Sony repair blues...

[mathwhiz99atucb]

Recently my sister's SL10 died (unit refuses to power on, either with batteries or AC) and she asked me to call Sony support and have it fixed. I called and they sent me a box to return the unit in. However, they asked for a copy of my proof of purchase (e.g. sales receipt) and for the life of me I cannot find it. When I called them back to tell them that I had lost my receipt, they said that they would still accept the unit and repair it, but they would consider it "out-of-warranty" (the unit was purchased in April 2003) and charge $125+tax for the repair.

This presents me with a difficult situation here... should I send the unit into Sony to get repaired or should I consult eBay for a new unit (considering that this unit is discontinued). Alternately, I saw a unit with a broken screen for sale there. Since her screen is in pristine condition, would this be a viable option to pursue? Are these units difficult to service yourself?

My second option is to give her my current T615 and purchase a new Clie. The new models that I am interested in are the T665, SJ33 and the TG50? Are these viable replacements for the T615? I know all of them have drawbacks and benefits (TG's have the nice flip cover but the annoying keyboard; SJ's have a smaller form factor and cheap plastic casing, and the T665 just adds an audio player to the 615).

Tell me what you guys think...

:D ~Nick~ :D

[Alistar]

If you purchased the SL10 at a store... most electronics/office supply stores now keep computer records of sales. You could go back there and ask them to reprint the reciept.

[mathwhiz99atucb]

I tried that but the store I purchased it at (Target; it was on clearance sale there) said that they could not do receipt reprints more than 24 hours old even if I had the credit/check card used for payment. I think this is ridiculous and it will make me think twice about purchasing any electronics there again.

[aaronrkelly]

At the price they want to charge your for repair I would deffinately NOT go that route, you can pick up a different PDA for that.

Either pickup another for you and give her yours or get her a different one on EBAY.......Sonys repair price is outrageous.

[Alistar]

That sucks. You could ask Sony if you could use your card statement for proof.
Other than that I would suggest asking yourself, is it worth repairing or could you use an upgraded model.

[n2ifp]

That's probably what it cost to make the whole unit :(

[jimod]

I have had Sony ervice tell me that my BRAND NEW, 4 HOUR old nx70v had water damage and they wanted $500 dollars to repair it or $75 dollars to send it back unrepaired.

detailked in my letters the 36 inch Vega and the 300 dollar bookshelf systems that i still had 12 days to return in my email, and explained that i am involved in the sale of pda's in the store i work in. They knuckled once i burned off copies in Japanese to the parent company, as well as to the three biggest retailers of their product.

As for the Target dilemma, go there, ask for a manager, then ask HIM for the name and contact # for their regional manager, then explain why you want the information. If they will not give it, get his name and call their corporate offices, and ask THEM, continue the process until you get some satisfaction from them, cause i can guarantee that if the cops or the IRS needed them to produce a copy of that reciept they could call it up if it is less than 3 years old, IN THE STORE.

The item MAY be unrepairable, is LIKELY out of warranty (Sony gives only 1 year if registered), but you should, at the very least, DEMAND decent customer service.

[mathwhiz99atucb]

Thanks to all of you for your advice. I went to Target earlier this evening and they said that they would be able to help me after all (but at that time their computers were down), but I needed to know the EXACT amount of purchase and the date of purchase. Happily, my bank was able to give me this information.

I will update this thread as the saga unfolds.

:D ~Nick~ :D