WTF, Sony?!?

[Defiant]

So I went to the Sony Style store today with one specific request - I wanted the touchscreen all-in-one that has the HDMI port.

Why do I want this? Because I'm in a small apartment for the next 16 months, and I wanted to get a blu-ray, TV, and PC in one space-saving device.

I explained my requirements carefully to the salesman.

"You're in luck! We have one left, and someone already tried to buy it today!"

Well, cool. And even better - they're offering 12 months 0%!

Awesome.

I fill out the app, and just to be sure, I ask the salesman one more time.

"You're sure this is the one with HDMI?"

"Let me double check." (Scans the barcode and looks at his display). "Yup, this is the one."

I buy it, sign the delivery receipt (which includes a 15% restocking fee if you return a PC opened) and carry the cumbersome, 40-lb box across the entire mall to my car.

Tonight, anxious to start the setup, I pull it out of the box, and...

...of course. It is NOT the one with HDMI. It has an antenna input, which isn't going to do ANYTHING with my DVR...

So, either the MORON at Sony did not know what HDMI was, or he deliberately sold me the wrong model.

So, the guys are coming tomorrow to install my DVR - and I don't have a TV for the bedroom DVR. Nice.

Thanks, Sony!

Try - just TRY to charge me a restocking fee!

 

[Starbreaker]

You should have checked yourself since this was such a big purchase. Those guys are just there to make money, not make anybody happy.

 

[Defiant]

You should have checked yourself since this was such a big purchase. Those guys are just there to make money, not make anybody happy.

it was a fairly plain sealed box, and all it had was a model number and barcode.

I don't think they were going to let me pull that thing out of a sealed box, unwrap the whole thing, etc, without buying it...

I guess what I should have done was written down the part number from the sony web site, though I still might have missed it - they were only one digit different.

 

[Tiberius Jim]

If the Sony Style guys are anything like the other electronics retailers I've worked for and shopped with, if you make it clear that it was their employees error that is resulting in your issue, on top of the fact that all you want is an exchange, they should waive the fee. We would always waive the fee if you were exchanging the item for something else or if we screwed up. We would only charge the fee if people simply wanted their money back and there was no defect with the merchandise.

 

[Defiant]

Well, I have to give credit where credit is due.

I went back to the Sony Style store at Tyson's Corner today, calmly explained the situation, and the manager was VERY cool about the whole thing.

He apologized, told me that the ones with HDMI in were extremely hard to come by, but that he would find one for me someplace.

He did NOT charge me a restocking fee - in fact, he took another $90 off, and called around to all of the Sony stores that had anything in the system saying they had one until he found one, and had it shipped to their store. It should be here by the end of the week.

 

[John Picard]

Well, I have to give credit where credit is due.

I went back to the Sony Style store at Tyson's Corner today, calmly explained the situation, and the manager was VERY cool about the whole thing.

He apologized, told me that the ones with HDMI in were extremely hard to come by, but that he would find one for me someplace.

He did NOT charge me a restocking fee - in fact, he took another $90 off, and called around to all of the Sony stores that had anything in the system saying they had one until he found one, and had it shipped to their store. It should be here by the end of the week.

Nice ending to the story; however, for future reference I would make the salesman open the box before purchasing. If he won't, then get a manager. Like others have stated, the salespeople are there to make money, and what you say versus what they want you to hear are two different stories.

 

[Mr Awe]

That sucks. But, on the other hand, some of their gear now takes SD cards rather than only the idiotic Memory Sticks!

Mr Awe

 

[sojourner]

^yep, sony finally got on the bus for standardized memory formats.