Sony charges you $100 just to get a repair quote from them...

[fuzzybabybunny]

Do all laptop manufacturers do this? I know that camera manufacturers certainly don't.

I've been really happy with the quality of Sony laptops up until this point. They seemed to be one of the only ones that had a penchant for not skimming on the display and put good 1080p displays on their machines.

Recently my 1.5 year Sony stopped turning on. The fan will go on, but the screen would remain black and the power button LED light would pulsate instead of being solid.

I took it in to a Sony store and they said that it would be $100 just for them to send it in and evaluate it. But hey, the $100 is applied towards your repair! And they couldn't give me a ballpark range of cost other than "it ranges from $200 up to the cost of the machine."

Uhhhh... WTF?

What kind of business actually charges customers for a quote? That's the point. It's a QUOTE. I'm perfectly happy paying for the actual cost of shipping, but really, what's to stop them from saying it's going to be a $600 repair if they need to replace the entire motherboard, since most things are integrated, and just make an easy $100 when I decline?

 

[skriefal]

It's quite common for 3rd-party repair shops to charge for a quote (often ~$40), and then offer to apply that charge towards the repair cost. It's intended to protect them from consumers bringing in old, cheap electronics and then pulling out when they find that it's not worthwhile to repair the item (yet the shop has still put potentially a lot of time into troubleshooting the item).

But I'm a bit surprised that Sony is doing this for repairs on their own laptops.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

It's quite common for 3rd-party repair shops to charge for a quote, and then offer to apply that charge towards the repair cost. It's intended to protect them from consumers bringing in old, cheap electronics and then pulling out when they find that it's not worthwhile to repair the item (yet the shop has still put potentially a lot of time into examining the item).

But I'm a bit surprised that Sony is doing this for repairs on their own laptops.

Yeeeup.

So now they reverse the tables and put the risk entirely on their customer. Great. Now the consumer brings in something and is entirely at the mercy of whatever inflated price the mega manufacturer decides to charge for a repair.

I wasn't expecting this at all. I've never had a manufacturer itself do this, and I was put in the awkward situation of deciding on the spot if I want to shell out $100 for a repair of absolutely unknown cost. And I know that their excuse for covering shipping is BS since a business of Sony's size gets extremely low shipping rates. $50 is more reasonable, but $100??? That is 1/10 the cost of the laptop when new, probably 1/5 the cost of the laptop now that it's used and older.

Basically, Sony lost a customer today. It's simply too much risk for me to take in the future with them.

I don't believe that Asus does this, so I'm switching to Asus from now on.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Bench fees are pretty normal, for either third-party repair shops or for out-of-warranty hardware. Applying it towards your repair is also pretty normal.

Basically, it scares off lazy people and encourages them to do a little more troubleshooting on their own. (Most manufacturers have online troubleshooting guides and flowcharts, and many of the bigger OEMs have diagnostic CD iso files available too.)

Some businesses take the opposite approach - waive the bench fees to get people in the door, then try to sell them stuff. The downside of this is that the diagnostics tend to be rushed and/or incomplete. I had a friend with a torn up AC plug on her laptop, who was told it was a totalled machine (logic board replacement.) After consulting the repair manual, I learned that the AC plug was on a wire lead from the motherboard. ($7 part, about 45 minutes of work to replace.)

lolcapitalism

I think it's unfair to expect a retail employee (who probably couldn't fix a computer to save their life) to give you a more specific range than "$200 on up." I've seen laptop repairs anywhere between $30 and $1000 dollars, labor included. Even if a decent tech is aware of the problem symptoms (say, dead screen) it could still be a wide range. (Panel? Backlight? Inverter board? Ribbon Cable? Something on the logic board?)

Either way, I wouldn't worry about "them from saying it's going to be a $600 repair if they need to replace the entire motherboard, since most things are integrated, and just make an easy $100 when I decline?" since:

1) The bench fee is probably covering shipping to and from the repair depot, and tech labor, and not much else. (It's not a profit center for them.)

2) They have a vested interest in making it as quick, easy, and affordable a process as possible, so you get warm fuzzies, buy more Sony hardware, and bring it back to them for fixing.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Well, I certainly hope so for #2. I'll update this thread when I get the quote. I don't think it's going to be cheap, precisely because a modern laptop doesn't really have many "parts." Most of the stuff is integrated right into the motherboard. If it has anything to do with the video card, it's mobo replacement. Power regulation? Mobo replacement. Display circuitry? Mobo replacement. A tiny button that's part of the mobo? Mobo replacement.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Well, I certainly hope so for #2. I'll update this thread when I get the quote. I don't think it's going to be cheap,

Probably not. Assume $200-$450 for the logic board itself, depending on the model and parts sourcing, and another $100-$200 for labor for the swap.

Assuming it is the logic board, anyway.

precisely because a modern laptop doesn't really have many "parts." Most of the stuff is integrated right into the motherboard. If it has anything to do with the video card, it's mobo replacement. Power regulation? Mobo replacement. Display circuitry? Mobo replacement. A tiny button that's part of the mobo? Mobo replacement.

Well, there are exceptions. But for the most part, dead on.

Just out of curiosity, did you try fixing it yourself or bringing to "your guy?" (You have a guy, right?)

 

[corkyg]

Just remember - the quote requires labor to disgnose snd find the fault. That cost has to be borne by the customer. There is nothing unusual about that pnce you are past warranty.

 

[akugami]

$100??? That's excessive...if they wanted to charge you a minimal fee like $50 for shipping to the actual repair center (doubt they have one on premise) is reasonable. High volume shippers get discounts and even the company I work for gets discounts and we're hardly high volume. It probably costs Sony $15 to ship the laptop and maybe another $10 thrown in for handling costs (packaging, etc), so $50 for round trip shipping is reasonable. I understand that there's a tech doing diagnostics but they should create a little goodwill here...

 

[imagoon]

My own person experience is that working on Sony laptops is an epic pain in the butt. 50 different screws, differing lengths and sizes etc. Most of the Sony units actually use a ton of daughter boards also, at least they did in the units I had to work with 2-3 years ago. Power jacks, power boards, battery charging circuits plugged in to the main board.

It really doesn't surprise me that they have a bench fee. Laptops are basically going the disposable route.

 

[Zap]

What kind of business actually charges customers for a quote?

Under warranty? Shouldn't cost you a dime unless you have to ship it to them, or gas money to drop it off somewhere.

Not under warranty? Plenty of businesses charge a diagnostic fee, as has been mentioned in earlier posts.

If it isn't under warranty, don't blame Sony.

EDIT: FWIW I used to run a repair shop. We initially didn't have any such fee, but had to implement it because people were getting it diagnosed by us, then picking up their system and ordering from online the part we told them needed replacement and fixing it themselves. Our "fee" was nominal and applied towards the recommended fix. I think we still undersold ourselves because people still picked up their systems to fix themselves after diagnostics.

 

[UaVaj]

this goes with any service business. $100 to run diagnostics to find out what is wrong with a laptop (complicated equipment) sound very reasonable.

if repair - apply toward repair (basically shop eat the diagnostic).
if bail out - you cover the bench fee (nobody works for free including u).

------

put yourself in their shoe. assuming you had the know how to do diagnostic. would you go out of your way to find out what is wrong for free? enough said.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Diagnosing a software issue is fairly standard, though with all the proprietary drivers and such for laptops, can be a thorn in my side. Diagnosing a hardware issue on a laptop, however, can become very painful, very quickly. In the few laptops I've serviced, lots of delicate ribbon cables and such make a teardown a potentially perilous task. It's not that taking apart a laptop is particularly hard, but it is quite risky in that a small slip can break things, expensive things, and you have to remember where all the cables go during reassembly and ensure they're positioned correctly.

Screw $100, I'd charge double if I need to do a teardown to find the issue.

 

[Anonemous]

$90 to get a repair quote for a Lenovo Laptop from one of their certified repair centers even after I told them what was wrong... the thing wouldn't turn on and it wasn't the HDD/RAM and there was a history of EEPROM dying on the mobo from googling the laptop. Kind of sucks but w/e CC is covering the warranty.

Repair costs was 1K (included parts and labor) which was 2x the price of the laptop.

 

[Anonemous]

Do all laptop manufacturers do this? I know that camera manufacturers certainly don't.

I've been really happy with the quality of Sony laptops up until this point. They seemed to be one of the only ones that had a penchant for not skimming on the display and put good 1080p displays on their machines.

Recently my 1.5 year Sony stopped turning on. The fan will go on, but the screen would remain black and the power button LED light would pulsate instead of being solid.

I took it in to a Sony store and they said that it would be $100 just for them to send it in and evaluate it. But hey, the $100 is applied towards your repair! And they couldn't give me a ballpark range of cost other than "it ranges from $200 up to the cost of the machine."

Uhhhh... WTF?

What kind of business actually charges customers for a quote? That's the point. It's a QUOTE. I'm perfectly happy paying for the actual cost of shipping, but really, what's to stop them from saying it's going to be a $600 repair if they need to replace the entire motherboard, since most things are integrated, and just make an easy $100 when I decline?

Did you use a Credit Card to purchase your laptop? If so, they extend the 1 year limited warranty to 2 years. Might want to call up your CC to find out. Usually AMEX/Discover/Visa/MC will extend your warranty.

 

[wirednuts]

If we didn't charge estimate fees we would be running a charity. All we would do is spend all day troubleshooting for nothing.

You're lucky they are applyig the fee towards the repair. That's mighty white of them.

 

[Eureka]

I don't believe that Asus does this, so I'm switching to Asus from now on.

Asus's customer service is worse than Sony's.

Unexpectedly, the best customer service I ever had? Dell.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I know what OP is referring to for cameras. For Canon and Nikon you can send your parts in and have them quote you for a repair. If you don't want to spend that money, then they return it to you. You're out shipping only.

Same with my phone (Nexus 4). LG said I could ship them my phone and they will look at it. They will assess what's wrong and then if it needs additional repairs, they will bill me. If I don't want the repair, I can decline. The same happened with my Samsung Galaxy S2. They decided the repair was in warranty though, so I was not charged.

I do find it quite idiotic for laptops that they do this. So while it may be standard in the computer industry, there's plenty of consumer electronics where they won't do this. Let's not forget they have a standard suite of diagnostics they run that takes like a few minutes tops. We're not talking about disassembling the damn thing and then diagnosing it like you and I would. I may have gone through tons of troubleshooting on my MacBook Pro, but Apple will only run their diagnostics and replace what they show as faulty. It took reproduction of the actual issue (hard drive clicking and locking up) for them to agree to replace the hard drive. What I'm saying is they don't go and diagnose like we do or your IT department might. It's a standard bread and butter test they run, and then bam. I wouldn't expect any manufacturer to charge for that. If they want to do a teardown or further individual case-based assessments, then yes perhaps its worth charging there. But considering camera manufacturers can go ahead and assess repair costs for free, I find this kinda irritating still.

 

[Sheep221]

I think it's unfair to expect a retail employee (who probably couldn't fix a computer to save their life) to give you a more specific range than "$200 on up." I've seen laptop repairs anywhere between $30 and $1000 dollars, labor included. Even if a decent tech is aware of the problem symptoms (say, dead screen) it could still be a wide range. (Panel? Backlight? Inverter board? Ribbon Cable? Something on the logic board?)

Well that's true but most of the time, the guys working in electronics stores are apart from knowing how to read, virtually illiterate, they are most of the time not able to answer even simpliest questions.

 

[MrWizzard]

How old are you op? Younger I am guessing. Not too long ago quotes used to cost money, that's just how it worked. These days the entitlement generation doesn't always understand how things work or the cost associated with things.

Something to keep in mind is they probably have to ship it out, it takes man hours to diagnose and someone has to get paid for that. If you say no they have to ship it back. That all costs money. Maybe not $100 but it does cost something.

 

[Eureka]

How old are you op? Younger I am guessing. Not too long ago quotes used to cost money, that's just how it worked. These days the entitlement generation doesn't always understand how things work or the cost associated with things.

Something to keep in mind is they probably have to ship it out, it takes man hours to diagnose and someone has to get paid for that. If you say no they have to ship it back. That all costs money. Maybe not $100 but it does cost something.

How old are you? It's not entitlement, it's centralization. Once upon a time, things were made complex, unique and to last. This is not that time. These products are mass produced, simple products with simple production line. Designed for simple test procedures. Serviced at a single depot.

Shipping costs very little for big companies, and so is technician labor. It doesn't take an engineer to run a test box or a simple voltmeter check, which is all they would do.

Maybe if these products were made to last, I wouldn't mind as much to pay to get it serviced. But these products are only a step up from being disposable. That's why most nicer companies don't bother with a fix anymore. It's just cheaper to ship out a new one if they can confirm it's bad. That's what the companies do anyway. Screen problem? Replace top hinge assembly. Boot problem? Replace motherboard. There's no skill in mass product diagnosis.

 

[Fayd]

$90 to get a repair quote for a Lenovo Laptop from one of their certified repair centers even after I told them what was wrong... the thing wouldn't turn on and it wasn't the HDD/RAM and there was a history of EEPROM dying on the mobo from googling the laptop. Kind of sucks but w/e CC is covering the warranty.

Repair costs was 1K (included parts and labor) which was 2x the price of the laptop.

<nelson>

ha ha!

</nelson>

that's why i got the thinkpad line, with the 4 year warranty with accidental damage coverage.

 

[Anonemous]

<nelson>

ha ha!

</nelson>

that's why i got the thinkpad line, with the 4 year warranty with accidental damage coverage.

It was the Thinkpad line... Thinkpad edge E520 and the CC is covering the charges. Didn't know Lenovos had crappy motherboards that died after 1-2 years.

 

[MrWizzard]

How old are you? It's not entitlement, it's centralization. Once upon a time, things were made complex, unique and to last. This is not that time. These products are mass produced, simple products with simple production line. Designed for simple test procedures. Serviced at a single depot.

Shipping costs very little for big companies, and so is technician labor. It doesn't take an engineer to run a test box or a simple voltmeter check, which is all they would do.

Maybe if these products were made to last, I wouldn't mind as much to pay to get it serviced. But these products are only a step up from being disposable. That's why most nicer companies don't bother with a fix anymore. It's just cheaper to ship out a new one if they can confirm it's bad. That's what the companies do anyway. Screen problem? Replace top hinge assembly. Boot problem? Replace motherboard. There's no skill in mass product diagnosis.

I was addressing the OP question "What kind of business actually charges customers for a quote? That's the point. It's a QUOTE. ". Letting him know that not too long ago most quotes cost money. I figured he was younger because it was before his time. It was not meant as a insult to him.

I'm not sure Eureka what tangent you are going off on. I still stand behind my point, it cost money to ship it and to pay someone to diagnose it. As YOU said maybe not much but it STILL costs money. No company can be profitable if they charge nothing.

Unfortunately the entitlement generation thinks they are entitled to things that other people know is a privileged or comes from hard work or paying money. I'm not saying OP is that way but people his age could have contributed to him being surprised a quote costs money.

As for my age, I am of the entitlement generation, I was just taught the truth by someone who took the time to explain it to me.

There is a cost of doing business.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I was addressing the OP question "What kind of business actually charges customers for a quote? That's the point. It's a QUOTE. ". Letting him know that not too long ago most quotes cost money. I figured he was younger because it was before his time. It was not meant as a insult to him.

I'm not sure Eureka what tangent you are going off on. I still stand behind my point, it cost money to ship it and to pay someone to diagnose it. As YOU said maybe not much but it STILL costs money. No company can be profitable if they charge nothing.

Unfortunately the entitlement generation thinks they are entitled to things that other people know is a privileged or comes from hard work or paying money. I'm not saying OP is that way but people his age could have contributed to him being surprised a quote costs money.

As for my age, I am of the entitlement generation, I was just taught the truth by someone who took the time to explain it to me.

There is a cost of doing business.

I have my own business. I've had it for 5 years. My parents were poor immigrants from China who picked up cans on the side of the street for money. Trust me, I know I'm not entitled to *squat.*

I was approaching this purely from a customer service and business perspective.

As I said, Nikon and Canon do not charge anything to evaluate their repairs, and their repair charges are also reasonable. They do this from their consumer line to their professional line, and for every single product they offer, and globally. Same for other smaller consumer electronics from other brands. That's showing me, the customer, that they value me.

When my partner has to drive an hour away to give a quote on a renovation project, she doesn't charge for the quote.

Sony just charged me $100 for practically free shipping and a free automated diagnostic service. They did this to lock me in and to shift the risk entirely to me, because they know they can do it since the power dynamic is in their favor and they can dictate terms. $50 is reasonable. $100 is a pure money grab. And they know that they can quote a higher than normal price (say, $50-$75 higher) and I'll pay it because I've already put so much money down. Remember that we're not talking about a mom and pop repair operation, but Sony.

 

[StrangerGuy]

...And I thought Acer wanted to charge me $150 for replacing the keyboard on a $600 out of warranty laptop was bad enough.

Actually if you think about it despite the industry efforts to cost cut to the max the millions of different models they churn out makes the task of finding replacement parts a logistical nightmare, let alone the exact know-how to fix broken laptops.