Vertical lines on VGN-AR31M screen - Sony service centre appalling!

[allegedben]

Just after my 12-month warranty expired for my VGN-AR31M (PCG-8X1M), odd vertical lines began to appear on the screen - sometimes static white, sometimes flickering colour.

Gradually over the next 12 months the problem worsened, to the extent that about quarter of the screen is now entirely obscured and unusable.

So last month I contacted the official Sony 'out-of-warranty' service centre on 0905 031 0006 (at 35p/min) to see if it could be fixed.

After giving my details, it was explained to me that vertical lines on my model of laptop was likely a symptom of a known issue regarding NVIDIA for which they would extend the warranty period.

Sony also informed me that in the case it wasn't the known issue, they would contact me with a quote for fixing before any costs were incurred on my part.

Sony then asked me to confirm by hitting F2 on start-up to enter the BIOS, and check the vertical lines were still visible. They were still visible, and Sony confirmed that because of this it would be collected, fixed and returned free of charge.

Over a week later I hadn't heard back, so phoned Sony directly and was informed it wasn't the NVIDIA issue, it was an LCD issue and needed a new screen. My options were therefore:

a) Pay the £781.49 for the new screen to be fitted
b) Pay £155.09 for return of the laptop without fixing

Being asked to pay £155 for return of a broken laptop when no forewarning of 'delivery and diagnostics' costs were mentioned by Sony seems outrageous to me. Even more so because this is already after five calls to the Sony service centre at 35p/min costing nearly £20.

I asked on two separate occasions to speak to the supervisor - on both occasions I was told they would phone me back. I received no phone call.

The situation now is that Sony are "checking the recordings" of my calls to the service centre, to confirm if any of their operatives failed to follow process and inform me of the significant costs that I may have to incur just to get my laptop returned unfixed. They'll phone me back - apparently.

Needless to say I am appalled at the way Sony have handled this request. This is a laptop costing nearly £1500 when new and is clearly not fit for purpose.

When compounded by the ludicrous (and unexpected) cost of fix or return, I certainly won't be purchasing any Sony products again. Seems I'm not alone in this opinion either: I hate Sony Blog .

For anyone that may be experiencing similar issues, the official response from Sony regarding the NVIDIA issue is here: Sony eSupport NVIDIA . I also found a similar issue in the forum here: Forum Thread 66835 .

Come on Sony - this level of service is an embarrassment!

[allegedben]

So another week passes, two more phone calls at a cost of nearly £5 - and I'm still no further forward.

• 14th May am - I phoned the support line for an update, and asked why I hadn't been phoned back as promised on 07/05. Sony assured me they'd phone me back with an update later that day.
  
• 14th May pm - I again phoned the support line for an update, and asked why I hadn't been phoned back as promised from earlier in the day. Sony refused to put me through to the supervisor, and promised they'd phone me back with an update on 17th May.
  
• 17th May pm - still no update.
  

I simply can't believe this is an isolated case... has anyone else had any bad experiences with the Sony service centre? Or any advice as how best to deal with them?

[allegedben]

Ok, so the final update from my side.

Sony have now called back, and told me that they would be returning my laptop free of charge.

No apology. No comments about checking previous call recordings. Nothing.

The feedback sheet in the box was from Teleplan , so Sony obviously outsource all their support to this third-party (hence why you have no option but to phone premium rate numbers).

To add insult to injury, I have just received an email from customersupport.en@vaiorepair.eu ...

The Sony Vaio Repair Centre quality team have recently attempted to contact you by telephone in order to conduct a customer satisfaction survey based on the recent repair of your Sony Vaio. As we were unable to contact you by phone, we would like to offer you the opportunity to call us on 08702402408 to participate in the survey. Sony takes pride in customer care and values all customer feedback, therefore we look forward to hearing from you soon.

I received no phonecalls from Sony asking for my feedback. Not one.

So they can't offer any support via email, but they can solicit feedback on their customer care... provided you're prepared to phone them back and pay the call charges of course!

£1500 of Vaio laptop is now in the bin.

I strongly urge anyone thinking about using the Sony 'out of warranty' service centre to think again. Extortionate repair costs and appalling customer service - well done Sony and Teleplan!

[Thalamus.]

Hi allegedben,

not sure if it will be any cheaper but have you tried contacting the Sony service partner for a repair..

See details below..

[alan_chai_]

thanks allegedben, i wont use sony out of warranty support because i know many ppl have this problem and they shld provide some sort of service rather than charge for problems like these..

i have green vertical lines during startup when the VAIO logo comes up..

had this laptop for 2 yrs now.. but suddenly i plugged the laptop to an external monitor and it crashed.. upon restart these green lines have shown.. and yes the lines are still there when in the bios settings page (F2)..

when i do go into windows, i get a blank screen.. sometimes ending in nvlddmkm.sys blue screen of death errors.. only way is to start in safe mode and uninstall the nvidia driver.. (my laptop is vgn-c2z by the way)

i have been spending weeks on this problem, using driver sweeper etc to delete all traces of my nvidia, and reinstalling again, re-flashing my bios, etc etc.. even tried to reformat with win7 and the problem is still there..

seems like nothing on the web seems to solve my problem..

increasingly ppl are finding this problem so i think what sony really needs to do is provide an updated driver, nvidia has a 2009/2010 updated drivers for nvlddmkm.sys errors.. but the sickening thing is we cannot download those on the official nvidia website, because for some reason sony laptops are exlusive and wont allow the updates to install.. SO PLEASE SONY, DO YRSELF A FAVOUR AND UPDATE THE OUTDATED 2006 NVIDIA DRIVERS YOU HAVE..

[MPatel]

I also had this same problem with my VGN-AR11S. Unfortunately, I ended up starting the factory reset process but it won't allow me to complete the process - ie in re-booting to start the second stage it just gets to the Windows page with the vertical stripes.  I am just not tech savvy and would just like to take it in to a service centre. Unfortunatly, the list of professional networks foudn on the Sony site don't list anyone repairing Vaio laptops in or near London. Can you recommend some other service partners for me please?