Last to last sunday I was clicking with my team in the outskirts of Hyderabad. Suddenly, the lens of my cybershot got stuck and refused to move. Sajjad consoled me that it would just need a regular cleaning. Anyway I was not bothered much because I had not dropped it anywhere. And the name of sony was there to assure me. I kept it in the bag and came home after some trekking.
This sunday I gave the camera (DSC-H1) to Sony Service Center. I was told that they charge 500/- just to open it. So even to get it cleaned you shell out that much money, and some more of course! Okay! 'Not too much for the assurance that sony gives you', I rationalized and accepted their terms. They were to give me an estimate on Monday morning. They didn't. Today they did - an estimate of Rs 17,000! I didn't want to hear the details. I calmly asked them not to do anything. For me, it's over. No more Sony cybershot for me.
I am not the only one who has suffered for their incompetence and apathy. Sajjad and one of our team members, Vivek, have already had bitter experiences with Sony cybershot. And the story does not end with them. Read some reviews on web and you'll realize that Sony digi-cams are certainly not upto their reputation and their customer support is downright frustrating. They are as cold as the place they come from, and they just don't care for you. You are just one of their millions of customers, a mere point on a graph! If you harden your heart to pay their servicing charges, you will have to wait for weeks till the parts are procured from Singapore. One of my friends has even fired a lawsuit against them for poor product quality (DSC-H2) and continual harassment.
Sony deserves worse for their attitude alone. Coming to their products, their quality make things further unbearable. In digi-cams, Sony is far from being best. Old boys Nikon and Canon rule unchallenged - for they are superior in quality and they are consumer friendly as well. I wish I knew all this 2 years back.
Despite that, sony dares to go monopolistic. You can use only their memory card in their digi-cams, and only their recorders in their handycams. Their tripods are costlier than most. Even their ordinary covers cost ridiculously high! They seem to tax you for the tag that they give to you, as if you are going to feel something like the count of monte cristo with that damn tag.
I didn't expect my camera to last forever. Life has taught me how fragile things are. And it has taught me that we live in a messed-up world that follows the second law of thermodynamics, and the only thing we can control is our own response to the shit happening outside. I have lost dearer things, and now the very idea of having and not having, gaining and losing seems illusary to me. But this philosophy works at a different level. I don't allow this to be lucrative for the scoundrels. In market, we must demand the value for our money. The take-away message is - think twice before paying for sony cybershot. Sony is less safe than you think.
This sunday I gave the camera (DSC-H1) to Sony Service Center. I was told that they charge 500/- just to open it. So even to get it cleaned you shell out that much money, and some more of course! Okay! 'Not too much for the assurance that sony gives you', I rationalized and accepted their terms. They were to give me an estimate on Monday morning. They didn't. Today they did - an estimate of Rs 17,000! I didn't want to hear the details. I calmly asked them not to do anything. For me, it's over. No more Sony cybershot for me.
I am not the only one who has suffered for their incompetence and apathy. Sajjad and one of our team members, Vivek, have already had bitter experiences with Sony cybershot. And the story does not end with them. Read some reviews on web and you'll realize that Sony digi-cams are certainly not upto their reputation and their customer support is downright frustrating. They are as cold as the place they come from, and they just don't care for you. You are just one of their millions of customers, a mere point on a graph! If you harden your heart to pay their servicing charges, you will have to wait for weeks till the parts are procured from Singapore. One of my friends has even fired a lawsuit against them for poor product quality (DSC-H2) and continual harassment.
Sony deserves worse for their attitude alone. Coming to their products, their quality make things further unbearable. In digi-cams, Sony is far from being best. Old boys Nikon and Canon rule unchallenged - for they are superior in quality and they are consumer friendly as well. I wish I knew all this 2 years back.
Despite that, sony dares to go monopolistic. You can use only their memory card in their digi-cams, and only their recorders in their handycams. Their tripods are costlier than most. Even their ordinary covers cost ridiculously high! They seem to tax you for the tag that they give to you, as if you are going to feel something like the count of monte cristo with that damn tag.
I didn't expect my camera to last forever. Life has taught me how fragile things are. And it has taught me that we live in a messed-up world that follows the second law of thermodynamics, and the only thing we can control is our own response to the shit happening outside. I have lost dearer things, and now the very idea of having and not having, gaining and losing seems illusary to me. But this philosophy works at a different level. I don't allow this to be lucrative for the scoundrels. In market, we must demand the value for our money. The take-away message is - think twice before paying for sony cybershot. Sony is less safe than you think.
2 comments:
Fuck!
I had an idea but I didn't know it's that bad. 17000 is an atrocious sum of money to ask for and 500 for an estimate is downright punishing. Not without reason that they ask you to stick to Canon in non-SLR digi cams.
My Canon S3iS has arrived in Delhi and I am yet to collect it. However, with this story you surely sent my heart racing.
What next?
-- Akshaya
yes, 17K is indeed atrocious sum to ask for the motor that moves the lens, or for anything that gets screwed up on its own, without any manhandling.
perhaps this is a chance for me to go ahead with entry level SLRs. there is a stiff competition between canon 400D and nikon D40x. the latter has a slight edge for its better image quality (better lenses), it works better ar high ISOs, and is less costly. so as of now, the needle is at nikon D40x with 2 nikkor lenses. the deal will be done before Diwali. :)
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