No one is forcing you to read it but: How Sony is treating their "fans:"

[WelshBloke]

Wear a tin foil hat. Works for some people.

It is Sony. They may have secret teams of ninjas in his house right now! 😱

 

[Pray To Jesus]

edit the OP to be intelligible and I might consider your case to be mildly entertaining

otherwise stop with the QQ and stop buying Sony products because I don't care that you got shitty CS service from Sony because I can't think of a Sony product that I own because I don't buy Sony

enjoy my run on sentences because if you can't be bothered then why should i be you know what i am saying yes you do you mad bro is ok don't worry just relax smoke a joint and worry about other things in life that matters

 

[CZroe]

Here you go:

*crickets*

I think you misunderstood. I ordered two MBW-150 watches, one MBW-200 watch, and a LiveView. All four are under warranty but I am seeking service for the MBW-150 with the non functional display. I am not seeking service for the MBW-200 with the charger issue or the second MBW-150 that I originally sold (also developed the faded display). I mentioned the LiveView and it's inadequacies in case you were considering replacing the MBW-150 with that. I mentioned the other issues purely to strengthen my case and demonstrate a loyalty that is on the line here, though I should not have to. As you can see in the proof of purchase, I also own a Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY 4G (R800at), which has disappointed me (no promised panorama, swipe keyboard, screenshot function, Ice Cream Sandwich update, camera flash fix, etc). I know you can't address those concerns, but please address the comparitively small concern that is my MBW-150.

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for contacting Sony Xperia Online Support.


My apologies on this issue with the piece you need. Your watch can be charged with the CST-75 standard charge. You can purchase that online. Sadly we no longer support that charger and don't have it in stock.

If you require more information, or have any other questions, please visit www.sonymobile.com or call us at 1-866-766-9374.

Kind Regards,
Stefhanie

Sony Xperia US Customer Services

Attached, you will find my MBW-150 invoice from the retailer. I do not need the MBW-200 replaced. Only the charge cable is bad but my MBW-150 cable can charge it if I position if just right. I also bought a second MBW-150 for a coworker who had the same issue. I do not believe you have an equivalent accessory available. The closest are the Sony-Ericsson LiveView and the Sony SmartWatch. I already own the LiveView but it does not work when your hands are gloved on a motorcycle. Controlling music playback on a phone with gloves on was the main reason I got the Bluetooth watches.

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting Sony Xperia™ Online Support.
Regarding your inquiry, we are sorry to hear about your current inconvenience, if you purchase both devices less than 12 months ago, please feel free to reply back to this email the proof of purchase attached as a pdf or jpg format in order to validate the warranty, otherwise, we do not repair accesories, we onyl replace them by similar ones or new ones.

If you require more information, or have any other questions, please visit www.sonymobile.com or call us at 1-866-766-9374.

Kind Regards,
Jael
Sony Xperia US Customer Services

Hello. The display has faded completely on my Sony Ericsson MBW-150 and the charger never worked on my MBW-200. Both are within warranty. Please tell me how I can obtain service. Thanks!

Have you signed an agreement saying that you wont make it public?

At the worst if you post it they can only ask you to take it down, not that you have to even then.

No, but you don't sign an agreement for a phone call either and it's illegal in most places to record and release to the public without the knowledge of the public.

Sounds to me like OP is trying too hard for the scambulance bailout from CS. Bought a $300 item for $50 x3 and then they all break and you actually write them. I would be too embarrassed to tell my family, much less the company that originally sold them for, what, six times what you paid for them? I mean to each their own but, if you go through all that hassle to buy stuff and then write all that crap to CS. you would think you would have done a little more research on what you were buying. I mean this entire scenario screams, "the customer is always right!!!!!!"

The problem is there is a mindset amongst the populace that believes that phrase is more important, powerful, and relevant than we the people. Taking care of a good customer is one thing, taking care of someone who bought 3 of our items at an 85% markdown and then is writing to me in wannabe legalese is not only laughable but highly unprofitable.

I bought an item that was $500 in 2007 for $50 in 2011. I bought a $60 one for a coworker but it looked too feminine for him and he preferred the style I had. I "sold" him mine and ordered another $50 one for me. He never paid and I got it back from him. By that time I was aware of the display issues and decided that $100 for twice the usable life was probably worth it for the one I really wanted, especially considering the original price, but they ended up fading faster than I ever imagined. Within weeks the OLED displays weren't visible in daylight and within months they weren't visible at all. Luckily, I still had the MBW200 that I intended to salvage parts from some time in the future (I didn't like the style either). I think a display or innards swap may have been possible, which is why I did not want to send those two back for a refund and dropped my warranty request on the MBW200 charger. I don't see the "scambulance" part of wanting ONLY ONE replaced, repaired, or refunded.

I never asked for their latest and greatest either, if that's what you are thinking. They said in their email that they will replace it with a "similar" one and those are their most similar products they offer. I know that there are still plenty of the discontinued Sony Ericsson LiveViews around, so I basically just said "don't send me a LiveView. I already have two." If they can't repair it or replace it with an identical unit or refund the $50, then I'll take a Sony SmartWatch, which I've seen for the same price I paid anyway (ZOMG! SCAM! 🙄).

FWIW, another ex-coworker who ordered his own MBW150 told me two weeks ago that he sold his for well over $300, so you people who think it isn't worth asking for a little service are geniuses. I think his buyer got scammed, but I'm not making this up.

I'd done a lot of research and had my eyes on one for a long time and finally found a deal long after they were discontinued. As you can imagine, there were not many users sporting one of these wristwatches at the $500 price so first-hand reviews were few and far between until the XDA-Developers and SmartMadSoft forums got their hands on the discontinued ones. That's when all the reports of faded displays showed up. I actually found the deal and placed the orders on my own before their respective threads started up. I had my iPhone 4 jailbroken with the alternate Bluetooth stack but CallerID didn't work and the alternate Bluetooth stack didn't support all the profiles my Parrot SK4000 motorcycle kit needed. People had complaints about the LiveView conntecting to non-Sony Ericsson phones and I was interested in one, so I decided on the Sony Xperia PLAY 4G as soon as they promised Ice Cream Sandwich for it in (they reneged).

That's the story. Find the scam.

OP, I have but one question to ask of you ... what did you (honestly) expect from ATOT in response to this bitch and moan thread?

Just asking ...

Trust me: It's in there. I said in the first paraghraph that "no one is forcing you to read it and I'm only posting it publicly for anyone looking to see how they handle customers" but the real reason is because I told Sony that I was posting it publicly to put the pressure on them.

All I really should have posted were the original emails since those tell all the story anyone needs without the distraction of the new Monster Email (it has a name now), but I thought having the whole thing in one email was better than posting several.

 

[Kadarin]

I choose not to give Sony my business wherever possible; they are an evil company. Rootkits on their CDs, firmware "upgrades" that remove features, etc.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Either way, you are going way overboard for someone who spent $150 on 3 outdated pieces of tech. You need to either make more money or value your time more.

 

[CZroe]

Either way, you are going way overboard for someone who spent $150 on 3 outdated pieces of tech. You need to either make more money or value your time more.

You're entitled to your opinion, but I'd say that they are the future and FAR from "outdated." You should see the interest when people hear what it can do and the disappointment when they find that there is nothing like it on the market today. Even in the near future, Casio's G-Shock seried Bluetooth 4.0 watch will not do some of the most important functions and looks like a gadget instead of a wristwatch (same problem I have with the LiveView and SmartWatch).

-I often can't feel my phone vibrate when the ringer must be off, but you can't miss a vibrating wristwatch directly contacting your flesh.
-What's more, the Caller ID let's you know if you need to duck out to take the call and all anyone around you knows is that you checked your watch. In some situations it may appear rude to even look at your phone (dinner).
-Also with Caller ID, you can identify and reject a call without anyone ever knowing it rang.
-When you walk away from your phone, it vibrates to notify you. You have piece of mind that you will likely never leave your expensive smart phone in the desk, bathroom, or restaurant.
-Controlling music playback (Play/Pause/Stop, Next/Previous, Volume Up/Down) and being able to see what is playing is a huge help when geared up on a motorcycle with your phone put away and your hands gloved.
-The display shows alerts, SMS/text, and email subjects when you get them.
-Notifications!

I always disable SMS/email display because I spend enough time looking at my watch and I'm not going to read an email on a display that's only a fraction of the size of the watch face. Also, I can't reply to the SMS with the watch and I don't need the distraction on the motorcycle, so all I need is the notification.

 

[smitbret]

Serves you right for buying anything from a company that has so much mistrust and disdain for their own customers.

Rootkit
Cinavia

 

[Rifter]

Serves you right for buying anything from a company that has so much mistrust and disdain for their own customers.

Rootkit
Cinavia

Sadly this, I used to like sony and buy lots of their products. The the rootkit issue came up, then the removing of features from the PS3 firmware(and its not like you just cant update cause then you cant play online or play any new games).

So now i tell people to stay away from sony, they are a very dishonest company have inferior products and are simply trying to milk their name for all its worth while they still can.

 

[OverVolt]

This thread title is so bad though. Should be named "My bad experience with Sony for those interested" or something other than that passive-aggressive BS that passes for a title lol. Sick of seeing it on the forum.

 

[Newbian]

This thread title is so bad though. Should be named "My bad experience with Sony for those interested" or something other than that passive-aggressive BS that passes for a title lol. Sick of seeing it on the forum.

You have to remember who the op is and what he does in all his posts. 😛

 

[LTC8K6]

Stefhanie

I would have given up right there...

 

[Vdubchaos]

I used to love Sony in the 80s and 90s, it was my favorite brand.

They lost me after that and I haven't bought even 1 of their products past 14-15 years.

 

[CZroe]

Sadly this, I used to like sony and buy lots of their products. The the rootkit issue came up, then the removing of features from the PS3 firmware(and its not like you just cant update cause then you cant play online or play any new games).

So now i tell people to stay away from sony, they are a very dishonest company have inferior products and are simply trying to milk their name for all its worth while they still can.

I had fanboy hate toward Sony even before all that and that was my reason to continue avoiding them but, I'll explain once again: Sony Ericsson was really still Ericsson for several years, functionally still a different company separate from Sony, until AFTER I bought all that. That's when Sony bought out Ericsson.

This thread title is so bad though. Should be named "My bad experience with Sony for those interested" or something other than that passive-aggressive BS that passes for a title lol. Sick of seeing it on the forum.

So then people could complain even more about reading it?

 

[BUTCH1]

And lose a customer while risking their job knowing full well that it's public and risking more customers.

If you've ever answered tech support emails from the general public then you know that even the shortest emails can be impossible to read/understand. You are still expected to act professionally and get to the root of the problem one way or the other. You can't just ignore it.

This might upset you, none of your story would make me hesitate, even for a moment, to buy a Sony product. Son, you could talk the ears off a brass monkey..

 

[BladeVenom]

I like how they add extra layers of DRM, even on products that already have DRM.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

I like how they add extra layers of DRM, even on products that already have DRM.

DRMpire, lol.

As for the OP, I once again glazed over the first sentence or two you wrote. If they were so awesome why did you wait 5 years to buy one on closeout markdown? Sorry man, I'm about as anti-company as anyone in this forum but when you start crying about a small purchase of OOP products in the forum, well let's just say I was expecting an actual problem here.

 

[BigDH01]

Don't do this:

Attached, you will find my MBW-150 invoice from the retailer. I do not need the MBW-200 replaced. Only the charge cable is bad but my MBW-150 cable can charge it if I position if just right. I also bought a second MBW-150 for a coworker who had the same issue. I do not believe you have an equivalent accessory available. The closest are the Sony-Ericsson LiveView and the Sony SmartWatch. I already own the LiveView but it does not work when your hands are gloved on a motorcycle. Controlling music playback on a phone with gloves on was the main reason I got the Bluetooth watches.

In dealing with the practicalities of companies like this and representatives who probably barely speak English, I see no reason to try and get too complicated here. Your first email was fine. They asked for proof of purchase for both, just get both replaced. Don't go telling them about chargers and it "working if you position it just right" and sure as hell don't bring your friend into it. You asked about two defective products (consider the unit and the charger to be one product) so get both replaced.

And when they ask you what you want to replace it, they don't need to hear about your gloves. Just tell them.

I'm not saying you are wrong, but these people barely speak English. By getting too specific, or being overly verbose, you're just confusing them. Stefhanie probably has no idea what you want so your email goes into the trash. Writing that huge wall of text just got your message into the trash much quicker as she probably couldn't be bothered to try.

 

[CZroe]

Don't do this:



In dealing with the practicalities of companies like this and representatives who probably barely speak English, I see no reason to try and get too complicated here. Your first email was fine. They asked for proof of purchase for both, just get both replaced.

Once they told me that they don't repair them and that I could not get a replacement charger I decided that I didn't want both replaced "by similar ones or new ones." Remember: The MBW200 was fine and I had a way to charge it even with the original charger not working. It was also the only reason I wasn't asking for help with the second MBW150 (intended to gut it). If I got something else as a replacement, I would have lost my chance. I could have just as easily said "never mind replacing the MBW200," but why make them wonder why?

When they say "accessories," they aren't talking about the charger either. Because these are not cellphones, the entire product is considered considered a "Sony Ericsson accessory." The original email form on the website made that clear.

Don't go telling them about chargers and it "working if you position it just right" and sure as hell don't bring your friend into it. You asked about two defective products (consider the unit and the charger to be one product) so get both replaced.

Even considering the MBW200 and the MBW200 charger as one, I no longer wanted either replaced/repaired, only the MBW150. I told them why so that they wouldn't think anything was strange: Because I happened to have a charger that works anyway. I didn't complicate it by telling them that I had to cut off the plastic that keeps an MBW150 charger from fitting, but I happened to have two and so that's what I did.

And when they ask you what you want to replace it, they don't need to hear about your gloves. Just tell them.

Who said they would ask? I deliberately answered the question then specifically because I anticipated that they may never ask. I certainly wasn't expecting them to ask, so I was not going to risk waiting for them to do so. I didn't want something that wouldn't work for my intended purposes and I knew that they would still have a ton of these crappy LiveViews around that they might try to offload on me. AFAIK, the SmartWatch won't work either but, as long as I still had my MBW200, I wouldn't mind seeing if it's any better than the LiveView. The price was also right in line with what I paid, so why not steer them in that direction?

I'm not saying you are wrong, but these people barely speak English. By getting too specific, or being overly verbose, you're just confusing them. Stefhanie probably has no idea what you want so your email goes into the trash. Writing that huge wall of text just got your message into the trash much quicker as she probably couldn't be bothered to try.

That was a "huge wall of text?" They actually had more total text than me after each reply (not counting the one they never replied to, of course). You said to tell them what I want but doing it before they have the chance to send something without asking is being verbose?

I agree that I didn't have to mention that I bought a second MBW150 for a coworker and it ended up having the same problem, but was that really so bad? I used far fewer characters than I used to ask that just now! I was already mentioning the LiveView and I thought I might as well solidify my case while making it clear what kind of customer they were dealing with (repeat with future potential and influence on the purchasing habits of others). It wasn't just thrown in there without thought for how it might impact things. I highly doubt it contributed to me being ignored when the assumption would be just the opposite. Also, that was not when they stopped responding.

Thanks for your advice, but I think people are looking much too hard for the OP's problematic complexity in the original exchange when that simply wasn't the issue.