Tired of Sony's help desk and customer service

M

Milan O.

Well-known member
Isn't this an exceptionally bad way to treat customers?

First Sony advertised the FS700 as a 4K ready camera that just needed a firmware upgrade, and then it turned out that the camera has to be sent to Sony for the upgrade. That creates problems, if you're using your camera for work. Fortunately I had jobs booked when the upgrade became available, otherwise I would've had to send it back to Sony for a second upgrade, since the first version has a bug. That in itself was a really bad move from Sony, to release a firmware with a bug, since it required sending the camera twice to get it fixed.

In October I got some free time, I contacted Sony but then I heard the upgrade would take two weeks (!) since they had a campaign for the upgrade to cost 250 € instead of 500 € during October and many cameras were being sent to them. I couldn't be without my camera for so long, so I waited. Last week I contacted them again and told them to pick up the camera. Then I got an answer where they said that the upgrade will no longer cost 250 €, which I already knew since it's no longer October. Instead of just picking up the camera, they delayed the process by sending me that e-mail so today I got to know that the camera might be away for two weeks, which I can't accept since I need it for work on December 1.

I think it's ridiculous that they don't have a different system where the customer can be in a queue and still have the camera available until shortly before the upgrade can be done. Then it could be sent away and returned in a matter of days. First of all they shouldn't advertise falsely, and if they mess up they should try to help their customers, not make them lose money. But no, Sony insist on dealing with their customers as if we should be grateful for giving them money in the first place. When I buy my next camera it probably won't be a Sony. Their service is awful.
 
I'm not sure I see where they treated you badly. Sounds like you are just struggling with having to send in your camera. Sending in cameras for upgrades/repairs is a pain and is expensive but it's a fact of life, sometimes you have to do it if you want an upgrade. I guess I was pretty happy with my service for the upgrade, but then it is also an optional upgrade you don't have to get if you don't want to pay for it or send out your camera. Most companies would just release a camera that cannot be upgraded and has to be sold at a significant loss if you want new features. Just look at the C100, owners have to send in their camera and pay $500 if they want to upgrade but their upgrade consists only of improved auto-focus, something most people don't even use, and for less we got S-LOG2, 4K 120fps burst capabilities and 2K 240fps continuous capabilities. If C100 owners want 4K they have to sell it and buy a C500 for $23K.

Compared to my RED experience, Sony is amazing... Well RED has good support, they just charge a ton for it and make equipment that doesn't seem to last so well. I just had to send my Scarlet-X in for repairs for the second time in under 2 years, first the power component broke and then the SDI and HDMI ports, and each repair was/will probably be around $2K which really hurts compared to spending $400 to upgrade my FS700 to 4K which increases it's value practically to that of a new FS700R. Oh yeah and RED also has upgrades that cost as much as the camera and says they are available in April 2013 but doesn't actually start them until nearly 2014.

Not sure you have many other manufacturers left to switch to if you want 4K or a reasonably priced cinema camera with comparable features. There is Canon, but the C500 seems like a bit of a ripoff compared to the FS700 which seems to have more DR and higher framerates for 1/3 the price.

Just a thought: If you dont want to send in your camera, maybe you can just buy an FS700R and sell your FS700 used after you receive it like you'd have to for other cameras. Depending on how much work you have or how much it costs to rent in your area, it might be a good alternative to being without a camera or renting one in the meantime.
 
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I have to say my experience with Sony was pretty good. They picked up the camera and returned it within 5 days on both occasions. Fair enough was a little tedious to have to send it back for a second time but they offered me a loan unit if i needed the camera for a shoot. All in all was happy with service and far better than the last company I dealt with concerning a camera issue (who shall remain nameless) and who basically jerked me around something rotten even though I paid 5 times the amount for their camera compared to what the FS cost.
 
I had some major problems with Sony servicing in the UK - a lot of wasted time and lost hires: I sent it in early, paid twice the price and then had to send it back - the first time took two weeks the second over a week before they rung me to say they wee only just getting round to it and it had a problem that needed fixing!

I lost my rag with them at one point so badly they said they were going to stop talking to me!

However having got that far, it turned out well: I got a full refund and a spare body while they fixed the camera (when they sent it back the problem still there, but they're giving it another shot).

So. My experience: they can be infuriating, but if you complain enough you'll eventually get through to someone who will be reasonable.
 
I have to say Sony Sydney had amazing service. 24 hour turnaround on my upgrade and friendly phone calls and quick email responses. Having said that, I think it was actually a third party company who does Sony's service work so maybe that's why. In any case, my experience was extremely positive.

I just had a backup 5d sent into Canon Sydney for a single bent pin in the CF card slot and it took over 4 weeks to get repaired and sent back to me. So Sony wins this round!
 
Milan,

Most interesting to read your post. One need this forum seems to satisfy is the ability to vent. I've been known, myself, to post a rant or two....:violent5:
I offer you my sympathies and understanding for what you're feeling. The megalithic Sony Corp. runs their business affairs as any 20th century successful business does. And they continue to make $$$$. Expecting them to change their ways is unrealistic. The only thing they will respond to is reporting a declining profit in their annual report.

A business has a personality, just like an individual does. Corporate personality and culture flows down from the management to each and every employee. Each individual with in an organization is fairly powerless to change the culture. QED
 
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I got to stand up for Sony in the UK. Their service to me has been excellent - both sorting out an actual hardware problem and also the various firmware upgrades. Good communication as well.

cheers
Paul
 
Yes, the UK site in Wales performed the upgrade in record time. Picked up on the Thursday, back in my possession on the Tuesday. Brilliant!
 
Thanks for your input everyone!

I decided to reschedule some jobs and send the camera to Sony. Today it started out with a guy from UPS calling me. He said that he was supposed to pick up a package. I told him I was waiting for the box to arrive from Sony and that it should arrive today according to the info I got from them. The UPS guy told me that he'll come tomorrow instead. It's 7:30 pm now, and the box still hasn't arrived. I'm waiting at my office and I've been waiting the whole afternoon...

Regarding the Sony service, I asked some other photographers here in Sweden what their experience was. Most of them don't like the Sony Prime Support, but apparently the people at Sony's repair center here in Sweden are really good at what they do. Unfortunately they're not involved in this. Instead the camera is being sent to the UK.
 
Milan O. said:
Thanks for your input everyone!

I decided to reschedule some jobs and send the camera to Sony. Today it started out with a guy from UPS calling me. He said that he was supposed to pick up a package. I told him I was waiting for the box to arrive from Sony and that it should arrive today according to the info I got from them. The UPS guy told me that he'll come tomorrow instead. It's 7:30 pm now, and the box still hasn't arrived. I'm waiting at my office and I've been waiting the whole afternoon...

Regarding the Sony service, I asked some other photographers here in Sweden what their experience was. Most of them don't like the Sony Prime Support, but apparently the people at Sony's repair center here in Sweden are really good at what they do. Unfortunately they're not involved in this. Instead the camera is being sent to the UK.
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sounds similar to the issues I had. Also the problem was with UPS. They're using TNT for he know, who seem a bit less useless.
 
I know you aren't from the US, but when I sent it in to NJ I had it back in my hands 5 days after including shipping. Sorry you have longer wait times! I know how frustrating it is to be without a camera, I did the update in between films I had.
 
Well, this is getting interesting.
This is what I was told would happen:
I was supposed to receive a box yesterday, at the end of the day (office hours I guess). I was supposed to pack the camera and the next day UPS would come by and pick up the package.

This is what actually has happened so far:
A guy from UPS called me yesterday and said that he was about to pick up a package from me. I told him that it would be difficult since I still hadn't received the box from Sony that I am supposed to put the camera into. He told me that he would call me again the next day (today). I stayed until late at the office yesterday, waiting for the box. At around 7 p.m. I checked the tracking number again. Apparently the camera had left the UK shortly after 5 p.m. It means I stayed at the office for no reason. Today the box arrived between 12 and 1 p.m. when "everyone" in Sweden is out on lunch. Luckily some of my office mates where at the office and received the box. The person who delivered the box said that he/she was supposed to take it back., which isn't what I've been told and of course it was impossible since they arrived during the lunch hour when I wasn't here.

When I returned I packed the camera and called the UPS guy that called me yesterday. He didn't answer nor has he replied at my text message. So I called UPS and the person there asked me if I had any sort of waybill and address to where the package was supposed to be sent. I told him that it's supposed to be provided by Sony. He then told me to contact Sony, so now I've written an e-mail asking what's going on.

Is it always this bad? Who hires these people? :D
 
Why would Sony need to send you a box? I don't know how shipping packages works in Sweden, but that sounds pretty standard, perhaps you just aren't used to sending and receiving packages? Here in NYC if you want to send or receive packages from your own location its best to do it somewhere that has a manned front desk such as an office with a receptionist or an apartment building with a doorman or some system for receiving packages safely at all times of day. The mailman/UPS guy has a lot of pickups and deliveries to do so you never know what time of day deliveries will come unless you get the really expensive next-day shipping that guarantees delivery at a particular time of day.

When I sent in my FS700, I just packed mine in a box and went to the closest post office and mailed it.
 
nyvz said:
Why would Sony need to send you a box?
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That is a very good question. It's not my idea, trust me. It's theirs. Even if it was necessary to use that certain box, they could've sent a couple of those boxes to their service center in Sweden. Instead each box is sent from the UK to different addresses in Europe. I'm pretty sure that there is a better way to do it. but apparently they can't figure it out.
 
From my 2 times taking the FS700 in, the Sony people have been great in the LA service center.

I think the 4K roll out has been terrible on the corporate end, especially since we are never going to probably get 4K RAW (the Sony solution doesn't really count IMO); but the employees at service centers have been amazing. The 2nd time to get the 3.1 firmware update, I dropped it off, took a lunch, ran some errands and picked up my camera 3 hours later.
 
The box thing may have to do with insurance coverage. First time mine went in (Australia)I paid for the courier insurance. I forget the % of value but it was about AUD$2-300. The stipulation for that rate was that it was in original packaging. I guess each centre handles it a bit differently, but since they can't guarantee each person still has the original box that might be their way of guaranty with their shipping insurance.<br>The 2nd time it went in, I was able to take it local since they didn't need the jig, just the updated fw.
 
I suppose I like living on the edge, I sent mine in USPS with minimum insurance in a box I cut down to size for around $10 total. Then again I knew it would only be in transit for 1-day since the NJ service center is so close to NYC.

I got impatient so I spent about the same amount of money taking a bus to pick it up myself.

I was going to take a bus there and wait while they did the repair since the first time I called they said that would probably be fine, but the second time I talked to someone they seemed to think they'd need a couple days for the service so i couldn't pick it up and drop it off in the same trip.

I splurged last week and sent my broken RED Scarlet via UPS for $20 since USPS was closed.
 
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Sony send you a box which suspends the camera in plastic and prevents any damage in transit. The process in the UK works like this - you phone service desk, man with box turns up next day. Man waits while you put camera in box. Man takes box away. Sony keep you up to date via email at all points of the of process. Camera gets returned. Job done. Can't really fault it.
 
Milan O. said:
Well, this is getting interesting.
This is what I was told would happen:
I was supposed to receive a box yesterday, at the end of the day (office hours I guess). I was supposed to pack the camera and the next day UPS would come by and pick up the package.

This is what actually has happened so far:
A guy from UPS called me yesterday and said that he was about to pick up a package from me. I told him that it would be difficult since I still hadn't received the box from Sony that I am supposed to put the camera into. He told me that he would call me again the next day (today). I stayed until late at the office yesterday, waiting for the box. At around 7 p.m. I checked the tracking number again. Apparently the camera had left the UK shortly after 5 p.m. It means I stayed at the office for no reason. Today the box arrived between 12 and 1 p.m. when "everyone" in Sweden is out on lunch. Luckily some of my office mates where at the office and received the box. The person who delivered the box said that he/she was supposed to take it back., which isn't what I've been told and of course it was impossible since they arrived during the lunch hour when I wasn't here.

When I returned I packed the camera and called the UPS guy that called me yesterday. He didn't answer nor has he replied at my text message. So I called UPS and the person there asked me if I had any sort of waybill and address to where the package was supposed to be sent. I told him that it's supposed to be provided by Sony. He then told me to contact Sony, so now I've written an e-mail asking what's going on.

Is it always this bad? Who hires these people? :D
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Pretty much the EXACT same thing happened to me:

Sony tell me the box will be delivered on Monday and the camera collected Tuesday. I arrange to stay in all day on Monday (Camera is out on a job). Box turns up. UPS man says 'there's a collection here as well'. I say, "no. The collection is tomorrow." UPS guy says, "okay, I'll come back tomorrow". Tuesday: I wait in all day, UPS guy is a no show. I call Sony, they say, "we'll arrange for tomorrow (Wednesday)" I say, no, I'm working tomorrow, you'll have to collect Thursday", Sony says "okay". I go to work Wednesday. UPS guy calls when I'm out (apparently, it's a pickup so they don't leave a card). I wait in all day Thursday. UPS guy doesn't show up. I call Sony, they say, sorry. It'll collect on Friday. I wait in al day on Friday, UPS guy is a no show (are we seeing a pattern here!). Finally, Monday, UPS guy shows up (tells me he would have come on Tuesday, but his office never gave him the pick up documents back that day...)

Camera gets sent to Sony. Sony sends it back the following Monday. (This is in September!)

So that is: 5 full days wasted at home waiting for UPS (because Sony can't communicate the properly and they never listen to me when I tell them which day to book a collection or delivery) and two weeks with the camera out of action (waiting for collection and delivery).

That was the first time I sent it in for the upgrade. Of course I soon learn that there's a problem with V3.01 (not from Sony of course, they won't bother telling you that the dodgy firmware they just put on your camera might brick it) and I call them, they tell me I have to send it in for a re-upgrade(!?) two weeks after the first. No I can't take it in to a local Sony expert repair centre. Yes it has to be shipped to them again. Yes, it will take another week. Obviously, this pisses me off, but they have me over a barrel so I suck it up and arrange for collection. Only this time, I have a job coming up, so I tell Sony that I will definitely need it back within a week and they assure me this will happen.

So, UPS guy delivers box and collects camera on the Monday. I call Sony and say I need it back by the following Monday, they say "fine". By Thursday I get worried as I've heard nothing and call Sony. They tell me they got the camera Tuesday, and it is listed as an 'urgent' repair, so they'll most probably do it on Friday and ship back the same day. So, still worrying I call them on Friday to say "is it upgraded?" and they "er, yes. It's an urgent repair, so I expect it is shipping back today, you'll get it on Monday." Obviously I call them again on Monday to check. They calmly tell me the engineer is booked in to do the upgrade "today". i.e. they've had this 'urgent' repair for a week, sitting on a shelf for a week!

Queue me getting angry on the phone. Sony telling me "sorry, there's nothing we can do" and me scrambling around for a last minute hire for my job the following morning.

So, that's another week without a camera, plus a financial loss due to a need to hire in a replacement!

Then, later that day, they tell me there's a problem with the camera and it needs fixing!

In the end it worked out okay-ish. They offered me a full refund (so I got the upgrade for free) and they sent me a replacement body while they tried to fix mine. The only problem is that they sent mine back and it's not fixed and the replacement body itself has an issue!

So yesterday (yup, thats two months after me sending it in the first time - the 'repair that wasn't' took a month) TNT picked up the replacement body to go to Holland for repair (the TNT guy was supposed to turn up between 1pm and 4pm. I left the house at 4.25pm, already late to collect my son from kindergarden, he eventually turned up at 6pm, just as I was returning home with my son!). Currently I'm waiting on Sony to repair the replacement, to send it back to me, so I have a fully functional camera, so I can send mine back to Sony so they can have another go at fixing it.

Apparently they can't just give me a new camera.

And you wonder why I was unhappy with the Sony service!
 
sunnyjimfilms said:
Sony send you a box which suspends the camera in plastic and prevents any damage in transit. The process in the UK works like this - you phone service desk, man with box turns up next day. Man waits while you put camera in box. Man takes box away. Sony keep you up to date via email at all points of the of process. Camera gets returned. Job done. Can't really fault it.
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Clearly they like you as they never told me anything without me calling them up.
 
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