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Sony Pro Services video from Sony Rumors -- not a good story

dmward

Member
HERE is a link to video made by Matt Granger, that talks about his disappointment with Sony service in Australia.

I've had two experiences with Sony Pro Services in US.
Both went well.
A) The people who answer the phone for US number seem knowledgable and eager to help.
B) When it was determined that the camera (A7II in both cases) needed to go in for service a shipping label was emailed.
C) It was possible to track the shipment to confirm that it arrived in a timely way.
D) Precision Camera notified me that there was a delay when a part had to be ordered.
E) Camera was shipped back well packaged. (They did not notify me that it was being shipped. Which would have been nice.)

1) The Canon Pro Services which I used when shooting Canon gear had about the same level of customer service via phone prior to shipping.
2) The annual fee and requirements for equipment to be a member is similar.
3) Canon did not provide inbound shipping. They also added outbound shipping to the bill.

My two experiences to date are generally comparable with my Canon "in-warranty" experiences.

Whether Precision Camera, as a contractor, or a Sony facility do the repairs is irrelevant to me providing the ability to communicate exists. The delay for parts seems to be a business issue for Sony. They could easily pre-position parts with a contractor just as easily as they could with an in-house repair facility.

One objective that Sony needs to set and meet is a less than 1 week turnaround.

When I sent equipment to Canon it was always back within 5 business days. i.e. if I sent it to New Jersey on Monday via 2nd day UPS, it would, in variably be back in my hands via overnight service on Friday. That means that they received the gear on Wednesday and had it repaired and shipped by Thursday night. That's something Sony Pro Services has yet to accomplish for me. The quick turn around was for cameras, lenses, and speedlites whether they required parts or not.

Based on my experience, I'd say the Granger video is overly harsh if applied to the US Sony Pro Services.
 

Annna T

Active member
First I didn't look at the video and two I'm just the usual customer, not part of a pro service or anything like that. But I don't think the pro support is available here.

Sony EU has a third party contractor for repairs etc. It is named Sertronics.

Here is my experience : globally satisfied.

I broke the shutter of the A7r last summer (due to heavy use for time lapse). At "power on" I got a simple warning stating "camera error". The camera was still under warranty and also had that problem often mentioned on the LCD (spots in the corners and edge, as if something was unsticking).

So I phoned to Sony support number for my country. I described the problem and it was immediately clear I needed to send it for repair. They told me where to send it and to write a few lines describing the problem. Here it is normal to pay for shipping to the support center, but they return it to you without billing the shipping cost (at least if you are under warranty). I described the two problems.

The turnout was very good : five work days. They changed both the shutter and the LCD. I wasn't sure they would change the shutter for free, since I had used it heavily, but they changed it without any further request. That is I sent it in on Tuesday, they got it on Thursday and it was back at the beginning if the following week. They had all the parts apparently.

They didn't warn me when the parcel was shipped back, which would have been nice. My only deception is that they didn't clean the sensor. It was dirty when it went in and came back just as dirty. But then I hadn't requested a cleaning in the featuring letter I had sent (thought that would be done without asking although it isn't a warranty thing).

I was especially happy with the turnout. I was prepared to wait longer. And this was just normal customer service.. No pro support.
 
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iiiNelson

Well-known member
I'm a mostly happy Sony customer but I didn't think his review of his service experience was all that harsh based on HIS experience. I actually found it to be mostly objective because he isn't bashing the known merits of the camera, lenses, etc., although I think he's at fault on some level, for switching to an unknown product without complete research when his income depends on it. I'm a hobbyist and make the bulk of my income other ways. I can change systems and experiment to my heart and wallet's content.

If it were me and my photography job relied on me to travel almost solely in austere conditions, I'd have a hard time fully transitioning away from CaNikon personally. It's not that I think that they're "better" but they are more established in more places in the world. If I was a studio shooter, fashion shooter, or something of the like I'd feel comfortable going with FE or A6xxx bodies for my photography. The take away for me is that he should have slowly implemented Sony products into his kit where he could and re-evaluated as the system matured.
 

jfirneno

Member
I'm a mostly happy Sony customer but I didn't think his review of his service experience was all that harsh based on HIS experience. I actually found it to be mostly objective because he isn't bashing the known merits of the camera, lenses, etc., although I think he's at fault on some level, for switching to an unknown product without complete research when his income depends on it. I'm a hobbyist and make the bulk of my income other ways. I can change systems and experiment to my heart and wallet's content.

If it were me and my photography job relied on me to travel almost solely in austere conditions, I'd have a hard time fully transitioning away from CaNikon personally. It's not that I think that they're "better" but they are more established in more places in the world. If I was a studio shooter, fashion shooter, or something of the like I'd feel comfortable going with FE or A6xxx bodies for my photography. The take away for me is that he should have slowly implemented Sony products into his kit where he could and re-evaluated as the system matured.

Exactly.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
All that to say that Nikon has it's share of reliability problems with some of their pro bodies that aren't the D4s. I don't know that Canon has many issues that are widely reported but their sensor tech lags behind the market leaders. Leica has their share of problems. Pentax too. The thing is there are problems in every brand I can think of when you dig deep enough.
 

dmward

Member
My first reaction to the video was similar. If he needs the equipment the way he describes and is having that many service issues, then he should work on establishing a closer working relationship with the service entity. Especially if wanting to use a system that has no Pro Support. Its not a brain twister to realize that a consumer products company is going to have consumer level product repair support. Especially considering that most of the digital camera Sony sells, prior to the advent of the Alpha series are throw away cameras.

What does seem curious to me is that Sony, with such a presence in the broadcast video camera market doesn't have a better handle on setting up a pro support organization.
 
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