Sony

Sony had build a brand value in my mind which did not let me choose any other product over them, until this reality check incident happened. My earbuds warranty expired in Sept 2022, and they sent out a product update software through which they themselves ruined their product’s battery. I started having so many issues with the earbuds that they literally because useless. I kept trying to reset etc but could not get them to work. So I called Sony customer care on 20 Jan 2023, because under Australian Consumer law, they had to help me even though my warranty had expired. First of all, they did not want to write in detail all the problems that I was facing, they just wrote what they thought was important in my case ID, and then told me that they cannot replace the unit, but will repair it only.

I was extremely disappointed because I had read this issue happening all over the world, and they were replacing innumerable number of earbuds just because they ruined them themselves with their own software update. But I still showed my unwavering faith in Sony brand, and agreed to repair instead of replace. So, they said they will send me shipping label in email to send the earbuds in for repair. They took 7 working days and several calls from me to finally send me shipping label in email on 27 Jan 2023. I was totally disappointed but thought, at last, I can just get it done. I shipped it to them, and Australia Post shows me it got delivered on 31 Jan 2023 at 9 am. But they took 4 business days to log it in their system as received and keep telling me that they have received it on 3 Feb 2023. (where I have an email from them on 1 Feb that they have received it already, but written emails from them also do not matter to them.)

Now I keep calling them asking them to please prioritize my case because I do not have spare earbuds because I spent bloody so much money on these already !! I am a work-from-home mum with a son with disability, so I desperately need noise-cancelling earbuds. My work is suffering, I have lost clients in my business due to this, and my mental health is suffering because I cannot tolerate the noises of my son when he is hyper, which is very frequent. How much can I afford to buy another pair of noise-canceling earbuds? But Sony customer care says, "We cannot tell our repair center to prioritize this for you, and you have to call them yourself and request." I asked them, "I am Sony customer or Infinet Service customer. Why can't you help me? Is this your brand image at stake or theirs?" But Rye will not listen. It has been so many days of requesting them and their service center, but still they cannot say how long it will still take.

FROM 20 JAN 2023 TILL 14 FEB 2023, NO REPLY ON TIME !!! Finally, to save my mental health, I had to go and spend another $400 on BOSE QC2 earbuds. Only I know how I have collected this money. But all this harassment by a company like SONY has put me off from buying any SONY product in future. Congratulations to the customer care of Sony for saving themselves one new replacement pair of earbuds, and saving themselves even repairing one pair of earbuds and losing a childhood customer forever.

If you want any kind of humane treatment, then please never buy Sony again. They do not listen to your begging, they do not understand disability, they do not understand your business loss, they do not understand financial crunch due to covid, and they do not understand BRAND VALUE. All that matters to Sony now is avoiding replacements, and forcing people to buy new products by sending damaging software updates.

I explained to United radio that the unit needed to be used for a particular duration of time to replicate the problem that I was having. Regardless of my attempts to get them to properly field test it, they sent it back to me. I now have this unit again in my home and it’s still doing the same thing it was doing before I sent it off to United radio in regards to the Surrounds and the subwoofer disconnecting from the main unit.

I just called Sony and they told me I would have to send it off to United radio again. I feel that this is poor customer service because if I’ve already boxed up a whole system in three separate boxes, sent it off to their repair center and had it sent back to me all after not even having the system for four months. I should have the opportunity to at least get another sound bar a different model number, but Sony will not do that for me. It's very disappointing and in all honesty it will probably be the last product I buy with Sony and over the years I’ve purchased a lot of items from them.