Help! Sony have kidnapped my ereader!
I bought a PRST1 ereader in May 2012 and after the third outing with the device I began to experience problems synching with my PC. I tried reinstalling the software and a soft reset on the device. This did not resolve the problem so I contacted the technical support number on the Sony website. Someone talked me through various options (including: a hard reset; uninstall and reinstall) but after more than 1 hour on the phone nothing had made any difference so I was asked to try it on a difference computer. So I couldn't take the device on holiday with me - which was the main reason I bought it in the first place. After I got back from holiday I spent another hour on phone to technical suppport trying to fix it and it was still not fixed. I was told to send it for repair which would be free as it was still within warranty. I sent it for repair (at the end of August) and the engineers say that there is nothing wrong with it so I have to pay £28 if I want it back.
I phoned technical support and complained that I was being asked to pay for a free service and was told 'just pay it and you can reclaim it'. I was suspicious. Why do I have to pay Sony so that they can then refund me? I refused to pay. So they are holding onto my ereader.
I phoned back to the technical support helpline and asked to speak to a senior supervisor. I was told no-one was available - but a senior person would ring me back. A week later I still had no response so I phoned again. I was put through to someone I was told was senior and he said I should contact the engineers directly as I know more about my reader than he does - he gave me a number to ring. I tried the number he gave me and was told that engineers do not speak to the public so I could not be put through. I phoned back technical support and the senior person said that he would look into my case and phone me back. He didn't. I phoned back two weeks later and he apologised and said he had been sick - that it was important that my case be dealt with urgently and he would do this. A week later he still had not phoned. I phoned back and was told he was unavailable. I asked to speak to his boss and was told that was not possible. I left a message saying that I was disgusted with the way that I was being treated.
Three weeks later someone phoned me back to say that they were taking my case seriously and wanted to deal with it quickly. They asked me to send an email detailing my case. I sent this email on 2nd of November. I had not heard anything by 6th of Nov. so I sent an email asking when I would get a response. On 9th of Nov. I got an email saying 'as soon as possible'. It is now 19th of Nov. and I have still not heard anything.
Can anyone suggest what I do next? Has anyone else had a similiar experience of woeful customer support?
