It's important that what we put on this thread is balanced

Since my last post, I've had a much better experience with the Sony Customer Centre.

As recommended elsewhere on the thread, I've obtained a report on the problem with my 40W4500 (TCONN fail) and a repair estimate. OK , I had to pay for this (£70) and it was done by the retailers repair service.

Sony have asked me to send these documents to them, along with my reciept.

This latest interaction with Sony suggests there is an accepted path for dealing wiith ex-warranty clains on these TVs. Just a shame my first interaction with them was so different; I wonder if something has changed!

Let's see what happens.

Oct 2008 KDL 40W4500 Owner

It is good that Sony are starting to take this a little bit more seriously but it is still a concern that the procedure in place is not fair on customers who experience this fault.

Put simply not everyone has £80 lying around that they can pay to a Sony service centre for this to be looked at and confirm what you knew already (it is a T Conn fault).

This is obviously a big problem with TV's from this era and it would make sense from Sony's perspective that if a customer complained about there been grey lines on the set and sent photo evidence then Sony should then arrange for the TV to be fixed without quibble.

As for me, it has taken 12 months for Sony to get to this point.  I have spent a lot of my non working hours trying to get this rectified,  spoke to some incredibly rude people in the contact centre (and some pleasent ones as well I must add to make it fair on the staff), sent countless e-mails and letters.      I have been told a lot of contradictive informaiton and at one point was lied to (or misled whichever way you want to put it) by someone in the contact centre.  My personal experience of Sony is far from positive.

Someone from Sony has no agreed to look into my complaint which is reassuring to hear that it is finally getting taken seriously,  I will post my thoughts afterwards.

I posted about a month ago (on the previous page) about my KDLW4500 problem. I'm pleased to say that Sony have offered me a replacement KDL40EX503 (which seems broadly similar) under their goodwill policy. I've heard this via a call from their approved dealer who gave me the quote for repair (the easiest £40 they could earn - they knew what the fault was as soon as I brought the TV into the shop!)

However, Sony haven't had the courtesy to reply to my letter or call me themselves. If the letter is 'in the post' I'll apologise but it's now 2 days since the repair shop phoned me. I'm less than happy about being informed by a third party.

No apology, no recognition that due to their manufacturing fault I've been without a decent picture for over a month, that I've had to pay to get documentary proof, that I've had two 20-mile trips taking the TV for an estimate and return, and a further trip to return the defective set and pick up the new one.......

It will be a Panasonic or Samsung for me next time round. Sony have not dealt with this particularly well. If you are going to put something right, then put it right properly and keep customers on board. Don't force them through numerous hoops. Accept liabilty and move on....

Good Luck to those of you still trying to get your sets replaced. Sony will respond to well argued written cases; don't accept the advice from the call centre.

well, i had my w4500 looked at by a sony repair centre (costing £50) and it needs a new screen which will cost me £463.94. Gutted unless Sony can help

Or......you could read my various posts on the subject and follow the suggested escalation route.  As some of the subsequent replies have suggested, this can work.

If it helps, feel free PM me directly with all the details.  I will provide an answer on how best to proceed and, if required, pass the matter onto someone who will hopefully resolve it quickly.

As I said before, each case will be looked at individually, judged on its own merits and appropriate action taken.   Try it, I think you may be pleasantly surprised.

Best regards

Lee

I absolutely understand your concerns.  However, I equally understand where my colleagues are coming from.

Without the repair estimate, we cannot be certain what the nature of the fault is or how much the repair is likely to cost.  Effectively we are flying blind and certainly in no position to offer any sort of worthwhile comment.  It would be irresponsible to commit to anything without first confirming what’s wrong.

As a side note, with most repair agents, the initial estimate fee is taken off the final repair (should you go ahead) although I would double check first.

I am also aware of the issue in the US with similar generation Bravia.  However, while their Bravia range may share the same or similar model numbers,  they  are manufactured it totally different factories to the units we get in Europe.   That being said, if we get enough reports of the same problem (another reason we need that repair estimate) we will take action, as we have done previously.

With this in mind, can I ask that everyone first addresses their issue with the Customer Information Centre, who are more than capable of dealing with majority of issues.  If you have done this, and still have concerns, please feel free to PM me directly and I will see what I can do.

Best regards

Lee

Message was edited by: StartTheCar

I've never seen such slimy behaviour & from a so called reputable company!

So Sony UK still stick to their story that there a "no known faults".  Reading through the threads here, I can see so many models effected.

I can see 40W4500, 40X3000, 46X3500, 40v3000, just to name a few, all with the same fault.

So when I report the same fault on my 40X3500, do Sony actually expect me to believe that the internals are completely different on all these products?

And the "Good Will Gesture".  Doesn't it make you sick!

What is wrong with this website??

Everytime I try to reply, the website is unavailable