. I brought up all the 

 problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he didn't have much 

 to say. I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when 

 I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I 

 asked him if it was a screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no 

 sir it was not a loose screw. When asked again that if it wasn't a screw what it 

 was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time. I 

 told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call. 

 >Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor 

 from the Laredo Facility. She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me 

 that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that 

 she would soon be in touch. 

 >I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the 

 mail, this time officially broken (as tested and stated by an enclosed invoice). 

 After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, 

 two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place. 

 The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows 

 signs of a very sloppy splice. 

 >That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service 

 for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that 

 they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a 

 warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own. I told her neither 

 of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working 

 order. I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player 

 had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing 

 screws. She apologized and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she 

 would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told 

 me to take a few days to think about what I want. 

 >So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and 

 I am lost as to what to do next. In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in 

 for a crappy Xplod model. The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre 

 offering in exchange if you ask me. Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no 

 longer there to support their customers to say the least 

 >Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right 

 person will happen across this and have an idea. If not, at least be warned of 

 the type of service you may receive when dealing with repairs for your no longer 

 supported Sony Mobile ES equipment. So if anyone actually read this far without 

 hitting the delete button in their email, what do you think you would do? Im all 

 out of ideas. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those 

 who may be interested, my experience should be shared. A little bit of 

 background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a 

 happy listener ever since. However as age sets in, I have become more and more 

 worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience 

 for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 

 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description. The volume dial had been 

 worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit itself had seen far better days. 

 For the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that 

 theyoffered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335. I was ecstatic and 

 couldn't get the unit to them fast enoughfor it to be replaced. I sentit in 

 expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple 

 weeks. But instead I received an email from the Laredo ServiceCenterconfirming 

 that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was 

 going to come to$586. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >I called up the Laredo centerimmediatelyto ask about the price discrepancy and 

 was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335. After 

 explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was also 

 listed on the internet, I was informed that there was no way that price quoted 

 was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for 

 my particular unit. After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then 

 informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to 

 replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements 

 available at the time. I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have 

 them go ahead and repair the unit. He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have 

 the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet 

 the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at th 

 > e quoted cost, but not without leaving me with the impressionthat I was lucky 

 and they were doing me a favor. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >After about a month I had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the 

 box I had found one of the chassis screws loose in the bottom of the box. I 

 consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even 

 have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of 

 confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best 

 of their ability. Oh how wrong I was... 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully. Going 

 through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm 

 and clicked nicely, I was pleased. Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face. As 

 soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP! The disc 

 started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could 

 instantly tell that the deck was not going to read the disc. Themessage 'disc 

 error' popped up on the screen along with a fewbeeps and the disc 

 ejected.Igrabbed another disc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutelyno 

 fingerprints or scratches anywhere on it. Same problem, after a few seconds of 

 trying to spin the disc I got an error. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did 

 not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than 

 it was in when I sent it in. SoI had to send the deck back again, but they 

 assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith 

 gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair. 

 The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was 

 in no hurry to use this in an install anyways. I hooked it up to test it out, 

 stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great! This was confirmation enough for 

 me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >Things would've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I 

 had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on 

 selling. I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x. I played around 

 with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and 

 I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when 

 all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking 

 sound inside of my CD player. After another few seconds it beeped and I got a 

 disc error message once again... I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same 

 problem back from the dead! 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my 

 misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service 

 who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my 

 house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself... I quickly 

 explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility 

 would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that 

 their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test 

 units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair. Even though I thought 

 this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work 

 order for repair. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the Laredo Service Center. After a long 

 wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new 

 message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair. It read as 

 follows: "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with 

 further information regarding your Sony product"I called immediately, but the 

 CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status. I was told to wait a 

 bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony. I heard from the 

 tech himself at the Laredo center who had a very hard time speaking my native 

 language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed 

 in his own language... I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry 

 sir, but your CD player is not repairable by us... we no longer have the parts 

 to do the repair." My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the 

 phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on 

 my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service 

 once again. The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I 

 had been told was correct, that they no longer had the parts to complete the 

 repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options. They offered to swap it 

 with anothe 

 > r deck She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I havenot heard a 

 mention of since, but I am not really interested in either option and just want 

 my C90 back and working properly. I was urged to take a few days to think it 

 over and call her back. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >I waited over a weekend and then called her back and left a message after I 

 found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and 

 horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400. In my 

 message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / 

 refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my 

 deck. I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next 

 day UPS showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony. It was my 

 C90. I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact 

 been repaired! I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull 

 the deck out of the box. I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if 

 everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle 

 tinkle' coming from inside. I flip it back over, 

 > and again I hear something loose rolling around inside the deck. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling 

 the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the 

 Laredo center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the 

 other end. I explained the situation. She apologized profusely and said that 

 unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious to me. I 

 also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, 

 and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it. So 

 off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit... 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a 

 call from another tech at the Laredo Center, and was given that same dreaded 

 message as before. "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD 

 player." I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge 

 info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony. I left 

 a message expecting a callback within a day or so. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who 

 also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired. I brought up all the 

 problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he didn't have much 

 to say. I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when 

 I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I 

 asked him if it wasa screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no sir 

 it was not a loose screw. When asked again that if it wasn't a screw what it 

 was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time. I 

 told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor 

 from the Laredo Facility. She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me 

 that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that 

 she would soon be in touch. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the 

 mail, this time officially broken (as tested and stated by an enclosed invoice). 

 After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, 

 two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place. 

 The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows 

 signs of a very sloppy splice. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service 

 for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that 

 they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a 

 warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own. I told her neither 

 of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working 

 order. I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player 

 had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing 

 screws. She apologized and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she 

 would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told 

 me to take a few days to think about what I want. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and 

 I am lost as to what to do next. In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in 

 for a crappy Xplod model. The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre 

 offering in exchange if you ask me. Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no 

 longer there to support their customers to say the least 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right 

 person will happen across this and have an idea. If not, at least be warned of 

 the type of service youmayreceive when dealing withrepairs for your no longer 

 supported Sony Mobile ES equipment. So if anyone actually read this far without 

 hitting the delete button in their email, what do you think you would do? Im all 

 out of ideas. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 --------------------------------- 

 Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze. 

Thank you, I will contact MTC tomorrow to see if they can offer any suggestions. And I appreciate you filling me in on the possible availability of your uncle's C90. I may be interested down the road if he chooses not tosell right now, but at this point I'm not finished searching out my options in dealing with Sony themselves. The way I look at it, they received a mostlyfunctional unit, and sent me a completelybroken one. I don't feel that I am that far out of line when I say they should be liable to fund the full repair / replacement of my currently non-functional C90. We will see, but I can assure you I will not be accepting their offer to give me an Xplod model as compensation. Until Sony changes their business practices and product lines, I will not buy another single Sony car audio product nor will I endorse their name to anyone. I will however continue to use the high quality Mobile ES products of the past

 . There isn't much out there today that can even come close to the quality, and it's still amusing to be able tosay "it's a Sony!"when your friends hear it and ask "woah, what do you have in there?" 

-------------- Original message -------------- 

From: Scott Thibault tbone7467(at)yahoo.com 

 -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: Scott Thibault <TBONE7467(at)YAHOO.COM>

 how much for the deck? I have a spare face plate. 

 DB <DBOTEL6500(at)ROGERS.COM>wrote: -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: DB 

 Bobby, 

 My uncle had 2 of these decks at one time. He had one for parts (with a 

 bad LCD), and he auctioned 

 off the other unit with the good LCD and harness. 

 Let me know if you would like to pick up the 2nd deck. It kills me that 

 it's sitting up in his closet with 

 absolutely nothing wrong with it (other than the LCD) 

 Daniel 

 P.S.: In the Toronto area, there is one shop that would probably be 

 capable of repairing your deck, if you wanted to go down that road. 

 They repaired my CDX-C910 at t

 he time, and did a terrific job on the unit. 

 http://www.mtcservice.com/contact.htm 

 bobbybraun(at)comcast.net wrote: 

 -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: bobbybraun(at)comcast.net 

 First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those 

 who may be interested, my experience should be shared. A little bit of 

 background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a 

 happy listener ever since. However as age sets in, I have become more and more 

 worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown. 

 I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience 

 for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 

 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description. The volume dial had been 

 worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit 

 itself had seen far better days. 

 For the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped. 

 I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that 

 they offered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335. I was ecstatic and 

 couldn't get the unit to them fast enough for it to be replaced. I sent it in 

 expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple 

 weeks. But instead I received an email from the Laredo Service Center confirming 

 that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was 

 going to come to $586. 

 I called up the Laredo center immediately to ask about the price discrepancy 

 and was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335. After 

 explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was also 

 listed on the internet, I was informed that th

 ere was no way that price quoted 

 was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for 

 my particular unit. After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then 

 informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to 

 replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements 

 available at the time. I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have 

 them go ahead and repair the unit. He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have 

 the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet 

 the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at the quoted cost, but not 

 without leaving me with the impression that I was lu! 

 ck 

  y and they were doing me a favor. 

 After about a month I had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the 

 box I had found one of the chassis scr

 ews loose in the bottom of the box. I 

 consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even 

 have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of 

 confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best 

 of their ability. Oh how wrong I was... 

 I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully. Going 

 through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm 

 and clicked nicely, I was pleased. Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face. As 

 soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP! The disc 

 started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could 

 instantly tell that the deck was not going to read the disc. The message 'disc 

 error' popped up on the screen along with a few beeps and the disc ejected. I 

 grabbed another d

 isc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutely no fingerprints 

 or scratches anywhere on it. Same problem, after a few seconds of trying to spin 

 the disc I got an error. 

 I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did 

 not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than 

 it was in when I sent it in. So I had to send the deck back again, but they 

 assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith 

 gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair. 

 The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was 

 in no hurry to use this in an install anyways. I hooked it up to test it out, 

 stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great! This was confirmation enough for 

 me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping. 

 Things would

 've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I 

 had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on 

 selling. I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x. I played around 

 with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and 

 I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when 

 all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking 

 sound inside of my CD player. After another few seconds it beeped and I got a 

 disc error message once again... I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same 

 problem back from the dead! 

 Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my 

 misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service 

 who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my 

  house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself... I quickly 

 explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility 

 would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that 

 their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test 

 units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair. Even though I thought 

 this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work 

 order for repair. 

 So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the Laredo Service Center. After a long 

 wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new 

 message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair. It read as 

 follows: "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with 

 further information regarding your Sony product" I called immediately, but the 

&gt

 ; CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status. I was told to wait a 

 bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly. 

 Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony. I heard from the 

 tech himself at the Laredo center who had a very hard time speaking my native 

 language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed 

 in his own language... I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry 

 sir, but your CD player is not repairable by us... we no longer have the parts 

 to do the repair." My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the 

 phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on 

 my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service 

 once again. The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I 

 had been told was correct, that they 

 no longer had the parts to complete the 

 repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options. They offered to swap it 

 with another deck She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I have 

 not heard a mention of since, but I am n! 

 ot 

  really interested in either option and just want my C90 back and working 

 properly. I was urged to take a few days to think it over and call her back. 

 I waited over a weekend and then called her back and left a message after I 

 found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and 

 horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400. In my 

 message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / 

 refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my 

 deck. I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next 

 day UP

 S showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony. It was my 

 C90. I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact 

 been repaired! I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull 

 the deck out of the box. I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if 

 everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle 

 tinkle' coming from inside. I flip it back over, and again I hear something 

 loose rolling around inside the deck. 

 Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling 

 the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the 

 Laredo center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the 

 other end. I explained the situation. She apologized profusely and said that 

 unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious t

 o me. I 

 also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, 

 and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it. So 

 off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit... 

 It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a 

 call from another tech at the Laredo Center, and was given that same dreaded 

 message as before. "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD 

 player." I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge 

 info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony. I left 

 a message expecting a callback within a day or so. 

 Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who 

 also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired. I brought up all the 

 problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he d

 idn't have much 

 to say. I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when 

 I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I 

 asked him if it was a screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no 

 sir it was not a loose screw. When asked again that if it wasn't a screw what it 

 was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time. I 

 told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call. 

 Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor 

 from the Laredo Facility. She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me 

 that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that 

 she would soon be in touch. 

 I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the 

 mail, this time officially broken (as tested a

 nd stated by an enclosed invoice). 

 After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, 

 two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place. 

 The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows 

 signs of a very sloppy splice. 

 That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service 

 for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that 

 they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a 

 warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own. I told her neither 

 of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working 

 order. I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player 

 had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing 

 screws. She apologize

 d and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she 

 would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told 

 me to take a few days to think about what I want. 

 So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and 

 I am lost as to what to do next. In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in 

 for a crappy Xplod model. The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre 

 offering in exchange if you ask me. Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no 

 longer there to support their customers to say the least 

 Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right 

 person will happen across this and have an idea. If not, at least be warned of 

 the type of service you may receive when dealing with repairs for your no longer 

 supported Sony Mobile ES equipment. So if anyone actually read this far without 

  hitting the delete button in their email, what do you think you would do? Im all 

 out of ideas. 

 First, I must apologize for the extremely long post, but I feel that for those 

 who may be interested, my experience should be shared. A little bit of 

 background first, I've owned my Sony ES system since late '98, and have been a 

 happy listener ever since. However as age sets in, I have become more and more 

 worried of my options in the event of a system breakdown. 

 I had been watching Ebay for decent ES equipment to solidify my ES experience 

 for as long as possible and last summer I picked up a C90 that was advertised as 

 'like new' but arrived quite short of that description. The volume dial had been 

 worn out, and no longer clicked, and the unit itself had seen far better days. 

 For

  the most part it was functional just not like new as I had hoped. 

 I looked into my options for repair and Sony Customer Service informed me that 

 theyoffered a replacement plan for the unit for ~$335. I was ecstatic and 

 couldn't get the unit to them fast enoughfor it to be replaced. I sentit in 

 expecting to be receiving a like new, refurbished model in the mail in a couple 

 weeks. But instead I received an email from the Laredo ServiceCenterconfirming 

 that they had received my unit, but that the estimated replacement charge was 

 going to come to$586. 

 I called up the Laredo centerimmediatelyto ask about the price discrepancy and 

 was questioned where I had been quoted a replacement price of $335. After 

 explaining that I was quoted the price over the phone and that it was a

 lso 

 listed on the internet, I was informed that there was no way that price quoted 

 was accurate and that amount wouldn't even cover the flat rate repair rate for 

 my particular unit. After becoming a bit frustrated with the CSR, he then 

 informed me that regardless of the price discrepancy, they would not be able to 

 replace the unit because it was too old and they did not have any replacements 

 available at the time. I was disheartened and aggravated, but decided to have 

 them go ahead and repair the unit. He still wanted me to pay over $300 to have 

 the repair completed but in the end after quoting the price from the internet 

 the person reluctantly offered to do the repair at th 

  e quoted cost, but not without leaving me with the impressionthat I was lucky 

 and they were doing me a favor. 

 After about a month I 

 had the C90 back in my possession, and upon opening the 

 box I had found one of the chassis screws loose in the bottom of the box. I 

 consider myself very lucky I noticed this, because before that I didn't even 

 have plans on hooking up the unit to test, since at that time I had every bit of 

 confidence that the authorized Sony center had finished the repair to the best 

 of their ability. Oh how wrong I was... 

 I hooked up the deck to my workbench and it powered up beautifully. Going 

 through the startup menus, everything worked properly, the volume dial felt firm 

 and clicked nicely, I was pleased. Then I grabbed a CD and opened the face. As 

 soon as the rollers grabbed at the CD to pull it in I heard a SNAP! The disc 

 started to spin up, and I could hear a not so good clicking sound, and could 

 instantly tell that the deck was 

 not going to read the disc. Themessage 'disc 

 error' popped up on the screen along with a fewbeeps and the disc 

 ejected.Igrabbed another disc of mine, ensuring this one had absolutelyno 

 fingerprints or scratches anywhere on it. Same problem, after a few seconds of 

 trying to spin the disc I got an error. 

 I immediately called up Sony, frustrated at this point because I not only did 

 not get the new deck I was hoping for, I received mine back in worse shape than 

 it was in when I sent it in. SoI had to send the deck back again, but they 

 assured me that they would handle it as a top priority, and as a good faith 

 gesture even refunded my $125 that I had paid initially for the first repair. 

 The deck was back in my possession after another month, which was fine as I was 

 in no hurry to use this in an install anyways. I hooked it 

 up to test it out, 

 stuck in a CD and it worked and sounded great! This was confirmation enough for 

 me, so I packaged the unit up and stored it away for safe keeping. 

 Things would've been great had the story ended here, but fate made it so that I 

 had to pull the deck out one wintry day to test a 4000x I was planning on 

 selling. I had it all hooked up so I could test out the 4000x. I played around 

 with it for about 15 minutes, the C90 worked beautifully (as did the 4000x) and 

 I was about to take it all apart and package up the processor for shipment when 

 all of a sudden the music stopped and I heard that ever so familiar clicking 

 sound inside of my CD player. After another few seconds it beeped and I got a 

 disc error message once again... I grabbed another disc and popped it in, same 

 problem back from the dead! 

 Extremely frustrated at this point I called up Sony and informed them of my 

 misfortune. At this point I was in contact with a manager of customer service 

 who wanted to know exactly why I was trying to hook up a car CD player inside my 

 house and continued by accusing me of breaking the unit myself... I quickly 

 explained that I was using the very same equipment that their repair facility 

 would use to power car equipment, and asked her if she honestly thought that 

 their repair techs ran out to a vehicle parked in back of their building to test 

 units out to see if they worked after finishing a repair. Even though I thought 

 this as funny, she did not but followed through and set up yet another work 

 order for repair. 

 So off goes my C90 for a 3rd visit to the Laredo Service C

 enter. After a long 

 wait and hearing no updates, I decided to check online and noticed that a new 

 message had appeared in regards to the current status of my repair. It read as 

 follows: "Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with 

 further information regarding your Sony product"I called immediately, but the 

 CSR knew nothing of the message or of my CD players status. I was told to wait a 

 bit longer and that the repair should be completed shortly. 

 Three days later is when I got that dreaded call from Sony. I heard from the 

 tech himself at the Laredo center who had a very hard time speaking my native 

 language and for my sake and his I hope they have those service manuals printed 

 in his own language... I recall the first thing he said to me... "I am sorry 

 sir, but your CD player is not repairable by

  us... we no longer have the parts 

 to do the repair." My jaw dropped, I got frustrated and argued a bit on the 

 phone saying that this problem hadn't arisen until after they got their hands on 

 my deck, but I didn't get anywhere so I call up management at customer service 

 once again. The lady was apologetic but not very helpful, she said that what I 

 had been told was correct, that they no longer had the parts to complete the 

 repair of my deck and that I only had a couple options. They offered to swap it 

 with anothe 

  r deck She also spoke of the possibility of a buy back which I havenot heard a 

 mention of since, but I am not really interested in either option and just want 

 my C90 back and working properly. I was urged to take a few days to think it 

 over and call her back. 

 I waited over a weekend and then call

 ed her back and left a message after I 

 found out what they were offering to swap my C90 for was a discontinued and 

 horridly ugly Xplod model that in it's day retailed for under $400. In my 

 message I told her that I found it almost offensive that they offer me a used / 

 refurbished Xplod model that was approximately 1/3 of the original price of my 

 deck. I did not hear back from her for quite a few days, but instead the next 

 day UPS showed up on my doorstep with an oddly familiar box from Sony. It was my 

 C90. I opened it and pulled out an invoice, and it showed that it had in fact 

 been repaired! I was shocked to say the least, and continued by reaching to pull 

 the deck out of the box. I looked it over, and flipped it upside down to see if 

 everything was in place, and all of a sudden I hear a small 'tinkle tinkle 

 tinkle' coming from inside. I flip it back over, 

  and ag

 ain I hear something loose rolling around inside the deck. 

 Ok, now at this point I'm furious, I pick up the phone, and instead of calling 

 the manager of customer service that had been working with me, I called the 

 Laredo center directly and got a compassionate but not so helpful lady on the 

 other end. I explained the situation. She apologized profusely and said that 

 unfortunately I'd have to send it back again, which was already obvious to me. I 

 also asked her why I was told the week before that the deck was not repairable, 

 and she said she didn't know but the techs had somehow found a way to fix it. So 

 off to Sony goes my C90 for a 4th visit... 

 It's now been over 6 months since this has all started, and last week I got a 

 call from another tech at the Laredo Center, an

 d was given that same dreaded 

 message as before. "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot complete the repair on your CD 

 player." I didn't speak with him for very long, just got his name and badge 

 info, then immediately called the management of customer service at Sony. I left 

 a message expecting a callback within a day or so. 

 Later that afternoon I got a second call from a CSR at the Laredo Facility who 

 also informed me the deck was not able to be repaired. I brought up all the 

 problems that had gone on and demanded an explanation, but he didn't have much 

 to say. I also asked him what was rolling around loose inside my CD player when 

 I got it back last time and he pretended to know nothing about it, and when I 

 asked him if it wasa screw they forgot to put back he denied, saying that no sir 

 it was not a loose screw. When asked ag

 ain that if it wasn't a screw what it 

 was, he ended by saying that he did not have that information at this time. I 

 told him that I would be in touch with management and ended the call. 

 Fifteen minutes later I received yet another call, this time from a supervisor 

 from the Laredo Facility. She was compassionate, understanding, and ensured me 

 that they would be able to come to a conclusion to resolve this problem and that 

 she would soon be in touch. 

 I have yet to hear back from her, but I have since received my C90 back in the 

 mail, this time officially broken (as tested and stated by an enclosed invoice). 

 After looking it over, there are three external screws missing from the deck, 

 two on the face, and one on the back that holds the DC inverters wire in place. 

  The wire connected to the inverter is also taped together, which to me shows 

 signs of a very sloppy splice. 

 That same day I also received a callback from the manager at customer service 

 for Sony who I had been working with through all of this and was again told that 

 they would replace the deck with a more current model or possibly offer me a 

 warranty extension for a current Sony product I already own. I told her neither 

 of these options interested me and that I just wanted my C90 back in working 

 order. I reiterated that I was extremely distraught by the way that my CD player 

 had been handled over the past few months, and informed her of the newly missing 

 screws. She apologized and said with a rather unconcerned overtone that she 

 would note it in her files but the repair was not going to be possible and told 

 me to take

  a few days to think about what I want. 

 So here I am, completely astounded over the treatment Ive received by Sony, and 

 I am lost as to what to do next. In no way do I want to trade my broken C90 in 

 for a crappy Xplod model. The faceplate alone is worth more than what theyre 

 offering in exchange if you ask me. Its quite apparent to me that Sony is no 

 longer there to support their customers to say the least 

 Again, I must apologize for the LONG post, but part of me hopes that the right 

 person will happen across this and have an idea. If not, at least be warned of 

 the type of service youmayreceive when dealing withrepairs for your no longer 

 supported Sony Mobile ES equipment. So if anyone actually read this far without 

 hitting the delete button in their email, what do you

  think you would do? Im all 

 out of ideas. 

 --------------------------------- 

 Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze. 

 chives

bobbybraun(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:25 am Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

Oh, and when I referenced speaking to the manager of customer service in my previous post, she was a manager who told me she works in the same building as the office of the president of Sony America.  I was contacted by her after I wrote a letter and sent it to their main office.  Unfortunately she is rather uninformed and even a touch rude at times, but I have yet to make any real clear demands and have just been trying to get them to fix the thing on their own...  I feel there is no higher up I can go for my situation, but if any of you have other contacts at hand it may be helpful to myself and others out there if you were to share this information.  

The office I contacted is:

Manager of Customer Satisfaction

Sony Electronics, 1 Sony Drive

Mail Drop 138

Park Ridge, New Jersey 07656

-------------- Original message -------------- 

From: Scott Thibault <tbone7467(at)yahoo.com> 

 	  Quote: 	

 Most big corporations outsource their call center business nowadays. the reason 

 that I know this is that I work for an outsource center (sony is no diffrent 

 unfortunately). you will never get resolution from call centers most of the time 

 just get the run around. that an most of the "managers" dont know anything about 

 the products, they just spout BS to make you think they know what they are 

 talking about. the problem for the call centers is not clear channel for 

 communication and a lot of red tape. I am sorry you got such crappy service that 

 sucks. 

 Randy Visentine wrote: --> XDP4000X-List message posted 

 by: "Randy Visentine" 

 I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center. I sent my lovely 

 STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service. It was displaying "Protect" on the 

 display, and would not function at all. It has a 5 Year warranty. So I pay 

 the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony. I get it 

 back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked, 

 but they did not address the intermittent motorized volume knob issue I was 

 having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action). 

 So, flash to about a year or 2 later. Unit is still under warranty. The 

 Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was 

 intermittent as well. I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service 

 center about 5 miles from my work. So I take it in (save $50 shipping). 

 The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy. I get a phone call the next 

 day. He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever, 

 and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED! Well, as I mentioned 

 above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit. I call 

 Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my 

 unit, and my warranty is now voided. I was PISSED!!! I could not find the 

 invoice from the previous repair - so I was screwed. It was their word 

 against mine regarding the previous repair. I finally find the invoice 

 (thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere. 

 The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have 

 addressed the Protection circuit. Sony would NOT admit their techs could do 

 anything like this. But they did - they essentially created a fire hazard 

 in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit. 

 I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the 

 call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s 

 yourself). I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony 

 NY (Phillip someone). I leave a message, and I recieve a call back from 

 them the next day. A very helpful lady took my info, and approved my 

 Warranty repair in about 10 minutes. I don't know if any follow up was 

 done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to 

 have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit. I can not 

 believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs. Talk about 

 half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less). The local Repair Tech did a great 

 job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again! 

 Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO 

 (literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case) 

 The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is 

 working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine). My warranty just expired. I 

 have had it with Sony. I will be replacing it with either a Parasound A/V 

 preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year. 

 I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL 

 CDD might be replacing that soon. Sony really pissed me off with this crap. 

 I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny. I will hang onto my 2250 

 Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but 

 the rest will get replaced with other stuff. I feel you 100% on your Sony 

 Repair issue. 

 Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail 

 market. Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind of 

 customer abuse upsets you. I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony 

 - not anymore... 

 Randy V. 

 On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net wrote: 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90, 

 > and 3 XM2000R's. 

 > 

 > Do you still have your XDP4000? 

 > 

 > I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news 

 > saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 -- 

 Randy V. 

 Houston, TX 

 Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy 

 --------------------------------- 

 Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. 

Oh, and when I referencedspeaking to the manager of customer service in my previous post, she was a manager who told me she works in the same buildingas the office of the president of Sony America. I was contacted by her after I wrote a letter and sent it to their main office. Unfortunately she is rather uninformed and even a touch rude at times, but I have yet to make any real clear demands and have just been trying to get them to fix the thing on their own... I feel there is no higher up I can go for my situation, but if any of you have other contacts at hand it may be helpful to myself and others out there if you were to share this information. 

The office I contacted is:

Manager of Customer Satisfaction

Sony Electronics, <st1:Street><st1:address>1 Sony Drive</st1:address></st1:Street>

Mail Drop 138

<st1:place><st1:City>Park Ridge</st1:City>, <st1:State>New Jersey</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode>07656</st1:PostalCode></st1:place>

-------------- Original message -------------- 

From: Scott Thibault tbone7467(at)yahoo.com 

 -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: Scott Thibault <TBONE7467(at)YAHOO.COM>

 Most big corporations outsource their call center business nowadays. the reason 

 that I know this is that I work for an outsource center (sony is no diffrent 

 unfortunately). you will never get resolution from call centers most of the time 

 just get the run around. that an most of the "managers" dont know anything about 

 the products, they just spout BS to make you think they know what they are 

 talking about. the problem for the call centers is not clear channel for 

 communication and a lot of red tape. I am sorry you got such crappy service that 

 sucks. 

 Randy Visentine <RANDYMAN(at)GMAIL.COM>wrote: -- XDP4000X-

 List message posted 

 by: "Randy Visentine" 

 I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center. I sent my lovely 

 STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service. It was displaying "Protect" on the 

 display, and would not function at all. It has a 5 Year warranty. So I pay 

 the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony. I get it 

 back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked, 

 but they did not address the intermittent motorized volume knob issue I was 

 having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action). 

 So, flash to about a year or 2 later. Unit is still under warranty. The 

 Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was 

 intermittent as well. I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service 

 center about 5 miles from my work. So I take it in (save $50 shipping). 

 The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy. I get a phone call the next 

 day. He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever, 

 and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED! Well, as I mentioned 

 above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit. I call 

 Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my 

 unit, and my warranty is now voided. I was PISSED!!! I could not find the 

 invoice from the previous repair - so I was screwed. It was their word 

 against mine regarding the previous repair. I finally find the invoice 

 (thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere. 

 The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have 

 addressed the Protection circuit. Sony would NOT admit their techs could do 

 anything like this. But they did - they essentially created a fire hazar

 d 

 in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit. 

 I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the 

 call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s 

 yourself). I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony 

 NY (Phillip someone). I leave a message, and I recieve a call back from 

 them the next day. A very helpful lady took my info, and approved my 

 Warranty repair in about 10 minutes. I don't know if any follow up was 

 done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to 

 have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit. I can not 

 believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs. Talk about 

 half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less). The local Repair Tech did a great 

 job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again! 

&gt

 ; Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO 

 (literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case) 

 The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is 

 working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine). My warranty just expired. I 

 have had it with Sony. I will be replacing it with either a Parasound A/V 

 preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year. 

 I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL 

 CDD might be replacing that soon. Sony really pissed me off with this crap. 

 I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny. I will hang onto my 2250 

 Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but 

 the rest will get replaced with other stuff. I feel you 100% on your Sony 

 Repair issue. 

 Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail 

&

 gt; market. Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind of 

 customer abuse upsets you. I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony 

 - not anymore... 

 Randy V. 

 On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net wrote: 

  -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: jtholley03(at)adelphia.net 

  This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90, 

  and 3 XM2000R's. 

  Do you still have your XDP4000? 

  I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news 

  saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something. 

 -- 

 Randy V. 

 Houston, TX 

 Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy 

 -------------------------------

 -- 

 Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.

dbotel6500(at)rogers.com
Guest

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 8:22 am Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

Bobby,

It might be prudent to try and attempt communication with a more 

experienced repair shop.  (i.e. one that may even have a C90 in their 

possession!)

When I had my deck repaired, the shop that I sent my head unit to had a 

few spare C90's in for quick swapping of chassis.  You may have to 

really look around for a reputable shop, as it looks like the one

you sent it to doesn't do quality work...If the shop you sent your head 

unit to does not have compentent techs working for them, this will only 

make things worse!

D

bobbybraun(at)comcast.net wrote:

 	  Quote: 	

Oh, and when I referenced speaking to the manager of customer service in my previous post, she was a manager who told me she works in the same building as the office of the president of Sony America.  I was contacted by her after I wrote a letter and sent it to their main office.  Unfortunately she is rather uninformed and even a touch rude at times, but I have yet to make any real clear demands and have just been trying to get them to fix the thing on their own...  I feel there is no higher up I can go for my situation, but if any of you have other contacts at hand it may be helpful to myself and others out there if you were to share this information.  

The office I contacted is:

Manager of Customer Satisfaction

Sony Electronics, 1 Sony Drive

Mail Drop 138

Park Ridge, New Jersey 07656

-------------- Original message -------------- 

From: Scott Thibault <tbone7467(at)yahoo.com> 

>

>

>Most big corporations outsource their call center business nowadays. the reason 

>that I know this is that I work for an outsource center (sony is no diffrent 

>unfortunately). you will never get resolution from call centers most of the time 

>just get the run around. that an most of the "managers" dont know anything about 

>the products, they just spout BS to make you think they know what they are 

>talking about. the problem for the call centers is not clear channel for 

>communication and a lot of red tape. I am sorry you got such crappy service that 

>sucks. 

>

>Randy Visentine wrote: --> XDP4000X-List message posted 

>by: "Randy Visentine" 

>

>I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center. I sent my lovely 

>STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service. It was displaying "Protect" on the 

>display, and would not function at all. It has a 5 Year warranty. So I pay 

>the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony. I get it 

>back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked, 

>but they did not address the intermittent motorized volume knob issue I was 

>having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action). 

>

>So, flash to about a year or 2 later. Unit is still under warranty. The 

>Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was 

>intermittent as well. I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service 

>center about 5 miles from my work. So I take it in (save $50 shipping). 

>

>The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy. I get a phone call the next 

>day. He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever, 

>and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED! Well, as I mentioned 

>above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit. I call 

>Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my 

>unit, and my warranty is now voided. I was PISSED!!! I could not find the 

>invoice from the previous repair - so I was screwed. It was their word 

>against mine regarding the previous repair. I finally find the invoice 

>(thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere. 

>The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have 

>addressed the Protection circuit. Sony would NOT admit their techs could do 

>anything like this. But they did - they essentially created a fire hazard 

>in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit. 

>

>I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the 

>call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s 

>yourself). I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony 

>NY (Phillip someone). I leave a message, and I recieve a call back from 

>them the next day. A very helpful lady took my info, and approved my 

>Warranty repair in about 10 minutes. I don't know if any follow up was 

>done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to 

>have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit. I can not 

>believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs. Talk about 

>half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less). The local Repair Tech did a great 

>job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again! 

>Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO 

>(literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case) 

>

>The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is 

>working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine). My warranty just expired. I 

>have had it with Sony. I will be replacing it with either a Parasound A/V 

>preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year. 

>

>I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL 

>CDD might be replacing that soon. Sony really pissed me off with this crap. 

>I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny. I will hang onto my 2250 

>Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but 

>the rest will get replaced with other stuff. I feel you 100% on your Sony 

>Repair issue. 

>

>Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail 

>market. Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind of 

>customer abuse upsets you. I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony 

>- not anymore... 

>

>Randy V. 

>On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net wrote: 

>    

>

>>

>>

>>This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90, 

>>and 3 XM2000R's. 

>>

>>Do you still have your XDP4000? 

>>

>>I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news 

>>saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something. 

>>

>>

>>

>>      

>>

>-- 

>Randy V. 

>Houston, TX 

>Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy 

>

>--------------------------------- 

>Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. 

>    

>

Oh, and when I referencedspeaking to the manager of customer service in my previous post, she was a manager who told me she works in the same buildingas the office of the president of Sony America. I was contacted by her after I wrote a letter and sent it to their main office. Unfortunately she is rather uninformed and even a touch rude at times, but I have yet to make any real clear demands and have just been trying to get them to fix the thing on their own... I feel there is no higher up I can go for my situation, but if any of you have other contacts at hand it may be helpful to myself and others out there if you were to share this information. 

The office I contacted is:

Manager of Customer Satisfaction

Sony Electronics, <st1:Street><st1:address>1 Sony Drive</st1:address></st1:Street>

Mail Drop 138

<st1:place><st1:City>Park Ridge</st1:City>, <st1:State>New Jersey</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode>07656</st1:PostalCode></st1:place>

-------------- Original message -------------- 

From: Scott Thibault tbone7467(at)yahoo.com 

 -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: Scott Thibault <TBONE7467(at)YAHOO.COM>

 Most big corporations outsource their call center business nowadays. the reason 

 that I know this is that I work for an outsource center (sony is no diffrent 

 unfortunately). you will never get resolution from call centers most of the time 

 just get the run around. that an most of the "managers" dont know anything about 

 the products, they just spout BS to make you think they know what they are 

 talking about. the problem for the call centers is not clear channel for 

 communication and a lot of red tape. I am sorry you got such crappy service that 

 sucks. 

 Randy Visentine <RANDYMAN(at)GMAIL.COM>wrote: -- XDP4000X-

 List message posted 

 by: "Randy Visentine" 

 I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center. I sent my lovely 

 STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service. It was displaying "Protect" on the 

 display, and would not function at all. It has a 5 Year warranty. So I pay 

 the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony. I get it 

 back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked, 

 but they did not address the intermittent motorized volume knob issue I was 

 having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action). 

 So, flash to about a year or 2 later. Unit is still under warranty. The 

 Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was 

 intermittent as well. I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service 

 center about 5 miles from my work. So I take it in (save $50 shipping). 

 The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy. I get a phone call the next 

 day. He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever, 

 and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED! Well, as I mentioned 

 above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit. I call 

 Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my 

 unit, and my warranty is now voided. I was PISSED!!! I could not find the 

 invoice from the previous repair - so I was screwed. It was their word 

 against mine regarding the previous repair. I finally find the invoice 

 (thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere. 

 The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have 

 addressed the Protection circuit. Sony would NOT admit their techs could do 

 anything like this. But they did - they essentially created a fire hazar

 d 

 in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit. 

 I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the 

 call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s 

 yourself). I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony 

 NY (Phillip someone). I leave a message, and I recieve a call back from 

 them the next day. A very helpful lady took my info, and approved my 

 Warranty repair in about 10 minutes. I don't know if any follow up was 

 done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to 

 have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit. I can not 

 believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs. Talk about 

 half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less). The local Repair Tech did a great 

 job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again! 

&gt

 ; Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO 

 (literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case) 

 The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is 

 working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine). My warranty just expired. I 

 have had it with Sony. I will be replacing it with either a Parasound A/V 

 preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year. 

 I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL 

 CDD might be replacing that soon. Sony really pissed me off with this crap. 

 I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny. I will hang onto my 2250 

 Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but 

 the rest will get replaced with other stuff. I feel you 100% on your Sony 

 Repair issue. 

 Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail 

&

 gt; market. Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind of 

 customer abuse upsets you. I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony 

 - not anymore... 

 Randy V. 

 On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net wrote: 

  -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: jtholley03(at)adelphia.net 

  This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90, 

  and 3 XM2000R's. 

  Do you still have your XDP4000? 

  I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news 

  saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something. 

 -- 

 Randy V. 

 Houston, TX 

 Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy 

 -------------------------------

 -- 

 Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.

dbotel6500(at)rogers.com
Guest

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 8:27 am Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

Funny you mentioned this experience, as I was in a bit of a pickle many 

years ago, when I had an XPD-210 in my system, and eventually, sony 

bought it back because of that inherent hissing noise.

I know the noise was inaudible during playback of music, but it annoyed 

the hell out of me!  How can something that is totally DIGITAL from the 

headunit to the EQ emit a high-pitched hiss?  Even when I had the 

XDP-U50, I had none of this hiss, and they attempted to place blame on 

the head unit.

I had to make up a few silent test tracks, and prove to them of the issue.

I was able to setup the system in their shop, and the tech had no choice 

but to agree.  Thru the head unit's RCA inputs, there was just dead 

silence when the audio was cranked.  But when played back thru the 

XDP-210, the hiss was there.  (I even proved that the hiss was there, 

even when there was no inputs from the headunit!)

Sony bought my XDP-210 back.  (I used the funds to pick up the XDP-4000)

Don't lose faith just yet.  If anything, they should buy back your head 

unit, and refund your warranty amount...

D

bobbybraun(at)comcast.net wrote:

 	  Quote: 	

Oh, and when I referenced speaking to the manager of customer service in my previous post, she was a manager who told me she works in the same building as the office of the president of Sony America.  I was contacted by her after I wrote a letter and sent it to their main office.  Unfortunately she is rather uninformed and even a touch rude at times, but I have yet to make any real clear demands and have just been trying to get them to fix the thing on their own...  I feel there is no higher up I can go for my situation, but if any of you have other contacts at hand it may be helpful to myself and others out there if you were to share this information.  

The office I contacted is:

Manager of Customer Satisfaction

Sony Electronics, 1 Sony Drive

Mail Drop 138

Park Ridge, New Jersey 07656

-------------- Original message -------------- 

From: Scott Thibault <tbone7467(at)yahoo.com> 

>

>

>Most big corporations outsource their call center business nowadays. the reason 

>that I know this is that I work for an outsource center (sony is no diffrent 

>unfortunately). you will never get resolution from call centers most of the time 

>just get the run around. that an most of the "managers" dont know anything about 

>the products, they just spout BS to make you think they know what they are 

>talking about. the problem for the call centers is not clear channel for 

>communication and a lot of red tape. I am sorry you got such crappy service that 

>sucks. 

>

>Randy Visentine wrote: --> XDP4000X-List message posted 

>by: "Randy Visentine" 

>

>I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center. I sent my lovely 

>STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service. It was displaying "Protect" on the 

>display, and would not function at all. It has a 5 Year warranty. So I pay 

>the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony. I get it 

>back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked, 

>but they did not address the intermittent motorized volume knob issue I was 

>having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action). 

>

>So, flash to about a year or 2 later. Unit is still under warranty. The 

>Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was 

>intermittent as well. I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service 

>center about 5 miles from my work. So I take it in (save $50 shipping). 

>

>The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy. I get a phone call the next 

>day. He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever, 

>and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED! Well, as I mentioned 

>above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit. I call 

>Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my 

>unit, and my warranty is now voided. I was PISSED!!! I could not find the 

>invoice from the previous repair - so I was screwed. It was their word 

>against mine regarding the previous repair. I finally find the invoice 

>(thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere. 

>The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have 

>addressed the Protection circuit. Sony would NOT admit their techs could do 

>anything like this. But they did - they essentially created a fire hazard 

>in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit. 

>

>I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the 

>call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s 

>yourself). I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony 

>NY (Phillip someone). I leave a message, and I recieve a call back from 

>them the next day. A very helpful lady took my info, and approved my 

>Warranty repair in about 10 minutes. I don't know if any follow up was 

>done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to 

>have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit. I can not 

>believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs. Talk about 

>half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less). The local Repair Tech did a great 

>job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again! 

>Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO 

>(literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case) 

>

>The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is 

>working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine). My warranty just expired. I 

>have had it with Sony. I will be replacing it with either a Parasound A/V 

>preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year. 

>

>I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL 

>CDD might be replacing that soon. Sony really pissed me off with this crap. 

>I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny. I will hang onto my 2250 

>Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but 

>the rest will get replaced with other stuff. I feel you 100% on your Sony 

>Repair issue. 

>

>Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail 

>market. Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind of 

>customer abuse upsets you. I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony 

>- not anymore... 

>

>Randy V. 

>On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net wrote: 

>    

>

>>

>>

>>This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90, 

>>and 3 XM2000R's. 

>>

>>Do you still have your XDP4000? 

>>

>>I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news 

>>saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something. 

>>

>>

>>

>>      

>>

>-- 

>Randy V. 

>Houston, TX 

>Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy 

>

>--------------------------------- 

>Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. 

>    

>

Oh, and when I referencedspeaking to the manager of customer service in my previous post, she was a manager who told me she works in the same buildingas the office of the president of Sony America. I was contacted by her after I wrote a letter and sent it to their main office. Unfortunately she is rather uninformed and even a touch rude at times, but I have yet to make any real clear demands and have just been trying to get them to fix the thing on their own... I feel there is no higher up I can go for my situation, but if any of you have other contacts at hand it may be helpful to myself and others out there if you were to share this information. 

The office I contacted is:

Manager of Customer Satisfaction

Sony Electronics, <st1:Street><st1:address>1 Sony Drive</st1:address></st1:Street>

Mail Drop 138

<st1:place><st1:City>Park Ridge</st1:City>, <st1:State>New Jersey</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode>07656</st1:PostalCode></st1:place>

-------------- Original message -------------- 

From: Scott Thibault tbone7467(at)yahoo.com 

 -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: Scott Thibault <TBONE7467(at)YAHOO.COM>

 Most big corporations outsource their call center business nowadays. the reason 

 that I know this is that I work for an outsource center (sony is no diffrent 

 unfortunately). you will never get resolution from call centers most of the time 

 just get the run around. that an most of the "managers" dont know anything about 

 the products, they just spout BS to make you think they know what they are 

 talking about. the problem for the call centers is not clear channel for 

 communication and a lot of red tape. I am sorry you got such crappy service that 

 sucks. 

 Randy Visentine <RANDYMAN(at)GMAIL.COM>wrote: -- XDP4000X-

 List message posted 

 by: "Randy Visentine" 

 I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center. I sent my lovely 

 STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service. It was displaying "Protect" on the 

 display, and would not function at all. It has a 5 Year warranty. So I pay 

 the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony. I get it 

 back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked, 

 but they did not address the intermittent motorized volume knob issue I was 

 having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action). 

 So, flash to about a year or 2 later. Unit is still under warranty. The 

 Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was 

 intermittent as well. I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service 

 center about 5 miles from my work. So I take it in (save $50 shipping). 

 The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy. I get a phone call the next 

 day. He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever, 

 and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED! Well, as I mentioned 

 above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit. I call 

 Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my 

 unit, and my warranty is now voided. I was PISSED!!! I could not find the 

 invoice from the previous repair - so I was screwed. It was their word 

 against mine regarding the previous repair. I finally find the invoice 

 (thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere. 

 The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have 

 addressed the Protection circuit. Sony would NOT admit their techs could do 

 anything like this. But they did - they essentially created a fire hazar

 d 

 in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit. 

 I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the 

 call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s 

 yourself). I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony 

 NY (Phillip someone). I leave a message, and I recieve a call back from 

 them the next day. A very helpful lady took my info, and approved my 

 Warranty repair in about 10 minutes. I don't know if any follow up was 

 done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to 

 have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit. I can not 

 believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs. Talk about 

 half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less). The local Repair Tech did a great 

 job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again! 

&gt

 ; Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO 

 (literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case) 

 The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is 

 working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine). My warranty just expired. I 

 have had it with Sony. I will be replacing it with either a Parasound A/V 

 preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year. 

 I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL 

 CDD might be replacing that soon. Sony really pissed me off with this crap. 

 I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny. I will hang onto my 2250 

 Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but 

 the rest will get replaced with other stuff. I feel you 100% on your Sony 

 Repair issue. 

 Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail 

&

 gt; market. Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind of 

 customer abuse upsets you. I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony 

 - not anymore... 

 Randy V. 

 On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net wrote: 

  -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: jtholley03(at)adelphia.net 

  This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90, 

  and 3 XM2000R's. 

  Do you still have your XDP4000? 

  I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news 

  saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something. 

 -- 

 Randy V. 

 Houston, TX 

 Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy 

 -------------------------------

 -- 

 Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.

tbone7467(at)yahoo.com
Guest

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:45 pm Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

My repair shop was in larado texas

DB <dbotel6500(at)rogers.com> wrote:  

Bobby,

It might be prudent to try and attempt communication with a more 

experienced repair shop. (i.e. one that may even have a C90 in their 

possession!)

When I had my deck repaired, the shop that I sent my head unit to had a 

few spare C90's in for quick swapping of chassis. You may have to 

really look around for a reputable shop, as it looks like the one

you sent it to doesn't do quality work...If the shop you sent your head 

unit to does not have compentent techs working for them, this will only 

make things worse!

D

bobbybraun(at)comcast.net wrote:

 	  Quote: 	

Oh, and when I referenced speaking to the manager of customer service in my previous post, she was a manager who told me she works in the same building as the office of the president of Sony America. I was contacted by her after I wrote a letter and sent it to their main office. Unfortunately she is rather uninformed and even a touch rude at times, but I have yet to make any real clear demands and have just been trying to get them to fix the thing on their own... I feel there is no higher up I can go for my situation, but if any of you have other contacts at hand it may be helpful to myself and others out there if you were to share this information. 

The office I contacted is:

Manager of Customer Satisfaction

Sony Electronics, 1 Sony Drive

Mail Drop 138

Park Ridge, New Jersey 07656

-------------- Original message -------------- 

From: Scott Thibault 

>

>

>Most big corporations outsource their call center business nowadays. the reason 

>that I know this is that I work for an outsource center (sony is no diffrent 

>unfortunately). you will never get resolution from call centers most of the time 

>just get the run around. that an most of the "managers" dont know anything about 

>the products, they just spout BS to make you think they know what they are 

>talking about. the problem for the call centers is not clear channel for 

>communication and a lot of red tape. I am sorry you got such crappy service that 

>sucks. 

>

>Randy Visentine wrote: --> XDP4000X-List message posted 

>by: "Randy Visentine" 

>

>I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center. I sent my lovely 

>STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service. It was displaying "Protect" on the 

>display, and would not function at all. It has a 5 Year warranty. So I pay 

>the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony. I get it 

>back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked, 

>but they did not address the intermittent motorized volume knob issue I was 

>having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action). 

>

>So, flash to about a year or 2 later. Unit is still under warranty. The 

>Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was 

>intermittent as well. I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service 

>center about 5 miles from my work. So I take it in (save $50 shipping). 

>

>The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy. I get a phone call the next 

>day. He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever, 

>and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED! Well, as I mentioned 

>above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit. I call 

>Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my 

>unit, and my warranty is now voided. I was PISSED!!! I could not find the 

>invoice from the previous repair - so I was screwed. It was their word 

>against mine regarding the previous repair. I finally find the invoice 

>(thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere. 

>The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have 

>addressed the Protection circuit. Sony would NOT admit their techs could do 

>anything like this. But they did - they essentially created a fire hazard 

>in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit. 

>

>I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the 

>call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s 

>yourself). I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony 

>NY (Phillip someone). I leave a message, and I recieve a call back from 

>them the next day. A very helpful lady took my info, and approved my 

>Warranty repair in about 10 minutes. I don't know if any follow up was 

>done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to 

>have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit. I can not 

>believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs. Talk about 

>half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less). The local Repair Tech did a great 

>job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again! 

>Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO 

>(literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case) 

>

>The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is 

>working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine). My warranty just expired. I 

>have had it with Sony. I will be replacing it with either a Parasound A/V 

>preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year. 

>

>I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL 

>CDD might be replacing that soon. Sony really pissed me off with this crap. 

>I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny. I will hang onto my 2250 

>Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but 

>the rest will get replaced with other stuff. I feel you 100% on your Sony 

>Repair issue. 

>

>Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail 

>market. Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind of 

>customer abuse upsets you. I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony 

>- not anymore... 

>

>Randy V. 

>On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net wrote: 

> 

>

>>

>>

>>This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90, 

>>and 3 XM2000R's. 

>>

>>Do you still have your XDP4000? 

>>

>>I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news 

>>saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something. 

>>

>>

>>

>> 

>>

>-- 

>Randy V. 

>Houston, TX 

>Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy 

>

>--------------------------------- 

>Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. 

> 

>

Oh, and when I referencedspeaking to the manager of customer service in my previous post, she was a manager who told me she works in the same buildingas the office of the president of Sony America. I was contacted by her after I wrote a letter and sent it to their main office. Unfortunately she is rather uninformed and even a touch rude at times, but I have yet to make any real clear demands and have just been trying to get them to fix the thing on their own... I feel there is no higher up I can go for my situation, but if any of you have other contacts at hand it may be helpful to myself and others out there if you were to share this information. 

The office I contacted is:

Manager of Customer Satisfaction

Sony Electronics, 1 Sony Drive

Mail Drop 138

Park Ridge, New Jersey 07656

-------------- Original message -------------- 

From: Scott Thibault tbone7467(at)yahoo.com 

 -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: Scott Thibault 

 Most big corporations outsource their call center business nowadays. the reason 

 that I know this is that I work for an outsource center (sony is no diffrent 

 unfortunately). you will never get resolution from call centers most of the time 

 just get the run around. that an most of the "managers" dont know anything about 

 the products, they just spout BS to make you think they know what they are 

 talking about. the problem for the call centers is not clear channel for 

 communication and a lot of red tape. I am sorry you got such crappy service that 

 sucks. 

 Randy Visentine wrote: -- XDP4000X-

 List message posted 

 by: "Randy Visentine" 

 I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center. I sent my lovely 

 STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service. It was displaying "Protect" on the 

 display, and would not function at all. It has a 5 Year warranty. So I pay 

 the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony. I get it 

 back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked, 

 but they did not address the intermittent motorized volume knob issue I was 

 having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action). 

 So, flash to about a year or 2 later. Unit is still under warranty. The 

 Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was 

 intermittent as well. I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service 

 center about 5 miles from my work. So I take it in (save $50 shipping). 

 The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy. I get a phone call the next 

 day. He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever, 

 and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED! Well, as I mentioned 

 above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit. I call 

 Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my 

 unit, and my warranty is now voided. I was PISSED!!! I could not find the 

 invoice from the previous repair - so I was screwed. It was their word 

 against mine regarding the previous repair. I finally find the invoice 

 (thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere. 

 The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have 

 addressed the Protection circuit. Sony would NOT admit their techs could do 

 anything like this. But they did - they essentially created a fire hazar

 d 

 in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit. 

 I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the 

 call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s 

 yourself). I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony 

 NY (Phillip someone). I leave a message, and I recieve a call back from 

 them the next day. A very helpful lady took my info, and approved my 

 Warranty repair in about 10 minutes. I don't know if any follow up was 

 done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to 

 have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit. I can not 

 believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs. Talk about 

 half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less). The local Repair Tech did a great 

 job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again! 

>

 ; Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO 

 (literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case) 

 The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is 

 working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine). My warranty just expired. I 

 have had it with Sony. I will be replacing it with either a Parasound A/V 

 preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year. 

 I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL 

 CDD might be replacing that soon. Sony really pissed me off with this crap. 

 I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny. I will hang onto my 2250 

 Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but 

 the rest will get replaced with other stuff. I feel you 100% on your Sony 

 Repair issue. 

 Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail 

&

 gt; market. Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind of 

 customer abuse upsets you. I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony 

 - not anymore... 

 Randy V. 

 On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net wrote: 

 -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: jtholley03(at)adelphia.net 

 This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90, 

 and 3 XM2000R's. 

 Do you still have your XDP4000? 

 I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news 

 saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something. 

 -- 

 Randy V. 

 Houston, TX 

 Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy 

 -------------------------------

 -- 

 Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. 

---------------------------------

 Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.

bobbybraun(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 1:07 am Post subject: Wow, what an experience (Sony)

Sony lists the Laredo Repair Facility as their only authorized repair shop for U.S. products.  I contacted the MTC Repair shop in Canada and they were no help either, they just told me to contact Sony located in the U.S. and that they do not handle any products sold outside of Canada.  Does anyone know of any other shops out there that 'used' to be authorized Sony Repair Centers but have had that recognition removed due to the consolidation?

-------------- Original message -------------- 

From: Scott Thibault <tbone7467(at)yahoo.com> 

 	  Quote: 	

 My repair shop was in larado texas 

 DB wrote: 

 Bobby, 

 It might be prudent to try and attempt communication with a more 

 experienced repair shop. (i.e. one that may even have a C90 in their 

 possession!) 

 When I had my deck repaired, the shop that I sent my head unit to had a 

 few spare C90's in for quick swapping of chassis. You may have to 

 really look around for a reputable shop, as it looks like the one 

 you sent it to doesn't do quality work...If the shop you sent your head 

 unit to does not have compentent techs working for them, this will only 

 make things worse! 

 D 

 bobbybraun(at)comcast.net wrote: 

 >

 > 

 >Oh, and when I referenced speaking to the manager of customer service in my 

 previous post, she was a manager who told me she works in the same building as 

 the office of the president of Sony America. I was contacted by her after I 

 wrote a letter and sent it to their main office. Unfortunately she is rather 

 uninformed and even a touch rude at times, but I have yet to make any real clear 

 demands and have just been trying to get them to fix the thing on their own... I 

 feel there is no higher up I can go for my situation, but if any of you have 

 other contacts at hand it may be helpful to myself and others out there if you 

 were to share this information. 

 > 

 >The office I contacted is: 

 > 

 >Manager of Customer Satisfaction 

 >Sony Electronics, 1 Sony Drive 

 >Mail Drop 138 

 >Park Ridge, New Jersey 07656 

 > 

 >-------------- Original message -------------- 

 >From: Scott Thibault 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >>

 >> 

 >>Most big corporations outsource their call center business nowadays. the 

 reason 

 >>that I know this is that I work for an outsource center (sony is no diffrent 

 >>unfortunately). you will never get resolution from call centers most of the 

 time 

 >>just get the run around. that an most of the "managers" dont know anything 

 about 

 >>the products, they just spout BS to make you think they know what they are 

 >>talking about. the problem for the call centers is not clear channel for 

 >>communication and a lot of red tape. I am sorry you got such crappy service 

 that 

 >>sucks. 

 >> 

 >>Randy Visentine wrote: --> XDP4000X-List message posted 

 >>by: "Randy Visentine" 

 >> 

 >>I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center. I sent my lovely 

 >>STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service. It was displaying "Protect" on the 

 >>display, and would not function at all. It has a 5 Year warranty. So I pay 

 >>the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony. I get it 

 >>back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked, 

 >>but they did not address the intermittent motorized volume knob issue I was 

 >>having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action). 

 >> 

 >>So, flash to about a year or 2 later. Unit is still under warranty. The 

 >>Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was 

 >>intermittent as well. I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service 

 >>center about 5 miles from my work. So I take it in (save $50 shipping). 

 >> 

 >>The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy. I get a phone call the next 

 >>day. He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever, 

 >>and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED! Well, as I mentioned 

 >>above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit. I call 

 >>Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my 

 >>unit, and my warranty is now voided. I was PISSED!!! I could not find the 

 >>invoice from the previous repair - so I was screwed. It was their word 

 >>against mine regarding the previous repair. I finally find the invoice 

 >>(thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere. 

 >>The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have 

 >>addressed the Protection circuit. Sony would NOT admit their techs could do 

 >>anything like this. But they did - they essentially created a fire hazard 

 >>in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit. 

 >> 

 >>I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the 

 >>call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s 

 >>yourself). I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony 

 >>NY (Phillip someone). I leave a message, and I recieve a call back from 

 >>them the next day. A very helpful lady took my info, and approved my 

 >>Warranty repair in about 10 minutes. I don't know if any follow up was 

 >>done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to 

 >>have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit. I can not 

 >>believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs. Talk about 

 >>half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less). The local Repair Tech did a great 

 >>job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again! 

 >>Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO 

 >>(literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case) 

 >> 

 >>The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is 

 >>working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine). My warranty just expired. I 

 >>have had it with Sony. I will be replacing it with either a Parasound A/V 

 >>preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year. 

 >> 

 >>I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL 

 >>CDD might be replacing that soon. Sony really pissed me off with this crap. 

 >>I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny. I will hang onto my 2250 

 >>Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but 

 >>the rest will get replaced with other stuff. I feel you 100% on your Sony 

 >>Repair issue. 

 >> 

 >>Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail 

 >>market. Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind of 

 >>customer abuse upsets you. I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony 

 >>- not anymore... 

 >> 

 >>Randy V. 

 >> 

 >> 

 >>On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net wrote: 

 >> 

 >> 

 >>>

 >>> 

 >>>This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90, 

 >>>and 3 XM2000R's. 

 >>> 

 >>>Do you still have your XDP4000? 

 >>> 

 >>>I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news 

 >>>saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something. 

 >>> 

 >>> 

 >>> 

 >>> 

 >>> 

 >>-- 

 >>Randy V. 

 >>Houston, TX 

 >>Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy 

 >> 

 >> 

 >> 

 >> 

 >> 

 >>--------------------------------- 

 >>Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. 

 >> 

 >> 

 >> 

 >> 

 > 

 >Oh, and when I referencedspeaking to the manager of customer service in my 

 previous post, she was a manager who told me she works in the same buildingas 

 the office of the president of Sony America. I was contacted by her after I 

 wrote a letter and sent it to their main office. Unfortunately she is rather 

 uninformed and even a touch rude at times, but I have yet to make any real clear 

 demands and have just been trying to get them to fix the thing on their own... I 

 feel there is no higher up I can go for my situation, but if any of you have 

 other contacts at hand it may be helpful to myself and others out there if you 

 were to share this information. 

 > 

 >The office I contacted is: 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >Manager of Customer Satisfaction 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >Sony Electronics, 1 Sony Drive 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >Mail Drop 138 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >Park Ridge, New Jersey 07656 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 >-------------- Original message -------------- 

 >From: Scott Thibault tbone7467(at)yahoo.com 

 > 

 > -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: Scott Thibault 

 > 

 > Most big corporations outsource their call center business nowadays. the 

 reason 

 > that I know this is that I work for an outsource center (sony is no diffrent 

 > unfortunately). you will never get resolution from call centers most of the 

 time 

 > just get the run around. that an most of the "managers" dont know anything 

 about 

 > the products, they just spout BS to make you think they know what they are 

 > talking about. the problem for the call centers is not clear channel for 

 > communication and a lot of red tape. I am sorry you got such crappy service 

 that 

 > sucks. 

 > 

 > Randy Visentine wrote: -- XDP4000X- 

 > List message posted 

 > by: "Randy Visentine" 

 > 

 > I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center. I sent my lovely 

 > STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service. It was displaying "Protect" on the 

 > display, and would not function at all. It has a 5 Year warranty. So I pay 

 > the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony. I get it 

 > back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked, 

 > but they did not address the intermittent motorized volume knob issue I was 

 > having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action). 

 > 

 > So, flash to about a year or 2 later. Unit is still under warranty. The 

 > Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was 

 > intermittent as well. I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service 

 > center about 5 miles from my work. So I take it in (save $50 shipping). 

 > 

 > 

 > The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy. I get a phone call the next 

 > day. He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever, 

 > and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED! Well, as I mentioned 

 > above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit. I call 

 > Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my 

 > unit, and my warranty is now voided. I was PISSED!!! I could not find the 

 > invoice from the previous repair - so I was screwed. It was their word 

 > against mine regarding the previous repair. I finally find the invoice 

 > (thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere. 

 > The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have 

 > addressed the Protection circuit. Sony would NOT admit their techs could do 

 > anything like this. But they did - they essentially created a fire hazar 

 > d 

 > in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit. 

 > 

 > I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the 

 > call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s 

 > yourself). I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony 

 > NY (Phillip someone). I leave a message, and I recieve a call back from 

 > them the next day. A very helpful lady took my info, and approved my 

 > Warranty repair in about 10 minutes. I don't know if any follow up was 

 > done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to 

 > have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit. I can not 

 > believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs. Talk about 

 > half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less). The local Repair Tech did a great 

 > job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again! 

 >> 

 > ; Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO 

 > (literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case) 

 > 

 > The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is 

 > working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine). My warranty just expired. I 

 > have had it with Sony. I will be replacing it with either a Parasound A/V 

 > preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year. 

 > 

 > I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL 

 > CDD might be replacing that soon. Sony really pissed me off with this crap. 

 > I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny. I will hang onto my 2250 

 > Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but 

 > the rest will get replaced with other stuff. I feel you 100% on your Sony 

 > Repair issue. 

 > 

 > Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail 

 >& 

 > gt; market. Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind 

 of 

 > customer abuse upsets you. I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony 

 > - not anymore... 

 > 

 > Randy V. 

 > 

 > 

 > On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net wrote: 

 > 

 > -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: jtholley03(at)adelphia.net 

 > 

 > This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90, 

 > and 3 XM2000R's. 

 > 

 > Do you still have your XDP4000? 

 > 

 > I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news 

 > saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > -- 

 > Randy V. 

 > Houston, TX 

 > Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > ------------------------------- 

 > -- 

 > Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 > 

 --------------------------------- 

 Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. 

Sony lists the Laredo Repair Facility as their only authorized repair shop for U.S.products. I contacted the MTC Repair shop in Canada and they were no help either, they just told me to contact Sony located in the U.S. and that they do not handle any products sold outside of Canada. Does anyone know of any other shops out there that 'used' to be authorized Sony Repair Centers but have had that recognition removed due to the consolidation?

-------------- Original message -------------- 

From: Scott Thibault tbone7467(at)yahoo.com 

 -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: Scott Thibault <TBONE7467(at)YAHOO.COM>

 My repair shop was in larado texas 

 DB <DBOTEL6500(at)ROGERS.COM>wrote: -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: DB 

 Bobby, 

 It might be prudent to try and attempt communication with a more 

 experienced repair shop. (i.e. one that may even have a C90 in their 

 possession!) 

 When I had my deck repaired, the shop that I sent my head unit to had a 

 few spare C90's in for quick swapping of chassis. You may have to 

 really look around for a reputable shop, as it looks like the one 

 you sent it to doesn't do quality work...If the shop you sent your head 

 unit to does not have compen

 tent techs working for them, this will only 

 make things worse! 

 D 

 bobbybraun(at)comcast.net wrote: 

 -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: bobbybraun(at)comcast.net 

 Oh, and when I referenced speaking to the manager of customer service in my 

 previous post, she was a manager who told me she works in the same building as 

 the office of the president of Sony America. I was contacted by her after I 

 wrote a letter and sent it to their main office. Unfortunately she is rather 

 uninformed and even a touch rude at times, but I have yet to make any real clear 

 demands and have just been trying to get them to fix the thing on their own... I 

 feel there is no higher up I can go for my situation, but if any of you have 

 other contacts at hand it may be helpful to myself and others out there if you 

 were to share this information. 

&gt

 ;  

 The office I contacted is: 

 Manager of Customer Satisfaction 

 Sony Electronics, 1 Sony Drive 

 Mail Drop 138 

 Park Ridge, New Jersey 07656 

 -------------- Original message -------------- 

 From: Scott Thibault 

 -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: Scott Thibault 

 Most big corporations outsource their call center business nowadays. the 

 reason 

 that I know this is that I work for an outsource center (sony is no diffrent 

 unfortunately). you will never get resolution from call centers most of the 

 time 

 just get the run around. that an most of the "managers" dont know anything 

 about 

 the products, they just spout BS to make you think they know what they are 

 talkin

 g about. the problem for the call centers is not clear channel for 

 communication and a lot of red tape. I am sorry you got such crappy service 

 that 

 sucks. 

 Randy Visentine wrote: -- XDP4000X-List message posted 

 by: "Randy Visentine" 

 I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center. I sent my lovely 

 STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service. It was displaying "Protect" on the 

 display, and would not function at all. It has a 5 Year warranty. So I pay 

 the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony. I get it 

 back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked, 

 but they did not address the intermittent motorized volume knob issue I was 

 having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action). <B

 R>  

 So, flash to about a year or 2 later. Unit is still under warranty. The 

 Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was 

 intermittent as well. I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service 

 center about 5 miles from my work. So I take it in (save $50 shipping). 

 The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy. I get a phone call the next 

 day. He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever, 

 and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED! Well, as I mentioned 

 above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit. I call 

 Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my 

 unit, and my warranty is now voided. I was PISSED!!! I could not find the 

 invoice from the previous repair 

 - so I was screwed. It was their word 

 against mine regarding the previous repair. I finally find the invoice 

 (thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere. 

 The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have 

 addressed the Protection circuit. Sony would NOT admit their techs could do 

 anything like this. But they did - they essentially created a fire hazard 

 in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit. 

 I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the 

 call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s 

 yourself). I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony 

 NY (Phillip someone). I leave a message, and I recieve a call back from 

 them the next day. A very h

 elpful lady took my info, and approved my 

 Warranty repair in about 10 minutes. I don't know if any follow up was 

 done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to 

 have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit. I can not 

 believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs. Talk about 

 half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less). The local Repair Tech did a great 

 job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again! 

 Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO 

 (literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case) 

 The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is 

 working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine). My warranty just expired. I 

 have had it with Sony. I will be

  replacing it with either a Parasound A/V 

 preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year. 

 I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL 

 CDD might be replacing that soon. Sony really pissed me off with this crap. 

 I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny. I will hang onto my 2250 

 Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but 

 the rest will get replaced with other stuff. I feel you 100% on your Sony 

 Repair issue. 

 Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail 

 market. Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind of 

 customer abuse upsets you. I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony 

 - not anymore... 

 Randy V. <BR

 >  

 On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net wrote: 

 -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: jtholley03(at)adelphia.net 

 This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90, 

 and 3 XM2000R's. 

 Do you still have your XDP4000? 

 I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news 

 saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something. 

 -- 

 Randy V. 

 Houston, TX 

 Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy 

 ---

 ------------------------------ 

 Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. 

 Oh, and when I referencedspeaking to the manager of customer service in my 

 previous post, she was a manager who told me she works in the same buildingas 

 the office of the president of Sony America. I was contacted by her after I 

 wrote a letter and sent it to their main office. Unfortunately she is rather 

 uninformed and even a touch rude at times, but I have yet to make any real clear 

 demands and have just been trying to get them to fix the thing on their own... I 

 feel there is no higher up I can go for my situation, but if any of you have 

 other contacts at hand it may be helpful to myself and others out there if you 

 were to share this information. 

 The office I contacted is: 

 Manager of Customer Satisfaction 

 Sony Electronics, 1 Sony Drive 

 Mail Drop 138 

 Park Ridge, New Jersey 07656 

 -------------- Original message -------------- 

 From: Scott Thibault tbone7467(at)yahoo.com 

  -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: Scott Thibault 

  Most big corporations outsource their call center business nowadays. the 

 reason 

  that I know this is that I work for an outsource center (sony is no diffrent 

  unfortunately). you will never get resolution from call centers most of the 

 time 

  just get the run around. that an most of the 

 "managers" dont know anything 

 about 

  the products, they just spout BS to make you think they know what they are 

  talking about. the problem for the call centers is not clear channel for 

  communication and a lot of red tape. I am sorry you got such crappy service 

 that 

  sucks. 

  Randy Visentine wrote: -- XDP4000X- 

  List message posted 

  by: "Randy Visentine" 

  I had a simlar runaround from Sony Service Center. I sent my lovely 

  STR-DA777ES Reciever in for service. It was displaying "Protect" on the 

  display, and would not function at all. It has a 5 Year warranty. So I pay 

  the ~$50 shipping fee to have it serviced by the "Pros" at Sony. I get it 

  back a few weeks later, and all seems well (well, actually, the unit worked, 

  but they did not address the intermittent mot

 orized volume knob issue I was 

  having - but I was just glad to get my baby back, and my HT back in action). 

  So, flash to about a year or 2 later. Unit is still under warranty. The 

  Motorized Volume Knob was REALLY acting up now, and part of the display was 

  intermittent as well. I go online, and see Sony has a "Platinum" service 

  center about 5 miles from my work. So I take it in (save $50 shipping). 

  The tech is a very nice and knowledgeable guy. I get a phone call the next 

  day. He informs me that SOMEONE had done VERY sloppy work on this reciever, 

  and the Protection Circuitry was actually BYPASSED! Well, as I mentioned 

  above, the Sony Service Center did the last "Repair" on my unit. I call 

  Sony - and they tell me I had an un-authorized repair center work on my 

  unit, and my warranty is

  now voided. I was PISSED!!! I could not find the 

  invoice from the previous repair - so I was screwed. It was their word 

  against mine regarding the previous repair. I finally find the invoice 

  (thank God), and they STILL claim I had un-authorized work done elsewhere. 

  The invoice even stated I was having "Protect" issues - so Sony MUST have 

  addressed the Protection circuit. Sony would NOT admit their techs could do 

  anything like this. But they did - they essentially created a fire hazar 

  d 

  in my rack my bypassing the Protection circuit. 

  I go round and round with the Call Center (you will never get outside of the 

  call center unless you do some research and find some corporate contact #'s 

  yourself). I got fed up, and found a contact for the Chief Engineer at Sony 

  NY (Phillip someone). I leave a messag

 e, and I recieve a call back from 

  them the next day. A very helpful lady took my info, and approved my 

  Warranty repair in about 10 minutes. I don't know if any follow up was 

  done, but the Sony Service Center could have been liable if a fire was to 

  have started due to the blatent disreguard for saftey on my unit. I can not 

  believe the quality of the Sony Service Center's repair techs. Talk about 

  half-ass - more like 1/8 ass (or less). The local Repair Tech did a great 

  job, and I would NEVER send my Sony Units to a "Sony Service Center" again! 

  ; Find a good authorized shop in your area, and you will be much safer IMO 

  (literally safer; as in no fire hazard in my case) 

  The reciever just had another issue (NONE of the digital circuitry is 

  working, but Analog Pass Thru works fine). My warranty just

  expired. I 

  have had it with Sony. I will be replacing it with either a Parasound A/V 

  preamp, or a Marantz unit in the next year. 

  I still pimp my C90/XDP-4K in my Tacoma, but a sick Car-PC or even the URAL 

  CDD might be replacing that soon. Sony really pissed me off with this crap. 

  I have so much Sony gear - it is not even funny. I will hang onto my 2250 

  Watts of Sony ES Home Amplification (and two XM-7547's and one XM-7527), but 

  the rest will get replaced with other stuff. I feel you 100% on your Sony 

  Repair issue. 

  Remember - the Consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the retail 

  gt; market. Make your statement by not buying anymore Sony Gear if this kind 

 of 

  customer abuse upsets you. I had plans on spending thousands more with Sony 

  - not anymore..

 . 

  Randy V. 

  On 3/16/06, jtholley03(at)adelphia.net wrote: 

  -- XDP4000X-List message posted by: jtholley03(at)adelphia.net 

  This is very disheartening. I am sorry to hear this since I have a C90, 

  and 3 XM2000R's. 

  Do you still have your XDP4000? 

  I am looking to buy one and still will be doing so even tho this news 

  saddens me and lets me know I am forked if I need to repair something. 

  -- 

  Randy V. 

  Houston, TX 

  Audio-Dude/Musician/Crazy Guy 

  ------------------------------- 

  -- 

  Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. 

  <B

 R>  

 --------------------------------- 

 Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. 

 d

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