"Sony customer service is terrible.

I ordered a refurbished laptop. The one I ordered was supposed to come with XP Pro but arrived with XP Home. I was okay with that but wanted a credit for the difference.

Long story short, after a multitude of calls to customer service and tech support and promises that this problem would get fixed, it's still not done a month after I ordered the machine. I have serious doubts I will see a credit.

I own many Sony products and this is a nice machine but I will never buy another Sony product (certainly not an expensive one) after this experience."

"A warning about SONY VAIO... The boxed product seems stable enough, until some time passes and the computer is outdated (less than a year later 'something' will be outdated no matter how great your computer is).

You call SonyStyle and SonyVaio Customer Service/Tech Support, right?

They tell you whether or not your upgrade will work, how to change settings, etc...

And you go and spend a lot of money on the upgrade.

Well, then it doesn't work! And you call again (and spend over 6 frikken hours on the phone with 8 different tech's and 'specialists' only to be told...

"Well, tech support only gives PERSONAL opinions, not professional ones, so we can't be held accountable for their wrong information"

and

"I'm sorry that technician gave you wrong information. There's nothing I can do."

(actually, all I would need to do is to get into their LOCKED BIOS (No one locks their BIOS) so I can change TWO settings. But they don't know "how"...)

Anyway, finally I was told that a Senior Customer Service Representative would call the next day (yesterday). Of course, NO CALL.

Bottom line--if you only use your computer for basics, and never--ever want to upgrade or replace ANYTHING--then a Vaio is okay for you. If, on the other hand, you might need help (tech support) for anything, might want to upgrade something (ie RAM, video card, sound card), or anything... or if you think that a part might fail EVER and you'll need to replace it--then you might want to consider a different brand.

They freely admit that their tech support has made errors frequently and that they started this unwritten disclaimer that the tech support is not professional, but personal, help.

I thought that by spending more money (Vaio's are very expensive compared to other brands of boxed-set computers) I'd get better service. NOT.

Dell was FAR better, and if I ever buy another prepackaged computer, I'd go with them any day.

But never again with Sony.

"

"Sony never misses! I ordered a DSLR camera on-line & paid a little more than found in rip-off NY/NJ camera resellers). Ordered on a Saturday night, in-stock item to ship next business day, free 3-4 day shipping (just in time for Christmas). I received email next morning that moved shipping date till Wednesday but was upgraded (without asking) to 2-day shipping at no charge (still in time for Christmas). Next day I received email stating that items shipped that day (Monday,tracking# provided); still with 2-day shipping. Products arrived in perfect condition 2 days later as stated (Wednesday). Everything was in the box, everything worked perfectly, and it all arrived at my doorstep ahead of promise date! At no time did I need to speak to anyone, answer any questions, get pressured for "upgrades", or do anything except to order from the right vendor. I've used Sony for years and have never been disappointed."

"Although I have made and will continue to make many online orders, I am a careful person when it comes to choosing merchants. At least I thought I was until now. I needed a simple AC power supply, the AC-E45A for a Walkman CD player I had purchased earlier. It was a $19.99 item at Sony Style. Who in the world would not trust Sony, I reasoned, so I never thought to do any research, especially for a $20 widget.

My first uneasy feeling was that I never got any email response after I processed my order via credit card. Not big deal though; it was only $20 and it was Sony. A respectable 7 days later I found a large plastic Jiffy TuffGard bubble-packed envelope in my mail box. The package arrived via USPS and felt pretty light and rather empty.

When I got inside I began to open the envelope. These things are the most well sealed items I have ever come across, and the only way in was with scissors. Once inside I found a Sony magazine showing different products, a one page packing list showing my ordered product, and a one page legal document from Sony. Conspicuously absent was my $20 power supply.

Well I understood how someone could stuff this package and totally forget to place the product in the package. Not a problem, just call Sony customer service and they would appologize for any inconvenience and immediately ship me my product, right? Wrong! This is where it went south for me.

Upon reaching Sony customer service, the lady listened and stoically told me that I would need to file a shipping claim. She said she would immediately email me a claim form, and I would need to fax or send it back. I was a little taken aback so I reiterated that this envelope arrived totally and almost indestructably sealed, and that the product was obviously never placed in the package. She said that I would need to file a shipping claim and Sony would review the claim and decide what action would be taken. When I asked what would happen if Sony denied the claim she said that my only recourse would be to file a claim with the USPS. Now my mind was really blown, and I asked to kick it up a notch and speak with a supervisor. She said no one was available, but would have one call me just as soon as they got out of a meeting.

Well that was about noon and no call ever came. Also I never received the emailed claim form that she said she would immediately send. It is just the next day now and this is not over yet. I don't know how it will turn out. I may ultimately have to call my credit card company, even though my card was charged immediately.

So even though in the end I may wind up with the product that I have already paid for, the damage is already done in my book. I can honestly say that in the hundreds of online purchases I have made this is a first for me. Yes I have had some problems along the way, but the online merchants always immediately and courteously rectified the problem. No matter what the outcome ultimately is here with Sony. They taught me a lesson and exposed their colors so to speak. I felt it only right to share my experience with the world. "

"Buy your Sony products elsewhere if you want to be able to track the order and receive it in a reasonable amount of time. 4 days after placing my order it still shows as "ready for shipment," with estimated ship date showing "unknown." This order would already be on my porch with a UPS tracking# had I used Newegg.com!
update: shipping notice arrived a full week after the package arrived. Website still showed shipping status as "unknown." Item arrived a little slower than from other vendors, but in a reasonable amount of time."

"I can not believe a brand such as Sony would allow such a poor service to taint their image. I purchased a Marine Pack SPK-HCB from Sony Style. I informed the sales rep that I had to have the product by the weekend,(order day was a Monday), the rep said the product was getting shipped from San Diego which was only 75 miles away and that the regular shipping would have it to my house by Friday at the very latest. Well today is Thursday and I decided to track the package only to see it left the East Coast yesterday and not San Diego. Not only that, the product was not scheduled to arrive until September 6th. We we will be long gone on our vacation! I called customer service and that was a complete joke leading me to wonder why they even have that department. They directed me back to sales, and to her credit she tried to help me find another place to purchase, but by now we have no chance to obtain this product before we leave. It is a shame, because generally I do like the Sony brand, but unfortunatly, I have purchased my last Sony product. If you are lucky enought to read any of these reviews, run......run away. On a side note, I have found most everything much much cheaper on other online websites."

"I've bought two notebooks in the last month. Model SGN-VG240. The first one I ordered the black keyboard with and it came with the keyboard bowed outward(this is not an ergo keyboard by the way, it was messed up). So I sent it back and they decided to withold the original price that I paid for them to ship me this defective notebook. This bothered me but they offered me free overnight shipping on a new one so I took them up on it. Well the new one just arrived yesterday complete with dead pixels and a glow in the bottom inch of the LCD. I have sent this back and after two orders concluded that Sonystyles New Laptop Quality Control is nonexistent. What a pain in the butt. I won't be purchasing anything from sonystyle again."

"I wished I read these reviews before making a purchase. As with many before me, and I'm sure many after me, I took it on faith that I could trust Sony.

Sorry to say the experience so far has been abyssmal, and any other online outfit that does business this way would have long since gone bankrupt.

The new site migration to mysony, means that there is no longer an online order status lookup page. After a week or so with no product, I called up customer service. It was extremely disappointing to hear that they too had no idea what happened to my order, and had to email "the warehouse" which was supposed to call me back within 2 days. Of course that didn't happen. I called back, got the supervisor who now has to email HIS supervisor and check back with the warehouse.

there is something extremely wrong going on, if customer service is unable to access realtime order information and has to email "the warehouse". something very very wrong, and completely unacceptable.

Update: After 10 days of "waiting to hear back from the warehouse", and many promised phone calls that never materialized, the item apparently finally shipped. no apologies, no expedited service nothing. of course the supervisor didn't call back as promised either. Even though they outsourced customer service to a pleasantly polite canadian phone outfit, their setup is simply terrible. caveat emptor. "

"I purchased a digital camcorder with 7 accessories through this website. I figured that when spending $2,400 on equipment, it was better to go right to the source. I never checked this website since it's Sony (it SHOULD be safe).

I received the camera bag and 3-year warrantee within a few days. However the camera, extra batteries, tripod, etc still had not arrived after 3 weeks.

When I checked the website, everything I bought was listed as "shipped" with overnight delivery. I checked the site daily and for two weeks, all items were marked as "shipped."

To make things more interesting, according to the website, the date these items had shipped were two years from now. They had already shipped TWO YEARS IN THE FUTURE.

To make a long story short, Sony would not cancel my order, they will only refund me once I returned the products (which I still haven't received). They can't give me a tracking number for any of the 6 missing items. They have given me a tracking number for the two items I did receive.

Customer service is HORRIBLE. For a week they've been telling me that they're waiting to hear back from "the warehouse" to get me a tracking number. They make it very obvious that they don’t care whether or not your situation is resolved.

Stay away from this website. Sony may make good products, but they're hacks at retail."

"Order shipped the next day, arrived quickly, and was very carefully packaged. Product worked great and was exactly as described. They run frequent free shipping promotions, for ground shipping at least. Usually these seem to occur in the middle of the week, so if planning to place an order on a weekend consider waiting until Tuesday or Wednesday "

"I had such a positive experience with Sony Style that I felt I needed to post a review. They shipped me the new Sony DSC-H5 weeks ahead of schedule; when I called to ask them to remove my shipping charges as they now had free shipping option -- they did that willing; customer support people were very pleasant and obviously U.S. based; ... "

"After reading so many negative reveiws of Sony Style, I thought I would throw in my two cents. I read all the reveiws but despite the mostly negative tone, their price on the DVD player that I was going to buy was significantly lower and they had free shipping, so I went ahead and ordered. I was extremely pleased with their service. I ordered on the evening of May 10 and received my order on the morning of May 12 (this was ground shipping with FEDEX). I expected to wait at least a week. It is true, that you must sign for the package, they will not leave it at your door, for example. They will try 3 times to deliver and then send the order back to Sony. This is printed right on the box. One reveiwer felt that this was a negative thing. I am home all day so has no trouble receiving my order. Also it does take 8 weeks to get a refund as is clearly explained on the web site. This is another beef someone had. Anyway, they treated me well and were very fast. I had a very positive experience with them."

"I purchased a refurbished battery. The transaction went fine; confirmation was sent immediately, shipped within two business days. I had good experience."

"Sent in a laptop after 1 year with a defective screen a few days before the warranty expired. They sent me a postage paid box within 24 hours and I only had the stock 1 year warranty. The laptop came back quickly and was perfect. Good job from Sonystyle. Don't understand how some say they had to pay postage to have their laptop sent in for repair. My process was seamless."

"Nothing stellar ,fast conformation,slow processing ,took two weeks to arrive.
Spare bulb 55wf"