Consumerist
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sony
VISA Won't Replace Dusty PS3 After All
Remember that guy with the PS3 Sony said was too dusty to repair? The saga continues. More » -
returns and exchanges
"Free iPod Engraving" Is Code For "You Can't Return This, Sucker"
Ever wonder why some places will engrave your electronics for free? It's so you can't return them. Really. That's the reason. Returns of perfectly good, non-defective merchandise account for 95% of returns and "free engraving" is a cheap, easy way to ensure that that item won't be coming back. More » -
extended warranties
Best Buy Threatens To Replace A $2200 Sony Laptop With An Asus EeePC
Is there a difference between a Sony TZ ultraportable laptop and an Asus Eee PC? Reader Ignacio bought Best Buy's accidental damage protection plan for his $2200 Sony TZ laptop, and when he did, indeed, drop it — Best Buy threatened to replace it with a $600 Asus Eee PC, and finally decided to issue a $1200 gift card — the price of a 15" Dell notebook. Fair? More » -
poll
TVs Will Be Cheap, But Will Anyone Buy Them?
Everyone seems to agree— this year will be the year of the cheap big-screen tv. The only question remains... will anyone buy them? More » -
recalls
Batteries From Dell, Toshiba, and HP Laptops Recalled
35,000 laptop batteries from laptops sold from 2004-2006 have been recalled for fire and burn hazards. There have been 17 fires and 2 burns associated with these batteries, so if you've got one, make sure you take care of this issue. More » -
sales
Morning Deals
Highlights From Dealhack
- Abt Electronics: Sony Cybershot S750 7.2MP Digital Camera $129 Shipped
- Office Depot: HP AMD Dual Core Widescreen Notebook $550 & Free Shipping
- B&H Photo: Panasonic Viera 42-inch Plasma HDTV $830 Shipped
- Amazon: J.A. Henckels 8 Piece Stylus Block Set for $49.99 w/ Free shipping
- Walmart: Eastsport Mesh Backpack for $9.88 + $0.97 Shipping
- Timberland: 30% Off Coupon w/ coupon code: FALLEVENT4
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sony
SONY Recalls 440,000 Vaios
Sony recalled 440,000 Vaio TZ laptops today due to a faulty wiring issue. The recall affects models made between May 2007 and July 2008 in the VAIO VGN-TZ100 series, VGN-TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series and VGN-TZ2000 series. Consumers owning one of these laptops are advised to stop using and call (888) 526-6219 or go to sony.com/support to determine if their computers are included in the recall.
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nod32
Morning Deals
- Lenovo: Employee Pricing on ThinkPad and IdeaPad Notebooks, up to 42% off (login with passcode 536686)
- Woot: Sandisk Clip 2GB MP3 Player for $19.99
- Newegg: ESET NOD32 Antivirus Home Edition v3 for $14.99 (Best antivirus around, won't slow down your computer)
- Buy.com: Kingston 4GB USB 2.0 Portable Flash Drive $14 Shipped
- Hanes.com: Save 15% off Complete Order on All Clothing
- Vann's: Sony FX820 Portable 8-inch DVD Player $150 Shipped
- Amazon: Kitchen & Home Labor Day Sale: Save up to 65%
- Linens 'n Things: BOGO 50% off bath furniture, more + 20% off coupon
- American Eagle: 40% off purchases coupon
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playstation 3
Sony: Go Ahead And Buy An XBOX "Their Support Isn't Much Better"
Reader Adrian's PS3 is broken and since the console was a gift that didn't come with a receipt, Sony is denying warranty coverage. Where it gets tricky is that there's a "manufactured on" sticker on the back of the machine indicating that it is clearly less than a year old — meaning that there's no possible way it could be out of warranty coverage. Adrian tried explaining this concept to Sony, but they weren't interested. No receipt. No warranty. When Adrian threatened to switch to XBOX, Sony's only answer was that "their support wasn't much better." More » -
Blu-ray players just aren't selling that well, says Business Week. Maybe that's because Sony has said that prices for players "likely won't fall below $200 until the end of next year—at the earliest." [Business Week]
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success stories
UPDATE: Sony Reads Consumerist, Decides To Replace Your PS3
Reader Dustin was upset that Sony responded with form emails no matter what he wrote, now he "has a smile on his face" because Sony contacted him and would like to replace his broken PS3. More » -
sony
Sony's Email Customer Service Is Extremely Unhelpful
Reader Dustin had a question about his PS3, so he emailed Sony. Now he's starting to suspect that they don't actually read the emails people send... More » -
worst company in america
Round 34: Sony vs Ticketmaster
This is Round 34 in our Worst Company in America contest, Sony vs Ticketmaster.
Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.
This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america
STILL OPEN FOR VOTING: Comcast vs The American Arbitration Association
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returns and exchanges
"Free Engraving" For Electronics Really Means "Ha, Ha, You Can't Return This Unless It's Defective"
Certain electronics retailers such as Apple and Sony offer engraving for laptops, cameras and MP3 players. It may seem like a nice service, but it really saves them lots of money. Why? Engraved products can't be returned just because you couldn't figure out how to use the product or because you realized that you spent too much on it and now have to eat peanut butter and corn tortilla sandwiches for a month to avoid defaulting on your student loan. More » -
damage
Best Buy: Only $1700 For This Awesome Broken Computer
Reader Scott says:
I was wandering around Best Buy yesterday here in Missouri when we came across this. Essentially, the back of this "open box" tagged computer was completely broken off. I realize that this may indeed be the nature of "open box" product, but seriously... 1700 dollars for a computer with this kind of blatant damage?
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success stories
We Post, SONY Replaces Long-Languishing Laptop
After Daniela's SONY laptop was stuck in a warranty repair purgatory for months and a SONY tech screamed at her over the phone accusing her of warranty fraud, her story appeared on The Consumerist. Now she happily writes:Almost immediately after my article was posted on the consumerist, I received a friendly and extremely apologetic call from a Sony exec. Before even calling me, he had reviewed my case and agreed fully that they were in the wrong. He apologized and offered to have my notebook repaired immediately!
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format war
Best Buy Offers $50 Gift Cards To Those Who Purchased HD-DVD Players
Best Buy is offering $50 gift cards to people who bought HD-DVD players before Feb 23. say CNN.The retailer said it will identify customers through its Reward Zone program, performance service plans and through online purchases and will mail out the gift cards to those individuals by May 1.
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fraud
Best Buy Sells Broken PS3 With Mismatched Serial Numbers, Denies Return
Reader Daryl writes:
"Bought a PS3 from my local Best Buy yesterday. When I got it home I found out it was broken. On boot up it would say "Need to restore hard drive, press X to continue". Pressing X would cause it to say "Restoring..." then after a few seconds it would restart, and would come up to the same exact thing, and repeat.
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So, I take in my broken PS3 to Best Buy today, to replace it of course, and they refused to because the serial number on the console is different from that of the box. They accuse me of trying to trade back a different PS3 than the one I bought (I guess there are idiots that do that), in order to get out of paying to have it replaced. This, of course, is total crap because I bought this EXACT PS3 the night before.
sony
New York, 6:54 AM
Fri Jan 9
26 posts in the last 24 hours
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