Recieved my SCD1 yesterday from Sony Service Center, Damaged!!!

I sent my SCD-1 to Sony' Service Center in Laredo, TX (the last one now that works on them... they have shut down the majority of their Service Centers now... they even have "Rent a Center" doing their repairs!!!!)
My warranty was running out, so I sent it to have it gone through and fix anything that needed done.
I thought highly of Sony, as shipping to and from my home (I live in WA State, about as far from TX as you can get.. ) only cost me $22, as Sony payed the rest.. great deal.
But, when I opened the box yesterday, I immediatly knew that something would be wrong... first, the box wasn't much bigger than the SCD-1, then, I saw it was surround by 2" "spongy" foam, the type you use for soft chair cushiions! In no way could this protect a 60 pound machine.
Well, I looked more, and I seen a small blue plastic bag (it contained the parts the tech replaced) ontop of the SCD-1, I picked it up, and was shocked to see underneath the bag... Deep Gouges and Scratches covering a large area of the top!
I don't know how to explain the feeling I had after seeing this... .. what fool would pack metal parts directly ontop of a $5,000 machine?
I was feeling quite sick about the whole thing, then, I noticed on a corner of the front plate, some deep dents! I was pissed... this is totally uncalled for.. this machine was not only damaged from poor packing, but while it was being serviced!
I stopped looking at it.. I havent' even pulled it out of the box.. who knows the front and sides could be damaged also.. maybe, it doesn't even work!
I will pull it out and hook it up later today.. I doubt I will ever purchase another Sony product..

Rick

 

Man, that is a huge bummer. You just can't trust anyone these days. The thing that really sucks is the insurance value on something like this. They don't make this model anymore so it's not like they can send you a new one. And there's no way Sony will fork over $5k for an older piece of gear. They'll probably send you a new $300 SACD player for free. : (

 

Don't feel like the "Lone Ranger", it happened to me once with a Nakamichi OMS-7. Every time I sent something to them they whacked it. Seems that larger companies have proportionately more knuckle-heads working for them than smaller businesses.

I'd complain, write a letter, call them, make them deal with you.

 

Echo the above. They had a contract with you and it includes taking reasonable care of your item whilst in repair and in transit.

 

Sorry to hear your misfortune, Rick.

Awhile back I had sent my DVP-S9000ES in for repair to the Sony Service Center in Toronto and when I got it back, I could not believe how carelessly they boxed the unit back up. My OEM box was placed in a poorly taped, over sized box with next to nothing for packing material. I just about freaked when I picked it up and heard the player sliding around inside. I had spent $35 in packing material and about an hour of my time packaging the thing safely before shipping it out. Thank goodness everything had checked out okay.

It sounds like Sony's shipping department really needs to get their act together!

 

I'm sending a lot of e-mails to a lot of Sony people until something happens.

 

Ouch!

Something like this would put me over the edge...

 

Thank you for the supportive comments..

I wish I could find someone up in Sony US managment to talk with, as I know this is going to be a major hastle to get fixed.
A couple years ago, I used to have a phone contact from one of the executives, but I have since lost that number.
I just hope they have replacement parts...

The real bummer is I was going to take it directly to Jim at Sonic Perfectionists to have the VSE 6+ modes with the double board balanced option... I was really anxious to have this done...
I will hope for the best...
Again, it's nice to read your supportive posts..

Rick

 

Rich,

That is a terrible situation for sure. If you really hound on Sony (which I certainly would), then maybe you can talk them into sending you replacement parts for the cosmetic damage. The SCD-1 service manual lists all the part numbers for the top plate, etc. Of course they are ridiculously expensive, so you'd want to make Sony foot the bill.

 

I'm thinking that if my 777 ever fails, I will send it in to a modifier. This Laredo service center has spawned a number of horror stories.

 

That's what I did with my SCD-1. I had about a year left on the warranty, but I didn't want to send it to all the way to Texas. So, I sent it to Warren Gregoire for repair and mods - 2 days of travel time up, about a week with Warren and 2 days to get back. Great service and no anxiety.

BTW, I did not know this, but Warren pointed out that the original styrofoam that was protecting the 777/SCD-1 can and will degrade. If you poke it with your finger, you will know by the way the stryrofoam collapses and leaves a hole where your finger was. I'm lucky he told me this. I ended up using an acre of bubble wrap and that has worked out fine for me.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune, rich121. Hope things work out for you. It would be nice if Sony will replace these parts.

 

Irresponsible and unacceptable. How can a factory service center not have appropriate packing materials for their own products? Just another sign that Sony simply doesn't care about 2-channel audio any longer.

 

My question is why would you send a working player back to Sony "to have it gone through" especially when there have been a ton of horror stories here and elsewhere describing just what happened to you?

Or was something wrong with it to begin with?

 

That's what I did. I sent my old Sony to Dan at Modwright, and he worked his magic. I now have a Modwright Denon 3910, and I wouldn't trade it for DCS stack, Esoteric, etc.
Unfortunately, Sony stopped caring about their customers long ago. Sorry to hear about your player.

 

I agree with you, Hal. I had no issues with the San Diego service center - too bad about Laredo.

A couple of years ago, I took my extra long warrantied Onkyo in for service. Even CC wrapped up my old Onkyo receiver with so much bubble wrap that it literally looked like the middle portion of a decent snowman! CC!!

 

Can you post some pictures?

 

I'm not sure my OCD could take it. Please don't, or I may be in my car on the way to Yakima this afternoon. I'll package that thing up, send it back to Sony and demand FULL replacement. No reason in the world to own a beat-up $5,000.00 CD player. I'd venture to guess there are members on this forum whose car isn't worth that much.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE demand full replacement. Take plenty of photos and start emailing everyone up the chain of command. This is a horror story and I feel terrible for you!

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one wondering the same thing, particularly for warranty service. I assume that something was malfunctioning, however, or the service center probably wouldn't have even worked on the unit.

All that being said, it really is ridiculous that Sony's service center doesn't properly pack units prior to returning them to customers. I can understand the OP's frustrations, even if I'm puzzled as to why he sent the unit back in the first place.

 

The reason I sent the SCD-1 in was I only had until May until the warranty ran out. It was starting to show signs of needing a new spindle motor and laser assembly.
I also needed to get the ROM chip updated, so that I didn't get that loud BLAST!!! of noise at the end of some SACD's..
I was just informed from "Sony Style Customer Care":

Dear Richard Fine,

I do apologize for the inconvenience and for the technical difficulties you have encountered with your Super Audio CD Player, Model Number SCD1. Please contact the carrier that returned your product so that they can further assist you with this situation. I really do apologize for the inconvenience.

Please let me know if you have any further questions, I will be more than happy to assist you.

Thank you for choosing Sony and have a great day!

Rose S.
Sony Direct Customer Care
www.sonystyle.com

How's that for "Sony Customer Care" service??????

Is this an example of "washing your hands of the situation" or what????

Rick

 

I purchased a Sony TV with an extended warranty. The retailer told me I could use the in house warranty anytime, from day one, and suggested I stay away from Sony's warranty service/repair.
It is not just 2 channel stereo, it's everything. I do not think Sony's HQs are aware of how bad their North America Unit is.
I would copy Sony International on all my correspondence and hint at letting everyone know what Jerks the NA Unit are.

 

That letter would have pissed me off!!

Here is a pic of my McIntosh damaged in shipping. The seller handled the reimbursement for repairs.

 

I don't want to sound elitist, or anything like that, but really, it seems that Sony should somehow consider customer service for a $5,000 piece of high-end equipment a bit differently than their service for a $199 cd player. What does it say about a company who treats people who buy their most elite products this way?

I know, that sounds elitist, maybe even snobbish, but I don't care. I really feel for you Rick. Cut and paste responses are no way to handle customer service of such a product. Besides, it doesn't say anything good about Sony either.

 

I'm very surprised...Sony emailed me a shipping label... so I will document as much as I can before sending it back.
Hm.. i guess my "lengthy" email must have got them to think twice...
I hope the fix it and get it back in 1 piece...

Rick

 

While I don't want to denigrate this piece in any way, this is exactly the reason I don't like to buy or deal with very expensive products from "mainstream" vendors. IF I'm going to buy a high dollar piece, I'd rather do it from a company that is geared to handling merchandise in this price class. They are geared to proper packing and shipping as well as generally dealing with valuable goods instead of mostly commodity consumo items that if damaged they can just give you a new one for a couple hundred bucks to keep you pacified.

GM learned this lesson with the four cam Corvette several years back and Ford is still figuring it out with the GT <sic>. And Winchester Arms found it out on the Model 21, the "American Purdey". Carriage trade items are a whole different ball of wax.

 

Multinational Japanese companies are generally very insulated from their overseas markets in terms of individual input. If you want a good education in international business just try to buy something, anything at random, not sold here directly from Japan.

Although all Japanese must study English in school, very few are capable of carrying on a conversation or transacting a business deal in English. Companies will summarily refer you to the US office. More often than not, you will need a native Japanese speaker on your end or need to get on a plane. If it's a large order or high ticket item you may be able to find a freight forwarder or buying agent, but they deal usually only in large sums.

Smaller companies will often just put you on hold and ignore written correspondence attempts.

But, if it makes you feel better, by all means do so.