Dead Sony 16-35mm f/4. Sony farms out warranty service in USA.

[doug]

+1. Sony may have farmed out service, but Leica's in-house service is no better. Probably worse.

Don't get me started on Leica service… oops, too late! 5 months for a lens CLA, on a lens that needs it every 2 years… 8 months for R8 CLA including multiple round trips between Sacramento and Allendale to get it right. On a more positive side, the customer service people know I have a name, not a number and the DMR service was free. My next camera will probably be a Sony once I raise the $$, not looking forward to the service experience.

 

[msadat]

these are all part of the growing pains. the camera division is very strategic for sony and they have invested a lot of money. eventually they will get it right but till then..

 

[msadat]

my best experience so far has been with canon cps service out of Irvine and hasselbald service. nikon what ever the problem they will pass it on to the user and u have to pay.

 

[Paul David]

Hello Paul David,

My name is Amanda Coppersmith, I work for Sony Electronics social media team. I completely empathize with your frustrations and definitely want to make sure this is being handled accordingly. Did the representative that you were speaking to provide you with a reference number (example: E12345678)? If so, please send that information to me in a private message. I will look into this further and see if there's anything else I can do to help out from my end.

Have a wonderful day!

-Amanda

I appreciate your concern, Amanda. I eventually resolved this issue after many days and wasted hours by customer service accepting a return and issuing a refund of the purchase price.

This does not, however, resolve the issue as to whether Sony "professional" camera equipment can be promptly and reliably serviced in the USA. You have read other readers's experience with "Precision" camera, and it had been universally unsatisfactory. In addition, it is unacceptable to prevent a customer from talking directly to a senior level technician with knowledge of the product. When I have had to service Canon gear it was quickly and expertly serviced by Canon in Irvine, CA; there is no reason to accept less from Sony.

As I'm waiting for the A7rII and other products I will consider them disposable until Sony can provide reliable service. Thus I am hoping that Canon will come out with a suitable alternative before my next major trip. I hope you let the higher-ups at Sony know that service is far more important than adding more pixels to their line.

-Paul

 

[k-hawinkler]

I appreciate your concern, Amanda. I eventually resolved this issue after many days and wasted hours by customer service accepting a return and issuing a refund of the purchase price.

This does not, however, resolve the issue as to whether Sony "professional" camera equipment can be promptly and reliably serviced in the USA. You have read other readers's experience with "Precision" camera, and it had been universally unsatisfactory. In addition, it is unacceptable to prevent a customer from talking directly to a senior level technician with knowledge of the product. When I have had to service Canon gear it was quickly and expertly serviced by Canon in Irvine, CA; there is no reason to accept less from Sony.

As I'm waiting for the A7rII and other products I will consider them disposable until Sony can provide reliable service. Thus I am hoping that Canon will come out with a suitable alternative before my next major trip. I hope you let the higher-ups at Sony know that service is far more important than adding more pixels to their line.

-Paul

Well, I think both are important and I don't understand why both cannot be accomplished at the same time by a large enterprise such as Sony!

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

I hope you let the higher-ups at Sony know that service is far more important than adding more pixels to their line.

-Paul

That would be a pointless exercise. Adding more pixels and other "benefits" is far more important than good service, and this goes for most consumer electronics manufacturers. They have all been doing cost/benefit analysis calculations on this for decades, and the service has only been going one way: down. In many cases, the cost of manufacturing a new unit is lower than any repair, and I know of service departments in high cost countries where they hardly check what's wrong with a unit before they change most electronic parts with new ones. The customer gets what is basically a new/refurbished unit, but he doesn't know that. Talking with a service technician is obviously pointless, since he never checked what was wrong with the gadget to start with

When a company like Sony outsources service, they do that because they have decades of experience showing what is the most profitable solution. They know that they will get complaints, they know that they will lose some customers, but they also know that service costs are increasing while production costs are decreasing. Unfortunately, the situation is or will be the same for most camera companies, although those of us living in low-cost countries will still be able to enjoy decent customer service from some suppliers for a few years more, but not from the likes of Panasonic and Sony unfortunately. This is one of the reasons why I left Panasonic last year for a brand with a good walk-in service department. I wonder how long that will last.

Am I exaggerating? Slightly maybe, but the exaggerations of today are tomorrow's truths. Just you wait and see.

 

[Jim DE]

Hello Paul David,

My name is Amanda Coppersmith, I work for Sony Electronics social media team. I completely empathize with your frustrations and definitely want to make sure this is being handled accordingly. Did the representative that you were speaking to provide you with a reference number (example: E12345678)? If so, please send that information to me in a private message. I will look into this further and see if there's anything else I can do to help out from my end.

Have a wonderful day!

-Amanda

Welcome Amanda...... nice to know there is someone around who wants to assure our Sony Service needs are addressed quickly and without additional stress. Hopefully I won't ever need your help but I for one will take any and all the help I can get if I have to send a product to your 3rd party service company. Glad you introduced yourself and offered your assistance.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Hello Paul David,

My name is Amanda Coppersmith, I work for Sony Electronics social media team. I completely empathize with your frustrations and definitely want to make sure this is being handled accordingly. Did the representative that you were speaking to provide you with a reference number (example: E12345678)? If so, please send that information to me in a private message. I will look into this further and see if there's anything else I can do to help out from my end.

Have a wonderful day!

-Amanda

Thank you Amanda and welcome to the forum! :thumbs:

 

[RJK]

I am having unpleasant dealings with Precision Camera & Video Repair too. Last year, while in Botswana, we had a minor vehicle accident where I got a bit banged up but my A99 had catastrophic damage; the 70-400 G-series lens was ripped from the body taking the lens mount off the body with it. Sony repair in Texas repaired the camera in two weeks, returned it to me and it looked and operated like new. Fast, efficient and effective. I was pleased.

Move forward a year and 1,500 pictures later- oddly within a few miles of the accident site from last year - my A99 went into an unrecoverable "Camera Error" when I powered it up. Removing the battery for a few minutes or even for a few weeks didn't reset the camera. Power up and "Camera Error." I have an extended warranty, so upon returning home, I got approval from Sony to send the camera to Precision. It should be a straight-forward repair. Three weeks have passed since it was received and it is still reported to be in their receiving. It has not yet been scheduled for repair! I cannot help but wonder if Precision has a similar arrangement as auto dealerships who see lower payments when doing warranty repairs and that Precision has pushed my camera aside to do more lucrative work.

Worse yet, I am traveling to Cambodia in 17 days without a camera. No one rents A99s - the A7 series is the big deal now - so I may have to buy another camera for the trip. Just what I wanted to do...

I understand that Sony as a corporation didn't do well this last fiscal year and probably pushed for savings from every division, however, this outsource of the camera service could ruin the product line's reputation completely. I certainly don't have a warm, fuzzy feeling now.

 

[MrTMan]

Old thread, but I'll add that I'm also having a miserable time with Sony support (or lack thereof). I'm in Canada, and I bought an SEL35F14Z that was clearly soft. The retailer had a no refund policy and wouldn't let me exchange it (as I had already exchanged the first 35/1.4 I bought, which was asymmetrical). I contacted Sony, and they had me take it in to an outsourced Canadian service company. They tested it and concluded that the lens was, indeed, soft. They're not equipped to fix lenses, so they sent it to Sony USA, or perhaps a Sony U.S. outsourced service company (maybe Precision, for all I know).

It's been about a month and a half since I dropped off the lens and no one can give me an ETA. The Canadian service company told me that they don't really have any idea when it'll come back, and that it might well be another month or more. I called up Sony USA to ask if they could help, they said they would look into it and get back to me; a week passed, and they didn't; I called back, they said they would escalate the matter and follow up; another couple of days have passed, and no one's followed up.

I think it's completely ridiculous that I spent almost $2k on a lens that was defective out of the box--and here I am all these weeks later with no lens and $2k poorer. Not to mention the fact that I really would have liked to be taking photos with a 35/1.4 throughout that time.

 

[Malina DZ]

Worse yet, I am traveling to Cambodia in 17 days without a camera. No one rents A99s - the A7 series is the big deal now - so I may have to buy another camera for the trip. Just what I wanted to do...

RJK, try renting a99 from BorrowLenses: http://www.borrowlenses.com/product/Sony_SLTA99_Digital_Camera They have it available.
Hope you get your camera back in working order soon.

 

[Jim DE]

Admittedly the outsourcing of repair (esp the third party chosen in the USA) is a serious issue. Most of us who could went with the Sony Pro Service Plan as a sort of insurance policy so we would have a greater manufacturers participation in any repair process we may encounter. IMO this is well worth the $100 a year this service costs. I personally have not had to use this service as yet and their old Laredo, TX factory repair service was stellar but those in the pro plan are reporting equally acceptable results and turn around times when sending products to the third party repair using this program.

Imo they made a serious negative move doing this outsourcing but the pro plan may be the only way around some nightmares for customers. Btw Sony isn't the only camera company who in the USA is outsourcing repairs to this third party repair facility. Seems to be becoming a trend for this industry. Going to some other camera company does not assure not having the same results. Personally, I don't like this business model of outsourcing warranty work.... But I am a old coot and like things as they once worked especially well before.

 

[RJK]

RJK, try renting a99 from BorrowLenses: http://www.borrowlenses.com/product/Sony_SLTA99_Digital_Camera They have it available.

Thanks for the link. I missed this one while searching rental firms. We're spending 10 days in Australia before heading to Cambodia so a month's rental and damage insurance is roughly 30% the cost of a used body.

Most of us who could went with the Sony Pro Service Plan as a sort of insurance policy so we would have a greater manufacturers participation in any repair process we may encounter. IMO this is well worth the $100 a year this service costs.

I looked at the Pro Service Plan a while back and have since wondered if that could improve repair/cleaning/etc. response. It probably is easily worth the $100 if it helps even a little bit!

BTW: I contacted Precision's customer service asking if my camera has been lost or misplaced given that it's been over three weeks and is still in receiving or is their repair queue just that long and... no response yet. Perhaps "customer service" is the wrong name for that part of the company?

 

[ryc]

A quick update.

I used sony pro service the other day on an A7II. I called up the center for support on Fri. They sent me a fedex label via email. I shipped the camera out late fri from oregon. the service center received the camera on monday. to my surprise when i got home late tuesday afternoon, the camera was already repaired and delivered back to me.

i am also a member of nps and I have to say, sony surpassed nps this time. great job. i am a convert to a believer total turnaround time from door to door to door 3 days !

 

[RJK]

I used sony pro service the other day on an A7II...

Quite the recommendation! Now I'm definitely signing up.

 

[Jim DE]

ryc, that is fantastic news and exactly what I had hoped for when I joined the pro support program. Nice to have as much managerial Sony support as one can get when having to deal with 3rd party locations. Has to be far better than doing it alone....

 

[RJK]

Here's a follow-up on my A99 repair: Precision contacted me telling me my A99 was un-repairable and Sony would be sending me a new camera - not reconditioned, but new. I suspect that the cost of parts and labor exceeded the wholesale value of the camera. I received the new SLT-A99V two weeks later shipped from a Sony distribution center in the Los Angeles area. I guess the four-year extended warranty really paid off.

For the trip to Cambodia I borrowed a friend's A99. The GPS tagging was really handy in determining where I was among the many miles of ruins at Angkor. On a very hot (105°F) and humid (95%) day on Silk Island (also known as Koh Dach) near Phnom Penh, the A99 announced it was overheating and shut down. After a few minutes in the shade, I restarted it and it stayed on. I recently found a utility that reads all the exif information embedded in an image and among that data is battery temperature. An experiment found that at an ambient room temperature of 70°F, the battery temperature was 80°F. I looked at the last shot I took on Silk Island before the shutdown and it was reporting 115°F. The temperature probably exceeded the 115°F when it shut down. With so many reports of lithium-ion batteries bursting into flame (including Sony laptop batteries about five years ago), I'm not surprised Sony added temperature monitoring to the firmware.